The rules were kind of confusing this month, so bear with me.
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 August songs can be found at Sputnik Music Song of the Day - August 2021.
1. As this month was Olympic month (or so I've heard - I didn't watch them myself), the theme for the month was Sputnik Olympics. This meant that your rec had to be from an artist who came from a country that hosted the summer Olympics, and the pick itself had to be from an album that was released the year that their country hosted the Olympics. Got that? Good. Now possibly because the rules were confusing, and possibly because it was August and people were away for the summer, participation was once again pretty low.
2. Because of the low participation, I got to make three recs this month. The first was from an American band, The Go-Go's' "I'm With You", from their 1984 release Talk Show. The second from another American artist, Long Island local duo Crystal Rose, "The Feather/Free the Eagle", from their 1996 release Look Inside. And the third was from Canadian icons Rush, "Passage to Bangkok", from their 1976 LP 2112. The first two did pretty well with the other Users. Rush never does that well with this group, largely because Geddy Lee's vocals are something of an acquired taste. Oh well. The Go-Go's - I'm With You; Crystal Rose - The Feather/Free the Eagle; Rush - Passage to Bangkok.
3. I didn't have a great month. My average rating was only 2.84 out of 5. Maybe I was just having a lethargic month, or maybe most of the recs weren't that great. My highest-rated song for the month out of everyone else's recs was a track called "Pilgrimage" by Japanese artist Ichiko Aoba. Ichiko Aoba - Pilgrimage.
4. And the rest of the group agreed, as Pilgrimage was also the overall winner for the month. Ichiko Aoba - Pilgrimage.
5. For those of you who like to follow along at home, here is the full playlist for the month. August 2021 Song of the Day YouTube Playlist.
So now that the summer is over, we'll see if we start to get a bit more participation with our monthly SOTD list. I'll tell you all about it in 30 days.
