An assortment of albums to help you enter fully into a wintry state of mind.

Subscribers can listen to a selection of songs from one of my favorite groups of musicians.

1998’s “Rustic Houses, Forlorn Valleys” and 1999’s “The Cycle of Days and Seasons” can be ordered from Norman Records.

One of Opus’ favorite bands gets the deluxe reissue treatment.

Long drives through midwestern nowheres have become forever linked to Hood’s 1999 masterpiece.

Those expecting to hear the pastoral soundscapes that Hood meanders through on their albums might be a bit surprised.

Hood’s music, even in EP form, is as mercurial and affecting as ever, while still managing to hint at exciting things that may come.

Hood updates their pastoral post-rock with glitchy electronics and Anticon hip-hop to create a compelling wintry sound.

Few bands convey the dreariness of the colder seasons, as well as the wistfulness for something better as well as Hood does.

Home Is Where It Hurts contains a healthy dose of the band’s intriguing blend of melancholia, autumnal sounds, and pastoral post-rock.

I say that I’m frustrated by this album because it’s very easy for me to dismiss it, when a part of me knows I should be enraptured by it.