Right now I have 808s and Heartbreak, as well My Conquest is the Sea of Stars. What other albums do you feel fit the winter?
I definitely agree with sounds_sound about Sun Kil Moon. Winter music to me is typically quite depressing. I really like listening to artists where there are vocals which are a bit obscured by a wall-of-sound effect: shoegazey bands like Have a Nice Life, particularly the album Deathconsciousness. A bit different, but The Soft Moon's self-titled album is a pretty good winter album in a similar way. Beyond that, listening to black metal is always great, but I'm not sure how many people on Hubski are into that!
Love black metal, I'd say Mount Eerie's Wind's Poem is my favorite black metal-influenced winter soundtrack. Also gotta say in addition to Sun Kil Moon, Mark Kozelek's earlier band Red House Painters is a personal favorite of mine, especially for the winter months. Slowcore/sadcore definitely feels right to me around this time of year, stuff like Codeine and Bedhead.
Proteus A game of audio-visual exploration and discovery, where music is generated by your presence in the generated landscape. I find it a great way of relaxing and beating the winter blues, with some moments of wonder that transports you to childhood memories.
Radiohead's Amnesiac. Kid A is pretty good too for the winter vibe.
Motion City Soundtrack's Commit This to Memory. The entire album has a bit of a winter tone, with songs like Together We'll Ring in the New Year a song entirely about New Years. There are a few others (Feels Like Rain, Resolution, Time Turned Fragile), but Together We'll Ring in the New Year is probably the best example. It's also just a good album, but that's beside the point.
I agree with estrangement and tairar in that winter is typically time for a bit more somber, more depressing and moody music. Whereas spring for me is generally all about jazz (The Bad Plus), and summer is for more rocky stuff (Queens of the Stone Age, Modest Mouse, Dinosaur Jr.) and some upbeat alt rock (Broken Social Scene, Phoenix, Pavement), fall and winter sort of tend to bleed together with stuff like Owen, Frightened Rabbit, The National, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Elliott Smith, and Andrew Bird. Note: I'll be back to add links to all these bands tonight... EDIT: Just realized you asked for albums... I'm too lazy to change it :)
Autumn and winter mean something slightly different in Bombay. The monsoons recede and, after a couple of weeks of very humid weather, give way to a barely pleasant couple of months. It's also when the festive season is. Starting with Ganesh Chaturti in the monsoon, the festive season rolls on through Navratri and Dussehra, Diwali, and finally Christmas and New Year's. This year, we have Bakri Id too (today, if I'm not mistaken). A lot of crackers and loud celebrations, as the streets get filled with people and really very very loud music, traffic disruptions and what-not. So yeah, when I'm pissed with all the traffic jams and all that punk and hardcore and all that. And otherwise, just normal stuff.
It's the only season I can ever listen to Bon Iver, specifically the album For Emma, Forever Ago. It's just too somber for any other time of year. This is also when I start getting into PBR&B (still the greatest genre name ever) like How To Dress Well. His first album's a little too lo-fi for a lot of people I've tried to share it with, but man it's so nice and dreamy. Ready For The World is a favorite. In general, my music tastes tend to get a lot quieter starting about now.
I was at a loss for what to put on this thread last night so I didn't put anything, but obviously now the correct answer is For Emma, Forever Ago. Maybe throw in some Cohen or some S&G -- mellow acoustic stuff with sad overtones. That's winter.
There are a handful for me. Sujan, Boards of Canada, Avey Tare, Sun Kil Moon, Pisces Iscariot by SP. My number one though, without question; the one I always return to in the fall/winter is Bjork's Vespertine. Check out Cocoon here. The album sounds like crunchy snow (which is also an actual sample on the record). Crispy production, warm baselines, and breathy vocals that fog on glass. Bright white, furry elvish music with glowing insides for the hearth. Full album stream here.