01/09/04
33Autumn Soundtrack
Hurrah. Today is September 1st, and (in book anyway) the first day of Autumn, my favourite time of the year.
This is the time when the sunlight is golden, low and casts long stretched shadows. The grass returns to lush green, and leaves turn, but the days are still (relatively) warm. Yes sir, I love this time of year, and it also makes me want to listen to a particular kind of music. Slow, introspective, often acoustic, maybe a touch melancholy, but never depressing.
Due the limitations of iMix (most of these aren’t available on the iTunes Music Store) here it is in screengrab form:
To also get us into the mood, P22 Type Foundry have released Stanyan Autumn, “a set of three fonts based upon a casual hand lettering text created by Anthony Goldschmidt for the deluxe 1969 edition of the book ”...and autumn came” by Rod McKuen”. Nice.
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Small Paul said 1449 days ago:
Oooooh, not A Wolf At The Door! C’mon! A too-hurried Radiohead track if ever there was one.Sorry: your choice. I’d suggest ‘Kids Will Be Skeletons’, by Mogwai (from ‘Happy Songs For Happy People’).
Colly said 1449 days ago:
Ooh, Interpol. Lief Erikson is a personal fave. Have you heard ‘The Specialist’ by them – on some EP or other – greatest Interpol track. And Curve! Hmmm, Toni Halliday – indie goddess of the early 90s.We’re showing our age, Jon…Brian Warren said 1449 days ago:
Impressed I am, Jon, to see both Vigilantes of Love and Over the Rhine in your list! Be still my heart!Dave S. said 1449 days ago:
Ahh, autumn. (My favorit season too)My music this time of year falls into two categories: ethereal and Canadian. The former is usually, surprise, slower and melancholy. The latter… well, autumn really is Canada’s time of year to shine. It just feels right.
Jon Hicks said 1449 days ago:
Dave, I hope you’ve got some Bruce Cockburn on your list. He’s your best export!RMCox said 1449 days ago:
Over the Rhine is really great and I’m not sure why, but I’m surprised to see that in this list (I’m glad it’s there, tho!). Kristin Hersh is good for the turning leaves as well and I think there’s something to be said for Cat Power, though for the most part those two artists are less than uplifting—which is to say you wouldn’t want to mix either with a certain Black Box Recorder song…Autumn is my favorite season, it stirs all these restless emotions and memories of misspent youth and possibility.
western dave said 1449 days ago:
hmmm…very nice list. i’m with small paul, you do need some mogwai on there. ‘last day of summer’ by the cure is a nice autumn song. also, ‘fall’ by elvis costello. maybe a little ‘such great heights’ by iron and wine. now i’m going to have to put together my own autumn songs. thanks jon. btw, ‘sweet songs’ is one of my all time favs.giddy up
Rob Mientjes said 1449 days ago:
Hmmm… My $.02: Faithless: Outrospective. The whole album. “Crazy English Summer” is just an ode to the aftersummer period and “Not Enuff Love” is fit for a rainy night.JD Myers said 1449 days ago:
Autumn is a great time of year. Crisp mornings and slightly cool evenings are the best. Check out the haunting sounds of October Project if you haven’t. “Ariel” a good song to start with, but their whole self-titled album is good.Jon Hicks said 1449 days ago:
RMCox – There would be more OTR on there, but a lot of the earlier stuff I have is only on tape. Must try and get the CD’s…Thanks for the suggestions – I’ll try those out.
JD – I have the self-titled album, but only on tape unfortunately!
Ahmaud Templeton said 1449 days ago:
My favorite autumn song(s) right now have to be ‘Liquid’ by Jars of Clay, ‘Scientist Studies’ and ‘Stability’ by Death Cab For Cutie. I love taking a drive on a cool fall day, windows down and music cranking.spkelly said 1449 days ago:
Add some Dead Can Dance, a few Brendan Perry and Lis Gerrard’s respective solo numbers, a bit of Sigur Ros, a handful of choice Sixious numbers, a bit of Madredeus…Ah, roll on the dark evenings.
nik taylor said 1449 days ago:
Autumn is the month where we wrap up warm, walk hand in hand and watch the children running through leaves. Then rush home for a cup of tea and hot buttered muffins.As for a soundtrack I can think of nothing more mellow than anything by The Blue Nile, Nick Drake or Kathryn Williams. The perfect chill after a crazy summer.
Ste Grainer said 1449 days ago:
Since I see you have Starflyer 59 and Over the Rhine, might I suggest Caedmon’s Call? Their music always puts me in an autumnal mood; it’s also wonderful for road trips. It’s quite a bit more folky (and US southern-rockish), but quite entertaining. My favorite albums are their first self-titled album and “Long Line of Leavers,” but I also like “40 Acres” and “Back Home” quite a bit. (Checking, I see that Caedmon’s Call has several albums on iTunes, though sadly not their original one.) Particular songs to check out: Dance, Ballad of San Francisco, Table for Two, The Kingdom, Thousand MilesBurlap to Cashmere is also a wonderful group, though they sadly broke up after only one album. I love designing to their music. (They are also available via iTunes.) No particular songs – they are all great.
