NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

  I'm working on a new system for my blog so that I stop saying the same thing over and over again. I don't always have time to research an album cycle or the artist around the time of the album cycle, but I have written considerably about certain albums and artists. I want to provide links to those posts in album posts, like today's. I haven't written a lot about the tracks on Anberlin 's seminal record Cities , but it still is one of my favorite albums. In the future, this post can be a jumping-off point for other tracks on the record. I could write books on each track and my experiences with them, but today you'll just get a few sentences about each. Enjoy the album as it turns sixteen today. 1. ( Début ). For about a minute and a half, Anberlin introduces us to a dark world in an instrumental composed of city sound effects and noisy guitars. The song reminds me of Jerry Martin 's Sim City 4 soundtrack. (Début) leads into " Godspeed ." 2. "

  " Wonderful Christmastime " was rated as the worst Christmas song by   Ultimate Classic Rock . Recorded when 37-year-old rock legend   Paul McCartney   was recording his polarizing second solo record, just before the disbanding of his second band,   Wings ,   McCartney II  was a synth-pop, new wave record in a time when former   Beatles   fans were yelling, "stick to the classics." Recently, critics have come to understand and even praise   McCartney II  for its pioneering in electronic music. The intentionally simple lyrics help to draw attention to the synths and the overall Christmasy atmosphere of the song. THE CHILDREN'S CHOIR SINGS A SONG.  "Wonderful Christmastime" has been covered by many artists, including Diana Ross , Demi Lovato , Hillary Duff , Jump5 , Chicago and Dolly Parton , Pentatonix ,  Family Force 5 ,  Jars of Clay , Eleventyseven , and so many other artists. In 2000, the Christian Rock band Earthsuit recorded the track for Tooth

  This fall was when I got into folklore . Is this winter the one that I get into evermore ? Today, I made the jump into the record again after more cursory listens in 2020. I have a few thoughts from this afternoon's listen, but remember that I am by no means a Taylor Swift export the president of a local chapter of her fan club. I am merely offering my opinions on some damn good music. I'm hoping to have some deeper insights next year when I will probably dig deeper into this record.  THE WARMEST BED I'VE EVER KNOWN. A initial thought from when I listened to evermore,   I found that the record was even less cohesive than folklore. In my time with folklore, I began to realize that there was a cohesion to it, and I think the same is true with evermore. The next thing I noticed is that many of the tracks felt like b-sides to folklore, although the record was written and produced quickly after releasing folklore.   I first listened to evermore with my AirPods Pro when they w

In 2007 Aaron Gillespie released Southern Weather   with producer Aaron Sprinkle , under the moniker The Almost . At that time Gillespie was known as the drummer and clean vocalist for Underoath , a band that had just released their biggest record, Define the Great Line , the year before. In many ways, Southern Weather was like the first Foo Fighters record written and performed by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl .  Like Grohl, Gillespie played almost all of the instruments on the record, wrote all of the songs, and then assembled a band to tour with the record. Often filling in on bass, though, is Gillespie's good friend Kenny Vasoli of The Starting Line .    WINTER DAYS MAKE ME SAY, “WHAT THE HEY?" Like all of Aaron Gillespie's projects,  Southern Weather  captures a moment of sincerity in the singer-songwriter's life. Before what some conservative critics might say that Gillespie became the a gitprop for exvangelical deconstruction, The Almost's Southern W

  Many Christians and former Christians were crestfallen by the marriage of politics and religion, particularly displayed from the 2016 election of Donald Trump. How could religious leaders we looked up to, who taught us about the fruits of the spirit, now say that Trump was appointed by God? Back in 2012, though, a band from Hartsville, South Carolina, began to see inconsistencies between what the Bible said and what was preached. YOU BETTER MEAN WHAT YOU SAY.   Sent By Ravens released two records with Tooth & Nail Records before going on an indefinite hiatus. Unlike many Tooth & Nail acts, Sent By Ravens was a Christian Rock band that dealt with Christian themes directly. The band's debut record, Our Graceful Words , produced by Aaron Sprinkle , challenged listeners on spiritual themes on songs like " New Fire " and " Beautiful List ." Other songs on the record like " Trailers vs. Tornadoes " and " Stone Soup " displayed a post-ha

