Image: Pixabay
Music accompanies us at shared apartment parties and when completing the cleaning schedule, on the way to lectures and when getting to know our new love, during the exam phase and when traveling during the semester breaks. We introduce two students who, as bloggers, test music for its quality. Included: your playlists for the semester.
Music has to come with you!
© Manuela Clemens
Maria's playlist (left in the picture) mainly includes pieces that fall under the broad category of 'rock'. “Americana, folk, post-rock and a lot of things that contrast with hip-hop or electro,” she says. The 28-year-old, who studies psychology at the University of Potsdam, lives out her love of music on the blog MUSIKMUSSMIT. She came across it by chance, but immediately thought to herself: 'Wait a minute, music and writing? I have to do this!' Since then, she has been part of the blogger crew and, in addition to her studies, dedicates herself to writing reviews, conducting interviews and listening to records.
In addition to concert tips and festival reports, MUSIKMUSSMIT also contains a lot of music that the bloggers personally find good. A list of current new album releases and concert recommendations appears every month. “Much of it is not yet well known and is therefore particularly exciting and worth supporting,” says Maria. One of the highlights of the music blog is the home visits. The heroes are taken from the stage into normal life and invited into their own four walls. Private acoustic sessions included. Maria can certainly keep up with the musicians because she has been playing the guitar for eight years and also writes her own songs.
Maria's semester soundtrack
For the shared apartment party
Feist - I Feel It All // Ace of Base - All That She Wants // MØ - Don't Wanna Dance // Salt 'n' Pepa - Push It // Micheal Jackson - They Don't Care About Us // MIA - Paper Planes // A Tribe Called Quest - We The People ... // Run The Jewels - Love Again // The Prodigy - Voodoo People
For the way to university
Feist - How Come You Never Go There // Tori Amos - I Don't Like Mondays // Daughter - Run // Me and My Drummer - You're A Runner // AURORA - Runaway // Lianne La Havas - Unstoppable // Lykke Li - I'm Good, I'm Gone // Bright Eyes - Road To Joy
For the exam phase
Sufjan Stevens - Should Have Known Better // Wye Oak - Regret // Villagers - Courage // Tina Dico - No Time To Sleep // Fiona Apple - I Know // Devendra Banhart - Now That I Know // Woodkid - The Great Escape
Niche instead of Metallica
Martin (29) is studying to become a secondary school teacher in the subject combination of German/history/ethics in Regensburg. You can see it as a preparation measure for everyday life as a teacher if he deals extensively with the topic of music. What used to be a Rilke rhyme for one person is now a Bushido lyric for another. But German rap is not the blogger's favorite genre. He would describe his taste in music as “quite mixed”, but “mostly somewhere between punk rock, hardcore and indie”. For him, music is “quite clichédly a constant accompaniment through life,” says Martin.
At times he dealt very intensively with music, and at the same time he created his music blog heartcooksbrain.de, which he now runs with his namesake Martin. On the blog he discusses current records that range between “absolutely niche” and “you have to hear it if you know anything about music”. Record reviews and concert reviews are part of the 1x1 of the music blog; the short format section, in which current records are subjected to a short review, including audio samples, is particularly refreshing. If you don't want to talk shop about every guitar riff, you'll get the best of the scene here.
However, music fans will not find the best-known bands from the respective genre as often on heartcooksbrain.de. It's "always more interesting to discuss albums by relatively unknown names in a blog instead of throwing the 423rd review of Metallica's new record on the Internet," explains Martin. A small band, niche musicians and a “lesser-known label are much more likely to see opportunities for their own artists and bands in music blogs”.
Martin's semester soundtrack
For the shared apartment party
The Wombats - Moving to New York // Wanda - Bologna // Michael Monroe - Ballad of the lower eastside // Bishop Briggs - Be your love // Green Day - Who wrote Holden Caulfield? // The Mountain Goats - This year // The Who - Baba O'Riley // Frank Turner - Get Better // Cypress Hill - What's your number? // M83 - Midnight cityF
For the way to university
Immanu El - Voices // Patentblau 5 - Auf hoch See // The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio // Radical Face - From the mouth of an injured head // Alvvays - Archie, Marry me // The Libertines - The milkan's horse // The Weakerthans - Sun in an empty room // The Good Life - Heartbroke // Lali Puna - Faking the books
For the exam phase
Portishead - Biscuit // Darkside - Heart // Moderat - Bad Kingdom // Social Distortion - Don't drag me down // Nada Surf - Whose authority // Kristofer Åström - Come out // No Use For A Name - Not your savior // Fog Lake - Get back // Grouper - Headache
Two blogging students reveal their soundtrack for the semester.