Abe said 1449 days ago:
Funny, I just started working on a playlist called “Fall Nostalgia”. Songs to match the season, mostly happy with a touch of melancholy. Here’s what I’ve got so far:* Dignified and Old – The Modern Lovers, Precise Modern Lovers Order
* Wait – Death Cab for Cutie, You Can Play These Songs with Chords
* Bill – Tin Hat Trio, The Rodeo Eroded
* Away With the Pixies – Ben Lee, Grandpaw Would
* Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying – Belle and Sebastian, If Your’re Feeling Sinister
* (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction – Cat Power, The Covers Record
* Pretty Good Year – Tori Amos, Under the Pink
and of course, the ultimate Fall song:
* Autumn Sweater – Yo La Tengo
mathew h. said 1449 days ago:
suggested additions:the crying of lot g – yo la tengo
cheers darlin’ – damien rice
i’ve more but skipping through tracks on my ipod, i stopped at:
oh word? – beastie boys
and had to listen to it. sorry about that. :)
-m
S. Baum said 1449 days ago:
TryGrim Reapers and Haunted Melancholy: Music of Autumn over at Fast ‘n’ Bulbous for another go at this topic, albeit a bit more in the “classical ” vein.
S. Baum said 1449 days ago:
The HTML didn’t take in the previous comment, so try:http://www.fastnbulbous.com/autumn.htm.
Matt said 1449 days ago:
I seem to find songs like ‘Decades’, ‘Atmosphere’ and ‘The Eternal’ perfect for Autumn. Perfect without a fault. Joy Division always managed to merge the meloncholy of Winter with the bliss and hope of Autumn. Some songs even bordered on leaning towards the birth of beginning that is Spring.Autumn is a wonderful season. I am glad I was born in Autumn. My website is related to Autumn. I wrote a poem that turned into a song for Autumn.
In conclusion; Autumn rocks my socks.
Travis Schmeisser said 1449 days ago:
perfect autmn name oo..http://www.thealbumleaf.com/
Travis Schmeisser said 1449 days ago:
perfect autmn name too..http://www.thealbumleaf.com/
Richard Earney said 1448 days ago:
Radiohead – ScatterbrainBlur – Coffee and TV (has a similar feel to Sweet Song)
Seth Thomas Rasmussen said 1448 days ago:
I was listening to “Another Lonely Day” and “Burn One Down” by Ben Harper. That’s some good mellow tuneage.Nick Drake, man, Nick Drake!
I gotta get back to work now…
Seth Thomas Rasmussen said 1448 days ago:
Most of the Garden State soundtrack would probably jive your turkey, as well. Highly recommended (as is the film!) if you aren’t savvy already.Florian Idelberger said 1448 days ago:
mmmh. autumn is the best season ever!at least imho. like jon said, the light is good, going for a walk is really refreshing when the gras is still wet in the morning, first sunbeams gleam through the tops of the trees…
But mybe I just like it because it means my birthday is getting nearer. :) Though not very likely.
At the moment my favourite autumn song is “god put a smile upon your face” by coldplay.
Martin Bekkelund said 1447 days ago:
I would recommend the Norwegian band, “Ugress”. You find them at http://www.ugress.com/, where you can download MP3’s.PS. Love your site! :-)
Best regards,
Martin
Jason said 1447 days ago:
The Clientele sums up “Autumn music” for me perfectly. Extremely dreamy, nostalgic tunes, great melodies, breathy vocals… it’s all there.http://www.theclientele.co.uk/
Lana said 1447 days ago:
I might also add “Making days last longer” by RJD2.Tino said 1446 days ago:
I agree, the Garden State Soundtrack is excellent … love the Colin Hay track. I think you’d like it, Jon.Tony said 1444 days ago:
How about Chicane’s “Autumn Tactics” – another slow, dreamy autumnal track.Donnie said 1444 days ago:
If we are going to talk about Radiohead in Autumn, we have to mention, Sail to the moon, Let Down or No Surprises – personally I think OK Computer is a great cd for Autumn.Matt said 1441 days ago:
Try Viva Last Blues by Palace Music. It’s moody, chilly, wistful, – just perfect for autumn. I personally believe that it’s a sort of song-by-song parallel album to Neil Young’s Harvest, another perfect one for the fall.marty said 1435 days ago:
Autumn Sweater by Yo La Tengo is a perfect autumnal song. Helpfully it also has ‘autumn’ in the title. In fact pretty much any YLT song has a hazy, autumnal feel to it. Even the ones on the Summer Sun album. Go figure.Not quite sure how a song called ‘July’ fits the bill, though.