Well, well, well if you’re anything like me you’ve probably just blinked and realised that its’s now Autumn! It’s a strange time as seasons change and as human beings, with any change comes a mixed bag of emotions. So, I wanted to do something creative with my time and in the process help with any glumness that might be looming as we wind our clocks back for another year.
So here it goes! 10 Songs for a Changing Season. Over the next 30 – 40 minutes as you sit on your bed, on the train to work or pretend to look busy as someone you don’t want to acknowledge walks past, we’ve got tracks both young and old that’ll capture all the nostalgia of this changing season. Everything from the feeling when you hear the first leaves crush when you jump off the tram near Carlton Gardens or skipping down Swanston Street with that nervous apprehension of what exciting things winter in Melbourne brings. I’ll do my best to keep it intriguing ‘cos if you’re anything like me you have the attention span of a Goldfish. I’ll do my best to keep it intriguing ‘cos if you’re anything like me you have the attention span of a Goldfish. Haha, anyway…
Now that I’ve got you let’s not waste time, I thought long and hard about which track would be up first and we have a winner with this one.
10. I Said I’m Sorry – British India (Thieves Shock, Flashpoint 2008)
With it’s moody intro, the lead single from British India’s second record has all the frustration of not getting all we wanted to done in what was a great Melbourne summer. Percussion and lead guitar begin to build as Declan Melia’s vocals sing out over the grungy melody. It’ll have you tapping your finger on the rail on the way up the escalator at Melbourne Central and wanting to jump around on one foot playing air guitar. The perfect first up song for some motivation and energy to tick a few things off of the to-do list at this time of year. For me, that’s cleaning the fridge and changing the batteries in the smoke detector.
9. Archangel – Chet Faker (Cover)
First thing that comes to mind when listening to the vocals of Chet Faker is wow. This track just makes me want to sit deep in thought, stroking what I think is a pretty awesome beard and sing along with, Chet. It oozes walking around on a coolish Saturday afternoon observing the shadows of clouds as they blow over the buildings in the city on a breeze, ever lingering in the alleyways of Melbourne. You’ll zone out and get a quick reality check as you cross the street in a daydream and have a close call with a skateboarder wearing a beanie and a flannelette shirt, kind of ironic really. As the track winds up and you sink back into normality all I can think of is the sound of the burr that is the skateboard deck on the bitumen and the image of freedom that sound will always hold for me. That will always be cool in my book – any day.
I wanted to include the live video of, Chet at the Newstead Butter Factory on December 10 of 2012. A powerful piece of music and a video that will give you goosebumps. These gents are talented musicians. Enjoy.
8. I Will Follow You Into The Dark – Death Cab For Cutie (Plans Atlantic 2005)
What can I say? Everyone I know loves this track and usually for their own nostalgic reasons or they have some sentimental moment attached to it. I’m no different. If I’m like you or vice versa then you probably can’t help but smile when you hear this song but still feel as though you’re leaving something behind. Listen close enough and you can remember the feeling in your stomach when you said goodbye to the new friend you made in school holidays, who’s from another school and happens to be a girl. That feeling when you say goodbye and she looks back with a rye smile and everything seems to stop for a second. Maybe not a change in the season but a definite change in the times.
7. All Those Friendly People – Funeral Suits (Lily of the Valley Model Citizen Records 2012)
Call me crazy but I don’t think there is anyone on the planet who given the right mood setting wouldn’t love the opportunity to have the care-free fun you had when you were a kid. Remember when ‘Cops and Robbers’ or ‘Chasey’ was literally the be all and end all of your universe. Funeral Suits, a four-piece from Dublin, have nailed that cherished time of life with, All Those Friendly People in which whatever you may have troubling you at the moment, put it down, forget about it and start dancing on the bed or in the living room. With it’s smooth ever building synths it creates a momentum that will get you through even the toughest of days.
