August 31st 2012

Whomp the East

Beats that get you to and from the hill.

Words by Anabelle McLean

Whether you pump your fist to metal slashes, bop your body to dub whomps, or play air guitar or dashboard drums to country or classic rock, one thing all shredders have in common is an addiction to tunes. Not that we are different from other breeds of people, hell, everyone and their goldfish has an iPod and a 16GB iTunes library, but the times and places when Ski the Easters use music sets us far apart.


As eastern skiers and riders, we end up driving a LOT. It may be a powder day up in Jay and you live in Manchester, New Hampshire, or you read (on STE of course) that Hickory Hill, in the boonies of upstate New York, is a not-to-miss gem. So you not-so-reluctantly drive hours upon hours to reach that snowy destination.


Which brings up the point of, “ahhh,” the winter playlist. Who can honestly say that a large portion of their summer geek out computer hours doesn't have them searching for the freshest tunes for the winter road trips? You then craft those brilliant new beats together into playlists that ebb and flow with the right touches of rage and chill.

You wake up at 5am to make first chair so those first few songs are purposed to ease you into the day. An hour out from hill destination, your coffee shouldn't be the only thing tweaking your tendons. By the time the mountain access road is coming to a sure end, your suck knob better be at zero while your volume knob cranks to 11. Rolling into the parking lot you get the parking attendants' heads to bob and their arms to pump. Now you're ready to carpe diem!


To start prepping your stereo for winter trips, here are a few bands and songs that make snowflakes twinkle even brighter.

Warm up your ears with:

Boombox

Paper Diamond

Justin Martin

Nicolas Jaar

Start your wintery groovin’ with:

Yeasayer

Deer Tick

Muse (new stuff)

Fun (song suggestion: Some Nights)

Raconteurs (song suggestion: Consoler of the Lonely) 

Feel the coffee surge with:

Gold Fish

Apparat

New Villager

Chromatics

Lykke Li (remixes)

Let the beat drop and whomp:

Phantogram

Madeon

Rebecca & Fiona

Bassnectar

Jakwob remixes

 

I also highly recommend the iPhone app Songza - an app intuitive to your mood, the music blog Hype Machine (go download Free Magic and Aeroplane mixes NOW!), and finally you MUST sign up for The Million Dollar Deli monthly playlist… just trust me!  http://cargocollective.com/themilliondollardeli