Sounds of 2016, nos. 70 to 66

Welcome to July, everypony. It's been quite warm and summery here in ol' Blighty, although as I type this the weather has gone cloudy and muggy, which isn't my favourite kind of weather. Anyway, it's time once more to see what the Equestrian Trot 100 chart brought back in 2016. Remember, these are songs that were popular that year; they don't necessarily have to have been first released then. Inclusion 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, I was able to feature all five of the featured tracks. Same again this week! I love it when a plan comes together.

70: 174UDSI – Sweeeeeep (remix)
69: Archie – Back Again
68: 4EverfreeBrony – Stay
67: OhPonyBoy – The Blob Pad !
66: Aurelleah  ft. Joan Silentio – My Wings Aria

There we go, then. It's about time we moved on to the important part of this post: the songs themselves. Onward!

70: 174UDSI – Sweeeeeep (remix)

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 22 May 2016
I'm sure I once knew what 174UDSI's name referred to, but I'm darned if I can remember now. I have aa feeling 174 bpm may be a common tempo in drum & bass, but the UDSI bit? No clue. Oh well. This song is, of course, a remix of the "Sweep" mini-song from "The Saddle Row Review". There were plenty of fan versions of this, but the one we have here is perhaps one of the most accomplished of them all. Great beat, great synths, great production, great song. Not a lot else to say about it really, and there doesn't need to be, but the HQ version is available for €2 on 174UDSI's Bandcamp.

69: Archie – Back Again

 

Rule 1: Uploaded to YouTube 26 Jul 2015

Without a doubt Archie was one of the big names of the first boom in MLP music back in 2012 or so. He later went on to other things, but happily he's kept his Pony music up for us all to enjoy. This is apparently inspired by "Slice of Life", though I have also seen it used as the music for a Flutterbat PMV. (Sadly that seems to have fallen into the YouTube memory hole.) Still, even if you're just listening to "Back Again" for the music then I think you'll have a good time. It's ridiculously catchy and surely calculated to have everyone up and dancing. The YouTube version lacks about 30 seconds of the intro; the longer "Original Mix" track that can be found for $1.50 on Archie's Bandcamp.

 

68: 4EverfreeBrony – Stay

 

Rule 1: Uploaded to YouTube 12 Aug 2016

Another chart entry now from that absolute titan of Pony music, 4EverfreeBrony. This moving pop song is, in the artist's words, "about losing loved ones while not losing hope". The lyrics leave a lot to the imagination, but the video thumbnail shows Twilight and so brings to mind the common idea of Twilight coping with outliving her friends. 4EB wrote this while away on a (religious) mission, and as with several of his songs there's a clear spiritual undertone here. The YouTube upload is rather quiet, but that was just a mistake rather than deliberate. "Stay" was re-recorded in 2018, and remastered in 2024, but as usual the original release is embedded here. Want it in HQ? For $1 apiece on 4EverfreeBrony's Bandcamp, you can have this original, the 2024 remaster or this acoustic version.

 

67: OhPonyBoy – The Blob Pad !

 

Rule 1: Uploaded to YouTube 5 Jan 2016

(Yes, there's a space before the exclamation mark in the title.) As I've observed several times before, OhPonyBoy has almost completely disappeared from the fandom's consciousness in recent years, despite being very popular a decade ago. Still, whether you're new to "The Blob Pad" or not, it's a lot of fun. Inspired by the Launchpad soundboard, OhPonyBoy built himself an Arduino-based soundboard which used MLP vocal chops. Add some music and a rhythm, and the result is a hugely catchy little number. Derpy's "pop" sound is absolutely adorable, and that's only the start of it. This track costs €1 on OhPonyBoy's Bandcamp.

 

66: Aurelleah  ft. Joan Silentio – My Wings Aria

 

Rule 1: Uploaded to YouTube 10 Oct 2015
This is the second week running I've featured an Aurelleah track, and this is one I remember quite vividly from its original release more than ten years ago. The orchestral aria style has a small but prominent place in MLP fandom music, and this is an ear-catching addition. There's a fairly detailed explanation of the song's meaning in the YouTube description, but in essence it's about a time a few years after "A Canterlot Wedding" when Chrysalis launches another attack on Canterlot; the song is from Cadance's POV as she fears for Shining Armor's safety. I don't think Polish vocalist Joan Silentio did much else in this fandom, but her fragile, emotion-laden singing here means she did make a mark. This song can be had in HQ for $1 on Aurelleah's Bandcamp.