Fluxblog 563: 🍂autumn songs🍁
7 playlists with overt, subtle, or historical autumnal vibes
AUTUMN NOCTURNES: ROMANTIC MID-CENTURY JAZZ SELECTIONS, two hours of 50s/60s piano-centric jazz with a wistful fall/early winter vibe. This one is pretty chill and has a lot of utilities, but as I was putting this together I kept imagining scenes in movies with a new couple strolling through the park. The playlist features many jazz legends, including Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Stan Getz, John Coltrane, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Gerry Mulligan, and McCoy Tyner. [Spotify | Apple | YouTube]
ALT-CRUNCHY: NEO-HIPPIE, JAM BAND, AND FOLKY VIBES 1992-1998. This playlist is probably the best representation of the general musical milieu I grew up around in the Hudson Valley of New York in the mid-1990s, so a lot of this has a very warm nostalgic quality to me now. If you haven’t heard this one before I think you might have a similar feeling for it, or you may find that a lot of music you may have thought was an abomination at the time is now sort of delightful. If you’re younger, you may just be like “why would anyone have fraught feelings about music this chill?” [Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube]
THIS WAS AUTUMN 1998, a trip back to a period of time I feel sentimental about, an era with a very specific aesthetic in retrospect. Working on this is what led me to want to write about a bunch of these songs last week. The cover photo of Devon Aoki is by David LaChappelle, probably the most late 90s photographer! [Spotify | Apple | YouTube]
THIS WAS AUTUMN 1991, a flashback to a pivotal moment in music history, particularly for rock music as several game-changing blockbusters all hit around the same time. [Spotify | Apple | YouTube]
GOTH ICE CREAM, a mix of goth and goth-adjacent music from 1980-1990 inspired by this incredible photo of The Cure fans eating ice cream by Wist Thorpe from a profile of The Cure in Rolling Stone in 1989. Featuring Cocteau Twins, Sisters of Mercy, Joy Division, Pixies, Sugarcubes, Kate Bush, Nine Inch Nails, and of course, The Cure. [Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube]
TYPING WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN, a collection of mellow and lightly melancholy songs inspired by the vibe from this Canon typewriter ad from the late ‘80s. As the title suggests, this is a pretty unobtrusive mix that is a good soundtrack for work. Featuring songs by Belle & Sebastian, Electrelane, Velvet Underground, Faye Webster, Broadcast, and more. [Spotify | Apple]
SHE LOVES ME FOR WHO I AM, a soundtrack for doomed yuppie romance featuring music from 1987-1993 inspired by this image from a Drakkar Noir ad. Featuring classics by Depeche Mode, INXS, Sinead O’Connor, U2, George Michael, Sade, Annie Lennox, and more. [Spotify | Apple]
LINKS LINKS LINKS
• R.I.P. Keith “JD Twitch” McIvor of Optimo. Keith was a brilliant DJ and musician. He had a lot of positive influence on my personal growth as a listener way back in my message board days, and I’m sure many, many other people can say he broadened their horizons as music fans over the years.
• I feel like any Jarvis Cocker interview is going to be good, but I particularly enjoyed Stuart Berman’s recent conversation with the Pulp frontman.
• What the hell is going on with D4VD? Antiart investigates the increasingly strange and upsetting true crime story unfolding around the young R&B singer.
autumn nocturnes was on heavy rotation last fall 🙏🏻