Your Weekend Mixtape, no. 3 | Gravel Crunching Under Stout Boots

1. “Buried in Teeth,” Mariee Sioux; Faces in the Rocks, 2007.
2. “Kaufman’s Ballad,” Megafaun; Gather, Form, & Fly, 2009.
3. “Classic Girl,” Jane’s Addiction; Ritual de lo Habitual, 1990.
4. “For Today,” Jessica Lea Mayfield; With Blasphemy, So Heartfelt, 2008.
5. “Lake of Fire,” Meat Puppets; Meat Puppets II, 1984.
6. “I Will Not Be Myself,” Deer Tick; The Black Dirt Sessions, 2010.
7. “A Holy Measure,” Wovenhand; The Threshingfloor, 2010.
8. “Sanguine,” The Avett Brothers; The Gleam, 2006.
9. “Cursed Sleep,” Bonnie Prince Billy; The Letting Go, 2006.
10. “The Battle of Evermore,” Led Zeppelin; Led Zeppelin IV, 1971.
11. “Past Times With Good Company,” Blackmore’s Night; Under a Violet Moon, 1999.

12. “Kaiku,” Moonsorrow; Verisakeet, 2005.

Gravel crunching under stout boots is a very autumnal sound for me, and so this is an autumn soundtrack. Autumn makes me think of a number of things very fondly--warming up in the mornings next to the open stove with the sounds of a banjo filtering from my tiny mp3 speakers, and dressing in layer upon layer, flannel and knits, like the grunge superstars of my childhood in the Pacific Northwest, and of course, bonfires and my beloved Renaissance Faire and epic fantasy novels, and, yes, Past Times with Good Company. So, despite my best efforts, this mix is a bit disjointed, I know. These sounds, though, however disparate, all speak to me of autumn and the things I love so about this season, and they make me excited for my dark, deep, gloomy winter to come. How I love my winters, and autumn is like a gorgeous formal introduction to the grey season ahead.