NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Carly Rae Jepsen is tattooed in the history of bubblegum pop for "The Song of the Summer" of 2012, "Call Me Maybe." Jepsen hasn't matched the success of "Maybe," but she keeps making music, and her fans adore her. I wrote back in January about her song " Run Away with Me" and how much her album Emotion meant to me in 2015. And while most people are sick of "Call Me Maybe," it always makes me think about Arrested Development  where George Michael can't help his feelings for his cousin Maeby Funke, but that's a post for another day. So to end a particularly streak of guilty pleasure songs, why not talk about the theme of Fuller House , sung by Carly Rae Jepsen? WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO PREDICTABILITY? Along with Alf and The Cosby Show, Full House is one of my earliest TV memories. First airing in September of 1987 when I was a mere three months old, Full House is a show I haven't rewatched as an adult, but there is certainl...

I have no idea how this song ended up in my Apple Music library. I had no idea who the Ex Box Boys were. Maybe I had heard it when Apple Music played "infinite" music after an album or a playlist had ended. However, there seems to be no financial incentives for Apple to promote a song from 2008 that seems not to exist anymore. The band's last Tweet comes from 2016. The band has sixteen monthly listeners on Spotify. Their albums aren't available on American Apple Music, just singles that have been featured on compilations with other D-list bands. Hailing from Bellevue, Washington, the band's motto was: "Four dudes. Good music. One vision." THE PERFECT WAY TO MISBEHAVE. In 2010, it appears that Microsoft sued the band for using the name of their console. The band used the Microsoft spelling for their website. Self-professed geeks, many of the band's song titles have to do with video games. The reviews on Amazon for this album are quite funny. Three l...

In 2012, a Korean rapper taught everyone around the world about K pop by talking about the wealth in a particular neighborhood in Seoul. That rapper was Psy and that neighborhood was Gangnam. However, Korean Hip Hop has not been the bread and butter of the K-pop industry. Sure, hip-hop certainly is featured in the K-pop that gets popular. While BTS has rappers, they fit into the genre of teen pop music. Korean Hip Hop; however, teaches you all the bad words in Korean and will often contain some English profanity too. These days it's especially popular among high school and college-aged boys. WHEN YOU FEEL ME TWICE. Korean Hip Hop dates back to the late '80s when the government loosened its censorship laws. In early Korean Hip Hop, artists often talked about daily life and Korean virtues. It was not widely performed at first. DJs produced music and the scene was quite underground. But in the mid-90s Hip Hop emerged in Hongdae, one of Korea's most hopping college towns in Seo...

In 2008, rock music still could be played on pop radio. Kings of Leon was one of the biggest bands when their fourth album, Only By the Night spawned three singles. “ Sex on Fire ” and “ Use Somebody ” were unavoidable back then. The southern US band first saw success in the UK, but after Only by the Night , the band were internationally known rock stars, complete with the money, alcohol, drugs, and of course, fiery sex. But before the rock star hedonism, lies a story of three preachers’ sons and their cousin, all grandkids of Leon. According to a Rolling Stone article , the band’s early collaborator, songwriter Angelo Petraglia , suggested the religious band name "Kings of Zion" for the band; however, lead singer Caleb Followil l thought Kings of Leon suited the band better. While the mother of brothers Caleb, Nathan , and Jared remains religious, Kings of Leon is far from a Christian Rock band. But the ghosts of their religious past haunts the band’s albums. I CAN’T ESCA...

I talked before about how Albatross , The Classic Crime 's debut album was set to be the breakthrough mainstream album for both the band and for Tooth & Nail Records . And of course, neither of those happened because someone at iTunes or Tooth & Nail or EMI or any combination released this record in the genre "Christian Rock." Of the two 2006 secular signings of Tooth & Nail, Jonezetta avoided Christian radio, but The Classic Crime admitted defeat and even embraced the genre. With an album like Albatross, it would be hard to hear the songs and not think of Christian Rock. " The Coldest Heart " is a bit Calvinistic for the general music listener. A COUPLE OF TEARS AND I'M A BROKEN MESS.  "The Coldest Heart" belongs to a sub-genre of Christian Rock I've heard called " Shamecore , " a term coined by licensed professional counselor  Krispin Mayfield  on his podcast  The Prophetic Imagination Station .   Shamecore comes from...

