This was kind of a weird month for SOTD. On the one hand, I can at least provide you with a full YouTube playlist for the month, whereas last month, due to the theme, I was only able to link about two thirds of the songs in the playlist. On the other hand, the level of participation was a little disappointing for July. I'm not sure if this had to do with month's theme and most Users' reaction to it -- more on that later -- or if it was simply a function of the fact that the month was July, and a lot of our normal participants were away and/or otherwise occupied.
Anyway, 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 July songs can be found at Sputnik Music Song of the Day - July 2021.
1. The theme for the month was Overlooked/Underrated Soundtrack Compositions. It was a good theme. (I think so, anyway.) But weirdly, maybe because it's a generational thing (most Sputnik Users are young 20-somethings, or sometimes even younger), or maybe because the Host set the tone with by opening the month with one, the vast majority of Users decided to rec a videogame soundtrack. This led to a number of comments by the end of month about how tired people were of videogame music, and I think it at least contributed to the lower participation this month.
2. Because of the lower participation, I got to make two recs this month. The first was a track called "Charly the Kid" from Tangerine Dream's wonderful Firestarter soundtrack (which I've reviewed here previously). This one nearly won the month, but was nudged out on the very last day. (Sigh.) The second was a little gem called "Dig", a track performed by The Who on Pete Townshend's LP The Iron Man: The Musical. (This might have been cheating a little bit, as this was a soundtrack to a film/show that was never actually made, but whatever. I love this song and really wanted to give it some exposure, and it was close enough to fulfilling the theme requirements to get away with.) Both tracks were well received, and all the more so because they were two of the only songs rec'd for the month that weren't from videogame soundtracks. Tangerine Dream - Charly the Kid; The Who - Dig.
3. My highest rated song for the month was a track from Angelo Badalamenti's classic soundtrack for the original Twin Peaks television show, "Audrey's Dance". Angelo Badalamenti - Audrey's Dance.
4. And amazingly enough, I picked a winner for once, as the highest rated song for the month was also "Audrey's Dance". But even when I win, I lose, as A. "Audrey's Dance" barely beat out "Charley the Kid" to win the month, and B. What really hurts is that by the end of the month, participation had gotten so low that only 4 Users bothered to rate this song. (And I was one of them, so my own high score actually contributed to my own defeat.) Even "Charly the Kid", which was featured on the 8th day of the month, was only rated by 7 Users. (And in fact the highest participation we ever got in July was 9 Users for the first two days of the month.) Now participation is always heavier for the first few days of the month than for later on, but 4 ratings in pretty bad. Is interest in SOTD winding down? I hope not, but maybe. We'll see. Angelo Badalamenti - Audrey's Dance
5. Here's the full playlist for the month, a total of 33 songs (which includes two bonus tracks). July 2021 Song of the Day YouTube Playlist
See you guys next month.
