Chicago – As we begin to face the throes of winter, this week’s collection focuses on 5 tracks that will help prepare you for the frozen tundra that lies ahead. These ethereal, spine-chilling tracks will evoke imagery of snow-shrouded landscapes so vividly that you will have to layer up to get through all of them. So grab a pair of headphones along with a sled, a hot beverage, a blowtorch, and whatever else helps get you through the cold, and enjoy this wintery mix.

ERAAS – “Looking Glass/Pettibon”  

When you venture onto ERAAS Bandcamp site, “dark,” “hypnotic,” and “tribal” tend to be the buzzwords used to describe their latest album Initiation. Though claustrophobic feels like the most apt descriptor for these Brooklyn-ites. Album opener, “Looking Glass / Pettibon’s” cold and compressed production leaves you with the feeling that something or someone is closing in on you. The song blends the trip-hop beats of Portishead with the harrowing atmosphere of Swans. It’s a powerful combination that leaves you terrified yet pining for more.

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The Last Morning Soundtrack – “As Lonely As I Am”   

Fragile Indie-folk artist The Last Morning Soundtrack brings us “As Lonely As I Am,” from his new EP, Ghosts. The song is a piercingly beautiful ballad with melancholia oozing from every pore. The mournful violins create lovely cinematic overtones worthy of the project’s namesake, while the plaintive vocals sink into you like a knife.

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Foxing – “Bloodhound”

“Bloodhound” by St. Louis’s Foxing features emotive, idiosyncratic vocals that sound like a mix between Paul Baribeau and Coldplay’s Chris Martin (I bet you never thought you would see those two in the same sentence). While both the piano and the orchestration warrant the adjective “soaring,” it’s the gang vocals that come in half way through that makes the song truly ascend.  “Bloodhounds” only downfall is its brevity, since who knows what kind of heights it could have reached if it passed the three-minute mark?

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Death Vessel – “Isla Drown” (Feat. Jonsi)

While the name might conjure images of black metal bands, don’t let the dismal facade fool you. Death Vessel is actually the moniker of folk artist Joel Thibodeau. While Thibodeau’s angelic voice and delicate picking is wonderfully displayed on his new single, “Isla Drown,” it’s Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi’s cameo that steals the show. “Isla Drown” recalls the gorgeous acoustic moments of Sigur Ros’ fifth album Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust. Lets hope Jonsi’s otherworldly voice finds its way elsewhere on Death Vessel’s forthcoming album, Island Intervals.  

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The Echelon Effect – Marazion

“Marazion,” named after a small town in Cornwall, England, finds The Echelon Effect carrying the torch of post-rock titans Explosions In The Sky and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The song’s majestic keyboard lines radiate so much warmth that they melt the icy atmospherics that surround it. “Marazion”’s towering post-rock beauty will at the very least inspire you to dust off those old Mogwai records.