Without seasonal festivities, extreme weather conditions or parties begging to be soundtracked by the latest Top 40 bangers, autumn is mostly a quiet, transitional period. In assembling the fall album selection, the Emerald has chosen eight great records suitable for studying, relaxing or walking in the woods. Four selections are classics you may be familiar with, while the other four are more outré options for the adventurous ear.
Basics:
Elvis Costello – My Aim Is True. Elvis Costello writes songs about the work week rather than school, but the amiably angry tunes on his phenomenal debut My Aim Is True should strike a chord with anyone returning to the daily grind. Costello sings about his responsibilities with equal doses of humor and frustration; he’s in a crappy place, but he can still chuckle about it.
Grizzly Bear – Yellow House. Before their track Two Weeks made them indie superstars, Grizzly Bear made this gorgeous, meditative album of psych-folk soundscapes. Yellow House sounds autumnal, largely because of the sense of unease that hangs over it; though everything is still in bloom, the sense that winter is coming is unavoidable.
Prince – 1999. In addition to being a great album to get drunk indoors to (among other inside activities), 1999 possesses a crisp sound that evokes empty workday streets in the midst of the cold season. In Prince’s world, it’s always raining and everyone is sexy, just like Eugene in fall.
Neil Young – Harvest. It’s hardly his best work, but Neil Young’s 1972 folk-pop opus epitomizes the autumn album, from its name to its idyllic sound to its permeating melancholy and introversion. This is by far the saddest album on this list, so don’t play it at parties.
Next steps:
John Fahey – The Great Santa Barbara Oil Slick. On this spectacular live set from 1968, folk guitar legend John Fahey conjures an entire universe in 76 minutes with nothing but a humble acoustic. While listening to “Oil Slick,” I imagine pastoral, autumnal landscapes with spectacular foliage, but Fahey’s music is so expressive and evocative you may think of something completely different.
Fennesz/Sakamoto – Cendre. This album is a sublime collaboration between two of ambient music’s most gifted instrumentalists. Guitarist-producer Christian Fennesz’s evocative soundscapes, at times evoking wind, rain, thunder and rustling leaves, give Ryuichi Sakamoto’s playful piano motifs ample room to dance around.
Gas – Königsforst. The third installment in Wolfgang Voigt’s four-album, acid-fueled quest to “bring the forest to the disco” as Gas. Spacious, but with a permeating wetness, the tracks on Königsforst evoke a post-rainfall landscape where everything is clean, pristine and awesome-smelling.
Loscil – Endless Falls. Vancouver ambient-dub auteur Loscil’s sixth album is a tribute to the Pacific Northwest’s relentless rainfall, something with which most people reading this likely have ample experience. (It also has a song called “Dub For Cascadia.”)
Follow Daniel Bromfield on Twitter @bromf3