Tuesday, September 25, 2007 | by nathan

Fall Music: A Little Farther From The Sun

Fall is here, officially, if not quite weather-wise, yet. Fall is the time of possibility, for me; it’s the beginning of holiday celebrations, of harvests, of leaf changes and cool weather that lets us finally, finally relax and enjoy the things we’ve wrought all year, instead of planning, working, planning, working, planning. Fall is a time of mellowness for me, so I’ve constructed a new playlist for the joyous-yet-downbeat mood I’m always in during autumn.

I take a lot of walks once the weather gets cool. In fall sometimes the rain falls and it’s cloudy and I’m pensive. Other times, the sun is shining and it’s cold, and that’s my favorite type of weather. Fall is the time for walking, thinking, reflecting, processing, enjoying. This music helps me to do that:

Amos Lee’s latest album is the perfect walking album. It’s melodic, thoughtful, and a bit quirky. Amos is a brilliant songwriter and artist, and his genius is put to absolute use on this record. It’s simple but intelligent, which, to me, is the perfect thing for music to be; defying genres, Lee creates something that’s at once humble and iconic. It always reminds me of a cold day, with my coat-collar up, kicking piles of leaves as they blow across my path. Favorite tracks include the first, "Shout Out Loud," "Long Line of Pain," and "Skipping Stone."

Pardon me while I give my friend David a plug. Seriously, though? Amazing album, which I’ve been listening to a lot lately, especially when it rains. Perhaps the title, "Gardening in a Tornado," is what is inspiring this Pants-ness, but whatever it is, I gotta send David a fruit basket for making this CD. Favorite tracks include "The Gift," "Baby Don’t Cry," "Shine Through Me" and "Gardening in a Tornado." If you click on that image up there you can purchase the album from CD Baby, where you can also sample tracks.

I’ve probably had this on a playlist recently, but I effing gawl-darn love it. Ever since Brian and I caught Brandi Carlile at the Fillmore with the Indigo Girls in June, I’ve been playing this album over and over, mostly in my head, because music like this doesn’t really go with hot weather. Now that autumn is arriving I’m reveling in the mellow sadness in her voice, that delicate wail on songs like "Cannonball" and sweet, sweet harmonies on "Josephine."

There’s something seriously wrong with you if you don’t like Lucinda Williams, at least in theory. The album is titled "West," which is exactly what it sounds like: all those miles and years driving around Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle with my family as a child. My favorites right now are "Mama You Sweet," "Learning to Live" and "Fancy Funeral," but it changes daily. I’m not sure I could love this album more if I wanted to.

Okay, confession time: I’ve never been a big fan of Wilco. I’d say that I appreciate Wilco in the same way I appreciate Seinfeld - I understand that a lot of people enjoy it, but every time I came to it, I felt like, "I don’t get it." That changed with Sky Blue Sky, which I’m absolutely loving the hell out of. It’s exactly what I’ve been needing, and I’m thinking maybe I’ll sit up tonight and catch an episode of Seinfeld on TBS. You can call this album what you want, but it’s basically just country; it’s a worthier successor to Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard’s legacies than Toby Keith.

That’s the new stuff. EVERY autumn I pull out three CDs that almost never leave rotation: Ten Thousand Days by Bebo Norman, Give Up by the Postal Service and Running On Ice by Vertical Horizon. I won’t link images or post reviews because I’ve done so before, but if you don’t have those albums I’d recommend you get them.

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