doncbruital (FMA Admin)

It may be getting warmer, folks, but there's no use taking such developments for granted. Just as in the Roman victory parades--during which a slave'd be sure to whisper "Memento mori" to the triumphant general, reminding him that everything fades--I'm here to task you with some remembrances, keep things in perspective, like. What I mean is this: just because the coming summer allows us to undertake a new lap in the Fun & Happiness parade doesn't mean that dread wintry Cold, meanest of all and prone to sneaking up, won't do just that before we know it.

To offset any unpleasant surprises, I hereby offer the following pre-summer weather-warding coldness mix, in handy playlist form to keep by your bedside any night you think you might be getting too close to taking what ought to be a killer summer for granted. Most of the songs dip into realms of cool distance via instrumentation and stylistic reference points, while others retain that dour wintry subject matter. Still others are simply spooky, in a way that actively shirks pleasant warmth. Each song points, thanks to the invaluable network that is the FMA, to a universe of further hits and cold-recall-joggers, so seek them out. It's a playlist, but I tried to make it nice and talismanic; use it judiciously and respectfully as you would an evil eye or any other instrument which meddles in unseen orders, staying true to the notion that a good way to keep safe and sane in the next few hot months is to never be far from a recognition of the cold that lies just round the corner.