NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Last month when I wrote about Sam Tsui, Max, and Kurt Hugo Schneider's cover of Neyo's "So Sick," I talked about how Tyler Ward was my gateway drug to the world of YouTube cover artists who eventually branch out and write and produce their own music. I discovered Tyler Ward when I was bored in my dorm room and watching pop music videos--ironically of course--and saw that Ward was covering artists like Katy Perry , Far East Movement, Ke$ha, and even oldies like Oasis and Goo Goo Dolls. Starting in 2007, Ward released original music, but was mostly covering songs by the end of the '00s into the early '10s. Ward's first album stylistically flirts with rock and piano rock; however, when Ward started recording original music again, his sound was solidified as a pop singer with a penchant for non-twangy country. "Teenage Summer" is pretty typical of Tyler Ward's sound--uplifting and light. ' CAUSE WE WERE RAISED ON THESE REAL GOOD, FEEL GOOD ...

Electronic Dance Music (EDM) is the disco of the day. These days, pop charts are filled with DJs and features; however, in the age of disco, the featured singers often went uncredited. Today, though, in the age of powerful pop singers, a feature for a DJ can be mutually beneficial. It can either boost an up-and-coming DJ or boost and up-and-coming singer. Today's song is not one of the most popular DJs or features. The song hit number 20 on the US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs in 2019. It was featured on the second To All the Boys Netflix film. ILLENIUM and Bahari are not household names, but there is something intoxicating about this smooth, repetitive pop jam, problematic lyrics and all. IT'S LIKE CHAMPAGNE/ FEEL IT POURING IN MY VEINS. When I came to Korea, I found a very conservative environment with the other missionary teachers. Just like when I chose "the most conservative (accredited) Adventist university," I had taken a leap of faith in coming to Korea. It was ...

After several members of the Christian Rock band Something Like Silas dissolved, some of the members came together to start a new indie rock project. The band's name was taken from a C.S. Lewis poem of the same name. Debuting in 2007, Future of Forestry has gained acclaim from music critics and the group has a modest following. They have not been hit producers; however, their music has shown up in numerous TV shows and movies. Fronted by classically-trained composer and multi-instrumentalist Eric Owyoung, who now operates the band as a solo project, Future of Forestry's music is layered and undeniably artistic. However, I just wish they would learn the rules of where to put apostrophes. YOUR HEART HAS BROUGHT YOU TO THIS LAND WHERE YOUR LOVE IS STRONG AND BOLD. "So, you're about to graduate. What are you doing next?" I asked a friend in college. My being a super-senior made me have this conversation every semester with classmates who were going on to brighter da...

I n 2017 Season 2 of the highly successful Produce 101 , a reality show to make a Kpop group, premiered on South Korean broadcasting channel Mnet. Music competition shows have been popular for ages, but only on rare occasions does the group or artist translate to real-world success. Season One of Produce 101 took 101 female contestants and whiddled the candidates down to eleven group members of the highly successful girl group I.O.I. For the second season, the concept changed. This time 101 male Kpop trainees would compete to be part of Wanna One. The result was not only a more successful season two but the creation of the third most successful Kpop act of the 2010s and the band only lasted for 2 years.  THE MOMENT OUR EYES MATCH, UNBELIEVABLE THINGS HAPPEN. One of the stipulations of Wanna One’s contract was that the band would record for a year and a half and play shows for two years. In January of 2019, Wanna One played their final show, freeing all 11 members from their exclusi...

  Tim Be Told was an indie CCM band made up of mostly Asian Americans. The band toured, released singles, and got some acclaim. Founded by keyboardist and singer Timothy Ouyang , the band now is a solo act with Tim being the only remaining member. After the other musicians split in 2015, Ouyang came out as gay and Ouyang uses his project, Tim Be Told, to write songs about faith, love, and telling his stories about discovering his sexuality. Last year, Tim released his most authentic, autobiographical album under the Tim Be Told moniker, Love & Happiness  and he told his story on Matthias Roberts' podcast, Queerology .  YOU NEED KNOW IF I BELIEVE IN ME AND YOU.  " Me to You " starts out feeling like a praise & worship song. It seems like the formula I heard on CCM stations when I listened to that genre, and of course, Ouyang is well versed in that writing style. However, when says "Felt a little rush / Then our fingers touched," that line hit me. This so...

