Note: I accidentally omitted no. 38 when I first published this. That has now been corrected, as has the numbering. However, that song is included in next week's edition as well so that it gets proper visibility. There are therefore now six songs listed in this post.
Regardless of whether the real world is cheery or not, there's always the magical world of Equestria to retreat to when needed. As such, it's about time I returned to the Equestrian Trot 100 chart for 2014, to see what was shaking the music scene in that now fairly far-off year. As always, a reminder that to be included here songs must meet at least one of these rules:
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.
I've been able to feature every song for the last two weeks running. And guess what, music fans? I can do the same once again today! Huzzah!
40: SlyphStorm – Morning Mist
39: 4everfreebrony ft. Feather – Time is an Adventure
38: Glaze – Tough Luck
37: The Living Tombstone – Taking Flight (remix)
36: SlyphStorm – Octavia's Overture (reimagining)
35: Griffinilla & Toastwaffle – Love Letters
As is always the case, beyond the jump break below I'll be embedding YouTube videos
of this week's music, together with a few notes of my own.
Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 15 Mar 2014
Yay, a Celestia song! I don't imagine SlyphStorm will require too much introduction, and this heavyweight of the Pony music scene produces a pretty heavyweight tune here. Very much in SlyphStorm's trademark style, this song is about immortality, as seen from the perspective of the Princess of the Sun herself. It's quite a sad song, really, with Celestia musing on how many she has lost – but there's also a gleam of hope, in that the sun will always rise again. You can pick it up for $1 on SlyphStorm's Bandcamp.
Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 4 Mar 2014
Yet another big hitter in 4everfreebrony now, sharing vocal duties with the ever reliable Feather. As you'd expect from 4EB, this is melodic rock, but it's something rather different. In fact, this was his first real duet (well, almost) composition! As you may have surmised from the song title, it's about Derpy and Dr Whooves. It's uplifting, catchy and just plain enjoyable to listen to. There is a 2019 remaster, and as so often I'd recommend that for best production quality. The embed above is of course of the 2014 original. You can buy the track for $1 on 4EB's Bandcamp, while the remaster is available for the same price.
I suppose it's rather appropriate that a song that was unfairly missed out last time has a title like this! Glaze is of course also known as WoodenToaster, and this was a song he entered for a 24-hour challenge. Mind you, he states in the description that he only actually had four hours to make this, which makes the result fairly impressive. I don't really know what it's actually about, as the cover art doesn't make a whole lot of sense and the lyrics only give hints. Maybe it was written for a story or something? It's not on Bandcamp, but you can find it free on Glaze's Soundcloud.Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 25 Oct 2013
It's just superstar after superstar recently, isn't it? The Living Tombstone has entered the chat now, with a characteristic remix of d.notive's original. The song started out as a lead-in for d.notive's album, The Fantasy. Tombstone's version turns it into something slightly harder-edged. The MLP references here are deliberately subtle, since as Tombstone notes in the YouTube comments this appeared after his new pro contract meant he could no longer do blatant Pony music. Still, this is pretty clearly a recently-ascended-Twilight song. This remix was included on the extended version of The Fantasy, so to buy it in HQ you'll need to spend $1 on d.notive's Bandcamp.
And now we have a song that was originally by The Living Tombstone, but in 2014 was reimagined by SlyphStorm. Yeah, him again! I've always liked this song and its dramatic and poignant story of Equestria's greatest cellist, but sadly I found Tombstone's vocals back in early 2012 to still sound a bit on the awkward side. As such, this slightly newer version is easily my favourite. It's very much worth noting that this isn't just a remix: large chunks of the lyrics have been completely rewritten as well, although the underlying story remains similar. Want it in HQ? Head over to pay $1 on SlyphStorm's Bandcamp.
Uploaded originally by (and still available at) the Sherclop Pones YouTube account, but credited to Griffinilla and Toastwaffle, this is a song inspired by a probably mostly long-forgotten Ask Tumblr (remember those?) called, well, Love Letters. (Yeah, it's still up!) As I never followed it, I can only assume that the main character celebrated in the song was also the one who starred in the Tumblr. I've no idea who Dissy Dee, the other character name-checked, is/was either. Not being very helpful, am I? Good job the song is a very catchy slice of bubblegum rock though.
I swear "Time is an Adventure" is the only one of these I've heard before, and I really like it. That little boppy animation of Love Letters is hypnotic though. :D
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's "Love Letters" that's got itself stuck in my head this week! :D
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