Wallow/Warmth

[via ruradelia]

We get very schizophrenic winters here in Texas—a half-week of drizzly cold, followed by a few days of humidity and heat, then back to cold. Personally, I like our winters; the unpredictability is sometimes maddening, but there’s something beautiful to being at the mercy of Mother Nature. Consequently, I like to turn to Wilco’s “At Least That’s What You Said,” album opener to their highly underrated A Ghost Is Born. It’s the sound of weary resignation (and possibly psychosis), with Jeff Tweedy barely mumbling lyrics over haunting piano chords. Then the atonal bridge erupts, giving way to the best guitar freakout this side of Neil Young and Crazy Horse. With the abundant sunshine and heat the rest of the year, it’s nice to revel in such bleakness once in a while.

But our mild winters give way to warmer weather in an instant. It’s like somebody turns a switch: ladies and gentlemen, Summer! So during the drizzlier months, I put on Calexico’s “Corona,” knowing full well that the golden sunshine is just around the corner. “Corona” is a Minutemen cover, but in true Calexico fashion, the band strips the original of its punky attitude in favor of some Mexican flavor. It’s inherently cinematic: those mariachi horns, the gorgeous strings, and the romance of the sighing pedal steel all call to mind the best ever roadtrip to dusty, sweaty West Texas. And the false starts at the beginning sound like a clunker trying to turn over before finally kicking into high gear, its nose pointed west towards that blistering sunset. The people will survive in their environment…

[via prefix]

Download:
Wilco // At Least That's What You Said
Calexico // Corona