The wind whips up a gale and green gives way to red and yellow, red and yellow give way to bare branches. The sky is deep and clear, or grey and foreboding, and scarves make their way out from the bottoms of chests and trunks. Sandals give way to socks and shoes. Quilts gain some volume and become comforters. The furnace creaks into life. All this can only mean one thing: time for a new mix! (Oh, and it’s autumn.)

This year I wanted to try something a little different. Past mixes have reflected a certain kind of fall day: the cool, crisp sunny day, the day you get out and rake some leaves and enjoy the last bits of sunlight and semi-warmth.

But there’s another kind of fall day that is hard to pin down. The mixes made for the crisp autumn days don’t “mix” (ahem) well with these different days. These are the days that usher in the cold and bring us closer to winter; these are the pre-winter days, as opposed to the post-summer days. The blustery days, the cloudy days that almost look like snow, the days that bring a sweet melancholy that’s strangely enjoyable in its own way. If you love winter, like I do, these pre-winter days are just as wonderful as the post-summer days. There’s much to love in these days, as you sit inside and watch as the world changes outside. These are quiet days, acoustic guitar days, sad days. I’ve found it’s much harder to find songs for this kind of day than it is to find songs for the post-summer days. I hope, though, with this mix I’ve put together a collection of songs that are quiet yet captivating, icy but warm, solemn but not depressing. Please enjoy. You’ll find a download link at the end of the playlist.

“Leaves Were Falling, Just Like Embers”

1. Richmond Fontaine – Intro/The Border
2. The Microphones – Headless Horseman
3. Red House Painters – Trailways
4. Damien Jurado – Ohio
5. Emmylou Harris – Tennessee Waltz
6. Iris DeMent – Our Town
7. The Shins – Those to Come
8. The Avett Brothers – Find My Love
9. Elephant Micah – Detailed Cathedral
10. Cat Power – Werewolf
11. The Replacements – Rock and Roll Ghost
12. Sufjan Stevens – Vito’s Ordination Song (acoustic version)
13. Darren Jesse – Magic
14. Amber Dust – In Autumn
15. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss – Killing the Blues
16. Neko Case – South Tacoma Way
17. Simon & Garfunkel – The Boxer

This mix and all the others are in the Music Vault!