Weekly Roundup
This feels like a very scrappy post, or at least I've felt very :| about this week in general in the Vocaloid world, especially given a lack of patience thanks to being a sad invalid. It's late, and my poor credit card has just had a Project Diva 2 preorder lumped onto all my other holiday expenses, so you'll understand if my writing is even scrappier than normal. We make up for it with a massive update, thanks mostly to Vom@s 12 tracks being released onto Nicovideo right after the ranking went up, promptly swelling my shortlist to dramatic proportions. I've still got another half-dozen videos or so, but I'm saving them for next update.
This week was the rise of Gumi: outside of her two major ranking hits she's been so commonly on the top #100 this week that I had to check for a moment when her birthday was. Between MMD videos, old songs popping back up and most arrestingly a Gumi / Yuki / Rin song, she's been everywhere.
Tags to be added later.
Videos:
【GUMI】弱虫モンブラン【オリジナル曲PV付】
(Coward Montblanc (DECO*27), Gumi, Pop, PV)
Yeah if you didn't see this coming there's not much hope for you. Deco*27 is always a favorite around here and his latest track hits all the right notes in an excellent use of Gumi. The only problem I can really have with this is the same problem endemic in all his work - that it all sounds similar, and this echoes particularly strongly with this track when laid against Two Breath Walking. Still, if you like his music as much as I do, that's not much of a knock against it.
初音ミクオリジナル曲 「初音ミクの暴走（LONG VERSION）」
(The Rampage of Hatsune Miku (cosMo), Miku, Pop)
How to even clarify this track? Effectively the happy accompaniment to Confusion or Disappearance, this track's very old but has finally received the Long Version treatment. Just as ridiculously paced and crazed as the others, this gives up the angstfest or the distortion for a jaunty and jovial brass band and guitar ensemble going a million miles an hour. Madcap but quality to the extreme, there's a reason it shot to the top of the ranking.
【巡音ルカ】 飴と鎖 【オリジナル】
(Candy and Chains (otetsu), Luka, Pop/Rock)
Absolutely stonking return to form for Luka, and I'm deeply upset at how little it's been moving up the top 100 since I grabbed the link. This waltzing rock track is stunning, with a fantastic piano solo and soft sections breaking apart thrashy high-speed rock. Lovely.
【初音ミク】嘘つき造花【オリジナル】PV
(Liar Fake Flowers (kous), Miku Append, Kous Pop, PV)
Just in case you needed your daily dose of Really Goddamn Freaky, you're in luck because here's kous trying his hand at the Miku Append Soft version. It's kind of odd and kind of rock-y and kind of all sorts of kous hallmark. By this point you should probably know if you like his work or not, so I'll just leave it here.
【MEGPOID】オリジナル「無限思索 -DeepSpaceMix-」
(Infinite Meditation -Deep Space Mix- (kowaremiku), Gumi, Soft Rock, MMD PV)
I'm starting to think we've all been horribly misled. Gumi was supposed to be the happy upbeat cheery one, but everything big recently has been horrible angst or a desire to destroy the world... it's starting to make me a little worried. While not as up-front and grabbing-you as her other hits this week, this is a good contender and a really cool video.
【初音ミク】 Sign 【オリジナル曲】
(Sign (Zaneeds), Miku, Piano House (... apparently...))
CHANxCO immediately grabbed my attention on this track's notes: they're known more for Touhou work than for Vocaloid help, but when the music sounds this good I'll happily link them up. Zaneeds provides a gorgeous lilting track full of piano and triumphant synth scales, which very quickly becomes ambient noise, but at least it becomes very nice ambient noise. With bonus steel drums at the end for tropical flavour.
【鏡音リン】Bloody Rose【オリジナル】
(Bloody Rose (ts), Rin, Rock, PV)
This straight-up rock track from Rin is a little scrappy - I really don't like some of the robot tuning and it just doesn't seem to have the energy it should have - but all is instantly forgiven every time the dude on the guitar breaks into a solo or highlight. Not to mention that the PV itself is very pretty, if kind of a mish-mash of several different styles.
【初音ミク】Little Forest【オリジナル】
(Little Forest (mamomo), Miku, Soft Pop)
The OP on the ranking this week, I really rather like this. It's not exactly a massively impacting song, but as gentle ambient music some lovely acoustics and gentle piano can't be beaten, and the song is gorgeously crisp. It's also very worth noting this is one of a series of five 'Little ______' tracks, all of which share the same kind of theme and sound. While Little Forest is the best, you should check out the rest.
