I rewatched the FiM movie yesterday, so expect that rewatch blog (at last) later this week. But for this series, we're now into the top half of the Equestrian Trot 100 chart from 2014. From here on in, we're really getting to the songs that were seriously popular in our fandom that year. Of course, I will still only feature them here if they hit at least one of my usual criteria:
Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the/an original 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.
Last time around, I had to skip two of the five tracks. Today there's no such difficulty, as all the songs are still around on their original artists' YouTube channels and so every one satisfies Rule 1. Not only that, but you can find the lot of 'em on Bandcamp in HQ, too. Isn't that fabulous?
50: Foozogz – HEARTS♥RMX
49: SlyphStorm – Sinking Ships (cover)
48: Black Gryph0n & Baasic – Sight Unseen
47: Foozogz – Behold
46: Black Gryph0n & Baasic – Faster Than You Know
Come
with me beyond the jump break, where I'll put the usual YouTube embeds
of this edition's songs, plus the also usual short paragraph with
details and thoughts.
Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 29 Jan 2014
Starting off today with plenty of pace, as you'd expect from the ever-popular Foozogz. As the title of the piece suggests, this is a remix of the already excellent "Hearts Strong as Horses", which was only about six weeks old when Foozogz turned it into this EDM banger. It's even more energetic than the Crusaders themselves, and I'm sure it'll bring a smile to your face as it did mine. The track is available for $1 on Foozogz' Bandcamp, but the entire album that features it (I Have A Red N' Black OC) is name-your-price, so take your pick!
Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 7 Dec 2013
Okay, this one is gonna take a minute. Long ago, there was a series called Rainbow Dash Presents by FiMFlamFilosophy (now renamed DawnSomewhere). One of the episodes was (very loosely) based on an even-then-ancient and now highly obscure fic named Bittersweet, and for reasons I don't have room to explain here, this song's original (also byFiMFlamFilosophy) was included. And... breathe. Here we have the SlyphStorm cover, which as you'd imagine from such an accomplished musician is smoother and better produced than the original. It's pretty faithful to it, though, and the song has remained so famous that it would probably have qualified under Rule 3 if it hadn't under the others. It's available in HQ for $1 on SlyphStorm's Bandcamp.
Here's one from the IMmortal [sic] album released by two heavy hitters of the fandom music scene, Black Gryph0n and Baasik. It's up on the former's account with a Pony picture and the latter's with a more generic image of the two artists. Naturally I prefer the first! This is a Fluttershy song, about how everyone's favourite shy, yellow pegasus has come to find peace in who she is and to draw strength from being scared. It's catchy, excellently produced and another song you wouldn't flinch from hearing on the radio. You can pick the track up for 99¢ from Black Gryph0n's Bandcamp.
Well, would you look at that? Yet another track from Foozogz! As title, cover image and upload year would suggest, this song is all about celebrating Twilight's ascension. It's upbeat and happy and uses its show samples judiciously. The use of the heraldic choir at about 3:40 is particularly nic. Maybe not quite in the very top bracket of Foozogz songs for me, thanks to being a little long at over five minutes, but that's a minor criticism. As with the previous Foozogz song today, either buy the track alone for $1 on Foozogz' Bandcamp or grab the entire I Have A Red N' Black OC album as name-your-price.
As with Foozogz, Black Gryph0n and Baasik also get two entries in this edition! Another track from IMmortal, though the single came out first, this is said by Black Gryph0n to attempt "to express some of the thoughts and emotions [Twilight] may have wrestled during her first night as an Alicorn". I find this a really good song, with an excellent beat, clever harmonies (if just a tad too much on the AutoTuned side) and some interesting lyrics. I'm not surprised it's stood the test of time. As with the other track by these two, this is available in HQ for 99¢ on Black Gryph0n's Bandcamp.
I am a huge fan of three of these, and the other two ain't bad. :D "Faster Than You Know" still gets me going!
ReplyDeleteSlyphStorm's "Sinking Ships" cover is so weird, because the original... has a distinct way about it? Which is a nice way of saying it's not great? Like, definitely an amateur work, which is fine, and like you said, SS retains some of that, but I think he really improved on the original, such that any remaining flaws become infinitely more charming.
Yeah, I'd agree about "Sinking Ships". But then you could say much the same about "Tubby Wubby Pony Waifu", which also has covers by some fairly big-name musicians (ElectroKaplosion, Crusader!, Naami & Koa, etc) that I think do much what SlyphStorm did for "Sinking Ships".
DeleteOh yeah. :D ElectroKaplosion's TWPW was great, and even spawned the short-lived "pony waffle" meme! XD
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