Sounds of 2015, nos. 40 to 36

Here we go once more with another look at the Pony music that was shaking the fandom ten years ago. For those of us who've been around that long, it's slightly concerning that some of these songs – and the events that inspired them – are now a decade old. Ah well, time marches on as they say. So indeed do my 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 week I was able to feature all five tracks. This week? All five again! One required a non-YouTube official source, but it was there! I think it's a good list, even if not all the songs were brand new for 2015:

40: µThunder – I'll Fly (remix)
39: Black Gryph0n & Baasik – Sight Unseen
38: PrinceWhateverer ft. Dreamchan & CGScrambles – Beyond the Horizon
37: SlyphStorm – Nightmare Night (cover)
36: Sim Gretina – In Our Town (remix)

All right, that's the introductory stuff dealt with, so let's avoid getting bogged down in waffle and get moving to the actual music!

40: µThunder – I'll Fly (remix)

 

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 1 May 2015
We've encountered µThunder already in this year's chart, and here he is again! There are dozens of remixes of Rainbow Dash's song from "Tanks for the Memories", but this one is among the best, I think. Although the basic rhythm is fairly conventional for this sort of remix, the song shows quite a bit of imagination in the instrumentation. The chorus section made up of vocal chops is particularly appealing, to me at least. The artist's Bandcamp is very thin nowadays sadly, with only a few collabs remaining, but you can find this song on µThunder's Soundcloud.

39: Black Gryph0n & Baasik – Sight Unseen

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 9 Aug 2014
When I saw the names of Black Gryph0n and Baasik in the chart I grew briefly excited, but then I realised this song was actually from 2014, from the hugely successful IMmortal album, and indeed had made last year's chart. Never mind; it's a Fluttershy song and a good one as well, so I'm not too upset about having to feature it for a second time! This song is about how 'Shy has realised that her scaredy-pony nature can actually bring her strength, and how this brings her a sense of peace. The HQ version of this song can be acquired for 99¢ from Black Gryph0n's Bandcamp.

38: PrinceWhateverer ft. Dreamchan & CGScrambles – Beyond the Horizon

 

Rule 1: Uploaded to Bandcamp 17 Nov 2014
The collaborations that PrinceWhateverer did with Dreamchan (no obvious YT link) and Scrambles have largely disappeared from YouTube – but this one from the Mini Boss Battle EP is still available officially on Bandcamp, so I can feature it here! The only YouTube video I could find has visuals from a console music game called Melody's Escape, hence the video title, but the song is not about that. A bit more towards pop-rock or even folk-rock than PrinceW often is, it's instead intended as a look at Twilight's feelings as she looks ahead to Season 5 after the extraordinary events of the Season 4 finale. "It's like looking out onto a blank page", indeed. You can buy this track for £1 from PrinceWhateverer's Bandcamp.

 

37: SlyphStorm – Nightmare Night (cover)

 

Rule 1: Uploaded to YouTube 20 Oct 2014
Rather surprisingly (to me, at least) this striking SlyphStorm cover of the WoodenToaster and Mic the Microphone classic didn't make the 2014 chart, despite being released that year. Never mind, it's here now! This cover is very much based on that original, rather than on the Living Tombstone remix that's perhaps equally famous. Some nice slidy synth notes in here, plus a bouncy bridge I really like. Pretty much out of nowhere and after two years of silence, SlyphStorm released a redux version in 2018. That newer one is better and recommended if you just want one, but as always in this series the video embedded above is the original. An original which is still available in HQ, for $1 on SlyphStorm's Bandcamp.

36: Sim Gretina – In Our Town (remix)

 

Rule 1: Re-uploaded to YouTube 15 Apr 2015
We've already had SharaX's remix of Starlight Glimmer's wonderfully creepy song from the S5 premiere, and now it's time for Sim Gretina to take the spotlight. This was one of the last of the Sim Gretina MLP remixes (I think only an "I'll Fly" remix was still to come at this point) and the sheer smoothness of the production really does stand out. The vocal chops are excellently and imaginatively handled, and the instrumentation is just perfect. A real pity that Sim Gretina's Bandcamp is no longer with us, but you can at least find the song on a third-party Soundcloud upload.