snowy day music

As you might already know, we’ve had quite a lot of snow in New York, and more is supposed to be on the way — the sky has that gray, anticipatory look. I am perverse enough to like this, now that we’ve had a little break from the brutal cold that gripped the city all January. Something about snow brings out the cat in me: I could just sit and look out the window in a state of total zen reflectiveness for hours.

The day job doesn’t really allow for this, though. So the next best thing is listening to what I always think of as snowy day music — songs that may be great at any other time, but somehow perfectly the odd, tranquil-yet-melancholy mood those gray skies create.

My personal choice for the all-time greatest snowy day music artist is Bjork; there is no better snowstorm music than her album “Vespertine.” This morning I discovered, to my consternation, that I don’t have this loaded onto my iPod — what could I have been thinking? Or not thinking, as the case may be? — but other Bjork songs work well too. So do the Cocteau Twins. Right now I am listening to a new-to-me song, “You May Be Blue” by Vetiver, that is hitting the perfect note.

Do you guys have favorite snowy-day music? If so, tell me about it — I need more songs. I need a playlist, really. A Bjork-heavy playlist.

By the way, you’ve got one more day to send me your idea of the most romantic gift ever, and in so doing have a chance to win the prettiest bracelet ever —