Make a new soundtrack for the season.
Ah, winter in Santa Fe: You and your date, snuggled on a bearskin rug by the fire, wearing matching Fair Isle turtlenecks, sipping from saucers full of Lancers and getting into the slow grooves of your K-Tel Christmas compilation on the hi-fi. Wait,
what?
This is the era of the playlist, not the pre-made compilation. If you want to make an impression on some special snowbunny, you're going to need to work on the soundtrack of the season. To help you get started, SFR asked some local music fans to share their favorite wintery playlists.
Gabe Gomez (that's me)
I'm not a very emotional guy-except when Notre Dame loses a football game. If they lose by more than two touchdowns I know I'm gonna need my momma to console me, so I hop in the car and drive down to my folks' place in El Paso for a long winter weekend. This is part of the playlist that keeps me from crying my eyes out until I hit the state line.
1. RL Burnside, "Goin' Down South"***image1***
2. Andrew Bird, "Spare-Ohs"
3. Samuel Barber, "Adagio for Strings"
4. Mahalia Jackson, "Trouble of the World"
5. The Mars Volta, "Televators"
6. Cowboy Junkies, "Cause Cheap is How I Feel"
7. Funki Porcini, "B Monkey"
8. Gil Scott Heron, "Get out of the Ghetto Blues"
9. Shuggie Otis, "Sweet Thang"
10. Nina Simone, "Nobody's Fault But Mine"
11. Jeff Buckley, "Lover, You Should've Come Over"
12. John Lee Hooker, "Hobo Blues"
13. Joy Division, "Atmosphere"
14. Sufjan Stevens, "Saul Bellow"
15. Lounge Lizards, "Scary Children"
Denise Miller, director of the New Mexico Farmers' Marketing Association
Two of my kids play music and they aspire to play rock someday, so I think it's important they know about classics like Led Zeppelin. I especially like to listen to "Country Home" by Neil Young when we're on the road to our country home in Angel Fire for skiing. When my winter thoughts start to drift to warmer spots, something uplifting like "Drive South" by John Hiatt is always great for a momentary daydream.
1. Muddy Waters, "Honey Bee"***image2***
2. KoKo Taylor, "I'd Rather Go Blind"
3. Bobby Blue Bland, "The Thrill is Gone"
4. David Bowie, "Thru These Architect's Eyes"
5. The Clash, "Know Your Rights"
6. The Grateful Dead, "Cumberland Blues"
7. Bob Marley, "Redemption Song"
8. Rolling Stones, "Sweet Black Angel"
9. Led Zeppelin, "Houses of the Holy"
10. Joni Mitchell, "Cool Water"
11. New Grass Revival, "Dancin' with the Angels"
12. Sinead O'Connor, "Jerusalem"
13. Neil Young, "Country Home"
14. Mozart, "Requiem"
15. John Hiatt, "Drive South"
Allie Shaw, executive director of the Santa Fe Muzik Fest
I don't want summer to end! I want to get away and out of the cold, not say goodbye to summer.
1. Crossfade, "Cold"***image3***
2. Jeff Buckley, "Last Goodbye"
3. Donald Fagen, "IGY"
4. Public Enemy, "Can't Truss It"
5. Bing Crosby and David Bowie, "Little Drummer Boy"
6. The Rolling Stones, "Gimme Shelter"
7. Joe Jackson, "You Can't Get What You Want,"
8. Revelation Theory, "Selfish and Cold"
9. Sevendust, "Denial"
10. Adam Sandler, "The Chanukah Song"
11. Depeche Mode, "Get the Balance Right!"
12. U2, "New Years Day"
13. Pearl Jam, "Black"
14. Prince, "Sometimes It Snows In April"
15. Basement Jaxx, "Hot & Cold"
Zander Evans, research director of the Forest Guild
If there is a season to be pessimistic, it's winter. While spring is about hope for the future, winter is often the time when I worry about where this planet is heading. These songs mix thoughts of cold with my environmental concern…but it ends on an optimistic note.
1. Quasi, "Peace and Love"***image4***
2. Cringer, "Burn Down the Forest"
3. Metallica, "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth"
4. Counting Crows, "A Long December"
5. Iron and Wine, "Faded from the Winter"
6. Midnight Oil, "Antarctica"
7. Marvin Gaye, "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)"
8. Ben Folds, "All U Can Eat"
9. Eels, "Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)"
10. Bright Eyes, "We Are Nowhere and It's Now"
11. John Vanderslice, "Winter Light"
12. Fiest, "Brandy Alexander"
13. The Mountain Goats, "Treetop Song"
14. The Flaming Lips, "My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion"
15. Booker T & The MG's, "Winter Snow"
Dave Childs, software developer, gamer and home brewer
Some of these tunes have a wintery meaning to me, some have overt winter themes and some are just bizarre. It's my mix and it's all over the map. Call this a reaction to a brief stint as a DJ in the early '90s, something that's tough to overcome. Despite the fact that I'm in my mid-to-late 30s, please note the lack of Coldplay.
1. Frank Zappa, "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" into ***image5***
"Nanook Rubs It"
2. Del McCoury, "Cold Rain and Snow"
3. The Allman Brothers Band, "In Memory of Elizabeth
Reed"
4. Blind Faith, "Can't Find My Way Home"
5. Seven Nations, "Scream"
6. Tom Waits, "Small Change"
7. Manowar, "Kingdom Come"
8. Widespread Panic, "Climb to Safety"
9. Dropkick Murphys, "For Boston"
10. Webb Wilder, "Tough It Out"
11. Nick Drake, "Northern Sky"
12. Keller Williams, "Blazeabago"
13. Grateful Dead, "Scarlet Begonias" and
"Fire on the Mountain" (pick your favorite show)
14. Rush, "By-Tor and the Snow Dog"
15. Mountain, "Nantucket Sleighride"
Santa Fe Reporter