I hate and I love...

I'm trying to force my brain into thinking it's cold. It's really not working. I live in Miami these days, and the idea that this is called winter is somewhat disturbing. It was over 80 degrees today. How am I supposed to listen to all of my favorite winter tunes when the weather just doesn't match. Perhaps if I could get a gray sky for a day or two, then I could turn down the air conditioning real low, put on a coat and stay inside. In the meantime, my current plan is to continue listening to these winter favorites, old and new:

First, Johann Johannsson's "Odi et Amo" from his debut solo album on Touch, Englaborn. This album is an absolute stunner start to finish, and perfect for watching the light gray turn to dark gray during a missing sunset. If you ever wondered if computers have feelings...look no further than this song.

Second, Labradford's "Up To Pizmo" from their last album fixed::content on Kranky. If you've ever been in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in the dead of winter on a road trip with nothing to do but shoot super 8mm film of empty parking lots and run down tobacco factories, then you just found the soundtrack to the film you made. A beautiful guitar duet from an under-appreciated band.

Finally, a new wintry discovery from Bologna, Italy (it's 28 degrees right now in Bologna, I checked). 3/4HadBeenEliminated is the name of the band, and I recently got their new album "A year of the aural gauge operation" on the Swedish label, Hapna. This is an excerpt from one of their longer tracks. I highly recommend tracking this album down; it's like a mix of This Heat, Fennesz / Philip Jeck, Blithe Sons, and the Bonnie Prince Billy team up with Marquis de Tren from Dirty Three. This is the sound of falling asleep near a fireplace whose contents have been reduced to embers.

Johann Johannsson - Odi et Amo
Labradford - Up To Pizmo
3/4HadBeenEliminated - In Every Tree A Heartache (excerpt)

p.s. photo by my wife, Sara.