Sounds of 2016, nos. 45 to 41

It's time once more to head back into the mists of time, to see what was making waves in the MLP fandom's musical scene nearly a decade ago. As ever, here are the 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. 

For the last two weeks running, I've had to skip one of the five tracks as it didn't meet the above criteria. This time, all five are there! The last one took a little bit of finding before I could be sure it complied with the rules, but comply it does. A remix-heavy week this time. Here we go:

45: Archie – Legacy
44: JoinedTheHerd – Friends are Always There for You (remix)
43: JoinedTheHerd – Pinkie's Present (remix)
42: µThunder – We'll Make Our Mark (remix)
41: Notion – Song of the Sirens II (remix)

That's the end of the intro, so let's have a look at the actual music. Or listen, really. While some of these tracks are associated with visuals such as animations or PMVs – and hasn't "For Kids" and having no YouTube comments ruined the PMV experience? :( –  here at least we're much more concerned with the actual music. Go!

45: Archie – Legacy

Rule 1: uploaded to YouTube 10 Apr 2016
For quite a few years, if you wanted club-friendly, danceable tracks in the MLP fandom, then Archie's output was a reliable place to turn. So it is here. In fact, this was almost Archie's last Pony track, complete with his own OC in the video thumbnail and perfectly positioned show samples. Frankly, if this one doesn't at least get you tapping your hooves then I really don't know what to say. In any case, it's released under a Creative Commons Attribution licence, so you can edit it to your taste if you want! You can pick up the "Original Mix" version of this song (nearly identical but with a longer intro) for $1.50 on Archie's Bandcamp.

44: JoinedTheHerd – Friends are Always There for You (remix)

 

Rule 1: Uploaded to YouTube 28 Nov 2015

Here we are with that master of show-song remixery, JoinedTheHerd. And this time, JTH set his sights on the song from the S5 finale, the one that effectively integrated the reformed Starlight Glimmer into the core FiM cast. The remix adds driving percussion and a more energetic feel to the original song, while retaining the emotional core of the vocals. It doesn't add lots of extra instrumental sections or the like, but it works very well as it is. Want some high quality audio of this? I've got you: it's a name-your-price track on JoinedTheHerd's Bandcamp.

 

43: JoinedTheHerd – Pinkie's Present (remix)

 

Rule 1: Uploaded to YouTube 14 May 2016
Yeah, yeah, so it's August. So what? "A Hearth's Warming Tail" debuted in May, and its use of a live band for its songs inspired quite a few fandom musicians. JoinedTheHerd released this remix of my own favourite song from the episode the very same day the episode itself appeared. As he says in the description, it's not the most complex remix, but the original itself is so much fun that it doesn't need to be. In fact, it might even be better that it isn't. Like the original show version this is quite short (2'18") but it packs a lot of, well, Pinkie-ness in there. Although the description says the official download is free, that's now out of date: it's currently $1 on JoinedTheHerd's Bandcamp.

 

42: µThunder – We'll Make Our Mark (remix)

 

Rule 1: Uploaded to YouTube 20 Oct 2015

The only problem I have with German electronica powerhouse µThunder making these charts so often is the mild irritation of that mu symbol! But when a remix is as upbeat and energy-filled as this one from "Crusaders of the Lost Mark", it feels churlish to complain. It's definitely one that feels like we're celebrating along with the CMC after their dual triumph, since (unlike Hasbro...) we haven't forgotten about Diamond Tiara's redemption. Sadly µThunder's Bandcamp consists of only a few songs these days, and this isn't one of them – but it's easy enough to find through a third-party upload on SoundCloud.

41: Notion – Song of the Sirens II (remix)

 

Rule 1: Uploaded to Bandcamp 30 Sep 2016

Okay, listen carefully. Notion later became better better known as Sawtooth Waves, whose personal issues we need not go into here. The Rainbow Rocks remix "The Song of the Sirens" first appeared in 2014, but two years later he returned to the track, removed "The" from the title and produced a slightly slicker and better produced piece. Perhaps more interesting than incredible, but still worth a listen. It's no longer officially up on YouTube (so the embed is from a third-party account) but it is still available for free (specifically free, not name-your-price) on the Notion Remixes (Vol. 2) album on Sawtooth Waves' Bandcamp.