Snowboard Playlist

It may be difficult to think about snowboarding right now with the record high temperatures and lack of natural snow but i have been thinking about it. i have even put together an iPod playlist for the next time i hit the trails (both open and closed).

i already have a skateboarding playlist but there is a difference between the appropriate music for each of these two activities. When skating i prefer fast, high energy songs that get you going. Aggressive and hard just like the terrain, angular and sudden as one needs to be prepared for anything: a rock on the ground or an unfriendly security guard.

Snowboarding, on the other hand, still lends itself to high energy but where the surface is smoother and flows i prefer to snowboard to music that reflects and conforms to that feeling of exciting flow. Rhythm is so important out on the snow and the right song can help you find and keep that rhythm. That is why i have selected the songs that i have. i also set the playlist at exactly 1 hour to help keep track of time while out on the slopes. You don't want to find yourself going in for lunch at 12 and battling it out with ski moms for table space.

Here's the playlist, with explanation of course:
1. "Gun's Blazing" U.N.K.L.E. : This album has been a snowboarding staple for me. This song starts out with a launching satellite of sounds as you unload from the chairlift and buckle in to prepare for launch, then erupts into a driven DJ Shadow rhythm with fierce lyrics to get you going as you first attack those slopes. The audacity to blasphemy...

2. "Mass Destruction (P-nut & Sister Bliss mix)" Faithless : This amped up version of a great song keeps the energy up and the beats strong as you get your legs back. Mellow Buddhist rapping over sweet techno beats - you will have an easier time finding this weapon of mass destruction in iTunes than in iRaq.

3. "Of Dust And Nations" Thrice : This whole album is one of the most underrated albums of 2006. i got hooked on this album while snowboarding last year... i could listen to it over and over on the slopes. It has the right mix of energy and flow. This song is my personal favorite off the album.

4. "Gratitude" Beastie Boys : How can you have a snowboarding mix without something from the Beastie's? These next few songs are slightly higher in energy because with a run or two in you it's time for the park. This bass groove is simultaneously energetic and laid back. Thanks MCA!

5. "I Feel So" Boxcar Racer : This almost made my over-inflated skate mix but i put it here instead. The energy just keeps you from sitting still and i think it came out at the end of the winter a few years back, which is why i seem to still associate it with snow. Travis is one of the best drummers out there and this song reminds me of good olde post-hardcore stuff.

6. "Fall Back Down" Rancid : Could there be a more perfect concept for a snowboarding song? You know you're going to fall at some point, this reminds you to get back up again (before you realize just how much that fall hurt).

7. "Don't Stay Home" 311 : Another snowboarding staple band for me. This mid-set reminder is to make you feel good about getting out today, no matter how warm and comfortable that bed may have seemed in the wee hours of the morn' which is when you had to get up to make it to the slopes at a decent hour.

8. "Nobody Weird Like Me" Red Hot Chili Peppers : Back when most resorts wouldn't let you snowboard there this song became a bit of an anthem for the gang of us that would meet up evenings at McIntyre with boards that weighed more than we did. Nostalgia strikes again.

9. "She Wants to Move" N*E*R*D : A little groove to get you back in the groove. Her ass is a spaceship that I want to ride. What else could follow up a RHCP song?

10. "Southbound Pachyderm" Primus : Again this band is another snowboarding staple for me. This song starts a slightly mellower flowing segment of the playlist for those powder runs (if you're lucky).

11. "Everlong" Foo Fighters : Again keeping with some smooth powder flow this comes off the Foo's best album - lots of Sunny Day Real Estate influence.

12. "Breakfast of Champions" Rainer Maria : Recently broken up this song made both my skate and snow mixes. Driving verses flowing into wide open, trip-o-let driven choruses. You can't not flow to this.

13. "L Train" Shootyz Groove : Back in the groove... riding the love train.

14. "That Bug Bit Me" The Mighty Mighty Bosstones : Again, how can you snowboard without a Bosstones song? With the exception of this cd all my other Bosstone stuff is on tape so my selection was limited as tape to iPod lovin' does not exist. Tapes are like the mules of the music world. It gets the job done though.

15. "Eons" 311 : Yes, another 311 song. i've listened to this cd so many times snowboarding it had to be represented. It also serves as a nice decrescendo into the last song of the mix. The science geek in me also likes the use of this geologic time scale term.

16 "December" Weezer : Rivers singing about rain in December. A must as the Coupe De Gra of the snowboarding playlist. Bringing you comfortably down. Only love.

If you've got a good snowboarding mix let me know (in comments section) as i still have time to kill on the slopes beyond this playlist.