On February 7, 2021, the 55th NFL Super Bowl sent mixed signals from a divided nation. You all know the story of March and April and May of 2020. There was a virus. There was a lockdown. There was a brutal murder that everyone saw. There were riots. There was a demand for change. And there was push back. As many ordinary white Americans became aware of the realties of the hardships of people of color, companies scrambled to be on the right side of history. The revolution of 2020 brought light to the realities of racism, but in many cases it seemed to be an attempt to pass the buck. Cancel culture aimed to scrub pop culture of its racist history, while companies that had first targeted white audiences started to think about incorporating diversity.  I'M GOING THROUGH WITHDRAWALS. Abel Makkonen Tesfaye is one of the biggest artists today. Better known as The Weeknd , Tesfaye has been called as the Michael Jackson of this generation. He is the most streamed artists on Spotify. While...

"Weird Al" Yankovic is the king of the parody. From his early self-produced tune in of the late '70s hits on Doctor Demento to topping the Billboard albums sales chart with his 2006 masterpiece Straight Outta Lynnwood , Weird Al has stayed relevant for over 40 years, evolving with the sounds of the decades, whether it was Michael Jackson parodies in the '80s, grunge and alternative parodies in the '90s and the pop parodies of every generation. But arguably, it's Yankovic's hilarious takes on Hip-Hop that have kept the 60 year old artist up with the times. "Gangsta's Paradise"? Nah, let's rap about the Amish. "Ridin' Dirty" becomes "White N' Nerdy." And the hedonism of T.I.'s 2008 hit "Whatever You Like" keeps its title, but instead, it gets a 2008 recession lyrical modification.  THRIFT STORE JEANS FOR SALE, HALF PRICE. Let's first look at the piece that Yankovic based this song on. The T.I m...

Tyler Glenn , lead vocalist and songwriter for Neon Trees came out as gay in a Rolling Stone   issue on April 10, 2014. This may not have been shocking as the flamboyant singer echoed the styles of Elton John or queer New Wave bands, but he could not reconcile his sexuality with the religion of his upbringing, Mormonism. Prior to coming out to his friends, family, and later the public, Glenn considered suicide. Coming out for Glenn allowed him to be his true self, and songs on their third album, Pop Psychology, talk about love, identity, and faith in the 2010s. However, in the following years, Mormonism has doubled down on its rejection of same sex marriage, prompting Glenn to no longer identify as Mormon, even releasing a solo album, Excommunication  in 2016. TV'S TELLING ME TO BE MYSELF. When I was student teaching, I began watching the first season of Glee , which was a little too campy to admit to. I stopped and started the show many times, but I started watching it again...

  Adam Dutch is a DJ from Ocean City, Maryland, who specializes in blending pop, rock, hip-hop, and EDM. In 2018, he took two very sad songs, the current hit at that time by Bastille and Marshmello , " Happier ," and set it to Anberlin 's 2005 fan favorite, " Paperthin Hymn. " What the track gains is a harder, more passionate vocal line from Bastille's lyrics, along with Stephen Christian 's occasional line, adding "I thought you said forever over and over." Anberlin's lyrics, though, are mostly buried in the musical layers, making the song about a breakup and not about death. But, by choosing this mashup, I believe I have disqualified myself from writing about "Paperthin Hymn" on another "Sunday morning" or on an "August evening," so I will bring the original songs into the conversation as well. I THOUGHT YOU SAID FOREVER OVER AND OVER... Anberlin's "Paperthin Hymn" is an excellent example of ...