【がくっぽいど】Close to me【オリジナル】
(Close To Me (ROY), Gakupo, Rock)
A surprisingly gar entry from Gakupo, I'm not terribly taken with this track but the guy's a rare enough entry in our posts that I guess I'll give him a break and stick him a ways up the post. This is kind of hilariously melodramatic and over the top, but that's to be expected from any Gakupo video and it brings a smile to my face, at the very least.
初音ミクでオリジナル 「未来」
(Future (turuturu), Miku, Soft Pop, PV)
Eh... this one climbed heavily up the rankings, but it didn't grab me nearly as hard as Little Forest did, personally. Still, it's a very pleasant soft pop track, with lots of gentle synthy notes and electronica stuck in the background where it would never hurt you or let you down or etc, backed up with some great brass instruments.
【鏡音レン】ロマンスニフレ【オリジナルPV】
(Romance Note (jiizasu), Len, Orchestralish Pop/Rock, PV)
It's been a while since we've had some Len, so here we are - while I'm not terribly enamoured with this track it's not offensive, with solid production and a very pretty video and some great drums. I just wish I knew what on earth was going on when he segues into the section that starts at 2:07 - while it's pretty neat it's also completely out of left field.
【鏡音リン】 ライト兄弟のように 【リン＆フューチャーナウ/紙ＰＶ】
(The Wright Brothers' Goal (kyapumira), Rin, Rock?, PV)
A chaotic rock track full of bizarre hangs and effects starts off kind of 'meh' but is then transformed by an amazing papercraft video into a thing of absolute beauty. Done by the same guy who did the Nekomimi Switch video, his work is absolutely captivating and it's great to watch it all come together.
【初音ミク】 Life Stream 【オリジナル】
(Life Stream (yusuke), Miku, Soft Pop)
Just in case you weren't tired of soft twinkly sparkly piano pop this week, Life Stream comes along in the wake of the ranking to give you even more of it. Nothing really special to note about this one beyond it being all kinds of pretty and twinkly-tinkly. It's late, give me a break.
キーストロジカル ／開発コードmiki＆歌愛ユキ オリジナル曲（VOCALOID）
(Kiss And Logical (A0010), Miki + Yuki, ?!)
I'm really sad that this track is so short, because it's enthralling. A really weird minimalistic sound of piano, drums and xylophone, with Miki and Yuki doing a surprisingly good duet over the top. Yuki's sections especially are really striking, and she seems solidly in her element.
鏡音レン・初音ミクオリジナル曲 Mare Foecunditatis
(Mare Foecunditatis (tys), Miku + Len, Hip-hop Pop...?)
Okay, I lied, have another Len. There's a lot to dislike in this song if you're looking; the mix is kind of off and the robots are very robotic. At the same time, if you just relax and listen to it, there's a lot to like, from some good piano work to the lovely vibe the track's got. The first 10 seconds in particular set up a catchy hook that carries me happily through the song. Besides, Len j-rapping is always funny.
【ミク・ルカ】サクリファイス【オリジナル】
(Sacrifice (itachima), Miku + Luka, Rock, PV)
Finishing up the post with a couple of duets, this is some kind of 80s anime-tastic OP of a rock track, at least until you hit the chorus and the ridiculous guitar solo contained within, which kind of stretches out a little bit long to avoid severe skepticism on the track's arrangement. Super-duper wailing guitars and whining synth all over the place, though.
【初音ミク】 アナイアレイター - Annihilator - 【巡音ルカ】
(Annihilator (utata), Miku + Luka, Techno)
... if very poppy techno. An Engrish-tastic hit that could possibly be considered 'hard hitting' if it weren't for the fact it's a little repetitive and starts to get old near the end. The singing gets very lost amidst the main beat of the track, but I think that's kind of the point, as if it were going for a rather ambient air.
Covers/MMD:
【カバー】GUMIで「さよならメモリーズ」【supercell】
(Sayonara Memories (神無月), Gumi, Pop)
There's no way you can have missed this, and if you did you'd better rectify it now. This is a breathtaking Gumi cover of supercell's Sayonara Memories, by the same guy who did the similarly breathtaking Gumi cover of supercell's Kimi ni Shiranai Monogatari. Gumi sounds absolutely amazing, and it's absolutely got to be listened to.
【鏡音リン】迷子ライフ【手書きPV（フル）】
(Stray Child Life (TOKOTOKO), Rin, Pop, PV)
A stunning PV for a Rin song from a couple months ago. TOKOTOKO does good work, though I remember at the time wobbling strongly at this song thanks to a highly warbly Rin. Still, the accompanying PV is really well done.
