NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

  The BEC in BEC Records is short for Brandon Ebel Company and is an imprint label of Ebel’s other company, Tooth & Nail Records . Today, the label serves as the Contemporary Christian side of Ebel’s business, just as Solid State serves as the heavier music side; however, the distinction between the label imprint have not always been so defined. Case in point is Falling Up , whose career started as an explicitly Christian band but later became the creative outlet of vocalist and songwriter Jessy Ribordy to write his science fiction song lyrics. By the band's third record, Falling Up had become much less about Christian music, and much more about abstract sci-fi landscapes, littered with Greek mythology. And after the band's fourth album, the label and many fans had lost interest. IN THIS MOMENT SYNCHRONIZED INSIDE. But let’s go back to the single that helped the band sell over 50,000 albums the first week of their debut Crashings ’ release—“ Broken Heart .” This was Feb...

  The story behind this song is what makes it fascinating for me. In 2011, French DJ David Guetta was recording his follow-up to his breakthrough record. In 2009, his collaboration with Akon in the song " Sexy Chick ," the radio-friendly edit of the song "Sexy Bitch," had taken radio by storm. This was the early days of EDM finding its way from long-form tracks in the discotheque to topping the Billboard Hot 100 with shorter radio-format songs featuring pop singers. Guetta's follow-up record was filled with pop stars of the day, but it was this track by a virtually unknown songwriter Sia Furler that not only cemented the careers of Guetta and the elusive pop powerhouse vocalist but EDM and DJ features in pop music. The story that follows reminds me not to give up on my dreams. YOU SHOOT ME DOWN, BUT I WON'T FALL. If you watch musical talent shows (i.e. The Voice, American Idol, [a country's] Got Talent ), you realize that 1) a winner of those shows has...

  Released on April 7, 2014,  High4 's debut single cowritten and featuring Korea's darling singer  IU , " Not Spring, Love, or Cherry Blossoms " has been a staple of K-pop for the early spring. Since I've been in the Southeastern part of Korea, the cherry blossoms (in Korean 벚꽃, Americans typically know them by their Japanese name  sakura ) have bloomed at the beginning of April and peaked in the first half of the month. In Korea, cherry blossoms are nature's first photo-op of the year. School is usually a little more laidback the week the pink and white blossoms peak, as everyone must quickly get photo before the delicate flowers fall. I HAVE NO ONE TO HOLD HANDS WITH AND WALK.  When I was growing up and dreaming about experiencing far away places, I thought about eating my way across Europe, seeing golden temples in Thailand or Cambodia, and experiencing the beauty of a Japanese spring. I haven't been to Japan in the spring; however, a Korean spring is ...

One of the biggest challenges of writing about music that I often run into is there isn't always a lot to talk about. Just because it's a good song, doesn't mean that it is a conversation piece. New music is particularly hard to write about. It takes a lot of research, and it takes quite a few listens over a period of time to pick up the nuance. Furthermore, I mostly write about old music because I have memories associated with it. These memories are acquired over time, and can't be forced onto a song every Friday with the new release cycle. But when a song has layers of meaning, or in this case, layers of history, not only is it easier to write about, but also I can connect with the song on a deeper level. I won't be able to get into all of the layers that I want to in this short post, but I'll see what I can accomplish.  I'M CAUGHT UP IN YOU. In 2019, Taylor Swift announced that she would be rerecording and releasing new versions of her back catalogue. T...

  I first encountered White Lies in 2009 on an iTunes sampler. The song was " Farewell to the Fairground ," a song from their freshman album To Lose My Life...  Their follow up album,  Ritual ,  was unimpressive, and I kind of forgot about this band until I heard their single " There Goes Our Love Again, " from their 2013 album Big TV . The album is certainly their strongest to date and plays like a New Wave album, taking influence from the most venerated post-punk acts of the ‘80s but released thirty years late. The song " Big TV " deals with themes of modern city life in regards to alienation, capitalism, and fleeting trends. Its electronic feel sounds like it's the kind of music that would be playing late at night, coming from the blue light of a big TV in a studio apartment downtown. AND YOU CAN GET ME WORK, BUT I CAN'T WORK FOR FREE.  A few years ago, CollegeHumor released a video about Zen Buddhist riddles for millennials . The line that I c...

K-pop listeners have watched the once teen star IU grow up. Debuting at the age of 15, the star is turning 30 this year. The soprano singer has been called Korea's little sister, and her (mostly) squeaky clean image has propelled her to lasting success in Korea's music scene. Flowers and spring are no unfamiliar topic to this singer, and her sweet, yet powerful voice is perfect for a spring day. My first exposure to the singer was her song " The Meaning of You " (너의 의미)  and her feature on HIGH4 's " Not Spring, Love, or Cherry Blossoms " (봄 사랑 벚꽃 말고) and she's constantly played in Korea whenever the mood calls for easy listening. IT'S LIKE THE FALLING PETALS, OUR IVORY COLORED SPRING CLIMAX. Choosing this song marks the end of a week of dreary album covers. IU's Lilac album is a pretty spring album. And it's no secret I'm a sucker for a good saxophone part in a pop song. Growing up in central New York, I always considered lilacs t...

  Ivory Circle is a trio fronted by former middle school choir teacher, Connie Hong along with muti-instrumentalist Chris Beeble, and percussionist/drummer Rob Spradling. I found the band when I went on an Apple Music search to find songs on which Copeland's Aaron Marsh was featured. Unsurprisingly, Ivory Circle has also toured with Copeland, and this track sounds like it could have been produced Marsh as it sounds like it would be at home on a Copeland record. Chris Beeble, however, produces all of IC's work. The band has four EPs and today's song comes from the middle release of their triangle series:  Equilateral, Isosceles, and Scalene-- the first of which is not available on Apple Music. I foresee a rainy weekend when I will delve into the albums, perhaps even purchasing the albums not available on their bandcamp page. I think it's so important right now to celebrate and help indie musicians right now as they can't make money through touring. YOU CAN SEE MY BR...