This should have gone up yesterday, but I was feeling a little under the weather (don't worry, nothing serious) and so decided to leave it until today. I'm looking forward to this selection, since it includes a real favourite of mine. Let's get straight on with it, then, starting with the usual recapitulation of the criteria I use to decide whether I'll be including a song:
Rule 1: Still available in the same or (1b) similar form direct from the 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'm happy to say that this is another edition where all five songs breeze through, so here's the list:
79: Evening Star – Aloe & Lotus
78: Aviators – Good Girl (remix)
77: Decibelle – The Party Hasn't Ended (cover)
76: Aviators ft. Bronyfied – Heroes
75: Evening Star – To Build an Army
For the videos, the links and my usual waffle, please head past the page break.
Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 8 Feb 2013
It's that man Marcus Warner again. This isn't one of the songs he updated a few months ago, but I think the original is well worth listening to. He describes it as a fusion between Chinese/Japanese New Age and chillout, which seems to sum things up pretty well. Given the titular characters' obvious Eastern origins in the show, it's not surprising that Evening Star went for this genre. It's a very soothing song to listen to, one to let yourself drift along to. You can purchase HQ versions for £1 on Evening Star's Bandcamp.
Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 4 Apr 2013
Here we have Aviators, who was pretty prolific in fandom music at this point, putting his own spin on the Dasha/Living Tombstone classic we saw in the higher echelons of the 2012 list. It was uploaded to mark Tombstone's birthday! The problem for any remixer here is that the classic version of the song is so damn good, and for all I have huge respect for Aviators I still think the original is best. This one is still very much worth listening to, especially as it's a little harder-edged than most Aviators songs were in spring 2013 and so gives the melancholy original a definite note of anger. It's a name-your-price download on Aviators' Bandcamp.
Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 6 Apr 2013
Credited to Decibelle but on Forest Rain's YouTube (D sings, FR produces), this is a really lovely cover of Poni1Kenobi's 2012 hit about Pinkie Pie. I think this is probably an example of a version I prefer to the original. Decibelle's vocals really are beautiful, and the orchestration is very impressive indeed; I love the piano and strings especially. Yes, the version of Pinkie seen here is a very old-fashioned one by today's standards (mention of "Party of One" does rather stand out now) but the song is strong enough to overcome that with some ease.There's a link to a 320k MP3 download in the video description.
Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 21 Apr 2013
Another Aviators song here. This is the one I trailed earlier as being among my all-time favourites – I even sang it at a convention karaoke a couple of years ago. I adore the whole thing, since I've always been a bit of a sucker for the Mane Six's truly heroic status getting its due recognition. Aviators says the song celebrates our, well, heroes' development from ordinary ponies to Element-Bearers. It's about a final stand, perhaps against Discord. I've always found the line "Oh no, we were born for this" utterly thrilling, and Bronyfied's guitar solo just ups the epic feel even further. Want it in HQ? You can buy the track for $1 on Aviators' Bandcamp.
Rules 1 (uploaded to YouTube 3 Apr 2013) and 3 (unlisted – but see below)
It's that man Marcus Warner again! I should say first of all that this is a song he did update for the Reprise EP, so for sheer musical quality I would recommend you listen to that newer version instead. But this is "Sounds of 2013" and not "Sounds of 2019", so the one embedded above is the original. It's a movie-style soundtrack piece, scored for a full symphonic orchestra, and the only word I can really use to describe it is "epic". There's a 320k MP3 download link in the video description – but as I said just now, the reimagined version is the more accomplished one.
The Party Hasn't Ended is based off an old, old shipfic of the same title. One I read again recently and was, uh, rather disappointed in, I must say. :/
ReplyDeleteMan, I miss a lot of those old fan VAs and singers. :C Though I did just see a new release from Chi-chi, collabing with someone named Lollia who just does covers and stuff.
What is up with that version of Heroes? o.o It sounds like, super muffled to me.
Ah well, it wouldn't be the first fine song to be based on a mediocre fanfic.
DeleteAs for "Heroes", maybe it's just that you've got used to hearing it in HQ and so YouTube's compression sounds iffy to you now.
Test?
ReplyDeleteThis is Oilyvalves, and Blogger is crap at letting me log in properly (hence why I don't comment very often).
DeleteAnyway, my favourite of this bunch is the Spa ponies classic by Evening Star. One of his more upbeat tracks, that's lovely even without the 2019 'reprise' treatment. I've never actually listened to the original 'To Build an Army' until now, but I really love the new version of it.
I don't really care for the Pinkie song. I enjoyed 'Good Girl' though. Another where I hadn't heard the original, though in this case I like Aviator's fuller sound a bit more.
Ah yes, I'm indeed familiar with your love of 'Heroes'. Not something I'd want to try singing personally, and a lot of Aviators other tracks are higher up in my taste. But if it comes on I can enjoy listening to it.
Blogger can be a right grump when it comes to this sort of thing. It seems to be at least partly pure luck -- I stay logged in almost all the time, which probably helps, but you're not the only person who's ever had difficulty commenting here.
DeleteHmm, would I call "Heroes" my favourite Aviators track? Probably not. "The Fear of Flight" is probably ahead of it, and would be more so if the guy hadn't had that cold. There's at least one more I'd put right up there too, but... spoilers! ;)