【MMD】色んなミクさんに踊ってもらった【Dream Fighter】
(Dream Fighter (Perfume), Miku, Electropop, MMD)
And to close off the post, here's a video of many different versions of MMD Miku performing Perfume's Dream Fighter for your pleasure. And no Lat!Miku in sight, though to be honest I wouldn't have minded if they replaced one or two models in this with her...
This week was the rise of Gumi: outside of her two major ranking hits she's been so commonly on the top #100 this week that I had to check for a moment when her birthday was. Between MMD videos, old songs popping back up and most arrestingly a Gumi / Yuki / Rin song, she's been everywhere.
Tags to be added later.
Videos:
【GUMI】弱虫モンブラン【オリジナル曲PV付】
(Coward Montblanc (DECO*27), Gumi, Pop, PV)
Yeah if you didn't see this coming there's not much hope for you. Deco*27 is always a favorite around here and his latest track hits all the right notes in an excellent use of Gumi. The only problem I can really have with this is the same problem endemic in all his work - that it all sounds similar, and this echoes particularly strongly with this track when laid against Two Breath Walking. Still, if you like his music as much as I do, that's not much of a knock against it.
初音ミクオリジナル曲 「初音ミクの暴走（LONG VERSION）」
(The Rampage of Hatsune Miku (cosMo), Miku, Pop)
How to even clarify this track? Effectively the happy accompaniment to Confusion or Disappearance, this track's very old but has finally received the Long Version treatment. Just as ridiculously paced and crazed as the others, this gives up the angstfest or the distortion for a jaunty and jovial brass band and guitar ensemble going a million miles an hour. Madcap but quality to the extreme, there's a reason it shot to the top of the ranking.
【巡音ルカ】 飴と鎖 【オリジナル】
(Candy and Chains (otetsu), Luka, Pop/Rock)
Absolutely stonking return to form for Luka, and I'm deeply upset at how little it's been moving up the top 100 since I grabbed the link. This waltzing rock track is stunning, with a fantastic piano solo and soft sections breaking apart thrashy high-speed rock. Lovely.
【初音ミク】嘘つき造花【オリジナル】PV
(Liar Fake Flowers (kous), Miku Append, Kous Pop, PV)
Just in case you needed your daily dose of Really Goddamn Freaky, you're in luck because here's kous trying his hand at the Miku Append Soft version. It's kind of odd and kind of rock-y and kind of all sorts of kous hallmark. By this point you should probably know if you like his work or not, so I'll just leave it here.
【MEGPOID】オリジナル「無限思索 -DeepSpaceMix-」
(Infinite Meditation -Deep Space Mix- (kowaremiku), Gumi, Soft Rock, MMD PV)
I'm starting to think we've all been horribly misled. Gumi was supposed to be the happy upbeat cheery one, but everything big recently has been horrible angst or a desire to destroy the world... it's starting to make me a little worried. While not as up-front and grabbing-you as her other hits this week, this is a good contender and a really cool video.
【初音ミク】 Sign 【オリジナル曲】
(Sign (Zaneeds), Miku, Piano House (... apparently...))
CHANxCO immediately grabbed my attention on this track's notes: they're known more for Touhou work than for Vocaloid help, but when the music sounds this good I'll happily link them up. Zaneeds provides a gorgeous lilting track full of piano and triumphant synth scales, which very quickly becomes ambient noise, but at least it becomes very nice ambient noise. With bonus steel drums at the end for tropical flavour.
【鏡音リン】Bloody Rose【オリジナル】
(Bloody Rose (ts), Rin, Rock, PV)
This straight-up rock track from Rin is a little scrappy - I really don't like some of the robot tuning and it just doesn't seem to have the energy it should have - but all is instantly forgiven every time the dude on the guitar breaks into a solo or highlight. Not to mention that the PV itself is very pretty, if kind of a mish-mash of several different styles.
【初音ミク】Little Forest【オリジナル】
(Little Forest (mamomo), Miku, Soft Pop)
The OP on the ranking this week, I really rather like this. It's not exactly a massively impacting song, but as gentle ambient music some lovely acoustics and gentle piano can't be beaten, and the song is gorgeously crisp. It's also very worth noting this is one of a series of five 'Little ______' tracks, all of which share the same kind of theme and sound. While Little Forest is the best, you should check out the rest.
【がくっぽいど】Close to me【オリジナル】
(Close To Me (ROY), Gakupo, Rock)
A surprisingly gar entry from Gakupo, I'm not terribly taken with this track but the guy's a rare enough entry in our posts that I guess I'll give him a break and stick him a ways up the post. This is kind of hilariously melodramatic and over the top, but that's to be expected from any Gakupo video and it brings a smile to my face, at the very least.