  Like Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers , Matthew Perryman Jones was part of 2012's 25 Love Songs: A Special Gift from NoiseTrade. I had downloaded the album to hear the new Paper Route single as the band was taking an incredibly long time to release their sophomore The Peace of Wild Things . What I discovered was a bunch of indie folk artists like Kellogg, Jones, Leagues , Cary Brothers, and so many others. Matthew Perryman Jones has contributed music to television soundtracks for shows like Kyle XY  and Love, Death & Robots . He gave away much of his music for free on NoiseTrade. I remember downloading the Jars of Clay Spring Tour 2012 sampler, on which featured two songs from Jones who also supported the band on tour. Jones' "Land of the Living" was covered by progressive Christian band Gungor on their album One Wild Life: Soul. I'VE BEEN DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY THAT LEADS TO MY HOMETOWN. In "Echoes of Eden," the singer uses religious language to co...

  Every year my school’s first grade curriculum reads an article about life in Iceland. This scenic, yet lonely Northern European island boasts some of the hardest working Europeans and some of the most expensive goods, as so much is imported. As for exports, Iceland sends fish and aluminum to other EU countries and the United States; however, before the pandemic tourism made up to 10% of Iceland’s GDP. As for cultural exports, we get the word geyser from Icelandic. The country harnesses its geysers and volcanos to power the country with what they call geothermic power. Aside from some beautiful scenes in movies like 2014’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty much of Iceland isn’t common knowledge to most Americans. Some music fans will remember avant-garde singer-songwriter Björk from the ‘90s or post-rock band Sigur Rós . In 2011, Of Monsters and Men did it for Iceland and became the nation’s highest charting hit with the song “ Little Talks .” YOU'VE BECOME A TEMPO THAT MY HEART...

Listening to Paper Route makes me wonder, what if Coldplay , after recording X & Y   had continued making electronic music and honed in on their lyrics.  Paper Route has a solid a pop-rock band, on par with any of their contemporaries (i.e. OneRepublic , Coldplay), but their somewhat eccentric fidelity to their craft, recording their albums themselves in old Tennessee mansions to let the natural acoustics reverberate on the record, had cemented them as an indie rock band. " Balconies " was kind of Paper Route's first and last hit. The band's music had been featured in movies and television shows, but "Balconies" got them a late night performance slot on Seth Meyers . As one of the most obvious hits from their third album, Real Emotion,  the song was released to radio, but didn't do too well on the charts. After touring to support the album, the band went on "an indefinite hiatus." However, as the band has had long gaps between albums, I wo...

  I went through a Jack Kerouac/Beat phase around 2015-2016 back when I was trying to as many authors that I hadn't read. I read a few of his books and they're kind of a blur now, but I remember reading On the Road, Big Sur, and The Dharma Bums. At the time of reading these books, there was something about the nomadic lifestyle, free of anchoring possessions that resonated with my college-debt, experience seeking soul. Of course, On the Road is Kerouac's most accessible and popular novel, which introduces us to the themes Kerouac explores in his work--a migratory life, sexual fluidity, and Americana, but The Dharma Bums especially highlights another theme: seeking enlightenment. This 1958 novel brought Buddhism into the living rooms of post-World War II Americans. I DON'T WANT TO DRIVE IF I CAN'T KEEP THE KEYS. Today is Buddha's birthday as celebrated in South Korea. Buddhism, like every major world religion, takes on various forms and denominations, so talking ...

Until June was a promising young emo-pop band by the time they released their debut album. The American band had a number one hit in Greece, and their songs were included on many television shows. Their melodic, often airy guitar and piano sounds blended nicely with lead singer Josh Ballard's falsetto vocals. While there were several artists that did falsetto on the radio during that time (i.e. Maroon 5 and James Blunt), Until June's music was more closely akin to fellow Indie Christian rockers like Deas Vail or Copeland and wasn't exactly mainstream for American pop at the time. Still, 2007's self-titled debut album was a like a glass of iced tea on an early summer evening. The band had potential. Their 2012 delayed follow up Young & Foolish was also a fine album, and I apologize that song isn't on Apple Music (I'll substitute for another song from their first album). Their Wikipedia page lacks citations and there is very little information about them aro...

