MONO's Gone Pickin': a Folky Fall Playlist

Fall is widely understood to be soundtracked by all things acoustic, folky, and rootsy. It’s a connection so abstractly felt to be true; and yet it’s hard to articulate just why that is. What is it about the pickin’ and strummin’ of a guitar that calls to mind crisp air and falling leaves? Why does the subtle twang of voices like Adrianne Lenker’s or Judee Sill’s conjure images of crackling fires and crunching twigs?

We think it has something to do with this: fall is the most unmissable, tactile embodiment of ephemerality. It’s an annual proclamation that nothing gold can stay; a yearly reminder that we must let the wheel turn once more and come back to earth.

This is what musical folk traditions can be too–an aural manifestation of the passage of time. For tunes already cemented in the folk cannon, this might be intuitive. With “Clay Pigeons” for instance (originally written by Blaze Foley and carried forward by everyone from John Prine to Michael Cera,) you feel the passage of time like it’s a sixth sense—chain smoking for an eternity in the back of a Greyhound, the sun going up and down, up and down. But songs made in the last few years can also capture that same feeling as well. Take Alex G’s “After All:” not only is it deliciously twangy, but he sings of finding spiritual bedrock as people slip in and out of his life. Or Waxahatchee’s “Fire Burns Out at Midnight:” she’s aware of her tendency to keep chasing passion and intensity forever, while also knowing that it’s best sometimes to “hit the lights and call it a night.” They, too, are finding peace in the cycling of it all.

And sure, there are many many more lyrical themes here beyond the inevitable rise and fall of life. Some of this bunch might even just be throwing on the time-weathered garb of the genre for kicks. Maybe they’re even instrumental. But that’s no accident either: an acoustic guitar or a hummable melody is far more easily handed down year after year than fine-tuned studio knob twiddling.

So, as the air gets cooler and the days get shorter, we wanted to assemble a set of songs that tries to capture this essence and amplifies the autumnal experience. From your friends here at Moments Noticed, please enjoy this healthy helping of timeless wist.