Sounds of 2016, nos. 60 to 56

The heatwave I mentioned last week did come to pass, peaking at 34 °C in my neck of the woods (in Worcestershire). Things have now cooled off significantly, with a high today of just 18 °C; and as I look out of the window a few hours before this post goes up, it's overcast and lightly raining. A good day for sitting indoors and listening to Pony music, therefore. The inclusion 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. 

Last week I could only feature four of the five charting tracks. No such problems this week, and all five are present and correct. They are:

60: 4EverfreeBrony – Bound with Time
59: µThunder & FritzyBeat – Luna's Swing
58: Jyc Row ft. Aloma Steele – Luna's Future (remix)
57: YourEnigma ft. EileMonty – Are We Insane?
56: Pinkie Rose et al – Friendship Through the Ages (cover)

Okay, now that you know what you're facing this week, let's get moving to the tracks themselves. As ever, YouTube embeds here where possible.

60: 4EverfreeBrony – Bound with Time

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 1 Oct 2016
Whatever the year, you can't go all that long in Pony music without encountering a track by 4EverfreeBrony – although I doubt many people are too upset about that! At the time, this style of music was a new departure for 4EB, as he notes in his YouTube description, but this blend of rockier drive (including a nice guitar solo) and the artist's ever-appealing voice make it work. As you might guess from the song title and the video thumbnail, this is a song about Twilight and how her immortality affects her. He released a remastered version in 2024, and as usual if you just want the song, pick that. There's also a nice acoustic version from 2021. All three are available for $1 each on 4EverfreeBrony's Bandcamp: 2016 original, 2021 acoustic, 2024 remaster.

59: µThunder & FritzyBeat – Luna's Swing

 

Rule 1: Uploaded to YouTube 30 Oct 2015

It's fair to say that some genres have been more popular than others in our fandom. All the dubstep in the older days in particular, for example. Swing, however, is definitely not particularly prominent, which makes this track from µThunder & FritzyBeat so appealing. As you might be able to guess, it's told from Luna's perspective. However, what's interesting is that it's set while Luna was still banished in the Moon, and despite the title it's arguably even more of a Nightmare Moon song than it is a Luna one. Don't press stop before the coda! You can pick this song up for ¥100 on FritzyBeat's Bandcamp. Yes, yen. That's a mere 50p at current exchange rates.

 

58: Jyc Row ft. Aloma Steele – Luna's Future (remix)

 

Rule 1: Uploaded to YouTube 16 May 2016

Despite her credit, Aloma Steele wasn't actually commissioned on the remix itself; Jyc Row simply remixed the version that was already available – and released this only a couple of days after "A Hearth's Warming Tail" went out. Either way, this is a much more orchestral version of the show song, although parts like Luna and Starlight's spoken section are retained pretty much as they appeared in FiM. I quite like this, though I have a slight reservation in that the sheer epicness that was apparently the objective doesn't quite hit front and centre for me. The following year, Jyc Row released a 2017 edit of the song that I prefer, and both are available in HQ on his Bandcamp for the strange price of €1.21 apiece: original here, 2017 edit here.

 

57: YourEnigma ft. EileMonty – Are We Insane?

 

Rule 1: Uploaded to YouTube 6 Dec 2015

The video for this features the "Tavi and Scratch" phrasing that makes it pretty clear who this tune is about! YourEnigma has often created some of Pony fandom's more interesting musical creations, and this one is no exception. The opener from the No Horseplay album, this makes full use of the canon contrast and occasionally conflict between Octavia and Vinyl's own musical styles. Here we have orchestral, EileMonty's powerful vocals, some solid EDM, you name it really. I could have done without the sampled "Let's go!" at one point, which I just find annoying, but the rest is fascinating. It's described as "an anthem illustrating the difficulties inherent in confronting deeply repressed feelings", and it gets that across nicely. Get the high-quality audio for $1 on YourEnigma's Bandcamp.

 

56: Pinkie Rose et al – Friendship Through the Ages (cover)

 

Rule 1: Uploaded to YouTube 6 Jun 2015
Does this look familiar to you? Yeah, I thought it might! This "Giant Group Collab" featuring Pinkie Rose, BassBeastJD and a whole bunch of other folks was last year's number ten. As such, I'll simply recap what I said at the time: a decade ago, collab covers of "Friendship Through the Ages" were all the rage, and this was one of the most successful. As you might guess, Pinkie Rose sings for Pinkie Pie!Copy/pasting from "Sounds of 2015": Mica is Twilight, Carmen (Mary Medley) sings Fluttershy, Itsannacholem plays Rarity, PurpleRoselyn does Rainbow, GloryOfTheRainWings covers Applejack, and RarityFangirl31VA sings Sunset. This cover isn't available on Bandcamp, but it is on Pinkie Rose's Soundcloud.