Autumnleaf

 Autumnleaf were formed in 2006 in Fukuoka, Japan, and were active until at least 2012, which is the year that saw their last released material. Their sound was a combination of midwest emo and indie rock, with an increasing amount of influence from slowcore as their discography progressed. Their most well-known album, 2011's the foot, is a softer version of American Football's LP1, a quiet, contemplative album that could be considered emo's version of easy listening. Their more obscure early discography hits it harder, especially their first release, though don't get the idea that they were ever aggressive; they just weren't quite so laid back at first. Their first full-length is my favorite release of theirs, as it's placed in the middle not only chronologically but also sonically, being beautiful yet without slowing down as much as the second full-length.

The band's first release was a minialbum in 2007, Red lies in the White field. It was self-released, but all subsequent releases were on the band's own label, wood/water. In 2009 they put out their first LP, still have nothing to be sure, early copies of which came with a CDr that had four remixed album tracks. 2011 saw two releases: their second LP, the foot, and another EP of remixes. Autumnleaf's last release is an odd one: a 2012 five-track EP of what I think were instrumental tracks only, included as part of an artbook and performed as a live art installation called "with THE MOUNTAIN." It seems like the book didn't see much in the way of distribution, and I could not find a copy for sale. Additionally, the only trace I could find of the first remix EP are two tracks from the wood/water Soundcloud, where there is also a single track from the art book.

Still, I have assembled a high enough percentage of their work to call it a discography, if technically a partial one.

Autumnleaf Discography

The Next Autumn Soundtrack

 

Sometimes when I make a post on a band, it's not because I've successfully collected whatever amount of music from them I was after, but rather because I've exhausted every avenue of research. At a certain point, I've sent the unanswered emails, scoured the incomplete archives, and examined every lead I could find. Such is the case with this next band.

The Next Autumn Soundtrack were from Grimsby, UK, active for a couple years in the early 2000s; they were formed in February of 2002 and called it quits by 2004. Musically, they were a post-rock\midwest emo hybrid similar to The Bitter Life Typecast, The Cotton Weary, and especially their UK fellows Slingshot Around The Moon (Caesura deserves an honorable mention, though TNAS were not as influenced by post-punk. They also share a lot of DNA with little-known German band Kiss And Kill). Their best work comes from their one official release, and finds them working in a similar vein to Mare Vitalis and Low Level Owl-era The Appleseed Cast. I've always loved this offshoot of midwest emo and the first track from the split, "Nightnightbyebye," is a personal favorite.

They were not prolific, and pieces of their discography remain missing in defiance of my best efforts. Their only album release is a 2003 split with Swedish post-rockers Jeniferever on Big Scary Monsters. The only other release that could be considered official is their contribution to BSM's 50 Not Out compilation, which was posthumous, released in 2008. Prior to the split, there was a two-song demo in the same year. The band also put out a few demo tracks on their own site, which appear to have been from a self-titled five-track EP that was initially slated for its own release, but was instead used for the split, three of its tracks being rerecorded and another track eventually being repurposed for the compilation.

What this boils down to is I'm missing at least two of their songs, demo versions of tracks from the split. Even worse, two of the demo tracks I have are incomplete, cutting off before the song ends ("I said anything goes. Everything went." from the two-song demo and "splinters/GLASS/dust." from the unreleased S/T EP).

Partial Discography

Halfway to Nowhere

Halfway to Nowhere were a band from San Rafael, California, active from 2001 to 2004. The four year duration is no coincidence; they were a high school band, formed in the summer before freshman year and going on a 'hiatus' that became permanent following graduation; a reunion show in 2006 didn't stick. Frontman Andy Capra would go on to form indie rock outfit Brave Citizens.

The band played the emo pop of the early millennium often called 'mall emo.' …Sort of. They experimented with a lot of different sounds, swinging from stuff that's sort of Get Up Kids-ish to a few moments that wouldn't sound too out of place on Coheed and Cambria's The Second Stage Turbine Blade. They're a little more pop punk than the usual emo pop sound of the time, at least on their first album, not really pulling all that much from post-hardcore. The same can't be said of their second album, which is much more in line with their mainstream contemporaries.

Halfway to Nowhere released two albums: 2003's anthem of the seasons and a follow-up in 2004, Beyond This City. Prior to the first album, they also put out two four-track demos, Abandoned and The Day After Never, as well as two other tracks which were recorded but I'm uncertain if they were released or saved for the album. I've been unable to find either of the demos, and can only make the albums available.

anthem of the seasons + Beyond This City

Slower Than Seasons

 Slower Than Seasons were a band from Massachusetts, formed in 1998 from members of V.Card and Everdown (which also gives them a connection to The Burning Paris). The band appears to have only existed for a couple years, putting out a 7" EP and a CD that may be another EP or an album, I can't find any information on what the band considered it to be. However, it's just over thirty minutes long, so I'm going with LP for now. They went dark after 2000, and presumably broke up then.

Their sound was a cross between emo pop and midwest emo, heavy on the latter, with a lot of influence pulled from Mineral's The Power of Failing and Christie Front Drive's Anthology, especially true on the 7". I admit that when I was initially collecting their discography, I assumed the 1999 7" would be 90s emo and the 2000 CD would veer straight into mall emo, like so many of their peers. I was wrong. Their sound is pretty consistent across both releases, and while I feel the 7" is stronger overall as it's great all the way through, the CD is still some excellent emo.

For whatever reason, the 7" has made its way to streaming while the CD has not. My rip here of the 7" is comparable: The files on streaming were audibly recorded from vinyl, not the original masters.

songs for the disheartened ep + soon to be ex-girlfriend