“Horchata” by Vampire Weekend, Contra 2010.

The first track off of Vampire Weekend’s forthcoming album strikes me as an incredibly perfect winter song. (We’ll skip the preamble about whether Vampire Weekend are a bunch of self-involved ivy league dandies who make overly precious Wes Anderson music, or are a bunch of self-involved ivy league dandies who make really very good and catchy Wes Anderson music.) The use of the cascading vocals and the delicate, plinky marimba makes “Horchata” sound like a modernized Christmas carol: one that has to do with drinking hot milk and wearing a balaclava, rather than anything religious. Now that Seattle has become a frigid wonderland of permafrost, I thought it the perfect tune to put some bounce into the day.