NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

This is our third entry from The Starting Line's Direction. I've talked about how this album was my summer of '09 album , and I learned a little about the album's producer . This morning, I awoke at "7 am" actually 7:30 rested, not wasted, to the blaring guitars of this song as my iPad alarm clock song. Lyrics like "21" and "Something Left to Give" make the 23 year old at the time singer/lyricist Kenny Vasoli sound much older. In "Something Left to Give," the young singer thinks about leaving a legacy for his children and grand children--something many in their late twenties today don't think about. In "21," Vasoli worries that the rock star lifestyle is making him "already hazy." WHEN THE MEDICINE THAT KEEPS ME WELL IS SETTLING. The Starting Line were signed when Vasoli was only 17 years old, and the band's debut album was released a year later. The Pennsylvania band were a part of the Warped Tour scen

  Ah! The weekend: a time when many of us can breathe that collective sigh of relief, leaving our forty hours at the office, forgetting about the boss, and maybe making some time for Number 1. Before I read into The Weeknd ’s 2015 hit, the upbeat track reminded me of catching a fresh cup of Guatemalan iced coffee before catching a bus to meet friends for a weekend in another city. One weekend, I was in a cafe in Hongdae that was playing covers of hit songs and I heard a female version of " Can't Feel My Face " playing. I can't be sure if it was Andie Case 's version . However, after adding Case's version of The Weeknd's #1 hit, I think it gives an interesting, mellow take on the normally, upbeat song. It's the alternate perspectives that makes YouTube cover artists and interesting addition to your music library. SHE TOLD ME 'DON'T WORRY. ' The Weeknd is known for his melancholy, self-destructive tunes. Earlier this month, I covered his new

When The Killers released their debut 2004 Hot Fuss , it ushered in a new era of New Wave music. According to Alan Cross of the Ongoing History Podcast , New Wave was the commercially viable offspring of Punk Rock, which had been successful in the UK but had failed to translate to the American market. New Wave was a British-inspired sound that touched on themes universal to the late-boomer generation. In the early years of the '00s, Rock had so many popular iterations, it was hard to keep up with. Nu Metal, post hardcore, pop punk, (scr)e(a)mo, garage rock were just a few styles that gained popularity. However, with a massive record like Hot Fuss, there were sure to be copy-cats--bands that would leech onto The Killers' model of UK success followed by American success. The Bravery were such a band. The Killers' frontman, Brandon Flowers , called the band out on the copying their playbook, starting the third-wave of New Wave's crowning feud, in a similar way to the big

October or November in the northern hemisphere are the coldest times of the year. At least they feel that way. Sure, January or February might have the lowest temperature, but you've been training through December for how to dress for those cold months. But these days, the cold and warm shifts are getting more dramatic. That's what happened last Friday. It was summer weather--sweating at work, wearing shorts in the evening. Then suddenly sweater weather with frigid mornings and chilly evenings after the early sunset. I love this time of year. I love not being covered in sweat. While "In the Cold" is not about those cozy, autumn feelings, the sad look back at failed relationships in this song isn't depressing to me. The guitar tones add hope to melancholy lyrics, making this song almost empowering.  THE WORDS, THEY TAKE THEIR MEANING . While " In the Cold " is a mid-album track that had very little potential to become a single, I feel that this song best

Born in Oregon in 1907, Claudia Louise Lewis was a school teacher and children's author. However, if you try to find information about her online, you'll be flooded with information about M83's 2011 song from Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, an album I talked about a few months ago when I picked their masterpiece, " Midnight City ." Anthony Gonzalez, M83's only official member, says he came across a couple of Lewis's space poems, which he said were "pretty bad" but "super moving." He guessed that she was "super young[,] like 12 or 14." Gonzalez is off by about 90 years, as I was preparing a class about Lewis' poem "Blue," I thought about what it must have been like to experience the rapid technological breakthroughs of the twentieth century first-hand. If M83 is all about nostalgia, let's go all the way back and imagine seeing the world through Claudia Lewis' eyes. ALONE 20 MILLION YEARS FROM MY PLACE. Claud

  The moment the talent scout comes to see your _____ and says, "You could be a star" is the moment many of us dreamed of when we were kids. If you believe everyone gets their 15 minutes, you also should realize that there are degrees of fame. The recognizability of a household name like Tom Cruise or Barak Obama compared to an indie rocker demonstrates this. But now, with adult eyes, look at that talent scout. Whether he's a football coach or Simon Cowell, he's certainly not got the best of intentions for your teenage self. And depending on what you're signing up for, there's something that the scout won't tell you. If you put in the work, you may change the world. But it comes at a cost. Your personal life is no longer yours. Your personality, image, and relationships will be a commodity that the press will fight and even pay people for. If you're successful enough, you'll be swimming in non-disclosure agreements, hiding you and your loved ones

MUNA is an alternative pop group composed of three friends who studied together at the University of Southern California . The trio self-produced their debut EP and uploaded it to Bandcamp and SoundCloud . The band's success with their debut EP led to the group signing with RCA records and releasing their 2017 debut record, About U. In May 2021, the band announced that they had signed to Phoebe Bridgers ' Saddest Factory record label. The group recently released the single " Silk Chiffon " which features Bridgers singing a verse. The song is one of the group's few singles to chart on Billboard , peaking at #35 on the US Alternative chart.  KEEPIN' IT LIGHT LIKE SILK CHIFFON. I think I first heard MUNA in the awkward teen comedy Alex Strangelove , a story about a high school senior who is struggling to understand his sexuality. All the members of MUNA identify as queer, though, as a lyricist lead singer Katie Gavin often avoided pronouns in the group