Forty Five Minutes Of Autumn Songs

Some songs with the word Autumn in the title for a Sunday mix in late September, a day ahead of the autumn equinox- tomorrow, Monday 22nd September at 7.22 pm, a day which marks the end of astronomical summer and the onset of astronomical autumn. Buckle up. Winter's coming. 

Autumn definitely seems to bring out the melancholy and downbeat in songwriters- the songs on my hard drive in the mix below are firmly in that camp- it's OK to wallow in that sometimes and I think by the time we get to the end there's some catharsis.

Forty Five Minutes Of Autumn

• The Small Faces: The Autumn Stone
• Lee Hazlewood: My Autumn's Done Come
• Jaymay: Autumn Fallin'
• Pacific: Autumn Island
• Yo La Tengo: Autumn Sweater
• Higamos Hogamos: Harold/ Autumn Equinox Sunset
• The Prisners Dream: Autumn Days
• East Village: Black Autumn
• Marcel Slettern: Autumn
• Brian Eno: Dunwich Beach, Autumn 1960
• Coldcut : Autumn Leaves (The Irresistible Force Remix)

The Small Faces song The Autumn Stone is from their later period when they'd shed their initial skin and become a little more hippy, a little more reflective, they sound a bit... earthier and woodier. Written by Steve Marriot and recorded in September 1968, The Autumn Stone is a ballad with a beautiful slow glow. The Small Faces were such a great band weren't they.

Lee Hazlewood's autumn isn't just seasonal, it's a lifetime thing sung by a man who seemed to be permanently found in the autumn of his life. This song was the flip side to Sand, a 1966 7" single. 

Jaymay is an American singer/ songwriter, an indie/ folk artist, whose song You Better Run was a music blog song back in the early 2010s golden days of music blogging. Her 2007 album of the same name, Autumn Fallin' is a lovely pun for those on the US side of the Atlantic. 

Pacific were on minor Creation records band in 1990. Their song Jetstream was a favourite with me and a friend who went into a flat share in 1992, a song that sampled the sinking of the Belgrano. Autumn Island was on their 1990 album Inference which is probably Creation's least heard album, undeservedly so but in 1990 Creation had many other irons in the fire and some bands just fell through the cracks. 

Yo La Tengo's Autumn Sweater is one of my favourite songs by anyone, ever. Everything about it- the words, the singing, the drumming, the tone, the feel, the longing to be gone, to be moving on... it's all just perfect. 'We could slip away/ Wouldn't that be better/Me with nothing to say/ And you in your autumn sweater'. 

Higamos Hogamos are/ were Hackney based Steve Webster and various assistants and collaborators. I first heard them when Andrew Weatherall played some krauty/ cosmische tracks by them on a radio show in the dim and distant past- I think I followed up by going to the Higamos Hogamos MySpace page (which dates it). The track on this mix comes in two parts, the first half a lovely experimental instrumental and the second a field recording of the autumn equinox at sunset. 

The Prisners Dream (sic) were one of those American garage rock bands who made the grand total of one sole 7" single, released on Rene Records in 1967. They came from Canonsberg, Pennsylvania. Autumn Days is a gorgeously melancholic folk rock song, backed with You're The One I Really Love. Autumn Days was on a double album compilation from a couple of years ago called Ghost Riders, seventeen songs for a North American road trip with sleeve notes by Sonic Boom. I reviewed it at Ban Ban Ton Ton in 2022 and it's a record I still recommend highly. The Prisners were all between 17 and 19 years old when they recorded the song and sound utterly bereft, a state of being before they've even reached adulthood. 

East Village were on Heavenly, caught out in that short period between late 80s indie and early 90s indie- dance. Their album Drop Out has been re- issued several times, on each occasion to rave reviews. They made little in the way of waves at the time but every time Drop Out comes out again they attract a few new followers. 

Marcel Slettern is from Athens, Georgia,an electronic producer, writer and visual artist who goes for the single word title here- autumn, a few minutes of piano playing. I have no idea why or how this song ended up on my hard drive or where it came from but I'm glad it did. 

Brian Eno's Dunwich Beach, Autumn, 1960 is from his 1982 album On Land, a landmark ambient album. Dunwich was a Suffolk port that feel into the sea due to coastal erosion. It's one of those Eno ambient tracks which is absolutely beyond compare. 

