Sounds of 2012: Nos. 90 to 84

It turns out that a late report from Cambridge Botanical Garden means that last Thursday was in fact the hottest day ever officially recorded in the UK, at 38.7 °C (101.7 °F). Whew. Anyway, it's now cool enough to return to Sounds of 2012. This week, I'm skipping music for the first time. That's because of my four rules. Summarised criteria for inclusion:

Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the artist
Rule 2: Available from a third party, with reason to believe the artist is fine with this
Rule 3: So famous that it would be plain silly to leave it out
Rule 4: Being unlisted is not, on its own, grounds for exclusion

To compensate for the two songs one song I've had to skip this time around, I'm going a couple of entries past where I'd normally stop, so you're still getting five six tracks. Here's the run-down:

90: MandoPony – I Am No Hero
89: Forest Rain – Luna (Alt Mode)
88: skipped
87: Sim Gretina – Princess Of The Night
86: PrinceWhateverer & Acoustic Brony – Breaking Bonds
85: Aviators – Luna (Aviators Remix)
84: Sand Josieph – Daddy Discord

Past the cut for videos and details!

90: MandoPony – I Am No Hero

Rule 1b: acoustic version available from the artist
You never quite know with MandoPony these days which of his songs will be available and which won't. I initially skipped this as I thought it had disappeared entirely, but I've now discovered the continued availability of an acoustic version ($1 on MandoPony's Bandcamp), which means Rule 1b applies. Huzzah! How many points do I receive? This is a rock anthem told from Luna's point of view – wow, these were popular in the early years, won't they? I remember seeing it subtitled "Luna's Lullaby" in some places, and while it's not enormously startling it's a solid enough piece in the Mando mould.

89: Forest Rain – Luna (Alt Mode)

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 10 Feb 2012
The first (but not the last!) appearance in "Sounds of 2012" of Forest Rain, who is of course very active in the fandom to this day. For her cover of Eurobeat Brony's early-fandom classic (which hit no. 4 in "Sounds of 2011"), she decided on a rockier version than the original, with lots of hard-edged guitar sounds and a fairly fast tempo. It's grown on me since I first heard it, although by her own admission Forest Rain doesn't really have a natural rock voice and that does rather show. For $1, you can buy it in HQ on Forest Rain's Bandcamp.

88: skipped

87: Sim Gretina – Princess Of The Night (remix)

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 11 Aug 2012
Hey look, everyone: it's a Sim Gretina remix! This is quite an impressive achievement in that it makes a four-minute track out of a Friendship is Witchcraft song that in its original form lasts about 36 seconds – though there is a much longer extended version that was never finished! Anyway, Sim Gretina's version isn't bad at all, though I don't think it's one of their most accomplished remixes and the brevity of the source song does seem to hamper it a tad. There are a few samples from "Luna Eclipsed", too. No HQ version, but Sim Gretina does point to a SoundCloud version with a "less high lead synth".

86: PrinceWhateverer & Acoustic Brony – Breaking Bonds

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 5 Jun 2012
This one is on PrinceWhateverer's account, but the description lists the other contributors as Acoustic Brony, iBringDaLulz, MandoPony, MrGeorgeFTW and DJ MHM. I know nothing of the last two, but I do remember this song making a lasting impression when it was released as part of the first Balloon Party album, 100% No Feeble Cheering, which was dedicated to the harder side of brony music. "Breaking Bonds" got chosen quite a bit as a karaoke song at my first convention, BUCK 2013, perhaps partly simply because it has shouting and swearing. It wasn't and isn't my kind of music at all, so I'll confine myself to noting that the song is about Gilda from Rainbow Dash's perspective, with some added side-swipes at Pinkie Pie. You can get the album (but not the individual track) as a name-your-price thing on the Balloon Party Bandcamp.

85: Aviators – Luna (Aviators remix)

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 13 Jul 2012
Yes, it's another remix of the Eurobeat Brony song! But this one is very different in style to Forest Rain's. Aviators' remix is, as you'd expect from this artist, more of an orchestral rock version; it's also considerably slower and with some barely repressed emotion, fitting for its subject. According to Aviators, the piece actually started out life as "yet another dubstep song" – well, I'm pleased it ended up like this! If you like it, pick up Equestrian Revolution, Aviators' album of remixes including this track, for whatever you want to pay on his Bandcamp.

84: Sand Josieph – Daddy Discord

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 12 Mar 2012
I'm really surprised this Sand Josieph classic comes in so low in the Everfree list, but there's no accounting for taste! It's a two-hander between Discord and Screwball, the mare created by his chaotic reign in "The Return of Harmony". Inspired by The Phantom of the Opera, it has some very effective orchestral strings which conjure up the unpredictability and somewhat sinister nature of Discord – bearing in mind that when this song was written he was an out-and-out villain, and a very dangerous one. These contrast oddly (deliberately, I'm sure) with the apparently genuine affection Discord and Screwball feel for each other. It's a name-your-price song on Sand Josieph's Bandcamp.