NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

“ Let Your Heart Hold Fast ” is a song that I first heard on a NoiseTrade sampler and then I heard it in an episode of How I Met Your Mother . NoiseTrade included the song on their Summer Sampler 2012 . By December of that year, the song had been included in the eighth season of one of the biggest sitcoms on television. The song comes from Birmingham, Alabama-formed band Fort Atlantic and was released on their debut self-titled record . There is some conflicting information between the band’s biography written on AllMusic profile and their Wikipedia page and BandCamp information. SALT AND LIQUID BLEND IN THE CORNER OF MY EYES. According to AllMusic, the band is mainly composed of studio producer Jon Black who sings, writes the band’s songs, and plays most of the instruments on the albums; and drummer Josh Cannon who also adds programming loops into the music. The BandCamp photo shows four band members, and Wikipedia says that Cannon has left the band. Genius, on the other hand, s

Back in college and a little after I used to get a bunch of free music from  NoiseTrade . This song was on  2012 Holiday Road Trip Mix.  In the mix there were artists from different states. None of the songs in the mix are tailored to a particular holiday, and I find that this song works just as well in the spring or fall as much as the winter. Canopy Climbers contributed to the mix with the song “ Far ” from their debut album, Distances .  THROUGH ALL THE NOISE AND THE LACK OF SILENCE. Canopy Climbers’ debut album Distances was released in 2011. Besides the NoiseTrade sampler 2012 Holiday Road Trip Mix, they were featured on JesusFreakHideout.com ’s 2012 compilation Songs We’ve Been Trying to Tell You About (And Others We Haven’t), Volume 2.   The band’s most recent EP Fever  was released in 2017. Today’s song, “Far,” is the band’s second most-streamed song. Like many NoiseTrade samplers I acquired in college, I didn’t take the time to look up the artists I didn’t know. However, 2012

Like most of the NoiseTrade music that I've talked about, you may not know who Cary Brothers is. However, since 2003, the singer-songwriter's music could be heard in the background of some of the biggest TV shows and movies, including Grey's Anatomy and its spin-off, Private Practice , The Vampire Diaries , Smallville , and One Tree Hill to name a few of the shows Brothers' music has appeared in. His song " Blue Eyes " was featured on the Garden State   soundtrack, which was the highest-selling record Brothers' had contributed music to. In 2010, Brothers released Under Control, the album's final track " Can't Take My Eyes Off You " is an intensely romantic song fit for intensely romantic television scenes.  MY ARMS WILL GROW, CHEST EXPANDING. "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" was not only a part of NoiseTrade's 25 Love Songs collection but also part of the overwrought end of Smallville. After ten seasons with many misste

It's only a month until Valentine's Day, which was the most miserable holiday for a teenager trapped in the closet in a Christian school. I was quite bitter towards a day that couples showed off their affection. I grew more and more cynical towards the day with every passing year. Fourteen-year-old me would be surprised that in 20 years, I would be thinking about the holiday a month before. But somewhere on the way from teenage-angsty emo music to a Christian pre-ordained incel-hood, like the blinding light to Paul on the road to Damascus, NoiseTrade 's 25 Love Songs rescued me from cynicism towards candy hearts. This album certainly wasn't the entirety of my love salvation, but it did start me on the path to thinking that love is possible and not total bullshit. I'LL ALWAYS PROTECT YOU. Ahead of their delayed The Peace of Wild Things , Paper Route released a second track from the album. " Better Life " had helped me through a very dark time in my life, s

Chris Ayer has been playing guitar since he was 18 years old. A graduate of Stanford where he studied music and philosophy, Ayer also was a part of an all-male a capella group during his time in college. Moving to Brooklyn after graduating, he hosted a series of podcasts in which shared experiences during his time at Stanford that ended up in his songs. Ayer recorded his first full-length album in Nashville in 2006. His song "Evaporate" won the John Lennon Songwriting Folk category that year as well. In 2013, he released his second album, The Noise , which is his earliest recording available on AppleMusic. "The Infinite Abyss of Space" is the final track on The Noise. From a cursory look into Ayer's music, it seems that the final track on The Noise  fits into the space that Ayer grew into; whereas most tracks on The Noise sound a bit coffee shop, folk singer-songwriter, rather than a polished pop singer-songwriter.  I'LL FILL UP THE SPACE WITH SOMETHING. I w

