This Week's Playlist #103 - The Winter Solstice edition
5 songs for the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year.
Hello everyone!
The 100+3th playlist :-)
An early newsletter this week. For once, I am on time for the Winter solstice.
A final guest for 2023 with an old friend of mine. We discovered our first heavy metal records together three decades ago :-).
He’s curating a playlist for the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year, obviously.
Merry Christmas in advance. I hope you all have some excellent resting time during this festive period.
See you next week.
TL;DR: I'm running a musical newsletter with a new guest sharing 5 songs each week.
There is a YouTube link for each of the songs on the cover, and here are the playlists for each streaming platform:
The Winter Solstice edition
21 December -> Winter Solstice, time to get murky!
1. Wardruna - Isa
How to better start a Winter Solstice than with a song entitled "Ice"?
As things slow down during this frosty period, Wardruna will teach you patience with this slow-developing chant, ending with a superb climax of tribal atmospheres.
This Norwegian band (made of ex-Black Metal musicians) strives to recreate the Viking folk music of their ancestors, pushing even limits to manually recreate the traditional instruments they're using.
This forces only but respect.
Sacrificing an animal is optional.
2. Lera Lynn - My Least Favorite Life
A perfect mix of despair and hope, this song is the pure opposite of what Lera Lynn usually does!
Normally a full-of-pep folk/country/rock musician, Lera was asked to dive deep into her dark side to create a few minimalistic tunes for the True Detective series, season 2.And the least we can say is that she succeeded admirably!
Suicide is optional.
3. Alcest - Le Miroir
An eerie and soothing tune from this French cult band Alcest, juggling between Atmospheric Black Metal, Post-Rock and Shoegaze.
One of their calmest songs so far, with a hypnotic repeating pattern.
Very simple but super effective use of all the different instruments, including the voice.
Retrospection is optional.
4. Zbigniew Preisner - Lacrimosa
An amazing piece of work from Polish classical composer Zbigniew Preisner dedicated to his deceased friend, film Director Krzysztof Kieślowski.
Again, a very intimate piece of music, ending with an amazing voice climax.
The movie “The Tree of Life” used this music, together with pictures of our Universe, for an even better result (you can look for it on YouTube).Crying is optional.
5. Dark Sanctuary - L'instant Funèbre
This amazing cult French band from Paris is actually reforming after more than 13 years of absence!
This, to the greatest delight of all those who missed their funeral, but somehow surprisingly epic, music!
Simple but effective orchestrations, a gloomy atmosphere and an outstanding lyrical singer make this snowball of emotions a perfect fit for Winter.
A glass of red wine is optional.
6. (Bonus track) Ulver - Ulvsblakk
Since Thomas was kind of lost in London's Winter fog, I could squeeze in a 6th tune.
One of Norway's most intriguing bands, Ulver, with a fully acoustic song and traditional Old Norse singing.
This is about wolves in the forest... How more creative can you get?
Lighting a campfire is optional.
Until the next time, Godspeed!
Thomas
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