Like a lot of people, I have a habit of associating music with the seasons. The Beastie Boys, for example, are good summer-listening music, while Dave Brubeck sounds best during the three frigid months of winter.
My favorite batch of music is what I like to refer to as “fall music.” I don’t know what it is about this music that makes it sound better during autumn, but (at least in my brain) that fact exists nonetheless.
Listed here (in no particular order) are my top ten favorite albums of fall. Some of them you’ve more than likely heard, while others might be a little more obscure. I encourage you to give all of them a listen, especially before December 21st.
If you have any of your own personal fall favorites, be sure to list them below in the comments section.
SHADY’S TOP TEN FAVORITE ALBUMS OF FALL
1. DJ Shadow “Endtroducing…”
2. Air “The Virgin Suicides: Original Motion Picture Score”
3. Moby “Play”
4. Rjd2 “Deadringer”
5. Nine Inch Nails “The Downward Spiral”
6. Radiohead “Kid A”
7. Portishead “Dummy”/”Portishead” (tie)
8. Plastikman “Consumed”
9. The Roots “Things Fall Apart”
10. Marvin Pontiac “The Legendary Marvin Pontiac”
Tricky and Tool are eleven and twelve,
26 comments
Comments feed for this article
October 19, 2009 at 3:46 pm
lille
mr. ‘i hate radiohead’
October 19, 2009 at 3:49 pm
DoriZori
thanks for the thursday afternoon playlist, sucka!
October 19, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Kittridge
Where’s Lady Gaga?
October 19, 2009 at 3:56 pm
dwellephant
1. DJ Shadow – “…Endtroducing”
2. The Slackers – “Wasted Days”
3. Vic Ruggiero – “Understanding New Jersey / Living In Sin”
4. Lesser Birds of Paradise – “Space Between”
5. 13 + God – “13 + God”
6. Jolie Holland – “Escondida”
7. Andrew Bird – “The Mysterious Production of Eggs”
8. The Slackers – “Close My Eyes”
9. Anything by Megafaun
10. Rjd2 – “Deadringer”
Although I’d like to also go on record as saying, during the early parts of our Bosom Buddie-ness, you spent most of Fall listening to Cake and Soul Coughing.
October 19, 2009 at 4:02 pm
jshady
“Wasted Days” and “The Mysterious Production of Eggs” almost made my list, too.
And you’re right about the early years.
And Lille, you clearly missed my “I used to hate Radiohead…” post on “The Blarg.” Knob.
Oh, and I hope Lady Gaga dies.
October 19, 2009 at 4:03 pm
jshady
Oh! And “Tooth” by Da Whole Thing!
Shit, I might have to expand this into a Top Twenty.
October 19, 2009 at 4:39 pm
dwellephant
Thus the problem with lists. And Lille.
October 19, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Brian Battle
Ha! I was about to tell Lille that Shady has turned the “I h8 rAdioheadz” corner.
I tend to fixate on whimsical early fall. I like this list — it spans the whole season from Virgin Suicides to Dummy to Kid A… I see a hazy warm autumn slipping into December.
October 19, 2009 at 5:16 pm
dave
As soon as I get a computer, I am gonna burn those albums from you.
October 19, 2009 at 5:21 pm
jshady
Or you could just give me blanks and we could do it here.
October 19, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Stephanie
Love this list. Some of your faves are some of mine, too. My all time favorite album however is Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins. Sorry if that makes me less cool.
October 19, 2009 at 10:43 pm
jshady
No way! I still love that album. Just listened to it a few weeks ago.
October 19, 2009 at 11:37 pm
Josh Peters
It’s weird you bring this up because so much music is seasonal for me. Even more so, it takes me to a certain time in my life. I can’t say anything within the last ten years or so has been as indelible to me as the music I heard as a child. When I was a kid, I can remember playing in my front yard with Star Wars figures while my mom made dinner and played her vinyl records. But Hotel California/Long Run/Live by the Eagles, Journey and Boston, Beatles, Willie Nelson, Styx… when I hear them, I think of my Mom and I think of a cool, crisp, sunny fall afternoon and remember how hard it was to find all your fucking figures in a pile of leaves.
October 20, 2009 at 10:44 am
Paul
Wow, so many memories….
I LOVE Siamese Dream – reminds me of when I used to work on the carnival circuit….a LONG time ago!
Portisehead and Dummy were my wife’s favourite albums when we first met: they were the soundtrack to us failing in love… and DJ Shadow….we went to see some kind of a modern dance recital set to Entroducing in Newcastle on our first official date , (it was better than it sounds!)
October 20, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Voltaire
David Jordan’s “Sun Goes Down” is awesome for fall. Everytime I hear it, which is rare since it’s such a random little song, I imagine pagan peasants dancing around a bonfire slowly working themselves up into a frenzy.
October 20, 2009 at 2:23 pm
lille
no i read that post! but i like to tease you about NOW professing your love for radiohead anyway. HAAHAHAH
October 20, 2009 at 2:24 pm
lille
p.s. milwan your #s 6-9 are also on my list!
October 20, 2009 at 2:25 pm
jshady
I’m gonna have to look that up, Voltaire. Thanks!
And Lille, I don’t LOVE Radiohead. I just think they’re pretty alright. There’s a difference! At least in my head.
October 20, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Paul
Radiohead are pap
October 22, 2009 at 9:29 am
Alex
Good list, but it’s a bit of a cop-out putting Dummy/Portishead as joint 7th. You gotta pick one of them, I reckon, but I only say that cos there’s a long running debate between me and a mate on which is better (I say Dummy)
October 22, 2009 at 3:03 pm
jshady
Well, to be honest, if I really had to pick one it would probably be “Portishead” then. It just feels like a more cohesive album from start to finish.
I listed them both, however, because they are so similar.
October 22, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Stephanie
Josh Peters – a lot of the vinyl you listed were huge in my life, too. Although we are Desperado fans over Hotel California every day of the week. I have been listening to Red Headed Stranger by Willie Nelson over and over for about a month now. And I can’t eat breakfast on a Sunday morning without wanting to hear Cat Stevens.
October 22, 2009 at 5:06 pm
jshady
“Red Headed Stranger” is Willie at his finest. “Teatro” too.
October 22, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Stephanie
Now I’m going crazy… I forgot my iPod today and really want to listen to Willie!
October 22, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Crap! « THE BLARG
[...] October 22, 2009 in Blogs! | Tags: "Mezzanine", "Things Fall Apart", forgot, list, Massive Attack, my bad, The Roots, top ten albums of fall I totally forgot to include Massive Attack’s “Mezzanine” on this list! [...]
October 26, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Four movies, three albums and one book… « THE BLARG
[...] Proposition” and many more. How good is it? Next year you’ll be able to find it on this list. Yep. It’s that [...]