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.
Before beginning I was a tad concerned that the very first track would have to be skipped and I'd get disheartened right at the start, but fortunately no such thing happened. In fact, I'm delighted to say that all five of these tracks qualify for inclusion under Rule 1. Yay! That won't always happen, but it's nice to start off with a full house. Here's the list:
100: Vylet Pony – Dancing with My Nightmare
99: Rarity ft. EileMonty – I Will Always Miss Us
98: Ferexes – The Renegade
97: Lenich & Kirya – Beyond Her Garden (remix)
96: µThunder & FritzyBeat – Arimaspi
If you're reading this on a computer, there'll be a jump break imminently. After that, you'll get the usual mixture of embedded YouTube videos, a few track details and a paragraph of my rambly thoughts. Are you ready? Then let's set our time machine for 2015 and jump right in!
I'm sure Vylet Pony, still active after all these years, doesn't need any introductions. She's someone who ranges widely and wildly in genres and styles, and so it is here. The chanted intros, the spooky piano lines, the deceptively cheery lyrics... she described this as her "first full acoustic-ish sounding song", which is a fair enough summary. You could argue that the vocals and production aren't as silky smooth as they have been more recently, but you could also argue that the slight GarageBand roughness suits this haunting Luna song pretty well. Either way, you can pick it up in high quality audio for $1.29 on Vylet Pony's Bandcamp.
Rule 1: uploaded to EileMonty's Bandcamp 24 Sep 2014
Things have changed a bit in a decade: Rarity was pretty soon much better known as Jeff Burgess (but now uses the name Just Fern on YouTube), while EileMonty has blanked her YT profile and deleted the large majority of her MLP tracks on Bandcamp. Fortunately this one survives there, I'd guess because it's a collaboration – and that's excellent, because it's a really fine song. Not the cheeriest, seeing as it's a post-breakup song about Octavia and Vinyl, but Jeff Burgess's guitar work and EileMonty's very strong vocals come together to make a very impressive piece of pop rock. Grab it for $1 on EileMonty's Bandcamp.
Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 20 Apr 2015
Quite the change of genre here, as we move from pop rock to... well, it sounds dubsteppy to me, so I'll go with that, even though it possibly counts as something else. Who knows? Anyway, Ferexes is surely best known for the massively popular (12 million views) "Nightmare Night" SFM animation from 2013 starring Team Fortress 2 characters. He wrote Pony music as well, though! As for this particular music, it's an instrumental track with an accompanying video of Rainbow Dash flying east. Well, possibly – I haven't been able to find any official explanation of what the tune is actually about. I'm not good on assessing this style, so you'll have to listen for yourself. The HQ audio can be obtained for $1 on Ferexes' Bandcamp.
This classic track's original was made by Glaze/WoodenToaster back in the Paeleopony Period, but this Russian folk version by Lenich & Kirya (sadly no longer active on YT) is a fantastic reinterpretation. The slower-paced, more laid-back style to the verse and the rather rockier but still smooth chorus really does work excellently. Carrot Top really has been done justice here. There's also one of the all-time great surprises in the second half, though I won't spoil it as it's quite superbly executed. The HQ audio can be snagged for $1 at Lenich & Kirya's Bandcamp.
The Arimaspi from "The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone" really didn't get a whole lot of fandom attention, but this song was a major exception. Both µThunder and FritzyBeat were pretty well known at the time. Neither has put anything MLP on their YouTubes for some years now, although Fritzy does seem still to be somewhat active in other fandoms. "Arimaspi" was made for the first of the popular Lycan Dese Beats albums, but it stands up on its own. Fritzy said that "neither µThunder nor I are FULLY pleased with the final result", partly because they felt the instrumental they used wasn't very vocal-friendly. I don't think the result blows me away, no, but it's nice to have at least one song about this monster. The Bandcamp link from the YT description is dead as for whatever reason the first Lycan Dese Beats: Beats Me album has been taken down, but at least the WAV and 320k MP3 links still work.
gasp! :D it's back! how soon will the fandom disappoint me this year? XD
ReplyDeleteRight now! I Will Always Miss Us is great and deserves to be higher! >:V
I am shocked that I feel like I'm hearing L&K's Beyond Her Garden for the first time :O they did a really good job with it, as I would expect!
...oh shit, you're right, the second half twist! XD incredible! that's maybe why it's not in my collection, lol!
and Arimaspi is a good track :)
Agreed about IWAMU, though maybe it's because of the sheer weight of incredibly amazing above it? :D
DeleteI'm pretty shocked you didn't know that L&K track, too! :P