The Autumn Defense

The Autumns, The Autumn Defense | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 9, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Broadmoor Records
• ASIN: B000M2E3CM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #218,445 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Canyon Arrow

2. Estate Remains

3. Where You Are

4. Winterlight

5. Feel You Now

6. We Would Never Die

7. City Bells

8. Spend Your Life

9. Criminal

10. This Will Fall Away

11. I Knew It All Along

12. About To Change

13. Simple Explanation

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Should John Stirrat and Pat Sansone contemplate quitting their day jobs as bassist and multi-instrumentalist for Wilco, respectively, they ought to list their third side-project record as Autumn Defense at the top of their résumé. Three years after their charming sophomore effort Circles paid reverence to the '70s AM pop they adore, Stirrat and Sansone revisit the immaculate production of their previous work, but with greater cohesion and broader instrumentation, as the customary layers of acoustic and electric guitars are boosted with Revolver-like strings ("Estate Remains"), Memphis-soulful organ ("Feel You Now"), and woodwinds from the Nick Drake playbook ("Canyon Arrow"). Stirrat (whose underrated backing vocals are a Wilco treasure) carries the duo vocally, his discreet voice never sparring with Sansone's brilliant arrangements. But it's when the pair sing together--best emphasized on the power pop of "Winterlight" and the L.A. folk of "We Would Never Die"--that the Autumn Defense truly shine as a full-fledged band. --Scott Holter

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gorgeous Contemporary Ode To Sounds Gone By, February 27, 2007

By 

Gregory Lyle-Newton - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Autumn Defense (Audio CD)

With richer layers, more intriguing arrangements, those lovely vocals and a greater emphasis on diverse, jazzier rhythms, the Autumn Defense capitalize on the strengths of their last CD, Circles, while reaching beyond that collection's catchy, concise songcraft. They have always played like a virtual roll call of influences: The Beatles, The Lovin' Spoonful, Bread, The Left Banke, The Mamas and the Papas, The Beach Boys and others, now adding traces of Steely Dan, Joao Gilberto and Poco. But the reference blend here is subtle, oblique and interspersed with fresh flavors and sophisticated lyrical content, suggesting a more seasoned, adult approach to their meticulous recreation of the slightly melancholy shimmer of late-1960s/early-1970s AM radio. One can easily imagine popping in an Autumn Defense 8-track in the tape deck at top volume on a Sunday afternoon in 1971, throwing open a window and swinging away the hours in a hammock, daydreaming of past loves and watching the clouds rearrange in the sky above. Does it rock out? No. But it moves, and there is something at once both nostalgic and immediate about this music that makes for pleasant, thoughtful company, like a refreshing visit from one of your smartest, sweetest friends from school. I love it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing soft-pop 70's mix for today's sound, March 20, 2007

By 

R. Koenig (Levittown , NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Autumn Defense (Audio CD)

Here is an amazing Cd you cannot live without. Just saw this band live as well, as amazed that this can also be pulled off live. Their style might be Steelers wheel meets Steely dan meets America meets Seals & crofts meets Nick Drake, but don't take that to not be a compliment. The Cd should be in the top 20, and in another world, it is. Buy this and their CD "Circles" and hear the band of the future!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too good for radio . . ., February 11, 2009

By 

John W. Dunner "Jay Dunner" (Atco, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Autumn Defense (Audio CD)

More fully produced than prior discs by this Wilco side project, this self-titled third release is built on the duo's core strengths of crafty songwriting, rich harmonizing, and interlaced acoustic guitars. Autumn Defense then adds lightly detailed piano, flute, and strings, so that the set coalesces into an autumnal cadence of fireside confessions. Think America without the sap. The standout track is "Winterlight," which contrasts a bittersweet lyric with soaring vocals riding a double-timed rhythm section pushed by a "Friday-on-My-Mind" bass line. This is too good for radio.