OK, this is more like it. I'm getting to the March 2021 Song of the Day, and it's only April 1. This is partially because I'm more caught up on my work than I have been in a while, and also because we have a clear enough winner this month that I'm confident that there won't be any late voting that will overturn the result.
Once again, for new readers, this blog entry refers to the monthly Song of the Day list on the Sputnik Music website. Each month, one user hosts the list and names a theme. Everyone then recommends songs in line with this theme, and people rate the various song recommendations. The list of March songs can be found at Sputnik Music Song of the Day - March 2021.
1. I was the host for this month, and got to pick the theme. The theme I went with was Songs about the Weather. Rain, snow, sunshine, hurricanes, blizzards, if it was anything related to the weather, it was eligible to be rec'd.
2. Once again, we had great participation, so thirty-one different Users got one rec apiece. I could have gone a number of ways on my rec. I considered picking local Staten Island band Bluish's "One of Eight". I love that song to pieces. But it's 11:17 long, and I know this crowd well enough to know that they would have hammered Anthony Bilotti's emo-style vocals, especially in that long a song, so I reluctantly passed. I also considered Garbage's "I'm Only Happy When It Rains," which I thought would probably get me the highest score of all the songs I was considering. In the end, I compromised, and went with Paramore's "When It Rains", which I knew wouldn't win the month but would at least be treated respectfully. (Mostly.) I was pretty much right about this, as the track garnered a respectable 3.235 average (out of 5). Paramore - When It Rains
3. I thought it was a decent month songwise, although my own personal rating was a little lower for March than it had been for February (2.95 vs. 3.05). My highest score for the month went to the progressive metal band Neurosis for the title track of their 2004 LP The Eye of Every Storm. Neurosis - The Eye of Every Storm
4. However, the highest average score from the group (and the track that won the month) was the one we all listened to on March 1, "On Teasing" by New York City-based singer/songwriter Nina Nastasia. I had no problem with this, as I gave it a pretty high score myself. Nina Nastasia - On Teasing
5. And happily, all of the songs were once again available on YouTube (although the Jesu song for March 19 is only available on YouTube as part of the full EP. So while the link for the list starts at that song, there's a song or two afterwards you can just skip over to move on to the Slayer song for the 20th. Or, you can also find that song individually on the bandcamp website.) March 2021 Song of the Day YouTube Playlist
That's all there is for March. So I'll see you all back here next month, OK. (And hopefully, I'll have my write-up on The Smiths posted here within the next week or so as well.) Bye!
