NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Two years ago, I taught a lesson on Irish music to my students. I played examples of Celtic instrumental music. I showed videos of  River Dance . I played sad songs like " The Parting Glass " and " Danny Boy ." Then I played some famous Irish artists like  Enya ,  U2 , and  T he Cranberries . Then I played  Kodaline 's " High Hopes ." When I asked my students which they liked the best, they said Kodaline. But that was  kind of a stupid question for a music lover. There are times when I want to listen to Celtic bagpipes and jigs. There are times I want to go out and have fun in an Irish pub and hear Celtic punk rock. There are times I want to listen to U2, and it's certainly not the same day I want to listen to Enya, but those days happen too. But like my students, I think Kodaline's first album fits more into my everyday listening habits. BROKEN BOTTLES IN THE HOTEL LOBBY.  While  In A Perfect World   is a great everyday listen, you have to be

Today, I'm going to present an evolving list. Last year, I chose an album of the year. In 2021, it was difficult because so much music was re-releases and nothing seemed dynamic enough to be album of the year. I finally settled on Scaled and Icy by twenty one pilots, but I actually didn't listen to it much in 2021. It seemed that 2021 was a year for good music outside of my immediate band preferences. Like many music listeners, my tastes are evolving, and I'm continuing to discover or just listen to older albums, which may change today's list. However, I'm going to try to present a list of the best albums from every year that I have been alive. I get this rank based on how much I've listened to the album, rather than by critical reception. Enjoy! 1987 The Joshua Tree by U2 . This was arguably when U2 became a cultural phenomenon. The first four tracks are the biggest hits from the record. The band always tackled issues of faith and doubt, but The Joshua Tree

  Back in 2010, we learned that yes, a pickle can get more likes than  Nickelback , a band that had become the most hated  "butt rock"  band in the mid-'00s. In fact, the conclusions of the social media study found that a pickle had more likes than Oprah Winfrey or other beloved figures. It turns out that internet users' hate outweighs Internet love, or the terrible outweighs the good. In 2014, the most hated rock band would become  U2  after their release of  Songs of Innocence   was forced into every  iTunes user's library. People tried everything to scrub the songs from their shuffle. Today, people have mostly forgotten about Nickelback, and Apple Music no longer comes standard with that U2 album, so people have other musical axes to grind. Justin Bieber has grown up and is no longer blaring in our cultural continuousness. So who is the most hated band these days? After the 2019 Super Bowl,   Maroon 5 , for taking to the stage when the NFL was in the middle of

In 2010,  Rolling Stone   named Darlene Love 's 1963 song " (Christmas) Baby, Please Come Home " as the number 1 Christmas rock song ever recorded. Born Darlene Wright in 1941, and renamed Darlene Love by producer Phil Spector , Darlene began her musical career as the lead vocalist for the girl group the Blossoms. Besides her career with the Blossoms and her solo career, Love sang lead on two  Crystals  songs and back up for many notable artists including Sam Cooke , The Beach Boys , Elvis Presley , Sonny & Cher , and Tom Jones . Love has also acted on Broadway and appeared in the  Lethal Weapon   films.  Love performed "(Christmas) Baby, Please Come Home" every episode before Christmas on David Letterman from 1986-2014, except for 2007 during the writers' strike.  PRETTY LIGHTS ON THE TREE. "Baby, Please Come Home" has been covered by many artists including Mariah Carey ,  Michael Bublè , Death Cab for Cutie , Jars of Clay , among others. On

Back in 2010 we learned that yes, a pickle can get more likes than  Nickelback , a band that had become the most hated  "butt rock"  band in the mid-'00s. In fact, the conclusions of the social media study found that a pickle had more likes than Oprah Winfrey or other beloved figures. It turns out that internet users' hate outweighs Internet love, or the terrible outweighs the good. In 2014, the most hated rock band would become  U2  after their release of  Songs of Innocence   was forced into every  iTunes users' library. People tried everything to scrub the songs from their shuffle. Today, people have mostly forgotten about Nickelback, and Apple Music no longer comes standard with that U2 album, so people have other musical axes to grind. Justin Bieber has grown up and is no longer blaring in our cultural continuousness. So who is the most hated band these days? After the 2019 Super Bowl it was   Maroon 5 , for taking to the stage when the NFL was in the middle

Today we revisit Jimmy Eat World 's 2007 album, Chase This Light . Over the span of four records, from Clarity to Chase This Light, Jimmy Eat World showed what a band with a driving punk-rock rhythm can do with modern production. Clarity is a cult-favorite record. It shows the early days of Power Pop and Emo. Bleed American shows what happens if you get the energy of MxPx , an articulate voice, and  throw in a few sound effects, you get a few pop hits and and some Alt-rock bangers. GOTTA LOVE HOW IT’S SOMEHOW ALL ON ME. The band's follow up to Bleed American, 2004's darker  Futures  was somewhat of a departure from the punk rock origins of the band. The titular opening track had a different driving energy than a punk-rock beat. In fact, the songs that follow on Futures don't return to punk until track 6, the first single from the album " Pain ." The band's 2001 Bleed American had paved the way for other punk-rockers to enter the spotlight, whether it we

Last year I taught a lesson on Irish music to my students. I played examples of Celtic instrumental music. I showed videos of  River Dance . I played sad songs like " The Parting Glass " and " Danny Boy ." Then I played some famous Irish artists like  Enya , U2 , and T he Cranberries . Then I played Kodaline 's " High Hopes ." When I asked my students which they like the best, they said Kodaline. But that was  kind of a stupid question for a music lover. There are times when I want to listen to Celtic bagpipes and jigs. There are times I want to go out and have fun an Irish pub and hear Celtic-punk rock. There are times I want to listen to U2, and it's certainly not the same day I want to listen to Enya, but those days happen too. But like my students, I think Kodaline's first album fits more into my everyday listening habits. BROKEN BOTTLES IN THE HOTEL LOBBY. While  In A Perfect World   is a great everyday listen, you have to be careful watc

Hurry Up, We're Dreaming contain's M83 's biggest hit, " Midnight City ." Everything on Hurry Up, is calculated to give listeners, including M83's sole member Anthony Gonzalez, the maximum amount of nostalgia. After a song-length, mood-setting intro, "Midnight City" builds on a riff for three minutes before climaxing in a saxophone solo, unheard in most music since 1988.* Track three, "Reunion," builds on layers of guitars and harmonies by one singer. This guitar-based M83 is a bit rare in their catalogue, as most of M83 is programing in synthesizers with touches of guitar here and there. But a guitar-based track is no-less nostalgic. It's that '80s chord progression heard in New Wave rockers and glam hair metal that sounded so cool to a young Gonzalez, listening to music in his bedroom growing up that bleeds into this song. The lyrics beg for a reunion with a loved one who has gone away.  A NEVER-ENDING DANCE. For today's post