NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

In the '70s Alternative Rock was a distinguishing term to separate mainstream classic rockers from experimental, independent rock bands. Sometimes called College Rock in the '80s and the '90s, it can be difficult to distinguish between mainstream rock and alternative rock of the '90s and '80s. More recently, the genre has been split between Alternative Rock and Alternative. At the heart of Alternative music, however, it is classified as genre-blending.   Judah & the Lion   had been cultivating a folk rock hip-hop sound from their inception, blending bluegrass instruments with modern sounds. However, the band's sophomore album defined the style of music they were making:   Folk Hop N' Roll .  HEY, MY LIFE IS REAL GREAT.  Founded by lead singer and guitarist  Judah Akers  when he met an eclectic group of musicians at  Belmont University  in Nashville, Tennessee, Judah & the Lion started out as a Christian Rock act though started to dist...

COIN  has been hard at work even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Releasing the album their third studio record  Dreamland   in late February of 2020, the band had plans for a world tour that was quickly canceled as live music came to a halt. During this pause, the band recorded and released a three EP series based on the color spectrum, starting in September of 2020. Combined, the EPs formed the  Rainbow Mixtape ,  released in April of 2021. But the band wasn’t finished in 2021. In September, they released the lead single to their 2022 album  Uncanny Valley ,  “ Chapstick ," which had been called the band's most experimental track up to the release of its parent album. HEY CHERRY BLOSSOM, WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM?  In 1970, Japanese robotics professor Masahiro Mori came up with the hypothesis of  The Uncanny Valley.  He proposed that as robotics developed to create more and more humanlike robots, even to the point of constructing humanlike impe...

  Following up their 2020  album,  Dreamland , COIN  dropped three EPs in early 2021, leading up to their full album,  Rainbow Mixtape ,  released in April. The band wrote and recorded their follow-up album after their 2020 supporting tour  for  Dreamland  was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Singer  Chase Lawerence  sold his house at the beginning of the pandemic and moved back to his childhood home in Virginia where he began writing music for the next record. The band recorded many songs, yet the songs didn't seem to have a theme. “We broke it down to its elementary form and felt like colors represented the lyrical and sonic themes,” Lawerence told  American Songwriter.   Each song corresponded with a color and was released on three EPs.  Red-Orange, Blue-Green,  and  Indigo-Violet  make up the three sections of the band's fourth studio album. SUNRISE IN ORBIT . Rather than telling a ...

COIN has been hard at work even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Releasing the album their third studio record Dreamland in late February of 2020, the band had plans for a world tour that was quickly canceled as live music came to a halt. During this pause, the band recorded and released a three EP series based on the color spectrum, starting in September of 2020. Combined, the EPs formed the Rainbow Mixtape , released in April of 2021. But the band wasn’t finished in 2021. In September, they released the lead single to their 2022 album Uncanny Valley , “ Chapstick ," which had been called the band's most experimental track up to the release of its parent album. HEY CHERRY BLOSSOM, WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM? In 1970, Japanese robotics professor Masahiro Mori came up with the hypothesis of  The Uncanny Valley. He proposed that as robotics developed to create more and more humanlike robots, even to the point of constructing humanlike imperfections on the robot, the more likely that peo...

Following up their 2020  album,  Dreamland ,   COIN  dropped three EPs in early 2021, leading up to their full album,  Rainbow Mixtape ,  released in April. The band wrote and recorded their follow-up album after their 2020 supporting tour  for  Dreamland  was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Singer  Chase Lawerence  sold his house at the beginning of the pandemic and moved back to his childhood home in Virginia where he began writing music for the next record. The band recorded many songs, yet the songs didn't seem to have a theme. “We broke it down to its elementary form and felt like colors represented the lyrical and sonic themes,” Lawerence told  American Songwriter.   Each song corresponded with a color and was released on three EPs, though the second and third are combined on Apple Music.  Red-Orange, Blue-Green,  and  Indigo-Violet  make up the three sections of the band's fourt...

Formed at the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Hippo Campus consists of bandmates who studied Jazz, while lead vocalist Jake Luppen studied opera. Guitarist Nathan Stocker  suggested the name Hippo Campus, after taking a psychology class, but separating the word hippocampus into two words because it sounded sexual. After working as an independent band and touring with acts like Modest Mouse and appearing at Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo , the band recorded their first album landmark with BJ Burton who has worked with Bon Iver . GRAB A GUITAR AND JUST MOAN AND SHIT.     The second single from landmark,  “ way it goes ,” is a self-aware hipster anthem about “kids these days.” The setting of the song is Cumberland, Wisconsin in the early spring. The music video visualizes the setting—a party in a cabin of twenty-somethings hanging out, drinking beer, and playing music. There's also some suspicious Fruit-Loop looking cereal ...

I decided to do something a little different today. I'm going to present my first playlist within a playlist: 2021+. When my friend Stephen Barry  chooses his top songs of a given year, he gives two years of wiggle room for the records he missed. My format is not like Mr Barry and his Orchestra , but I thought that it would be interesting to make a playlist of the best songs I blogged about about last year that fit within a two year time frame. I'm going to stick to one entry per artist as usual and leave links for the posts. Today's song, "Counterfeit" by Wolves at the Gate, comes from a 2019 album, so it barely makes the list. First, I will post the Spotify playlist: The songs listed on this playlist: 1. " Cold Air " by Acceptance. The lead single from 2020's Wild, Free  is a song about a community torn apart by prejudice. Also check out " Wasted Nights " and " Dark Age. " 2. " Counterfeit " by Wolves at the Gate fro...

Opening Nick Jonas ' latest album, Spaceman , is the etherial ballad "D on't Give Up on Us ." Though produced by Greg Kurstin , a hit maker whose accolades include Sia 's " Chandelier " and Adele's " Easy on Me " and " Hello ," Nick Jonas's 2021 album only spun two singles, " Spaceman " and " This Is Heaven ." Were listeners and critics too harsh on Spaceman?  Slow pop songs with electronic atmospheres and falsetto R&B vocals and lyrics a committed, marital relationship may have left listeners who cynical from their post-lockdown breakup annoyed. It may have bored other listeners. While it may not be a masterpiece, it's certainly worth a revisit. The moody opener of Spaceman isn't lyrically deep, but its atmosphere opens an album that really should work. I HEAR YOU CALLING WHEN I'M HERE ALL BY MYSELF. Maybe it's the original cover of the album, but I can't help but think about kids...

Following up their 2020  album,  Dreamland ,   COIN  dropped three EPs in early 2021, leading up to their full album,  Rainbow Mixtape ,  released in April. The band wrote and recorded their follow up album after their 2020 supporting tour  for  Dreamland  was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Singer  Chase Lawerence  sold his house at the beginning of the pandemic and moved back to his childhood home in Virginia where he began writing music for the next record. The band recorded many songs, yet the songs didn't seem to have a theme. “We broke it down to its elementary form and felt like colors really represented the lyrical and sonic themes,” Lawerence told  American Songwriter.   Each song corresponded with a color and were released on three EPs, though the second and third is combined on Apple Music.  Red-Orange, Blue-Green,  and  Indigo-Violet  make up the three sections of the band'...