Tuesday, December 10, 2013

First Snow Day of the Year

(originally posted December 2, 2007)

The only thing I like as much as complete and utter darkness outside is when it snows. And today, finally, brings the first snowfall of the year, which led me to start thinking about certain albums that snow reminds me of. Sometimes it's the sound, sometimes some stupid memory attached to it. Such as

The Replacements Tim: any Replacements album has a fall/winterness to it. Tim sounds like winter because of the reverb, plus I can still hear it as David English's huge gray truck pulls us out of a ditch on a snow day, freed from school.
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The Replacements Don't Tell a Soul in unrequited (at the time) love for the first time, listening to this going sledding with a broken heart.
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Husker Du Flip Your Wig: everything they did sounded like a blizzard, right?
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Pavement Slanted and Enchanted: doesn't sound wintry, but it was snowing when I first heard it in a station wagon (and I REALLY wanted to hate it.)
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The Phil Spector box set: camon. All those songs reek of winter; something about that wall of sound. And that's BEFORE you put the Christmas record on. Prolly THE winter/snow set.
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The Ramones Halfway to Sanity: was another snow day when I bought this (12/22/87) at Doc's in town. Loaded up in my friend Brian's Capri, went to Richmond to walk around the mall all day.
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U2 War and The Unforgettable Fire: just sound wintry. I guess that video for New Years Day helps.
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The Beatles A Hard Day's Night: cozy wintry sound, and makes me think of all the snowy nights I played this on the juke at the Halloween Bar.
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DT & the Shakes Don't Let Me Down single: has that enclosed, compressed sound to it that reeks of cold, winter night. and I grew up worshiping them and the Rational Herdsmen and the Undecided, all at JMU in the mid-80s, and I'd always picture them playin at a bar while it snows outside. Awwwwwwww.
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And of course if you see snow and don't immediately think of Fairytale of New York, then you ain't human.

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