NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

In 2005, Denison Witmer released Are You a Dreamer ?  The album was released on the now defunct Chad Pearson -owned record label The Militia Group , home to a plethora of Christian and secular acts in the late '90s and early '00s. The former A&R guy at Tooth & Nail Records founded The Militia Group on similar values as the legendary label: musical variety. From underground punk rock bands like Brandston and The Beautiful Mistake to indie rock gems like Copeland and Lovedrug to mainstream successes like The Summer Set and Cartel  and to indie folk acts like The New Frontiers and Denison Witmer, the label fostered talent for nearly 10 years before the label folded.   HOW YOU FOUND ME, I STILL NEVER UNDERSTAND.  " Little Flowers " opens  Are You a Dreamer?   with  simple acoustic guitar plucking. But in addition to guitar, Denison Witmer's dear friend and occasional housemate Sufjan Stevens appears playing banjo on the track. Stevens' 2005 releas

First appearing in 2001,   Lovedrug   released their   eponymous EP   in 2002 and their   Rocknroll   EP in 2004 before releasing their debut record,   Pretend You're Alive ,  in June of 2004. Selling over 20,000 records soon after the record was released, the band was signed to   Columbia Records   and their song " Spiders " was intended to be marketed as a radio hit. But rock star grandeur was never really in Lovedrug's reach, as the label dropped the band in the middle of restructuring. Lovedrug was a hard-working band, touring with acts such as   The Killers ,   Robert Plant ,   Sam Phillips ,   Switchfoot , and   Copeland . They would enjoy some success with their follow up record,   Everything Starts Where It Ends ,  but would continue making music until 2020, although they are probably best remembered for their first two records.   SEARCHING ON A WIRE FOR A WIRE .  The Militia Group  was a record label founded by former  Tooth & Nail Records  employee  Chad

The Beautiful Letdown was the peak of Switchfoot 's career. When lead singer Jon Foreman was reflecting on his career on The Load Out Music Podcast last year, he said that the band decided to follow up their most successful pop record with one that critiques the American Dream, a somewhat controversial topic with Christian listeners. The opening track, " Lonely Nation ," warns listeners about consumerism and how it just creates social fragmentation and a desire for more. "Lonely Nation" is the representative song for my Independence Day mix called American Dreams: Hope for a Better Future. This playlist is far from perfect. Certainly it needs more diversity in style and artists' voices. But I hope that the songs on this playlist offer an alternative to blind patriotism. After all, patriotism shouldn't be blind nationalism, but rather a peaceful discourse between conflicting ideals. In a world where everything seems to be falling apart, it's so mu

  Today, we’ll revisit high school in a playlist The Angsty Aughts. This playlist will compile and celebrate the Emo songs I’ve blogged about. For this list, I’ve decided to focus on scene music from 2003-2009. I’m sure that a second generation of Emo featuring Olivia Rodrigo and Goody Grace will be a post in the future. For this playlist, I've decided to stick to a high school theme because that's what Emo does best, so I listed the song as "Class of" based on the year that the song was introduced. Enjoy! Listen to Angsty Aughts on AppleMusic . 1. " The Sound " by Further Seems Forever (Class of '03), the song of the day. 2. " Embers and Envelops " by Mae (Class of '03) 3. " All of Me " by Watashi Wa (Class of '03) 4. " Coffee " by Copeland  (Class of '03) 5. " Crushcrushcrush " by Paramore  (Class of '07) 6. " Sick in the Teeth " by Jonezetta (Class of '08) 7. " Spiders &quo

In December of 2017, Lovedrug released their seventh album Relive . At this point in the band's career, they maintained some loyal fans, but it seemed that their chances at success were behind them. The next year, lead singer Michael Shepard announced that the band would be ending after releasing their final project, a reworking of their first three albums. The band, however, did release another album in 2020 of original songs,  Turning into Something You Were Never Meant to Be , so die-hard fans may have even more music to look forward to in the future if the band continues to break their promise to be broken up. MY HAUNTED WATERS ARE HARDLY CALM.   While   Lovedrug may or may not be broken up, the second track on Relive is an interesting love song. The narrative is ominous, starting with talking about how the future is open full of possibilities, but "her waves are cold [and] our chances thin." The speaker respects the force of the ocean, realizing "a generation

In 2020, Stephen Christian released his fourth Anchor & Braille album, Tension .  When he released his third A&B project, Songs for the Late Night Drive Home in 2016, many of his fans were still mourning the disbandment of Anberlin . But starting in 2018, Anberlin had started to play one-off shows and even started touring the next year. In 2020, the band was supposed to announce a tour with Memphis May Fire and perform at several festivals. But in lieu of the pandemic, the band started a livestream concert series. While Anberlin was active, Christian released Tension, an album of the most straight-forward pop songs Christian has released to date.  TRY TO EXPLAIN YOURSELF TO A STONE WALL. Last year, I wrote about 13 love songs leading up to Valentine's Day. This year, I'm not sticking to that format, but as Valentine's Day approaches, I thought I'd make a few playlists compiling the love songs I've written about.  1. " Madness " by Anchor &a

On a cold winter's day, in the middle of the stress of house-hunting, I thought I'd make a playlist for those bad days that aren't quite depressing and not quite angry. Today's featured song is " Beth/Rest " by Bon Iver. I resisted putting this song on my Pseudo '80s Playlist  because, despite the soft-rock keys and saxophone, the vocal distortion sounds more of a product of its time than a retro track. Some of the songs on today's list will be a little sad, but something about them gives me strength rather than pushes me further into a despair. As always, I'll put the links for each song. I'm going to stick to tracks I've written about and add to this list as I feel the song is appropriate. First, I'll share my Spotify playlist: 1. "Beth/Rest" by Bon Iver is the representative song of the day.  2. "Tell Me How" by Paramore is a sad song, but the resolve at the end leaves the power in Haley Williams' hands. 3.

First appearing in 2001, Lovedrug released their eponymous EP in 2002 and their Rocknroll EP in 2004 before releasing their debut record, Pretend You're Alive , in June of 2004. Selling over 20,000 records soon after the record was released, the band was signed to Columbia Records and their song " Spiders " was intended to be marketed as a radio hit. But rock star grandeur was never really in Lovedrug's reach, as the label dropped the band in the middle of restructuring. Lovedrug was a hard-working band, touring with acts such as The Killers , Robert Plant , Sam Phillips , Switchfoot , and Copeland . They would enjoy some success with their follow up record, Everything Starts Where It Ends ,  but would continue making music until 2020, although they are probably best remembered for their first two records.   SEARCHING ON A WIRE FOR A WIRE . The Militia Group was a record label founded by former Tooth & Nail Records employee Chad Pearson . Pearson founded the

Michael Shepard was in a band called Kerith Ravine , which dissolved in 2001. Shepherd explains the name of his next band when he gave up music to attend film school. He found that he couldn't give up on music, and his love of it "dragged him back," hence, his new band was called Lovedrug . The band signed with The Militia Group , and their first album, Pretend You're Alive , brought the band in talks with Columbia Records alongside with fellow Militia Group band Copeland . However, Columbia underwent restructuring after signing Lovedrug and Copeland. The label shifted from the indie-wave of the early '00s to more sure-thing artists of the late '00s. Somewhat defeated, Lovedrug revisited their contract with The Militia Group and released their second LP, Everything Starts Where It Ends , which spun a college-radio single, " Happy Poison Apple ." But by the time it was time to promote their third album, The Sucker-Punch Show , The Militia Group had