Peer Evaluation

Dear Reader,

Today I have looked specifically on the blogs of three of my classmates. I am going to evaluate one of their songs and their choices and the information they wrote down.

• The first person I picked is Andrew. He chose the following songs:

- 'Wheel' by John Mayer

- 'The Last Suppit' by Lettuce

- 'Long Road to Ruin' by Foo Fighters

- 'Big Bird In A Small Cage' by Patrick Watson

- 'Child Song' by Cinematic Orchesta

I like his choices very much. I know every song except for the fourth one. I think his music genre is very close to mine, which is why I can talk with him about music very well. He also has a very wide variation of music genres just like me!

From his five songs I chose 'Big Bird In A Small Cage' by Patrick Watson. Besides that I heard a lot Andrew about this musician, I read the story from him too. This is really an example of a musician I think. He makes music in a very original way, which is unique!! I learned about Patrick's "buckley esque voice" as Andrew mentioned. It is very soft and relaxing so it means a lot to me. I like the atmosphere here where you can close your eyes. I am definetely impressed by him and thanks to Andrew, Patrick Watson has one fan more from now on!

• The second person I picked is Aisha. She chose the following songs:

- 'Wake Me Up, When September Ends' by Greenday

- 'Psycho Killer' by Talking Heads

- 'Three Little Birdies Down Beats' by the Chemical Brothers

- 'Fire Coming Out Of The Monkeys Head' by The Gorillaz

- 'Fluorescent Adolescent' by the Arctic Monkeys

I don't know any song she chose except for the first one. After I heard the songs her genre is more focussing to the rock side. I like this very much, because it is one of my favourite genres too. I think it is also becoming more likely for girls to listen to it time by time.

The song that said the most to me was 'Fire Coming Out Of The Monkeys Head' by The Gorillaz. I chose this song to evaluate from her list. I heard very much of this band. I think it is a bit strange band, but it is fun to listen too. The lyrics in the song is like a poem. The vocals are very variated too! In this way it will never be bored! Sometimes the lyrics are just told and sometimes really sang. I don't think I will really pick this song for my 5 favourites since I will not listen to it that often. I think it is just fun to listen to for one time, but that's it for me. It is not clear on Aisha's blog what she thinks about the song specifically. She just mentions the song to be her favourite, and tells some story around it about other things. I do not understand why she likes this song so much!

• The final person I picked is Joran. He chose the following songs:

- 'Tiger Mountain Peasant Song' by the Fleet Foxes

- 'Fire And Rain' by James Taylor

- 'Drifting' by Andy McKee

- 'Sailing to Philadelphia' by Mark Knopfler

- 'The Road Goes On' by Toto

I like his style very much, again it is one related to mine. That's why I know all of these songs. It is the same story as with Andrew: I can talk very much about music with Joran too. We often do this with the three of us!

The song that said the most to me is 'The Road Goes On' by Toto. Toto is one of my most favourite bands. Almost every song of them is really good. Especially this song says a lot of me. I like this to listen when I am travelling on vacation. It keeps me reminding on good memories. Even when a listen this song afterwards I can get a bit emotional, about what a good time I had during the vacation. This autumn break, was one of them since I went on vacation! The song has a lot of variation in it as Joran also mentions in his description. It has a very nice build up. I completely agree with Joran's description, so I could join him for a concert to Toto very soon, I hope when they are in the Netherlands.

Thanks for reading!

'Drink' by Fiction Plane

'Drink' is a song created by the English band Fiction Plane. The band is fronted by Joe Sumner, the son of Sting (Gordon Sumner). There are two other band members, a guitarist and a drummer. 'Drink' is one of the songs of their first big album 'Left Side of the Brain' that was released in 2008. The band is active from 2000 until present, so they needed 8 years for their break-through. It is still a band that is not that well-known to most of the people. What I found that special to the band, is that Joe wanted to break-through without help from is father, since he is/was one of the greatest musicians ever. The band made its way to the 'top' all by themselves. Drink is one of their songs that I was impressed of. It is a lovely song that has great harmonics added. It goes from a soft beginning, that is developed, until a rougher end. I don't mean rough in metal or rock, but changes like that the drums are added. The lyrics are great too and easy to understand. It is about love problems, in which the main person tries to flush it away by drinking. It is a dead end, which results in to alcohol problems. Again, the atmosphere makes 'the tune complete'. I could listen hours to this song, once it really impressed me after I went to their concert in Paradiso, 2008.