初音ミクでオリジナル 「未来」
(Future (turuturu), Miku, Soft Pop, PV)
Eh... this one climbed heavily up the rankings, but it didn't grab me nearly as hard as Little Forest did, personally. Still, it's a very pleasant soft pop track, with lots of gentle synthy notes and electronica stuck in the background where it would never hurt you or let you down or etc, backed up with some great brass instruments.
【鏡音レン】ロマンスニフレ【オリジナルPV】
(Romance Note (jiizasu), Len, Orchestralish Pop/Rock, PV)
It's been a while since we've had some Len, so here we are - while I'm not terribly enamoured with this track it's not offensive, with solid production and a very pretty video and some great drums. I just wish I knew what on earth was going on when he segues into the section that starts at 2:07 - while it's pretty neat it's also completely out of left field.
【鏡音リン】 ライト兄弟のように 【リン＆フューチャーナウ/紙ＰＶ】
(The Wright Brothers' Goal (kyapumira), Rin, Rock?, PV)
A chaotic rock track full of bizarre hangs and effects starts off kind of 'meh' but is then transformed by an amazing papercraft video into a thing of absolute beauty. Done by the same guy who did the Nekomimi Switch video, his work is absolutely captivating and it's great to watch it all come together.
【初音ミク】 Life Stream 【オリジナル】
(Life Stream (yusuke), Miku, Soft Pop)
Just in case you weren't tired of soft twinkly sparkly piano pop this week, Life Stream comes along in the wake of the ranking to give you even more of it. Nothing really special to note about this one beyond it being all kinds of pretty and twinkly-tinkly. It's late, give me a break.
キーストロジカル ／開発コードmiki＆歌愛ユキ オリジナル曲（VOCALOID）
(Kiss And Logical (A0010), Miki + Yuki, ?!)
I'm really sad that this track is so short, because it's enthralling. A really weird minimalistic sound of piano, drums and xylophone, with Miki and Yuki doing a surprisingly good duet over the top. Yuki's sections especially are really striking, and she seems solidly in her element.
鏡音レン・初音ミクオリジナル曲 Mare Foecunditatis
(Mare Foecunditatis (tys), Miku + Len, Hip-hop Pop...?)
Okay, I lied, have another Len. There's a lot to dislike in this song if you're looking; the mix is kind of off and the robots are very robotic. At the same time, if you just relax and listen to it, there's a lot to like, from some good piano work to the lovely vibe the track's got. The first 10 seconds in particular set up a catchy hook that carries me happily through the song. Besides, Len j-rapping is always funny.
【ミク・ルカ】サクリファイス【オリジナル】
(Sacrifice (itachima), Miku + Luka, Rock, PV)
Finishing up the post with a couple of duets, this is some kind of 80s anime-tastic OP of a rock track, at least until you hit the chorus and the ridiculous guitar solo contained within, which kind of stretches out a little bit long to avoid severe skepticism on the track's arrangement. Super-duper wailing guitars and whining synth all over the place, though.
【初音ミク】 アナイアレイター - Annihilator - 【巡音ルカ】
(Annihilator (utata), Miku + Luka, Techno)
... if very poppy techno. An Engrish-tastic hit that could possibly be considered 'hard hitting' if it weren't for the fact it's a little repetitive and starts to get old near the end. The singing gets very lost amidst the main beat of the track, but I think that's kind of the point, as if it were going for a rather ambient air.
Covers/MMD:
【カバー】GUMIで「さよならメモリーズ」【supercell】
(Sayonara Memories (神無月), Gumi, Pop)
There's no way you can have missed this, and if you did you'd better rectify it now. This is a breathtaking Gumi cover of supercell's Sayonara Memories, by the same guy who did the similarly breathtaking Gumi cover of supercell's Kimi ni Shiranai Monogatari. Gumi sounds absolutely amazing, and it's absolutely got to be listened to.
【鏡音リン】迷子ライフ【手書きPV（フル）】
(Stray Child Life (TOKOTOKO), Rin, Pop, PV)
A stunning PV for a Rin song from a couple months ago. TOKOTOKO does good work, though I remember at the time wobbling strongly at this song thanks to a highly warbly Rin. Still, the accompanying PV is really well done.
【MMD】色んなミクさんに踊ってもらった【Dream Fighter】
(Dream Fighter (Perfume), Miku, Electropop, MMD)
And to close off the post, here's a video of many different versions of MMD Miku performing Perfume's Dream Fighter for your pleasure. And no Lat!Miku in sight, though to be honest I wouldn't have minded if they replaced one or two models in this with her...