6. Detlef Schrempf – Band of Horses (Cease to Begin Columbia 2007)
With it’s slow tempo, Detlef Schrempf will have your mind wandering and imagining you in the woods, locked up in a cabin with a small fire, some good company and perhaps a drop of your nectar of choice. Ben Bidwell’s dreamy vocals over his guitar that sounds as if though it could melt through the ice on the outside of the window so it’s heavenly tune could break inside and grace your eardrums. If you enjoy the track and are planning a trip to the woods some time soon, I’d recommend taking the record anyway you can – you won’t regret it. It’s time to embrace the colder months that are coming.
5. No Cars Go – Arcade Fire (Neon Bible Merge 2007)
Continuing our theme of ’embracing the colder months’ with its orchestral like qualities this track will have you wanting to rug up, go outside and enjoy the elements of a cold winters day. With a bouncy base line and and tantalizing snare filler it offers an energy to break the shackles off the cooler months. Trumpets, choir vocals and organ create an atmosphere as the base and drums roll together building to a climax that will make you take a deep breathe, pause and then reflect for a minute when it finishes. Listening to this track gives a sense of calm and with one final rush you break through the barrier and end up on the other side waiting for the warmth to come back!
4. She Drove Me To Daytime Television – Funeral For a Friend (Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation Atlantic, Mighty Atom, Feret 2003)
With any form of change, I always get a little of that teen angst back. Besides, it’s a proven fact that people in the winter months tend to be more ‘agitated’ caused by a lack of vitamin D, we’re only human at the end of the day. Up to you whether you want to believe it or not, either way we’ve got the perfect excuse to blast some emo / metal / post hardcore (I’m not one for genres) to relieve some of the extra tension and pent up energy after being stuck inside watching daytime television all-day, pun intended. With it’s throw-back feel and melodic guitars, play this song around FFaF fans and there’ll be an outbreak of air band – guaranteed.
3. Lofticries – Purity Ring (Shrines 4AD, Last Gang Records 2012)
Corrin Roddick’s production on Purity Rings debut LP last year proved that the evolution of electronic music is far from over. With such a new and interesting sound the duo from Canada deliver Lofticries with a drum pattern and technique that isn’t all to far from rain on a tin roof and Megan’s voice is a perfect fit for the tone it sets. If you’re like me and spend a lot more time pondering life in the winter months, play this track with some headphones on or really loud with the car window down and just absorb how the world looks when listening to Purity Ring. Their live show is reported to be top notch with a state of the art, purpose built light show. You’ve just missed their maiden tour to Melbourne with the Golden Plains Festival but if their popularity is anything to go by, you can bank on them touring again!
2. I against I – Jedi Mind Tricks Ft. Planetary (Violent by Design Superegular Records 2000)
If anyone who knows me is reading this, you’ll know this piece wouldn’t be complete until there was one hip hop track representing. It always has and always be the simple beats in hip hop that end up telling the best stories and get your head bopping with the beat. It all works with flow and beat reminisce of Philadelphia in the year 2000 when Vinnie Paz and his goons from Jedi Mind Tricks were ruling the scene. There’s a certain amount of attitude that comes with this rhyme with each MC dominating the mic with tight rhymes and none of that nonce about weapons, piles of cash, German Shepherds and 2 gold chains. These rhymes are on another level and has a definite undertone of aggression that’ll help give you that ‘tough guy’ pep up you need to get you through the home stretch to Spring.
1. Hard to Explain – The Strokes (Is This It RCA 2001)
Quite simply put, there is nothing like the sweet, soft, simple tunes of The Strokes to tell you that everything is going to be okay. Julian Casablancas’ reassuring lyrics slighgty filled with distortion to give it the effect of singing into a true 1950′s microphone phasing with the feedback of the guitars gives it a sound that no one to date has been able to replicate. It fills the air with the sense of euphoria and it’s that just by listening to this track you are doing a good good deed. This music will pick you up dust you off and send you on your way again with that youthful desire of rebellion and a stubbornness for doing things your own way, just like being 17. Time to explore the world, no matter what the season.
jrm.