'Clocks' by Coldpay

I also have 'Clocks' from Coldplay in my list. I think Coldplay belongs to one of the greatests bands ever. It is the third single from their second album 'A Rush of Blood to the Head', which was released in 2002. The first time I heard this song was in the dutch television program Top of the Pops. I was only seven years old when I heard this song and I was totally impressed by it. My father already told me about this song, since he loves Coldplay. I began to listen to Coldplay a lot, and I this song was their 'break-through' to me. I like the piano part, the riff in the whole song, a lot since it supports the song. It gives the atmosphere again a good piece which is really important to me. Chris Martin, the lead vocalist of the band, always write the lyrics with fully attention. I can't really find out what the lyrics try to tell me, but it sounds very good and every word is originally picked to fit in again. I do notice that there are a lot of metaphors in it! I do think that the lyrics in general have to deal with 'time'...

'Comfortably Numb' by Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd's 'Comfortably Numb' is the oldest song I have in my 5 favorite song list. It is first released in 1979 on their double album 'The Wall'. Pink Floyd is an English progressive rock band made up of 6 former members. It is the atmosphere in the song again that says the most to me. The lyrics have a weird meaning though, that is what covered me the most next to the atmosphere of it. The song is based up on a conversation between Pink, the album's protagonist, and a doctor. The doctor gives him an injection in which Pink is able to recover his mental skills and helps him through his upcoming concert performance. I don't really see the meaning of the plot in the song. It is also the first song where a major guitar solo occurs. This one is played by David Gilmour. I don't think solos have to be difficult to love them, but they have to fit in the song to love them. I love this solo, because every note is just the note that needs to be there! This live version of the song, which you can hear in the compilation below, is very long (8:57), which is great to me, because I enjoy every second of it!

'Breakeven' by The Script

'Breakeven' is the 'break through' from the Irish band The Script. The song was first released on its album in 2008. The band is therefore really 'new' though. The genre is said to be soft rock, which is related to pop music. Although I am not that top 40 music lover, this song was in there in 2008. It meant to me, that this song is really good. I think the atmosphere in total is very well set up. There is a lot of variation in this song, but the theme is still there. Especially the sub part of the chorus where the vocals increase in tone is very nice. The singer has a really soft and clean voice to listen to, in which you think it might be difficult to sing for him. But he can sing really good, so it is really nice to listen to. I haven't linked the lyrics, because I haven't found out yet what it meant. This is not the thing that I focus on, and it will not be an argument of why I like this song so much. It's just again the excellent atmosphere, just like the other songs!

'Slow Dancing In A Burning Room' by John Mayer

This song is written by John Mayer himself that was released to its album Continuum in 2006. This song means a lot to me. I always look at the total song, and not just at one instrument for example. The atmosphere of this song really impresses me. It is like when you close your eyes and hear this song, that it gives you an emotional feeling. John Mayer has used excellent gear when he recorded this song. When you listen to it, you will mention that everything is correct and right to fit in. He worked very hard on this song to make it that special. He always has good lyrics and this time too. His way of writing is very original, since he uses other words in a poetic style instead of just bringing the message in normal language. It makes me feel happy and strong, so the total atmosphere and theme is really good to me! I can listen hours and hours to this song, because it never makes me bored.

My 5 Favourite Songs

Here I am going to pick my five favourite songs. I listen to, really, all the types of music. It is difficult for me to pick only five favourite songs, because my variation in music is very big. I will try to make my top 5 songs variated, in which you can see what type of music I like the most. I have to imagine that I am on an island, only having my iPod, with a capacity of 5 songs, with me. I also will try to bring a bag full of electricity if I could to recharge my iPod! But which five songs would I bring with me? 

My 5 favourite songs:

- 'Slow Dancing In A Burning Room' by John Mayer

- 'Breakeven' by The Script

- 'Comfortably Numb' by Pink Floyd

- 'Clocks' by Coldplay

- 'Drink' by Fiction Plane

As you can see some of these songs are not that well known as you would compare to them with the top songs from the top 2000. This is because I look for more songs than just the most popular ones.

I made a compilation of my favourite songs in this video. Please write your opinion about it as a reaction. Enjoy!