Sounds of 2013, Nos. 34 to 30

Off we go again! Remember, these tracks come from Everfree Radio's Top 100 tracks of 2013, as voted for by fans at the time. I don't include everything, as to get in a track will have to satisfy at least one of the following criteria:

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

Five more songs this week, and happily enough there are no skips! :D

34: SlyphStorm ft. Amadhia Dreamsong – SoulSinger
33: TAPS ft. Feather – Sound Barrier
32: TwentyTen – Moving On
31: PrinceWhateverer ft. P1K, Scrambles and ISMBOF – Not Letting Go
30: Sim Gretina – A True True Friend (remix)

I expect you know this by now, but just in case: you'll get YouTube embeds and some waffle from me after the break.

34: SlyphStorm ft. Amadhia Dreamsong – SoulSinger

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 20 Oct 2013
Even though SlyphStorm was a pretty big name in the 2013 fandom, I actually don't think I knew this song at all until now! It's a Sweetie Belle song, and includes vocals by both SlyphStorm (as a nameless colt) and Amadhia (as Sweetie). From what I understand, this is part of a bigger story on SS's Tales of a Brighter World album, but it's clear that the colt in question cared for Sweetie Belle when she was in a bad place for whatever reason. It's frankly much too long (7:34) but I do very much like the poppy style, which gives me vague Mr. Mister vibes. Get it in HQ for $1 on SlyphStorm's Bandcamp.

33: TAPS ft. Feather – Sound Barrier

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 14 Jun 2013

Some electronic bloopiness now from TAPS, who seems to still be musically active albeit not in this fandom, and vocals are provided by the ever-reliable Feather. As you can probably tell, and certainly can if you've glanced at the video thumbnail, this is a Rainbow Dash song. The bass is, shall we say, not subtle. Apparently the track began as an experiment, and I'm not entirely surprised given some of its slightly unconventional sounds, such as the broken drums you hear a bit after 4:00. There's the very occasional Dash sample and several wind-rushing parts. Probably not a favourite, but interesting nevertheless. HQ version for $1 on TAPS' Bandcamp.

32: TwentyTen – Moving On

Rule 1: original uploaded to YouTube 1 Aug 2013

We've had the Sim Gretina/EileMonty/Copper cover of this already in this series, at no. 54, but here's the original by TwentyTen. I've always assumed their name refers to the start date of FiM, though I don't know that for certain. It's strange going back to this version after hearing the female vocalists for so long. I don't think the singing is quite as smooth on this original, although that little bit of roughness does give it a slightly harder edge that may have its own appeal for some listeners. You can pick up a 320k MP3 via the link in the video description.

31: PrinceWhateverer ft. P1K, Scrambles and ISMBOF– Not Letting Go

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 7 Jan 2013

It's PrinceWhateverer time once again – and this time he's here with a Fluttershy song! This song is maybe a little bit of a time capsule these days, since it deals with how 'Shy may risk changing who she is by trying too hard to be assertive, as well as looking at her own feelings of self-doubt. I do like the message here, although PW's style is not one I personally particularly feel grabbed by. PrinceWhateverer released a reimagined version in December 2018, and it's certainly musically more accomplished. As ever, though, the original is the one embedded above. You can get a higher-quality MP3 (only 256k though) from the "SONG" link some way into the video description.

30: Sim Gretina – A True True Friend (remix)

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 17 Feb 2013

How do you remix what may be the greatest of all FiM's show songs? Well, if you're Sim Gretina you do it like this. Interestingly, he doesn't make a whole lot of changes, which speaks to how damn amazing the original of this track is. Naturally, we get SG's trademark bouncy, high-energy rhythm, and Pinkie's wonderful spoken line is incorporated perfectly. But this is closer to its source material than a lot of remixes, and it's all the better for that. Unfortunately I don't know of an official way to download this; the Soundcloud link in the video description no longer works.