NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Today I'm going to recommend an album rather than just one song. This is the fourth song I've featured by Canadian Christian Rock band Turn Off the Stars, and as they were together for only a short time and didn't document everything on social media, I've run out of fun facts about the band. Sometimes I like riffing on the theme of one song, but it's a cold day in January, so I think that a deep dive in this particularly cold, moody record is perfect for early January. I'll also post links to the three other tracks I've talked about this album, so you can read up about other interesting details about the band and their record label, along with some of my cringy fiction. First, I'll post the album. I'm sharing in Apple Music today, because the interface is cleaner for this particular album. If you would prefer to listen in Spotify, I'll post it here . 1. "I Wasn't Ready" The album opens with instrumentation that sounds like nature

If you believe in the Illuminati, Max Martin would certainly be a candidate of prestigious behind the scenes powers or principalities degenerating the minds of youth through pop music. I've talked about Martin's consistency on the pop charts when I talked about Coldplay's " Higher Power " last year. Since then I've learned a lot more about the Swedish force in the American pop charts. Martin, along with his "disciples" Shellback, Dr. Luke, and Savan Kotecha have been the go-to producers to get a pop act on the radio and charting highly. But if you want a track to go to number one, get it produced by Max Martin. Today, we're looking at one of Martin's first success stories. TELL ME WHY. Listening to "I Want It That Way" always triggers a particular funk. It's 1999 in the back of an old church van. It's middle school, and we're listening to pop radio because the conservative wave of "no music with a beat" leaders

여러분 안녕하세요? 오늘 새 플레이리스트를 소개할 게요. I'm going to introduce my second playlist-in-a-playlist, some of my K-pop recommendations that I've written about last year. Unlike 2021+, 추천한 K-pop will be a fluid playlist, updated as I write about other tracks. Again, I'll be restricting myself to one track per artist, but the artist may be featured on another track. For example, I had to choose between "Fake Love" or "Lights" by BTS, but I can add "My Universe" by Coldplay featuring BTS, without breaking the rules. The same goes for solo artists who are also part of a boy/girl band, so both EXO and Girls' Generation will appear along with their members D.O. and Taeyeon. Also, some of the tracks aren't in Korean, but they are made by bands that also have tracks in Korean.  I will list my original track list below and make a few comments, but I'll also leave a link to the original blog post. First, here is the playlist: 1. " Honestly " b

Fantasize is Kye Kye's second album, and it deals with love in both a tangible and abstract way. Lead singer Olga  Yagolnikov Phelan was married to drummer Timothy Phelan during the band's first two records. Kye Kye 's debut record, Young Love  deals more with spirituality and Fantasize deals more with human relationships. Songs like the record's epic opener, " I Already See It ," the contemplative " Seasons ," " Glass " or today's song, the second track on Fantasize , show the band at their best. A PART OF ME JUST ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW.  The music video for Kye Kye's "Honest Affection" was directed by Salomon Ligthelm , who has directed several music videos including a Justin Bieber video and a Little Simz video last year. Kye Kye's video starts off with an exploding plane over the Pacific Ocean in technicolored World War II  footage. Next the message "All's Fair in Love and War" shows the scene of J

I decided to do something a little different today. I'm going to present my first playlist within a playlist: 2021+. When my friend Stephen Barry  chooses his top songs of a given year, he gives two years of wiggle room for the records he missed. My format is not like Mr Barry and his Orchestra , but I thought that it would be interesting to make a playlist of the best songs I blogged about about last year that fit within a two year time frame. I'm going to stick to one entry per artist as usual and leave links for the posts. Today's song, "Counterfeit" by Wolves at the Gate, comes from a 2019 album, so it barely makes the list. First, I will post the Spotify playlist: The songs listed on this playlist: 1. " Cold Air " by Acceptance. The lead single from 2020's Wild, Free  is a song about a community torn apart by prejudice. Also check out " Wasted Nights " and " Dark Age. " 2. " Counterfeit " by Wolves at the Gate fro

BadChristian started as the provocatively-titled book, Bad Christian, Great Savior , written by three friends, Pastor Joey Svenson and Emery ’s lead vocalist Toby Morrell and guitarist Matt Carter . BadChristian quickly grew into a brand--a podcast and a record label--that pushed back on the conservative, family-friendly branding of Christian entertainment that had been curated for years by Christian bookstores, radio, and other Christian media outlets. Emery began releasing their music through BadChristian. In 2018, they released their second LP on their own label, and just like Matt & Toby's edgy podcast, Eve was the most interesting conversation pieces to come out of Christian Rock that year. CALL IT TRASH, I CALL IT PEARLS.  From its controversial cover (pictured above), a nude woman on her knees showing a naked buttocks, to its lyrical content addressing alcohol and drug use, profanity, lust, divinity, and homosexuality, Eve doesn't leave listeners with definitive

Following up a hip-hop infused pop record with lyrical content alluding to the Golden Age of Hollywood, Lana Del Rey took her sophomore record in another direction. Del Rey began working with Black Keys guitarist and vocalist Dan Auerbach in 2013. Trading hip-hop beats for rock guitars, Del Rey keeps her vocals mellow and in a low register, unlike 2021 Del Rey . Is 2014's Ultraviolence a rock record? With references to Jeff Buckley, Lou Reed, and Guns N' Roses, the aesthetic of this Del Rey record transports listeners as far as the '90s, while touching on the late '60s and '70s. It's a mellow rock record, though, and much mellower than current projects by Miley Cyrus and Olivia Rodrigo .  HEAVY METAL LOVER OF MINE. Listening to Lana Del Rey, there's a dichotomy that runs throughout her discography of elegant  and trashy.   The girl with " hair done up real big, beauty-queen style " loves to sing about sex, drugs, and in today's song, rock '