Albums for Autumn
As we settle into fall, the changing leaves and brisk weather provide the perfect conditions for a good stroll down Reed College Place. This walk offers both physical and mental exercise, with the timeless entertainment of counting the ludicrous number of neoclassical columns on the buildings and the bizarrely high count of houses with the exact same waving light-up skeleton in their windows. However, my favorite pastime while walking this route is listening to a really solid album. As an avid practitioner of this activity, I’ve assembled a list of albums that I think are perfectly suited for such an autumnal promenade.
I Can Feel the Heart Beating as One - Yo La Tengo
This album contains the very suitable “Autumn Sweater,” making it a prime contender for inclusion on this list. Beyond that, the rest of the album is full of everything from instrumental grooves to catchy tunes. While I often gravitate toward the more pop-oriented songs on the tracklist, I take the time to listen to the album in full when I walk, including all ten minutes and 40 seconds of “Spec Bebop.”
Fun Trick Noisemaker - The Apples in Stereo
Something about fall makes me turn to ‘90s indie rock, I guess. This is the first album by The Apples in Stereo and it contains many short tracks with a lo-fi sound, interspersed with vintage samples talking about satellite communications for some reason. Songs like “Winter Must Be Cold” and “Tidal Wave” even come close to describing the current season.
The Head on the Door - The Cure
The song “Six Different Ways” from this album is one of my favorite Cure songs for inexplicable and circumstantial reasons. I vividly remember when I first heard this song over the fall break of my freshman year, which has stuck in my mind ever since and caused me to associate this album with fall. The Head on the Door is relatively peppy, with abstract and ominous meanings lying dormant in the songs’ lyrics, inviting close listening.
Blonde on Blonde - Bob Dylan
It’s basically impossible to have fun in the sun listening to Bob Dylan’s subpar vocals and ear-splitting harmonica. This is fall music. I have long been hesitant to properly listen to Bob Dylan due to his bad singing and oversized reputation among pretentious high schoolers who just discovered records, but I am learning to recognize the fact that sometimes annoying people can be right. I also really like “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again” for its nonsensical lyrics.
New Skin for the Old Ceremony - Leonard Cohen
On a deeper level than my feelings on Bob Dylan, I like the music of Leonard Cohen a lot, but I can’t listen to it on the regular without deeply disturbing my mental feng shui. Cohen displays a level of playfulness on this album that is less present on some of my other favorites in his discography. This comparative upbeat quality distinguishes New Skin from the really bitter winter albums like Songs of Love and Hate and his self-titled debut.
Hot Fuss - The Killers
Recently, I’ve been getting really into this album, which I previously avoided due to how much “Mr. Brightside” gets overplayed. I have a particular fascination with the album’s centerpiece, “All These Things That I’ve Done,” which perfectly conveys a vaguely nostalgic and hedonistic atmosphere that I enjoy, although I freely admit that this song is unnecessarily long. Overall, Hot Fuss makes me feel nonchalant and powerful when walking around at night.
Alles Wieder Offen - Einstürzende Neubauten
This album features a lot of quietly building noise that conveys the contemplation I associate with fall evenings. While Einstürzende Neubauten is best known for making harsh industrial music in the ‘80s, Alles Wieder Offen offers a more toned-down undercurrent of noise. I find this album to be a great soundtrack for studying, which holds my interest without being distracting. I particularly enjoy “Nagorny Karabach” and the slow sonic buildup of the title track.
White Light From the Mouth of Infinity - Swans
I listen to this album frequently in both fall and spring, so I feel like it has an appropriately liminal energy that appeals to my state of mind in both of these transitional seasons. A lot of the Swans discography is pretty depressing, but this album is sonically a bit lighter and more traditional than many other entries. I find the overall listening experience to be quite comforting. All of the tracks are around five minutes long, calling for a closer listen over a longer period of time and making this album perfect for a meandering, reflective walk.
