NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Kim Jong-won, singer of the South Korean soft-rock band Nell makes a third entry for the month. The writer of Taeyeon's " Time Lapse " and Kim Sung-Kyu's " Shine ," knows how to write an autumny, nostalgic track. Nell became known for their bleak music in the early 2000s. Their release of 2008's Separation Anxiety is no exception. "Time Spent Walking Through Memories" would become one of Nell's most recognizable songs. However, conscription would force the band on to go on hiatus before making their comeback in 2012, changing their sad tune to the uplifting, anthemic "Ocean of Light." "Time Spent Walking" sees singer Kim Jong-won wax poetic, describing the loss of love, in similar manner to "Time Lapse" and "Shine." "Time Spent Walking," however, has a calmer, lullaby quality to the soft piano and the ending "La La"s.  FROM THE VISION OF A STRANGER PASSING BY. You probably still r

In high school, Kim Sung-kyu , the future leader of the boy band Infinite, had to hide his vocal practice from his parents. In high school he sang in a rock band with some of his friends. When he graduated he left his hometown of Jeonju in hopes of having a career in music in Seoul. After failing an audition for SM Entertainment, he tried out for label Woolim Entertainment. His hope was to be a rock singer like his future label mates, Nell . On the day of his audition, though, he was suffering from appendicitis. Determined to make it as a singer, he sang through the pain and went to the hospital after the audition finished. Rather than cultivating Kim's rock talents, the record label decided to place him as the leader of the their first boy-band, Infinite. Throughout the group's tenure, they would flirt with rock music; however, it wasn't until Sung-Kyu's debut EP, Another Me , that he would be able to make the kind of music he envisioned.  WHENEVER THIS TIME OF YEAR C

" My my, hey hey/ Rock 'n' Roll is here to stay" declares Neil Young in his 1978 song.  Rock music has had lasting presence in pop culture since the age of Chuck Berry and Little Richard . Some points in the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, and '00s the genre took the primary spots on radio charts outside of the genre. However, around the end of the '00s, Hip Hop decimated the genre. The rock bands left standing, mostly traded their axes for acoustic guitar, keyboards, EDM beats, or Trap rhythms. Much of the rock music was indistinguishable from other genres, and that trend continues into the 2020s. However, just as rock bands cross over to the pop charts, the late 2010s to 2021 is seeing pop singers experiment with rock music. From Miley Cyrus performing with Metallica to rappers like Post Malone and Machine Gun Kelly flirting with emo, some may argue that Rock is seeing a mainstream resurgence. Enter Olivia Rodrigo 's " good 4 u ," t

On Labeled' s first season, Aaron Marsh talked about the history of their first album, Beneath Medicine Tree. The Copeland singer claimed that there were no Christian Copeland songs; however, songs on Copeland albums that sound like they speak about faith are inspired by his grandmother. This month we return to Copeland's second record, In Motion , an album that is perhaps Copeland's most Christian-sounding record. "You Have My Attention" is a very spiritual song. It uses Christian terminology to build the central metaphor. Whether the relationship is with God, Marsh's grandmother, or an idea who "has [his] attention like a shout through an empty sanctuary" yet "speak[s] but a whisper," "You Have My Attention" is a powerful song about a muse or a force that blesses the speaker. A holy spirit or the Holy Spirit carries this tune, grabbing the listener's attention when the hectic afternoon lets up for just a moment. JUST DO YOUR

In the early 2010's Rock music began to fall out of favor. The artists who took up the call to keep the music alive and vital were often criticized as being too poppy. When writing Linkin Park's The Hunting Party, the band pivoted from the calmer electronic elements they had slowly been incorporating into their music and returned to their influences, '90s hard rock. Personally, I feel that The Hunting Party is the least listenable Linkin Park albums followed by their sloppy pop attempt on their follow up record, One More Light . The Hunting Party sounds like under-produced, early P.O.D.--all intensity, with nothing really interesting drawing the listener in. Laced with features from hard rock, metal, and hip hop, the album, in theory should be awesome. Hybrid Theory was an intense album, both lyrically and musically, but electronics and production made the band stand out among the Korns and Limp Bizkits of the day. However, The Hunting Party does contain one throw-back soun

009 Sound System has been called the "National Anthem of YouTube." Released under the moniker 009 Sound System, composer Alexander Perls has lent most of the group's work to the Creative Commons. Songs like "Born to Be Wasted" have appeared in numerous YouTube videos because music from the Creative Commons is free for YouTube creators to use. The band, 009 Sound System appears close to the top of the list. Furthermore, YouTube introduced a program in 2007 called AudioSwap to replace copyrighted material with material in the Creative Commons, hence, songs like "Born to Be Wasted" appeared in many YouTube videos. I discovered this song when clicking on an AFI song that had been removed for copyright violation. I loved the feel to "Born to Be Wasted," so I discovered who the band really was through Shazam.  THE CAR'S GOIN' FAST, GONNA SPEED IT UP.  "Born to Be Wasted" isn't a deep song, by any means. But before knocking the

Many fans may have been introduced to Tegan and Sara when Meredith Grey and Christina Yang danced to their early acoustic, angry girl music on Grey's Anatomy ' s earlier seasons. The musical duo of Calgary-born identical twins Tegan and Sara Quin started on the acoustic guitar at home and eventually lead to being signed on Neil Young 's label, Vapor Records . The band gained traction in the indie scene. The White Stripes covered one of their songs, co-writing with Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie also helped them gain indie cred in their early career. But in 2013, the duo changed directions. The result was the big-production, synth pop-driven Heartthrob . HERE COMES THE RUSH BEFORE WE TOUCH. “ Closer ,” Heartthrob ’s opening track and lead single, sees the sisters explore new lyrical territory in addition to their musical change up. Tegan sings lead vocals, but Sara encouraged her to sing a straight-up love song, without the dark and dreary lyrical content the group