Adam Young was inescapable in 2008 with his dreamy #1 hit " Fireflies ," released under the moniker Owl City . Although Owl City went on to produce more records since 2008, other than being a featured artist on Carly Rae Jepsen 's " Good Time ," Owl City or Adam Young weren't on many listener's radar after "Fireflies." But one year prior to Owl City's breakthrough record, Ocean Eyes , Adam Young teamed up with his friend Austin Tofte to form the side project Swimming with Dolphins , releasing their debut EP Ambient Blue   and a B-side cover of Tracy Chapman 's " Fast Car ." I'M LIVING HERE WITHOUT YOU. In 2011 Swimming with Dolphins released their debut record, Water Colours ,  produced by several producers including Tofte and Aaron Sprinkle , and the album was released on Tooth & Nail Records . The band added backing vocalist Breanne Düren on this record, creating a musical conversation on tracks like today's s

The sweet melancholy of You Are My Sunshine is always more uplifting than depressing. I've talked about this record so much because it fully encapsulated the winter of 2009 for me. At least the crueler part of winter, January to March or whenever the colder-than-expected winds wind down in Eastern Tennessee, giving way to an at-first temperate early spring to a melting mid-to-late spring, oozing in a concoction of sweat and humidity. Somewhere in the season changes I got the flu and missed a couple of days of school. My roommate and I had a cough that lasted until the end of the winter. And we listened to this album on the boring days. It was the soundtrack to Easy Mac and instant coffee--two things I don't miss at all. AND THE MAN IN THE MOON NEVER MAKES HIS REPLIES UNDERSTOOD. " The Day I Lost My Voice ," is the kind of song about a period in your life that you just can't seem to catch a break. Even the most careful singers often experience laryngitis on tour.

Hurry Up, We're Dreaming contain's M83 's biggest hit, " Midnight City ." Everything on Hurry Up, is calculated to give listeners, including M83's sole member Anthony Gonzalez, the maximum amount of nostalgia. After a song-length, mood-setting intro, "Midnight City" builds on a riff for three minutes before climaxing in a saxophone solo, unheard in most music since 1988.* Track three, "Reunion," builds on layers of guitars and harmonies by one singer. This guitar-based M83 is a bit rare in their catalogue, as most of M83 is programing in synthesizers with touches of guitar here and there. But a guitar-based track is no-less nostalgic. It's that '80s chord progression heard in New Wave rockers and glam hair metal that sounded so cool to a young Gonzalez, listening to music in his bedroom growing up that bleeds into this song. The lyrics beg for a reunion with a loved one who has gone away.  A NEVER-ENDING DANCE. For today's post

" Wonderful Christmastime " was rated as the worst Christmas song by Ultimate Classic Rock . Recorded when 37-year-old rock legend Paul McCartney was recording his polarizing second solo record, just before the disbanding of his second band, Wings , McCartney II  was a synth-pop, new wave record in a time when former Beatles fans were yelling, "stick to the classics." Recently, critics have come to understand and even praise McCartney II for its pioneering in electronic music. The intentionally simple lyrics help to draw attention to the synths and the overall Christmasy atmosphere of the song. THE CHILDREN'S CHOIR SINGS A SONG. "Wonderful Christmastime" has been covered by many artists, including Diana Ross, Demi Lovato, Hillary Duff, Jump5, Chicago and Dolly Parton, Pentatonix, Family Force 5 , Jars of Clay , Eleventyseven, and so many other artists. In 2000, the Christian Rock band Earthsuit recorded the track for Tooth & Nail Record's hol