Coldcut's cover of the jazz standard Autumn Leaves has been released in various versions and at various times. None of the versions quite matches The Irresistible Force's remix, a Balearic masterpiece and one which provides an ending that takes us to a better place. 

Everybody Knows

Drop Out, the only album recorded by London band East Village originally came out in 1993, slightly too late for the group. It got lost in the rush of early Britpop but were a little too late for the Manchester tidal wave of 1989- 1991. Circles came out on 122 in 1990 but then nothing until '93. The four piece came together in High Wycombe and moved to London, two brothers Martin and Paul Kelly on bass and guitar, John Wood (also guitar) and Spencer Smith on drums. All three guitarists wrote songs and sang and their mid- 80s indie origins show the twin influences of the Creation bands (Felt, The Loft and The Weather Prophets especially) and mid 60s folk rock (The Byrds, Dylan, Buffalo Springfield). There's some love for Postcard in their too. It's since been re- issued several times, most recently earlier this year by Heavenly to mark its thirtieth anniversary (expanded with all the singles and their B-sides and a Jon Savage essay in the sleeve notes, always a mark of quality). 

The songs speak for themselves, beautifully played and balanced. It's got minor classic and lost gem written all over it, songs that have endured and still have the power to move. Silver Train rattles along like mid 60s Bob Dylan doing his thin, wild mercury sound, the guitars and organ carrying things along with a bubbling bassline pushing through. Circles surges in waves of guitars. Shipwrecked is two and a half minutes of romantic early 90s indie. Everybody Knows is led by sparkling, ringing, descending minor chords and sweetly sung words. 

Everybody Knows

East Village called it a day after Drop Out came out. John Wood released a a solo album a decade later and went to teach in China. Paul Kelly makes films and works as a designer. Martin Kelly worked alongside Jeff Barratt at Heavenly and became Saint Etienne's manager while both Paul and Spencer became part of the Saint Etienne live band. Much of the East Village sound and appeal is very Saint Etienne. 

Vibrato

More music for a jingle jangle morning, this time from East Village. Vibrato is short, only one minute fifty- six seconds, but very sweet. It is the sound of The Byrds transplanted to the Home Counties in 1991, guitars ringing and drums thumping in before the chorus and vocals sunken in the mix. 

Vibrato

East Village were blessed with three songwriters and vocalists and some really strong songs. Despite being on not one but two of Jeff Barratt's labels (the short lived Sub Aqua and the currently thirty years old Heavenly) they never really made the breakthrough their music deserved, always the support band, their albums released posthumously, cult status after they split. Maybe in the long run it's better that way- don't implode, don't fall out, don't end up kicking your guitarist out of the Transit van at Bristol services and driving off without him.

Silver Train

East Village were a late 80s indie band, 60s inspired with three singers/frontmen. Drew introduced me to them five years ago and they recently popped up at the Manchester Rave On blog (link down there to the right) which prompted me to give them a spin again. They split up in 1991 and subsequently Heavenly put out an album called Drop Out, a compilation of their various singles that opens with this song...

Silver Train

... and a very nice piece of indie guitar pop it is too, adding value to your Wednesday morning. Drop Out is well worth picking up if you see it anywhere at a reasonable price. Their vinyl goes for silly money second hand and the CD re-issue of Drop Out is now expensive too- cult status does that to a band.

All three men have been involved in Heavenly Records in some way since the group split, Paul Kelly touring as part of St Etienne's band in the 90s and then as a film maker (Finisterre, Lawrence of Belgravia, Dexys: Nowhere Is Home) and brother Martin in Heavenly's publishing company and films. Spencer Smith worked for the label too.

Circles

Drew posted a song by the Heavenly Records band East Village a few weeks ago. I hadn't heard of them before but having downloaded the album (Drop Out, issued after they'd split) I now feel like they've always been there. Caught in the years between mid-80s indie and Britpop, they had some lovely guitar songs, fleshed out with a bit of organ and three vocalists- a bit Velvets, a bit Byrds. I found a copy of the Circles single on 12" for a pound recently (their stuff goes for silly money usually so this was probably so cheap because the B-side is scratched). I haven't splashed out the £15.99 for the re-issued album yet but it's only a matter of time.

Circles

It is eight months yesterday since I last had a cigarette. Sometimes in my dreams I still smoke and wake up smelling it, feeling guilty. I can't get off the nicotine gum either.