Fall means at least two things to me: football and listening to music at a different temperature. Walking outside first thing in the morning and hearing Zola Jesus when it’s 57 degrees out is entirely different than when it’s a milky 93 degrees. (Sorry, southern California. Ya’ll got blackouts and heat waves now?). Where warm weather lifts the burden of a song, cold weather adds gravity to it. Summer songs are trickling off now, and whilst I enjoy that fiscal freedom where there’s no heat or air conditioning bills, I’m beginning to dust off those droning, foreboding bummer jams to keep me company for the winter ahead. Summery pop sounds especially frivolous against the fall breeze; everything is more serious. Even these intros, apparently.
-Jeremy D. Larson
Content Director
Kathleen Edwards – “Wapusk” (Feat. Bon Iver)
Ive been sitting in a newly repainted room for the past couple hours, and the paint fumes may or may not be having a direct effect on why Im so into this mp3 at this particular moment. But even before the fumes set in, I knew this was a track Id be including. Full transparency: I only listened to this track because it said Bon Iver on it, and now Im totally ashamed. I should have been a little more focused on Kathleen Edwards, who will take your heart and crush it to pieces, only to put it all back together again, leaving you one very happy individual. Reportedly, Edwards recorded this in Vernons studio on his nylon-stringed guitar, and just like that the song was born. To clarify, Vernon does appear on the track, providing some backing vocals, but he acted mostly as a producer. At any rate, check it out. Youll be glad you did. –WR
Justice – “Audio, Video, Disco”
Its going to be a hallmark year in the de Rosnay and Augé households this fall. Not only are they going to follow up their masterpiece of a debut, , with Audio, Video, Disco, theyre doing it cryptically and systematically, which makes it more fun for everyone involved. After dropping bits and pieces of their first single, Civilization, we started receiving word that another was on the way. A live unveiling of Audio, Video, Disco began hitting YouTube a week or so back, and now we have the actual studio, followed by one of my favorite music videos this year. It may not be as in-your-face, get-out-of-your-chair-and-dance invoking as D.A.N.C.E. was, but its teeming with energy and will have no problem winning crowds over across the world as Justice continue to plot their domination. –WR
Los Campesinos! – “By Your Hand”
Everybody, now! “By your hand is the only end I foresee.” Can’t help but fall top over tail for this track; there’s something about resigned fate coupled with indie twee shout choruses that makes me feel like I’m finally understood. -JL
Los Campesinos! By Your Hand
M83 – “Intro” (Feat. Zola Jesus)
For those who havent yet heard M83s blazing album opener with vocals compliments of Zola Jesus, it will blow you away. For those who have, lets all take a second and just admire what a triumphant introduction this is into the journey that is Hurry Up, Were Dreaming. -WR
Modeselektor – “Shipwreck” (Feat. Thom Yorke), “This” (Feat. Thom Yorke), “Pretentious Friends” (Feat. Busdriver)
Well, you see, I was just gonna include German electronic duo Modeselektors collaboration with L.A. emcee Busdriver, but then Thom Yorke took over the internet, as he is prone to doing. So this is a three-for-one deal. Not only do you get to hear both tracks that feature Thom Yorke from Modeselektors forthcoming effort, but you can also get your rap fill. Now everybody say, Thank you, Modeselektor. I dont want to say which I like best just yet, but Shipwrecked is going to blow your mind. –WR
“Shipwreck (Feat. Thom Yorke)”
“This (Feat. Thom Yorke)”
“Pretentious Friends (Feat. Busdriver)”
Robin Pecknold – “I Let You”
For those of you who arent totally Fleet Fox-ed out, weve got another cut for you. No word on whether its just a solo track that belongs to Robin Pecknold or if we should log this away as a future Fleet Foxes release. Regardless, its here. Courtesy of 107.7, stream the track below. Its a slow, haunting, acoustic track that deals with the usual subject matter: longing, some unnamed characters, and a whole lot of descriptive scenery. –WR
Psychic Ills – “Hazed Dream”
I had a phaser pedal once, and its egregious use on this track is the only real way to use the effect — a smokey backdrop for a lolling psych dream. A slight dream, though, like those pre-somnia lucid ones that don’t quite get away from you. Lead singer of the NYC-based group Tres Warren chose to describe the feeling of the new album as such: “Getting back to something. Feeling a feeling. Shaking out the NY brain boil. Movin away from some old bad vibes, by creating some new good ones. Dreaming out the bad. Takin it easy on ourselves, and those around us.” There room on that vibe train for one more? -JL
PUJOL – “Mayday”
The sarcastic snarl of Daniel Pujol matches the syncs right up with the pile of bluesy trash that backs him. It truly is filthy, beastly, and brief, and it could underscore any number of montages from fraternal reveries in the back of a pickup truck. But “This song,” Pujol says, “is about my friend Richard Houston attaining maximum grooviness by harnessing different viewpoints to gain a clearer perspective aside from feigning teenage omniscience. I remember that first joint, too. -JL
WU LYF – “Go Tell Fire (reprise)”
One of my favorite albums of the year gets an alternate ending and some commentary: ”This cut was always meant to end Go Tell Fire to the Mountain, trail in after “heavy pop” fades. But we couldnt figure it right; took 10 months of perspective to conclude, Elle rearranged and recorded it last night…” Listen here -JL
Zola Jesus – “Seekir”
The second track from Zola Jesus’s forthcoming album on Sacred Bones — who, as you may notice from Sacred Bone’s previous entry on this list, currently have the most aesthetically pleasing cover layout for a record label around — pairs mood and rhythm in a dark corridor with Nika Roza Danilova’s round voice filling every corner. It’s eerie the way the synths behind the beat sound like they’re playing a totally different ball game, the way pop music should be. -JL