Stephen Kellogg parted with his band, The Sixers , in 2012. Though the band doesn't consider themselves right-wing, they were named the “Armed Forces Entertainer of the Year” in 2010. Kellogg continues to play for the troops and raises money for St. Jude's every holiday season. His last album with the Sixers, Gift Horse  is a treasure of Northeastern folk rock tunes, delving into topics of family, love, religion, and existential dread. In a concert clip, Kellogg describes "Charlie and Annie" as his memories from middle school during a time he didn't feel very safe. The song talks about an ill-fated romance between alcoholic Charlie, who shows his kindness just enough to partially redeem himself through the singer. He's a victim of his addictions, though the singer doesn't let him off the hook. Annie is a beautiful woman who had quite the past before she got tied down by "Charlie and motherhood."  HIS RANTS COULD BE CONTAGIOUS. The puzzle came i

COIN is another indie rock band I discovered when their song " It's Okay " was included on the 2012 Holiday Road Trip Mixtape from NoiseTrade. Formed in Nashville, TN in 2012 when Belmont University music majors Chase Lawerence and Joe Memmel joined with mutual friends Ryan Winnen and Zach Dyke. The band has opened for bands like The 1975, Neon Trees, Young the Giant, and Fitz and the Tantrums. They have also headlined several tours and played around the world, including a performance in Hongdae in Seoul in 2019. The band hasn't charted very well, their debut album peaking at 21 on the Billboard Heat Seekers chart and their sophomore record peaking at 177 on the Top 200 album sales. Still, COIN is a hardworking band whose flavor of alternative pop-rock is a worthy addition to July's playlist. OWNED A CITY, NEVER SAW THE STREETS. " Cemetery " is a cliche, yet catchy, story of a wealthy man who ended up dying alone after amassing a great fortune. Because

Though he only has 45 monthly listeners on Spotify, I can see Ian Mahan joining the ranks of folk artists like Denison Witmer , William Fitzsimmons , Matthew Perryman Jones , and all the other NoiseTrade artists I've been listening to. I added this song a few months ago when I was looking for Aaron Marsh collaborations.  After taking a minor dive into his other works, I feel like this is one of the reasons I write about music: to discover something new, something obscure. From his mellow interpretation of " Eye of the Tiger " to his piano/guitar melodies intertwined with the small-town-America feel of a boy raised in a small Illinois town, but who has moved to Colorado out of a dream or out of necessity, I hope to get better acquainted with Mahan in the weeks to come. THIS TOWN IS CLEARING OUT. "Art & Vida" tells the story about an older couple who have witnessed the decay of the small town after NAFTA took the jobs overseas. It's implied that Art los

  Back in college and a little after I used to get a bunch of free music from  NoiseTrade . This song was on 2012 Holiday Road Trip Mix. In the mix there were artists from different states. None of the songs in the mix are tailored to a particular holiday, and I find that this song works just as well in the spring or fall as much as the winter. I love to listen to this song as I walk. I picture it being the song that plays in the middle of a movie to speed up time to relevant points in a movie. It's quite arrogant to think that my life is worthy of a movie, but I'm going to imagine the montage. First, listen to the song . And maybe read the lyrics . IF HOME IS WHERE MY HEART IS SAFE, WHY DO YOU LEAD ME AWAY? I'm walking home from work under the shade of the ginkgo trees. First it's spring. The warm sunlight lights the sidewalk and the air is fresh. Traffic is crazy around me. Next it's later spring. I'm carrying my jacket in my hands. The light is stronger. Nex