Sounds of 2013: Nos. 59 to 55

Quite a long gap since the last one of these, owing to UK PonycOnline and a few things unrelated to this blog. Still, let's get back into the swing of things now. Here are the four rules I use as my criteria for whether a song gets included here:

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

Now for this edition's list. I'm afraid I've had to skip two tracks this time, but at least three songs do remain. Here they are:

59: skipped
58: Silva Hound ft. Rina-chan – Hooves Up High (Assertive Fluttershy remix)
57: RainbowCrash88 – MLP Fighting is Magic - Fluttershy Stage Theme
56: BlackGryph0n and Baasik – RUN
55: skipped

As usual, you'll find embedded YouTube songs and a bit of waffle about each one after the page break.

59: skipped

58: Silva Hound ft. Rina-chan – Hooves Up High (Assertive Fluttershy remix)

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 3 Jan 2013
This song by the artist later known simply as Assertive was actually a contest winner! It triumphed in Silva Hound's "Hooves Up High Remix Contest", based on SH's 2012 original song. This version has plenty of energy and a very strong beat, although I'm not personally a fan of the sugary nightcore vocal style. As often happens with remixes, it's also what I'd consider too long – almost seven minutes is a full minute more than the already lengthy original. Still, if it's your thing then you can pick it up, along with several other remixes of the same song, on the free Sweet Remix Suite EP on Silva Hound's Bandcamp.

57: RainbowCrash88 – Fighting is Magic - Fluttershy Stage Theme

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 31 Jan 2013
RainbowCrash88 later shortened his name to RC88, and of course Fighting is Magic eventually ended up morphing into Them's Fightin' Herds – with music from the same artist. Still, this song is one of my favourites from the original, out-and-out MLP-themed game. Drawing heavily on "Hush Now, Quiet Now", it has a deceptively gentle feel that is presumably going to lull you into a false sense of security... just until Flutters deploys her secret weapon: Angel! Anyway, if you're after a high quality version of this track, it's available for $1 on RC88's Bandcamp.

56: BlackGryph0n and Baasik – RUN

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 8 Apr 2013
Here we have a collaboration between BlackGryph0n and Baasik that's about a pony who doesn't get a whole lot of attention where music is concerned: Dr Hooves. Lots of stuff in the lyrics about being alone as he watches the stars come out – all very Doctor Who, as you'd expect. There's indeed a slightly ethereal feel to this song, perhaps partly because the drums are (deliberately) light with the synth doing most of the heavy lifting. The song is fairly short for a clubby track and perhaps all the better for it as it leaves you with a sense of "What happens now?" There's a working Soundcloud link in the video description.

55: skipped