I hope everyone had a good Hearth's Warming! Mine was pretty nice, if generally not massively exciting. I ate a lot, spent time with family, ate some more, enjoyed the new Wallace & Gromit, ate yet more, played on the PC, kept on eating and of course spent some quality Pony time as well. The main result of that is this here post! As ever, here's the rundown of my criteria for inclusion:
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.
After having to skip two songs last time, I'm thrilled to be able to say that all five of this week's tracks can be included. They vary a lot, from pieces I'd literally never heard of before to music that's remained famous to this day. Here's the run-down:
85: Ferexes – Malfunction
84: TAPS ft. Bob-E-Quine – Poison Joke
83: Cookie Soup – The Sweetest Thing
82: WoodLore – My Sweet Peace
81: Turquoise Splash ft. Megaphoric & Joaftheloaf – The Twilight Will Rise
As usual, there's a jump break on the way if you're reading on a PC. Or, I suppose if you're using a mobile device but have set it to pretend to be a PC. Onwards!
The second entry in this year's chart for Ferexes, who goes so far as to acknowledge that he's "making more music than animations at this point"! Apart from a small number of one-word vocal samples from the show, this electronic piece is all instrumental. Enough wubs here for it to fit well enough with the Vinyl SFM figure that adorns the YouTube version. It's a pretty coherent track, though I'm not sure the short period of silence a bit after the one-minute mark really adds anything. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be on the artist's Bandcamp these days, but you can find a copy for free on Ferexes' Soundcloud.
Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 8 Feb 2015
Electro-reggae? In this fandom? You'd better believe it! This collaboration between the still reasonably well known TAPS – still active, though not in this fandom – and Bob-E-Quine, of whom I confess I have never heard and can't find a YouTube for, is certainly catchy. I mean, there's a sampled Pinkie Pie laugh in there, so how can it not be? On the downside, the 4'20" length and the "smoking on dat poison joke" lyrics remind me of how tedious I generally find "blaze it" drug pop culture. I suppose it's a plus that this was made before Treehugger existed, but Zecora is a pretty clichéd choice herself. Still, the music itself is well made and has held up pretty well. You can buy it for $1 on TAPS' Bandcamp.
A lesson in perseverance for me here. I had no clue who Cookie Soup was and couldn't find any leads. Until a passing comment on another site led me to the discovery that the musician was actually very well known to this day. Why? Because it's dBPony! The song is one that really put a smile on my face, too. It's a happy, bouncy love song... about pizza. No, really about pizza. The fandom, and indeed the world in general, needs more of this cute, harmless silliness, and I'm glad I was able to feature this song in the end. It's still available in high quality, as well: for $1 on dBPony's Bandcamp.
Quite a range of genres today, and with WoodLore we move into folk. Although he's long left the fandom, his permission to use this track is quoted in the YT description. I'm so happy I can therefore feature it, as it's a gorgeous song. "Behold the grandeur of nature" said the original description, and unsurprisingly it's a Fluttershy song. Lovely instrumentation allied to WoodLore's instantly recognisable, gravelly voice makes for a wonderful experience. Although the artist's Bandcamp is now gone, given the wording of his permission statement I think it's reasonable to link to this third-party Soundcloud upload.
If you're thinking you've seen this song here before, then you'd be right: it also made 2014's chart. I really doubt anyone's going to complain about the reprise, though, as this is a fantastic song. Although neither Megaphoric (vocals) nor Joaftheloaf (instrumentals) remain active, Turquoise Splash is another story, having collaborated with one PrinceWhateverer as recently as November. Returning to "The Twilight Will Rise", though: although the lyrics are a little old-fashioned now in terms of Twilight Sparkle's journey, the song as a whole is so nicely made and so damn listenable that I doubt anyone will really care. I know I don't. Pick up the HQ version for $1 on Turquoise Splash's Bandcamp.
Bob-E-Quine! :D He came out of nowhere, only did two reggae-influenced songs, and then disappeared back into the ether. What a guy!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea dBPony started out under a different name! :O See, even in 2024, this series continues to educate!
Miss WoodLore, he was great. But "The Twilight Will Rise" is one of my all-time favs, what a good track. Put better tracks at higher numbers, fandom! >:V
I'd guess it suffered slightly from being split between two years' charts. Mind you, when I look at what made number one for the 2014 chart... ;/
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