Skiing with an ipod - My Winter Playlist

After skiing together with my father each morning, I'm unleashed in the afternoon to explore the steeper advanced terrain by myself. It's during these solitary times that i pull out my trusty ipod to keep me company. I've put together a haunting winter playlist, full of songs that feature lyrics about snow, or mountains, or winter, or just generally sound cold, eerie or atmospheric. I can't explain how a song sounds cold, but they're generally slower, more minimalist and sparse, or perhaps feature light piano lines every now and then.

Here are a few features on the list:
Bon Iver - Blindsided, Stacks and Blood Bank
Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal and Blue Ridge Mountains
Jose Gonzalez - Fold
John Mayer - Quiet
Radiohead - Pyramid Song and Talk Show Host
Rob Dougan - Clubbed to Death
In the Waiting Line - Zero7
Sven g englar - Sigur Ros
Porcelain - Moby
Sufjan Stevens - Concerning the UFO Sighting
Beth Orton - Sweetest Decline


Not only is an ipod good for those lonely trips up the chairlift, but adds a background soundtrack to the whole experience. It sets the mood, whether I'm carving up a groomed run, or exploring a hidden run through the trees, or simply appreciating the wonder and awe of mountain views and snowy forests. And when i come home and play those songs, it'll always remind me of my adventures in the snow. There's definately a psychological principle in that, if i recall from my old lectures. If a certain song or sound is playing while you're actively in the process of placing an event or experience into long term memory, then often when you hear that sound or song again, that experience or event will often be recalled too. The two get linked.

These songs will hopefully always be psychologically linked to the snow... kinda cool.

I've also been listening to Sufjan Stevens, Live on Austin City Limits, because, well, who can say no to live sufjan? Its almost as if he's skiing along side me.

And "the predatory wasp" is totally made for skiing.