My Top Songs for Fall

In no particular order, here are some songs I adore at the moment and, for the most part, find fitting for the time of year:

1. No One's Gonna Love You - Band of Horses
This one is just beautiful. Tragic. "You are the ever-living ghost of what once was." It's a simple music arrangement that feels full and complex.

2. Nantes - Beirut
This is their second album (I think) and it's better. They still sound a bit like a traveling Hungarian gypsy band but there's nothing wrong with that, right? "I'll gamble away my fright and I'll gamble away my time and in a year, a year or so, this will slip into the sea."

3. The Temptation of Adam - Josh Ritter
Funny, sweet, scary and smart. "What five letters spell "apocalypse" she asked me,
I won her over saying W.W.I.I.I."

4. Missed the Boat - Modest Mouse
"We owned all the tools ourselves, but not the skills to make a shelf." These guys have evolved perfectly. Still trademark Modest Mouse but Isaac Brock doesn't scream as often anymore to make his point. If the only song you have heard of theirs is "Float On" then you are missing out.

5. The Chills - Peter, Bjorn and John
I had my headphones on the first time I heard this song. And it won me over in the first 15 seconds. "Your tongue is sharp but I miss the taste of it."

6. Ponytail - Panda Bear
Just a pretty, pretty song. "When my soul starts growing, I am as I want to be and I know I never will stop growing." This is a from a solo album from the singer of Animal Collective.

7. Videotape - Radiohead
My (and about 563 million others) all-time favorite band. They have a new "album" out and I got to pick how much I wanted to pay for it. For me, this song, "15 Steps" and "Nude" were each worth $8. I underpaid.

8. On the Radio - Regina Spektor
She's not related to crazy alleged murderer Phil. Her dad, Ilya Spektor, is/was a photographer amateur violinist not a gun wielding skeleton with bipolar disorder. I know a lot of people have liked her for quite a while but I'm just starting to appreciate her talent. This song is so fun. It has a great beat, string arrangments, variety of instruments and superb lyrics. "Then you take that love you made and stick it into some ... someone else's heart, pumping someone else's blood. And walking arm in arm, you hope it don't get harmed. But even if it does, you'll just do it all again."

9. Derek - Animal Collective
A band you definitely have to be "into" and many people don't "get". But I list a song here because this is one of my favorite albums of this Fall.

10. Lake Michigan - Rogue Wave
The pop song of the list. They make really good, accessible music. "Go and run yourself a million miles ... "

11. Back in Your Head - Tegan and Sara
I have this thing for basic piano hooks. Can't get more basic than this one. Even though the song is about insecurity and potential infidelity, it makes me smile when I hear it. "I just want back in your head."

12. I Was Born (a Unicorn) - The Unicorns
"I could've sworn you believed in me. Then how come all the other unicorns are dead?"
A freakin' blast from the opening guitar to the Vincent-Pricean narrative break to the guitar smashing end.

13. Sun is Out - Apples in Stereo
"The sun is out(x2), come on (x6), check it out. "Repetitive, simplistic, and copycat. Still, I defy you to not smile when you listen to it.

13 songs for Autumn. Oh, snap, 13? That's spoooooky.

What are you listening to this time of year?