Hey! it is snowing! So why not stay home and listen to some great music? You have a perfect excuse to, for once.
We pulled together some serious BYT "snow records" recommendations from a very carefully chosen contributor pool (2 each, since we didn't want this post to go on forever). Read them and tell us what YOU'RE LISTENING TO.
To sweeten the deal, we'll pick one of the commentators to win a pair of tickets to our awesome Cruisin' party (on a boat) this upcoming Thursday the 11th. HOT TIP: Tickets are available only as presale so get them now.
Cool?
Put your most comfortable headphones on now:

ALFONSO

Six years in Montreal taught me that the best/only way to make it through deep freezes is with a good record and substantial amounts of alcohol, so I’m including drink recommendations as well.  Why?  Because I have nothing better to do since everyone is too busy freaking out about not having enough toilet paper to make it through a whole weekend. (Dear people at CVS these last two days: what’s wrong with your diets?)

Fever Ray “Fever Ray” (Deluxe US Edition): The Knife just plain sounds like you’re living in a frozen wasteland devoid of hope and sustenance (and bars that are open).  However, I like Karin Andersson’s solo project Fever Ray better (and by ‘like better’ I mean ‘obsessed fanboy’), so I’m picking that.  The fact that anything could be more somber and haunting than “Silent Shout” blows my mind.

I guess it would be more apt to link “Keep the Streets Empty for Me”, but the video for “Seven” is way creepier and too genius to not post:

Pairs well with: any cocktail with absinthe (someone please open the Gibson up this weekend?)

Arcade Fire “Funeral”: Do I really need to write anything else about this record?  No.  But I have a special place in my heart for it, as this record sounds exactly like what it feels to live in a city that is cold, buried, and nigh uninhabitable for so much of the year that it leads to introspection, yearning, longing, and appreciation for the moments you have with the people you love.

However I’m not going to post a video to any songs off this album because you don’t need me to, so here’s a video some guy made of snowy landscapes to Burial and Four Tet’s “Moth”, which is also awesome and appropriate:

Pairs well with: Yukon Jack, “The Black Sheep of Canadian Whiskey”

SVETLANA

I think we should all use this opportunity to listen to some albums we loved not too long a go but that are getting buried under the bazillions of new records that come out every day. Preferably something really pretty and with words you can sing a long to easily, even after the first listen (nothing better than singing when you think no one can hear you). On that note I vote for:

Stars & "Set Yourself on Fire" because, while everyone remembers "Ageless Beauty", you will be spoiled for choice between "Reunion" (tainted love's too fast to dance to, so lets leave them all behind and plus I always wanted you, you liked to rock it in your car) and "Calendar Girl" (I dreamed I was dying; as I so often do, And when I awoke I was sure it was true) and "What I'm Trying To Say". Such a perfect, perfect pop record. And remember, "when there's nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire"

and

the Nouvelle Vague album trilogy (I know I am cheating here since we all only had 2 albums to choose, but HEY!) which is still probably the best music to mosey up and cozy up to someone (or your quilt) to. Everyone deserves to have a favorite on these and mine is "Fallen in Love" (ever fallen in love, with someone you shouldn't have, fallen in love with). A teeny bit of french purrr and a beat perfect to shake what your mamma gave you as you move from the vertical to the horizontal.

CALE

You’re at home, it’s time to crank up the home theater, not just the stereo. Let’s do some music DVDs! And All That Could Have Been: Nine Inch Nails Live is a ferocious document of the 2000 tour filmed on gritty home video cameras and edited by Trent on a home computer. It’s dark and dirty with his freaky touring band punching their synthesizers and spitting all over the audience, but the audio is crystal clean in DTS surround sound and the packaging is gorgeous. Crank it up really loud, turn off the lights, and thrash around your living room.

The OId Grey Whistle Test Vol 1 compiles some of the best performances from the influential BBC music program that ran through the 70s and 80s. The impressive roster includes Talking Heads, The Police, The Specials, the first UK television appearance of Bob Marley, a young U2 and Elton John, and bad ass mother fuckers Bill Withers and Curtis Mayfield with the most super fly backing bands you’ve ever seen. I believe it’s out of print now, but worth taking the time to track down a used copy.

Now that you’re getting a little worn out, turn the TV off, settle into your couch, and pop in the DVD-Audio version of Love by The Beatles. It’s a soundtrack/remix/mash up/continuous mix DJ album produced by George Martin and his son for the Cirque du Soleil show. The result is way better than that sounds. In fact, it’s such a unique and wonderful way to re-experience the entire catalog, I rank it just as essential as any official album. The high resolution surround sound breathes even more life into the project that was fully endorsed and praised by Paul, Ringo, and Yoko. It’s classy and respectful, with great liner notes and a CD version included for good measure.

Finally time to take a nap – put it Belle & Sebastian’s Fans Only DVD and you’ll be asleep in no time. That shit is so boring dude.

PETER:

Being snowed in makes me want to get drunk and get into a fight with my friends, and my favorite music for doing that is the Subsonics, especially the Die Bobby Die record.

But snow falling down makes me want to lie in bed watching it blot out the sky and dreaming about deciding to move to Japan and write obscure poetry and a good record for doing that is the High Places - 03.07 - 09.07.

JOHN FOSTER:

Watching the snow fall (and fall and fall) has always been about creating an insular world of your own, nestled in warmth and good books and trashy television and comfort food and if you are lucky, an even warmer body beside you. This last point still seems special, even when you haven't changed your pajamas or washed your hair in three days. In the end, it slows everything down, and when it really piles up - it comes to a standstill.

I don't know about you, but my mind races at all hours, and a giant snowstorm seems to be the only thing that can firmly apply the brakes. I can actually "think" and "feel" again. That means turning over past events until I settle on something complicated but ultimately filled with love (or the promise of love) which leads me to the Kings of Convenience record "Quiet Is The New Loud" and specifically playing "I Don't Know What I Can Save You From" again and again. I could recommend 100 records in this vein, but I also like the repetition aspect of the snow piling up until everything reaches a whiteout and for that, Nada Surf's "Blizzard of 77" hits all the right spots. For that storm, as a very wee lad I built up such a huge mound of snow with the neighbors that we jumped out of our second story window into it - not to give anyone any ideas...

Your turn now:

Previously in Misc/Awesome:

• 12/28: Terrible Boyfriend/ Girlfriend Generator.
• 12/1: The John Waters Advent Calendar-it starts today
• 11/28: It Chooses You: All I Want for Christmas is Everything from Miranda July's Pop-Up Shop
• 11/3: Things I'd Move to Minnesota For
• 9/6: PHOTOS: Maloof $$ Money Cup
• 9/2: PHOTOS: Chantilly Model Train Show
• 9/1: Libby's List: 5 Things I Want Right Now...
• 8/22: PHOTOS: Best Friends Day
• 8/10: PHOTOS: Lawn Mover Racing, Eastern Seaboard Regionals @ Bowles Farm
• 7/26: Special List: Things the BYGays Want Now That We Can Marry In DC (and NY!)