Sounds of 2011, nos. 56 to 53: Beyond Her Beautiful Winter

About time I got back to this! For music lovers, I hope to have another Pony Music Library induction before the end of the festive period, but don't hold your breath. For now, it's time to return to Everfree Radio's fan-voted chart of the best brony songs of 2011. I said last time there'd be two huge names – I was understating the case. There are three, plus another who used to be really big.

56: The Living Tombstone – Winter Wrap Up (Remix)

Here we have one of The Living Tombstone's early productions for the MLP fandom. Although it's not as polished as some of his later tracks, the essentials of his style are present and correct in this six-minute presentation. I'm not sure about the almost two minutes it takes before the drop hits, as this does seem to drag a little, but after that it's okay. Not especially thrilling, but okay. There's a Mediafire link in the video description, although the quality is just 165 kbps.

55: Chain Algorithm – Beautiful Blue Wings

Yet another Chain Algorithm song now. He was clearly extremely popular back in 2011, though I suspect that many people who've joined the fandom in the last five years won't be familiar with him as he's released nothing Pony since 2012. This song is quite openly (see the video description) a ship between the artist's OC (well, he calls it a "ponytar") and Rainbow Dash. How you feel about that may affect whether you like the song, which majors on distorted lyrics and repetitive beats. Chain Algorithm's site no longer exists and this song isn't on his Bandcamp, sadly.

54: Sim Gretina – Winter Dance Up

Here's the second huge name to appear in this edition, and as with the first it's with a remix of "Winter Wrap Up" (dated 2012 on YouTube but obviously not first released then!). I prefer this one by some margin. If you're even slightly familiar with Sim Gretina then it will be instantly recognisable as his work. A musician from Finland, Sim Gretina hasn't really been active in the Pony fandom for three years now, but the combination of infectious beats, carefully-judged vocal chopping and songs that don't overstay their welcome mean several remain classics to this day, if not quite this one. No HQ version that I could find.

53: WoodenToaster – Beyond Her Garden

Nostalgia time again for me, as this WoodenToaster (aka Glaze) song was one of the first brony tracks I ever heard. By the time I joined the fandom (April 2012) it was pretty well established and it's held up as a classic tune. I can't say I really know what it's about, and I'm not alone in that as the lyrics are pretty bizarre, but if you want a Carrot Top song then this is it. Perhaps a little beep-boopy for my personal taste these days, but still. There's a link in the video description to the song on various streaming services, but I can't find an HQ download to buy anywhere – though Bandcamp offers plenty of covers.

Next time: one of my all-time favourite fandom tracks will feature. Yay!