Welp, here's the retrospective part written anyhow (obviously html links aren't enabled on the forum--those should work in html form though). Now to think about choosing music for this week....... >_>
Song of the week has now officially been running for one year. Let's take a look back at the past year, shall we?
Last week, I asked people to mention some songs they'd heard through song of the week that they particularly liked or found particularly memorable. Of course, people remember the most recent stuff first (I don't think anyone mentioned a song from the 2013 era). That said, I do remember <a href='
http://www.rpgdl.com/KSotW/index.php?week=20131010'>Red Shoes by IU</a> getting a particularly warm reception back in October.
That said, someone did mention the very first song from 2014 as their favourite. My brother in law still quite enjoys <a href='
http://www.rpgdl.com/KSotW/index.php?week=20140102'>Goodbye, Goodbye by Teegan and Sarah</a> featured back in January. Although...he did help pick that one out. Later that same month, <a href='
http://www.rpgdl.com/KSotW/index.php?week=20140123'>How Could I want More by Jamie Lynn Spears</a> has a fan (perhaps partially due to the Britney Spears connection).
Of course, all of these songs were back when this was just an email series to family. In the last week of January I would start putting this on the web. And I picked up my efforts a little--made sure to listen to a wider range of music, got second opinions on my choices. Surely, this would raise the quality of my music choices yes?
Moving on chronologically, the next song that got mentioned was from April, <a href='
http://www.rpgdl.com/KSotW/index.php?week=20140424'>Shatter Me by Lindsey Stirling and Lzzy Hale</a>. Which...I have to admit, the overall quality of this song still strikes me as exceptionally high. I wish I could find songs with this level of vocal performance and this level of instrument performance every week.
Next up, from May there is...not so much a song, but a music video. Interestingly the only video to be called out specifically when people were telling me about their favourites. Now, pause and think--what band would be remembered for their music video? If you guessed OK Go, you'd be wrong. The band remembered for its video is...<a href='
http://www.rpgdl.com/KSotW/index.php?week=20140529'>Equilibrium, with their song Wirsthaus Gaudi</a>.
If there's one lesson I keep learning whenever I ask people for feedback, it's that I don't choose country songs nearly enough. There were four songs sent out in June, but the only one called out as someone's favourite was the country song--<a href='
http://www.rpgdl.com/KSotW/index.php?week=20140626'>Somethin' Bad by Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood</a>.
Once we get into July of this year, NOW people's memories start kicking in. Four out of the five songs in this month got a mention by someone. First up <a href='
http://www.rpgdl.com/KSotW/index.php?week=20140703'>URL Badman by Lily Allen</a> got a mention. (Good thing someone likes her--she is my most chosen artist this year with 3 songs throughout the year. Incidentally? The other artists that I chose more than once? Nobody mentioned a Lady Gaga, or Pentatonix, or Eminem song, hmmm...). Later in July is <a href='
http://www.rpgdl.com/KSotW/index.php?week=20140717'>Freshman Song by 풋풋</a>, which is a song I had skipped over earlier in the year, but somehow became Casey's favourite song. Next, <a href='
http://www.rpgdl.com/KSotW/index.php?week=20140724'>Oblivion by Bastille</a> was called out as a particularly quality track.
Finally <a href='
http://www.rpgdl.com/KSotW/index.php?week=20140731'>All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor</a> was perhaps the most divisive of songs, with some liking it for its message, and some people who could just not stand it. From what I've seen, this division seems to come pretty much along gender lines. And this is actually a pretty funny recurring theme with me--I seem to be comically bad at imagining things from a male perspective. I'll show a song to Casey, and he'll be like "I don't think I'm the target audience", and I'll be like "Wait, really? It's just an 'I don't need a man' song. Why would you not be the targe...oh. OH. Right."
But wait, there's more. You see, before I make my decision, I list out the songs I'm considering, and people have a few favourites that didn't make the final cut for one reason or another. Among them..."War Eternal" by Arch Enemy, "All the Devil's Toys" by Deathstars, "A Sky Full of Stars" by Coldplay, "Tacky" by Weird Al, and just in general the artists Beyonce and Panic! At the Disco (who have yet to be chosen...in fact, I really should choose them sometime).