Anberlin headlined a night at Cornerstone in 2007 and 2008, though 2007 was thanks to a bus fire for the boys of Relient K. Their set was a celebration of the band’s fan favorite Cities . By the summer of 2008, though, the band had already recorded and was set to release their major label follow up, New Surrender , on September 30th. The band played two songs from the upcoming album: “Breaking” and their re-recorded classic “Feel Good Drag.” They sold pre-orders at their summer shows, a brown usb bracelet with a special code that, when entered, the album could be downloaded on September 30th along with  four electronic mixes of songs from Cities and New Surrender on the usb to tie fans over until then. Anberlin’s major label debut sold well, but some fans thought the band had gone too soft. Others criticized how much of a rollercoaster the track listing was. New Surrender was certainly a different Anberlin album. After three records working with Aaron Sprinkle, the band wor...

Coldplay's nine-track, piano-driven 2014 album Ghost Stories, ends with a meditative track called "O." Following his divorce to actress Gwyneth Paltrow, vocalist Chris Martin processes the end of his relationship on Ghost Stories. In a video I referenced last month when writing about "Higher Power,"  critic Frank Furtado claims that Ghost Stories is a lyrical failure on the behalf of Chris Martin, who disguises his pain behind universal lyrical themes. Furtado goes on to claim that Martin "trades being personal for commercial viability." He goes on to state that Ghost Stories " is so sparse instrumentally that the lyrics have no where to hide." These lyrics he claims are silly at times and empty at others. And yet the sparse lyrics and instrumentation from this blue album, garnished with angel wings and dotted with stars, can be just the amount of quiet a grey day needs. FLOCK OF BIRDS...This morning I started listening to the latest episode...

Fleetwood Mac 's best known record is Rumors , their 1977 album featuring the vocals of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks . However, these members had been recent additions. Formed in 1967 in the UK with drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John "Mac" McVie, the band went through numerous iterations before arriving on the pop charts with their most well-known line up. The subject matter of the hit album is the relationship drama behind the scenes with the band. It's truly a fascinating story of change and rock 'n' roll development that saw the band change from a '60s blues rock band to a late '70s hitmaker, with a guitarist who left due to schizophrenia, another guitarist abandoning the group while on tour to join a California sex-evangelism cult, a turbulent marriage between the keyboardist and bass player, and then there's Stevie Nicks. WE CAN CALL IT ANOTHER LONELY DAY. I don't have much memory of this song when I was growing up. Released...

In 1935, George and Ira Gershwin 's opera Porgy & Bess premiered with a classically trained African American cast. The opera was one of the last innovation of composer George Gershwin, whose short life's work was to marry classical and jazz, the popular music of the day. Classical music had always made room for popular and folk styles, whether it was Brahms playing piano at a local tavern or Chopin playing mazurkas, a traditional Polish dance. Gershwin was that composer sneaking into the speak-easy listening to improvised bars of the big bands. This inspired his jazzy classical orchestral pieces like " Rhapsody in Blue " and " An American in Paris ." However, George wasn't just confined to the orchestral hall. Together with his brother, Ira, the two produced hit after hit of songs that would be sung for nearly a hundred years. One of their biggest hits comes from the beginning of this opera. OH, YOUR DADDY, HE'S RICH AND YOUR MA, SHE'S GOOD...

Composed as one of his ensemble works, Nico Muhly collaborated with three musicians to produce his 2017 work, Planetarium. The work atmospheric electronica rather than an orchestra, but the powerful songs might remind classical music listeners of Gustav Holst's 1917 work which packed as much if not more creative punch, The Planets, which innovated classical music and introduced techniques to modern music like the fade out and 5/4 timing . Muhly calls on the work of drummer James McAlister, The National's guitarist Bryce Dessner, and the vocals of Sufjan Stevens. The National being an artistic (and pretentious to some) band with Dessner collaborating with everyone from Taylor Swift to Phillip Glass, and Sufjan Stevens coming off of his folk record Carrie & Lowell, Planetarium is a quite musical experience, a soundtrack for gazing into the summer night sky.  I'LL CONSUME THE CHILD THAT TRAILS ME. For the songs that have lyrics, Stevens pulls inspiration from a number of ...

Born south of the Erie Canal in Canton, Ohio, Matt Thiessen , wrote a tribute to his home state on Relient K 's 8th studio album, Air for Free . Relient K started in Ohio, with three friends--Thiessen, guitarist Matt Hoopes , and bassist Brian Pittman . Relient K has seen many phases and had many member change ups; however, the glue of the band has been Thiessen and Hoopes, who are the only remaining members of the band and who are pictured on the cover of Air for Free. Released six years ago, Air for Free  explores existential themes from an aging former teenage band. Then in his mid-thirties, Thiessen touches on themes of love, growing up, and faith. While the songs on Air for Free are mostly light-hearted (a notable exception is " Man ") and sometimes silly, the songs are certainly more mature than anything the band has done before. And while it might not be the rock out anthems of youth group church vans, it's lyrically nostalgic of those days at times while pushi...

