NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Thinking back on when I started my blog back in 2021 feels like a fever dream. In South Korea, social distancing measures were in full effect. Daily Covid infections dramatically started to rise just before Christmas, and it seemed like I’d be wearing a mask until my ears fell off. In 2020, I had spent so much time at home, not really accomplishing much, and in 2021 I wanted to start a new project and stick to it. That project was my blog NewYearsDayProject. Now in the fourth year of the project, posting every day and writing almost every day, it’s hard to remember the thrill of when a new song came out. Now a new song is a stressful choice: do I write about it right away to try to be relevant? If I write about it, I have to push back the song I’ve got planned in my queue.  THIS PAIN IS LIKE HAVING A FLU. In 2021, IU released her fifth studio album, Lilac . The album coincided with the coming of spring and her 29th birthday (in Korean age , though the system was abolished last year).

K-pop listeners have watched the once teen star  IU  grow up. Debuting at the age of 15, the star is turning 30 this year. The soprano singer has been called Korea's little sister, and her (mostly) squeaky clean image has propelled her to lasting success in Korea's music scene. Flowers and spring are no unfamiliar topic to this singer, and her sweet, yet powerful voice is perfect for a spring day. My first exposure to the singer was her song " The Meaning of You " (너의 의미)  and her feature on  HIGH4 's " Not Spring, Love, or Cherry Blossoms " (봄 사랑 벚꽃 말고) and she's constantly played in Korea whenever the mood calls for easy listening. IT'S LIKE THE FALLING PETALS, OUR IVORY COLORED SPRING CLIMAX.   IU's  Lilac   album is a pretty spring album. And it's no secret I'm a sucker for a good saxophone part in a pop song. " Lilac " offers that and more. Growing up in central New York, I always considered lilacs to be a late summer f

This is certainly a gimmick to publish more content, but I was listening to 2022+ on Spotify on Friday and on a lark, I thought that I really wanted the AppleMusic version. Also, it's been half a year since I talked about the playlist directly, and it's undergone quite a bit of alteration since then. I tried to arrange the songs into a cohesive playlist, but when I'm working with different genres, it's a little hard. Also, I made a few deliberate choices to change the songs to offer more variety to the playlist. So instead of " Sine from Above ," I included " Babylon " by Lady Gaga. I hope AppleMusic listeners enjoy this list. Maybe a YouTube list is next instead of a repost from last year. 1. " Bad Love " by Key is today's song. It's an infectious dance song that I wrote about last year. It's worth a repeat.  2. " Shivers " by Ed Sheeran  3. "Babylon" by Lady Gaga 4. "Sometimes" by MUNA 5. "

Artists often show off their influences when they play a cover. In 2004, Copeland released an EP of covers of songs by singer-songwriters from the '70s and '80s. While the band has moved into more experimental territory in recent years, know nothing stays the same shows the musical education, the melodies, the song structure from which Copeland came. Today's song was written by Billy Joel and released in 1977, and Billy Joel's version appears on the Spotify and AppleMusic version of the April 2022 Mixtape  because know nothing stays the same is a rare Copeland release. Copeland's covers EP is worth checking out, though. Hearing the band's unique take on the soft rock classics gave me a new appreciation for the band when I heard this EP, and I only wish it was more widely available. THE WORST SHE CAN DO IS THROW SHADOWS AT YOU. Now we come to Under the Covers,   Volume 3 (see below), naturally another YouTube Edition to the playlist because the main song on wh

Released on April 7, 2014,  High4 's debut single cowritten and featuring Korea's darling singer IU , " Not Spring, Love, or Cherry Blossoms " has been a staple of K-pop for the early spring. Since I've been in the Southeastern part of Korea, the cherry blossoms (in Korean 벚꽃, Americans typically know them by their Japanese name  sakura ) have bloomed at the beginning of April and peaked in the first half of the month. In Korea, cherry blossoms are nature's first photo-op of the year. School is usually a little more laidback the week the pink and white blossoms peak, as everyone must quickly get photo before the delicate flowers fall. I HAVE NO ONE TO HOLD HANDS WITH AND WALK. When I was growing up and dreaming about experiencing far away places, I thought about eating my way across Europe, seeing golden temples in Thailand or Cambodia, and experiencing the beauty of a Japanese spring. I haven't been to Japan in the spring; however, a Korean spring is quit

Hearing IU always reminds me that spring is on the way. Commonly called South "Korea's Sweetheart," the 30-year-old singer-songwriter and former teen singer, born Lee Ji-eun (이지은), explains the meaning of her stage name as "You and I become one through music." Today's song comes from her 2014 EP of covers of folk/rock ballads made popular in the '80s and '90s, A Flower Bookmark . The song was written by Kim Chang Wan and originally recorded with his punk-rock band Sanulrim (산울림, meaning Mountain Echo ), which was a hit in 1984. Kim also is featured on the IU cover version. Although the IU version was not released as a single, it was featured in an SK Telecom commercial and was often played in cafes, grocery stores, and everywhere in Korea in 2014 and still today. The original version was used in the zeitgeist drama Reply 1988 (음담하러 1988)   SADNESS BLOOMS AS COSMO FLOWERS AT THE TRAIN STATION. Today I'll present my final Romantic Mix  version

In October of last year, The War on Drugs returned after four years with their critically-acclaimed album, I Don't Live Here Anymore . The title track and lead single features indie pop group Lucius as backing vocals on the chorus.  Like their previous works, such as  A Deeper Understanding  (2017) and    Lost in the Dream   (2014),  The War on Drugs is able to play two chords back to back for six minutes and create a song that you never want to end. Those two chords create a warm cadence that's like a bonfire on a cold fall night. And that's reason enough to curl up with a blanket and enjoy The War on Drugs all day long. I NEED A CHANCE TO BE REBORN.  However, unlike their previous works, today's song " I Don't Live Here Anymore ," to me, sounds like an anachronistic '80s or early '90s hit. It's kind of like what Mic the Snare said about " Blinding Lights ": "It's just like that one song. Uh? Which one?" Is it "