NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Last year was the 40th anniversary of Talking Heads ’ concert film Stop Making Sense . The concert film was selected as part of the United States National Film Registry in 2021. The media company A24 obtained the rights to the film, remastered it and sent the concert back to theaters globally. After Talking Heads formed in the New York punk scene in 1975, they became pioneers in New Wave and eventually predecessors of Alternative Rock artists. Their musical influence on future generations stemmed from their use of polyrhythms, diverse musical genres such as reggae, traditional African music, and contemporary composers experimenting with avant-garde and minimalism. The band amassed a strong following and rock and minor pop hits. The 1982 concert film Stop Making Sense highlights the band’s greatest hits. After the film, the band released three more albums before officially breaking up in 1991. I CAN’T SEEM TO FACE UP TO THE FACTS. On January 10th, Paramore uploaded a video to their s

  Fireflight became a massive Christian Rock band in 2006 when their video for the single “ You Decide ,” which featured Josh Brown of the band Day of Fire , became the most-requested video on TVU that year. The band debuted on Flicker Records after touring for years after being founded by husband and wife Glenn and Wendy Drennen in 1999. Glenn was the guitarist and Wendy the bassist of the band, and she would become the backing vocalist when the band added Dawn Michele as the group’s lead singer. The band followed up the runaway success of their debut album The Healing of Harms with Unbreakable . While Unbreakable was a success for the band, the members talked about the difficulty of making their follow-up album. Dawn Michele told Stars & Stripes making the record was “one of the most difficult times in our lives.” IT STARTS TONIGHT. Just as ForeFront Records was in search of the “more Christian” alternative to successful Christian-adjacent acts, Flicker Records signed a

  Zara Larsson is a Swedish singer-songwriter who began her career on the Swedish version of Got Talent, called Talang when she was ten. She won the series and began recording songs in 2012. Her debut EP Introducing was only available in Scandinavia where her lead single, “ Uncover ” topped the charts in Norway and her home country. In 2013, she signed a contract with Epic Records in America, which broadened the signer’s exposure to a bigger audience. But in 2014, Larsson released her first full album 1, only in Scandinavia. Larsson has released four albums, with Venus being her most recent, released earlier this month. The third single, “ On My Love ,” was released last September. David Guetta produced the track. It’s an airy electronic track, which is pure emotion. The upbeat song is the basis for introducing my eclectic workout mix. It’s a playlist more about pumping and less about thinking. Check out Gym Mix on Spotify. Read “On My Love” by Zara Larsson & David Guetta

If I could describe the music of this year in one word, I would say that the music of 2023 has been derivative. To some extent, music is always derivative and we could argue that there has been nothing in music since [pick a date].  But a year of derivative music isn’t necessarily a bad year in music. The music from quarantine in 2020 until last year drew on familiarity and nostalgia. Maybe this year familiarity has peaked with the shameless credited interpolation. KINDA MISS USIN’ MY BODY. I discussed the shameless interpolations of David Guetta with “ I’m Good” (Blue) and “ Baby Don’t Hurt Me ” and Jason Derulo ’s “ When Love Sucks ” earlier this year. I talked about how both of those artists' uses of the original material felt like they were forcing nostalgia onto their listeners rather than letting it happen organically. But today, we’re looking at Troye Sivan ’s “ Got Me Started ,” the second single from last week’s Something to Give Each Other . The song borrows the hook fr

  In college, I loved watching Adam Buckley lambaste the worst pop songs of the year on his channel A Dose of Buckley. Then a few years ago Todd in the Shadows appeared in my YouTube feed, and I got to listen to his somewhat whinier snide takedowns of the years’ hits. In one video , Buckley gives his insights as to how he gets views. He says that he makes controversial statements about popular songs, and then allows the algorithm to feed them to pop stan s who then share the video online, making the video go viral, ultimately boosting the popularity and notoriety of the host who, because of his statements, must remain in the shadows. I’m not really sure if there are any Jason Derulo “Stans” out there, but let’s all admit: “ When Love Sucks ” is a perfect recipe for a flop. MY TEA’S GONE COLD. Those who have nothing original to say, really shouldn’t be making a pop song. Not in 2023. Then again, we are in the midst of a '90s early aughts nostalgia that really doesn’t know what to