In 2007, Falling Up released their third studio record, Captiva , returning to the production of Aaron Sprinkle . Unlike their debut album Crashings , also recorded with Sprinkle, on Captiva, Sprinkle plays the role as songwriter alongside lead singer Jessy Ribordy . Captiva also marked the end of four years of a daunting release schedule. Their debut album and follow-up Dawn Escapes were released within just 20 months of each other. They then released their remix album, Exit Lights a year later. Captiva attempted to keep hype in the Christian Rock and pop market, releasing four singles, the first of which is today's song, " Hotel Aquarium ." ALL THE LONELINESS IS FILLED BY YOU INSIDE . In April, I wrote about the band's first hit, "Broken Heart."  By the band's third album, musicians started shuffling to other, more successful, more overtly Christian bands. Falling Up's lyrics started mentioning Greek gods and space. Frankly, Ribordy's lyrics...

  Yellow Ostrich is another one of the bands I discovered on a NoiseTrade Sampler around the end of college. The band is currently the solo project of singer/songwriter Alex Schaaf . Formed in 2009, they released several albums and EPs before disbanding in 2014. However, in March of this year, Schaaf came back with a Yellow Ostrich album called Soft. Today's song comes from the 2012 EP by the same name Ghost . While being a bit of a sleeper, the minimal instrumentation in the early part of the verse along with the slow drum beat makes the song a little creepy. By the verse we have some more piano, but by the bridge we get a noisy guitar solo. Lyrically, the song talks about a relationship that's expired. He doesn't remember the color of her eyes, but he sticks with her because he's afraid of being alone.  MY FAVORITE GHOST, MY PRIDE, I STUMBLE 'TIL I'M LOST. Like many very conservative Christians, Seventh-day Adventists traditionally teach their followers to a...

Remy Zero is best known for their 2001 hit "Save Me," which was the title card song for the 10-season WB/CW DC Superhero drama, Smallville, a Superman origin story set in a small Kanas town, following the young adulthood of Clark Kent . Forming in 1989 in Birmingham, Alabama, the band's breakthrough was a tour with Radiohead. Their songs were featured on a number of early '00s TV shows and movies, including Garden State, Fanboys, and She's All That . "Save Me" wasn't especially popular, peaking at #27 on Billboard's Alternative Airplay chart. In 2003, the band called it quits after releasing three full length albums. In a Smallville actors' commentary of a season 3 episode, John Glover and Alison Mack banter about the theme song. Mack says that she heard that they broke up. Glover asks, "Who got the house?" I DON'T CARE HOW YOU DO IT. I've talked about my channel flipping through the Christian music video stations and MuchMu...

  The opening track to Troye Sivan's Bloom, "Seventeen" tells the story of Sivan losing his virginity to an older man he met on Grindr. Sivan looks back on this first encounter fondly, despite the man knowing Sivan was underage. The age of consent is a pretty complicated issue, and the law varies from place to place. There are issues of sexism, homophobia, and maturity involved when people pass judgement on age gaps between partners, especially if one is below the age of 18. Sivan has talked about this song , saying, "I don't ever want to come across as condoning [sex with someone underage] or anything like it. But. . . I felt a responsibility to tell the true story of the curious gay kid who puts himself in some kind of shady situation to fund a connection, like all of us crave." AGE IS JUST A NUMBER.  Troye's experience of losing his virginity at 17 is very different from mine. For one thing, when I was 17, there weren't smartphones. Seventeen was ...

Advanced is a South Korean DJ and producer duo. The original song is sung by singer-songwriter Shaun , whose success referenced in this song, brought him to prominence in Korea and internationally. The English version is sung by Norwegian Singer Songwriter Julie Bergan . The track is remixed and the lyrics are not an exact translation. Shaun's recording of the track is much better vocally and musically. It also has a richer lyrical content in the original Korean. This is not to say that the English version isn't any good. "My Bad" is a kind of behind the music surrounding the rise of Shaun's success, telling the story of a young musician honing his craft as a DJ. I REMEMBER WHEN I CALLED YOU AND SAID I HAD A #1. In February, I talked about the rise and controversy related to Shaun's breakout hit " Way Back Home. " Shaun built his career in the music industry as an electronic musician in rock, pop, and EDM. His high vocal range and ability to make mu...