28 Days of Christmas: Voxtrot - "The Warmest Part of the Winter"

While we're on the subject of great Winter songs, here's Voxtrot's "The Warmest Part of the Winter." Whatever happened to Voxtrot? Oh wait, I remember. The Austin-based group released a string of fantastic EPs, built a considerable amount of hype, and bombed with an uneven and spotty debut full length and nobody ever heard from them again. It's one of the sadder stories from the early hype machine days of the Pitchfork era. To Voxtrot's credit, their album felt rushed and I got the impression that they were pressured to capitalize on the success of their EPs. They released a couple singles after that (I remember one of the tracks, or its b-side, being quite good) and then broke up in 2010. "The Warmest Part of the Winter" is an offshoot from the EP days when the band was at the top of their game, and it's one of those songs that runs over six minutes and feels like three. Something about the calming quality of Ramesh Srivastava's vocals, the soothing slide guitar, and the hearty production that make this track feel like a winter warmer beer with a particularly high ABV.