  Before she was a singer, Paula Abdul was a dancer and choreographer, working on Hollywood movies and with some of the biggest names in '80s music in the golden age of the music video. But when her debut album dropped in 1988 her third single, " Straight Up " took her to the top of the charts. "Straight Up" started a streak of six number-one hits. However,  Abdul released her latest studio album in 1995, occasionally touring with the old songs since, but mostly working on other endeavors, like judging American Idol , The X Factor ,   Masked Singer , and other reality TV appearances.  HOW ABOUT SOME INFORMATION, PLEASE? "Straight Up" is straight up  a guilty pleasure song these days. The song has appeared in movies, but it's not to the cliché level of some classic rock songs, like " Walking on Sunshine " or " One Way or Another ." Coming across the song today at work while grading papers on a gloomy, now third day of no sunshin...

  It's been 20 years since the post-grunge " Hanging By a Moment " was the number 1 song of the year. Although the Christian Rock band Lifehouse never actually topped the weekly charts, the song had so much statistical force via radio play and record sales that the song became one of rare cases when a single that peaked at number 2 could actually claim the number 1 position for the year. No Name Face featured three singles, but none were as big as "Hanging By a Moment." For the band's follow up, Lifehouse signed a Christian music marketing deal with Sparrow Records. Stanley Climbfall was no where near as successful as the No Name Face, but a sophomore slump didn't plunge the band into obscurity. In 2005, the band released their self-titled album which boasted their number one hit which was appearing in every TV show that year, the prom/wedding favorite, " You and Me ."  I WAS YOUNG BUT I WASN'T NAIVE.  " Blind ," the band's...

Number One Gun was a band that was always around in the Christian Rock scene, but never seemed to be anyone's favorite band. From 2007-2014, the band became a solo project for Jeff Schneeweis. Former band members went on to form the band Surrogate, but also contributed to the NOG's last album This Is All We Know , which is still shrouded in controversy. The episode of the podcast Don't Feed the Trolls called "Band Brotherhood," features a fun conversation with Number One Gun's former guitarist, Chris Keene, where he dishes on the lead singer Jeff Schneeweis and his failure to deliver on Kickstarter pledges. Several other members from other bands have talked about Number One Gun as the example of what not to do in a Kickstarter campaign. All in all, it's a pretty sad way to end a career in Christian Rock. I GIVE IT UP TO YOU, I NEED A NEW LIFE. When I'm feeling nostalgic, I can sit in bed and try to remember every band that had a hit on RadioU. Number ...

Dabin is a melodic EDM music producer from Toronto, and Conor Bryne is known for his YouTube covers. I first heard this song last week when Apple Music played it as a "music you may like based on the artists you just played." It's probably the most surefire way for me to discover music these days. Neither artist has a Wikipedia page as of yet, so I feel like I can be a tastemaker when I recommend this song. Based on the nursery rhyme, "Ring Around the Rosie," "Rings & Roses" explores the career path of someone, a friend or a lover, who is pursuing fame. That person has become too popular for the singer, who warns that in the end "they all fall down." Simple enough. WAITIN' ON THE DREAM YOU BEEN SOLD. Part of the American Dream is indoctrinating elementary-school-aged children that they can be anything they want to be when they grow up. Of course, as the children get older, teachers start to point them in a different direction. They...

  Every band has tackled the Covid-19 pandemic in different ways. Many bands are selling live-stream tickets. Some have decided to give free concerts on social networking. Cleared from the time-consuming task of driving across the country, setting up equipment, and tearing down only to drive to the next city, musicians have been able to produce music in new ways. It doesn't hurt that all of their equipment and professional microphones are in their basements. Last year, Emery produced a show on their Twitch channel , in which they played their songs. They often had guest vocalists from other bands, such as Hawthorne Heights , Silverstein , and Dave Elkins  of Mae . Emery reimagined some of their songs and the guest vocalist's band's songs too. The collaboration of " Embers and Envelopes " was a beautiful updated take on Mae's first single.  I KNOW YOU HAVE SACRIFICED TIME, LIFE, LOVE.  I've been having a bad few weeks. It seems that no matter what I do, I ...