Every season seems to have a mood set by the changing scenery. Fall is especially pronounced: Time to pull out the sweaters, drink more tea, enjoy the pumpkin sightings, and watch the trees change colors. As the air cools, the days grow shorter, and our hands grow colder, so too do we adjust our accompanying album shuffle. We switch from indie pop to folk, from glam rock to instrumental ambient. Indie Shuffle contributors have compiled their favorite albums for autumn.
So what did we pick? Below are our favorite fall-time albums, with our favorite song from each, made available for your listening pleasure. You’ll find that we’re slowing it down, we’re getting introspective and most importantly, we’re going back to basics. Many of these albums are beautiful in their simplicity. All of them have an emotional effect. We felt it was especially important to include Neil Young’s “Harvest,” the sound of which we hear echoing through the newer artists on this list. This is only Part I of our albums for fall mix. Check back next week for part II, now time to mellow out to these autumn sounds. – Jessica Alatorre
Jose Gonzalez - Down The Line
The first album I switch to as autumn sets in is that of Jose Gonzalez. The guitar picking, delicately textured sounds, and solemn emotion juxtapose the vibrant sunsets that come with cooler days. This album won’t leave you feeling upbeat, but it never brings you down. Just beneath the surface lie sounds of hope.
The same feeling we get when a hot chocolate warms our hands after a walk through the trees, the trees beckoning the shorter days ahead. Raspy melting voices and acoustic folk lend itself so well to the changing season. “Down the Line” is the one song that reminds me how beautiful fall can be.
Pinback - Loro
Pinback’s most recent album is titled Autumn of the Seraphs. Why then, you might be asking, do I feel that this album is more appropriate for fall? Frankly, this album puts me in the mood for Autumn, while their latest effort does not. This Is a Pinback CD is the debut album by the indie rock band Pinback, first released in October, 1999.
I’ll be honest: that was way before I had a clue who Pinback was. Since then, however, they have become one of my favorite groups. There is a delicate yet authentic sensibility to this album. Take for example the above song, Loro, which has a rhythmic and warm sound to it — almost a lullaby of sorts. I don’t think you could get much more fall than that. Oh, wait! This is only number 2 on our list?
Iron & Wine - Cinders and Smoke
This album was a gimme (and there was consensus among all of us). Acoustic guitar and that angelic voice? What more could you want in a folk-feeling fall album. Our Endless Numbered Days is the second full-length album of Iron & Wine.
Released in March of 2004, it was the first non-solo effort by Sam Beam under his Iron & Winemoniker. The album marked a change in the group’s sound, as it was their first record produced in a professional studio. The above song, Cinders and Smoke, has ranked highly on my Fall playlist for the last five years.
Paul Curreri - Songs for Devon Sproule
This album, recorded in only two days, feels like falling in love quickly. There’s a beautiful note of hesitation, and ultimate letting go. Paul Curreri’s fast guitar strumming, emotion-filled vocals, and lyrics that sounds like love letters, make this album a classic for the fall season.
The album is reflective, with a range of moods, and there is simplicity to enjoy as one man beats his foot on wooden floors to keep beat with his guitar. With this album, the lyrics are especially important; just listen to “Letting Us Be” or “Beneath a Crozet Nestle Bridge.”
Bob Dylan - Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
Even the most minimally musically inclined person knows and understands the importance of Bob Dylan on folk music and the country as a whole. As we all know, Dylan is widely viewed as the father of folk music; the man who iconically resisted the system and in turn changed everything. Perhaps the most widely covered album of all time, the Freewheelin Bob Dylan was Dylan’s first album of completely original compositions.
The Bob Dylan we experience on this album was one who was yet to be affected by the crushing pressure of mainstream media and legions of admirers. What we experience on the album are the same emotions that come to surface as the leaves change and winter nears: beauty and frustration; appreciation and atonement; satisfying complexity…”You can be in my dream if I can be in yours…”
Broken Social Scene - Love and Mathematics
Before Broken Social Scene received critical acclaim for their soaring indie rock classic, “You Forgot it In People,” they were making some damn good instrumental post-rock. Feel Good Lost is often overlooked, but is still a fantastic collection of the bands numerous talents, and a very promising debut.
Musically, their introspective, meandering jams suggest slower times, making it an excellent transition from the hot, fun days of summer. As the title indicates though, this is far from a bad thing. This is a perfect album to put on your headphones, lay back, and enjoy the fall scenery to.
The Books - There Is No There
The books have worked their way into my heart with their warm, wacky instrumental style. On any given day, I could easily put them in my “Top 10 favorite bands of all time.” The Lemon of Pink was released in 2003, bringing together a collage of samples, vocals and acoustic instrumentation.
Perhaps it’s the warm acoustic background that help to identify this album with fall. After all, something has to make up for the hectic sampling. This album sports no individual tracks: it’s a flowing work of art that I absolutely integrate with any Autumn experience.
Animal Collective - Banshee Bat
Layering shimmering guitars, warm ambient drones, and spritely harmonies, Animal Collective albums tend to create a world of their own, and Feels is a particularly inviting one. It also happens to be reminiscent of cooler days, soft breezes, and sometimes a festive spirit with multicolored soundscapes that feel like a sweater-clad autumn stroll.
And as Avey Tare and Panda Bear yelp, screech, whimper, and cool lyrics about love, regret, and reflection, you can’t help but feel like times are changing and new beginnings are on their way.
Do Make Say Think - Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!
Any album with the word 'winter' in the title may seem like a strange choice for an essential fall album, but make no mistake; Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn is much more evocative of crunching leaves than it is of falling snow. The progressive musicality of Do Make Say Think seems to capture many complex emotions associated with fall: reflection, change, settling down, and the promise of darker times to come.
But even with the knowledge of an approaching winter, from the morning stretch of “Fredericia” to the closing celebration of “Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!”, this is much more concerned with taking time to glorify and enjoy the mild sweater weather and the beautiful autumn colors.
Neil Young - Old Man
Neil Young's Harvest was the best selling album of 1972 and for the most part the album that elevated him to international fame. Some may argue that Harvest is more of a country rock album than it is folk, but to me, songs like "harvest," "heart of gold," and "man needs a maid" are some of the more beautiful compositions in the history of the genre.
The simple lyrics and melodies can be perceived thousands of different ways depending on who you are, your mood, or where you're from. I've always openly admitted that "old man," a song about an old cowboy on neil young's ranch, is my favorite folk song of all time. With Harvest, Neil Young's haunting tenor voice, poetic lyrics, and simple melodies flow together to form pure brilliance.