Sigur Rós – “Svefn-g-englar” 

If I had to imagine what hibernation would sound like, I imagine it would sound like this. It is a wonderful warmth of sounds that wrap you up in a warm, endless cocoon to keep your mind and body warm and satisfied during the winter.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – “Lift Yr. Skinny Fists, Like Antennas to Heaven…”

An excerpt from the 22-minute track “Storm,” the first six minutes of the song, found here, are possibly the most uplifting six minutes of music put to record. Alright, that might be an overstatement, but given the right situation, this song can be potentially life affirming.

Sufjan Stevens – “Casimir Pulaski Day”

Meant for listening to during your break from your DMV classes on a weekend, this song takes you away from a world of boredom, dread, monotony and despair and into one filled with hope, joy and Stevens’ wonderful knitting.

Badly Drawn Boy – “Magic in the Air”

Cozy on up with a warm cup of your favorite hot beverage, a great book and this song to make wasting those precious winter break days seem less like a big deal. Or, if you are more of the non-loner type, replace that great book and beverage with your significant other and a blanket, but keep the song though.

 Beck – “Lost Cause” 

Going through some of winter’s blues? Cabin fever setting in? Beck is here to help.  The first single from his “breakup” album, Sea Change, Beck admits his tiredness of putting effort into something that’s worthless and doesn’t return the effort. A great kiss-off song to the end of any relationship (except maybe “Kiss Off” by Violent Femmes), Beck gets the job done right.

Kendrick Lamar – “Backseat Freestyle”

While we can assume that when Kendrick and his homies used to spit rhymes in the backseat of their cars along to their favorite albums, here in Nebraska, the backseat raps can translate to driving around aimlessly in the winter with the heat turned all the way up. And yes, the version of the song that is linked above is the clean version.

Los Campesinos! – The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future

For those days when everything seems to have gone to waste, this song is like a firm, very firm grip on your shoulder, followed by a swift splash of water on your face. As “pretentious” as the band name and song title may seem, Los Campesinos! aren’t kidding around here. This track is a behemoth.