Weekly Roundup
I'm barely on time! To celebrate, have some videos! zzzzzzzzzz
Honestly, I didn't think much of last week on the whole - with Nicovideo somewhat choked by Teto references pickings were rather slim; instead, I got bombarded on Monday with a slew of new songs from a variety of top-name producers, most of which are detailed below along with one of the largest Other sections we've had for a while now. Luka is back in force, with the slight stipulation that she's mostly back to mack on Miku.
Heads up, your friendly mods will be posting a friending meme in a couple days as it's just dawned on us that the last time we did one we had a fifth of the people in the comm, and we're all sure you're very erudite people. Except for that one bot journal collecting automobile asphxiation stories, I guess.
Songs:
カラー化の為ラマーズP終了のお知らせ【Full】
(Mischievous Function (Lamaze animation) (匿名), Teto, Pop, PV)
The meme that took Nicovideo absolutely by storm this week, Lamaze's headnodding lipsync animation of this catchy Teto song caught on like wildfire, spawning a million and one versions from Gundam UC characters to K-On moeblobs, and an entire secondary meme involving buttshaking MMD models as detailed below. There were rumours it was to be Lamaze's last animation on nicovideo - as of writing, though, any mention of that is gone from the video description, replaced with a hearty 'wtf you guys' towards the ever-increasing hit counter.
初音ミク・巡音ルカ オリジナル曲 「ワールズエンド・ダンスホール」
(World's End Dancehall (wowaka), Luka + Miku, Wowaka Pop)
Wowaka returns in blazing style with this new hit that strongly evokes Rolling Girl but throws in Luka for good measure, distorting her voice in classic wowaka style to sing along with Miku in what is a remarkably effective duet. Their voices in the normal verses don't get me too much, but I'm instantly hooked and impressed the moment the chorus kicks in. The rest of the music is classic and well-done wowaka; breakneck speed piano and drums backed up with great guitar work.
【ミク・ルカ】Ladies First【オリジナル曲】
(Ladies First (Oster Project), Luka + Miku, Sugar Pop, PV)
Oster Project's ship is showing more blatantly than ever here with this spiritual successor to One More Kiss, which reuses much of the same artwork but adds a shedload of new style to the video and proceeds on a fluffy, sugarpop version of Magnet. This track might be a little too much - a very high Miku almost dissolves into Chipmunk once or twice, and it's very saccharine in general - but it's Oster Project, and we're always glad to hear what lengths their mind's decayed to.
初音ミク巡音ルカオリジナル曲 「Genesis」
(Genesis (OneRoom), Luka + Miku, Easy Listening)
One of the lead tracks from the Vocalogenesis album, recently released by Exit Tunes and at the time of writing having smashed to the number one spot on the Oricon charts, this is everything you'd expect from OneRoom - an impeccable Miku and Luka duet which, while a little slow, is still a joy to listen to.
【巡音ルカ】メロドラマティック
(Melodramatic (fatman), Luka, Electro Pop)
Fatman is back on track and instantly worming his way back into my heart with this absolutely delightful Luka track. Gone are the misgivings I had about his last couple of tracks, and instead a great Luka voice and some toe-tapping beats with piano and violin frontpieces. Yesssssss.
【巡音ルカ】Flightless Bird【オリジナル】
(Flightless Bird (無力), Luka, Rock)
I honestly wouldn't have thought this was Luka if it weren't right there in the title - a very Miku-esque Luka voice takes us through an orchestral rock track that hit number 1 on the ranking this week. For all that it's a decent piece of music with some admittedly very nice violin synth, it's completely blown away by some of the newer tracks that came out shortly after-ranking and I expect it to slip a tad next week.
[初音ミクAppendオリジナル曲] 五月少女
(May Girl (millstones), Miku Append (Vivid), Electroish Pop)
Millstones continue to do quality work, if a little off their usual genre - this is an incredibly toe-tapping acoustic guitar and piano pop track shot through with electronic beats, suggestions of steel drums, and a lovely Miku voice. I dare you, and defy you, not to bop along to this charming track.
【鏡音リン】クドリャフカ【オリジナル曲】PV付
(Kudryavka (Piannissimo), Rin, Baaaaaaaaaw Pop, PV)
Also known as Laika, the first Russian dog to be sent off into space. Rin's voice is clear and bright in this rather bawtastic video with some fantastic imagery to accompany the song. While I'm not terribly taken with the music itself, occupying a sort of general soft rock space, Rin's tone absolutely makes it.
【初音ミク】outro【オリジナル】
(outro (zudodon), Rin, Electro Rock?)
Gosh. I don't even know how to classify this one - it's as if *tear* grew up into hard pulsing beats and echoing electronic beats that occasionally give way to Rin's voice. Very light in tone and very light on music and preferring instead a sequence of spaced soft and harsh beats, the track's kind of schizophrenic but makes for an enthralling ambient sound.
【初音ミク】 ロベリア / Lobelia 【オリジナル】
(Lobelia (sequel), Miku, Rock, PV)
This slightly generic but well-produced rock song has some problems, mixing and some aspects of Miku's voice among them, but makes up for it with some gorgeous instrumentation - especially some excellent guitar - and a very slick video.
【初音ミク】seventeen【オリジナル曲PV付】
(seventeen (scop), Miku, Pop, PV)
A shiny, adorable PV can't really help alleviate my feeling a little let down by this track; with some of scop's recent tracks being unabashed successes, this feels like it drags a lot, and seriously risks becoming a bit of a bore. That said, it's a very heartwarming sound, full of very playful piano and some lovely little hangs.
【初音ミク】ネガポジサイクル【オリジナル】
(Negative Positive Cycle (疾風), Append Miku (Solid), Soft Rock, PV)
I'm inexplicably charmed by this song - it's kind of rough and the Solid voice really does sound very strange, with a bizarre back-sound that gives it a very strange accent. But god, the clapping and the organs and the guitar and the really derpy hand-drawn scribbly PV just completely carry the song.
【鏡音レン】7番目の僕【オリジナル】
(7th Me (mayuko), Len + Len + Len + Len + Len + Len, Goth Pop)
This is pretty cool - six versions of Len, differently pitched, coming together to sing a terribly angsty choral song. Very light on instrumentation, this is all about the lyrics and the voices, and I'm pleased to report that the tuning is really clear and crisp - the crescendo where they all start singing in harmony is pretty damn sweet, if mildly creepy.
【初音ミクオリジナル】Fly with me
(Fly With Me (sososo), Miku, Trance, PV)
Probably not to everyone's taste, this is a straight-up trance track, with all the thumpy beats and repetition and whatnot that you'd expect; even if you're not a fan of the genre, however, it's probably worth taking a look if only for the video produced by Tripshots, who are responsible for some of the better known commercial-grade PVs out there (Nebula, Anger).
【巡音ルカ】Excalibur【オリジナル】
(Excalibur (Caz), Luka, Vocaloud)
This isn't a terribly special piece of Vocaloud, but it's been consistently high on the top 100 ranking for a few days, and Caz's name is usually a sign of solid quantity. This has some excellent sections, to be certain, and fear not if you usually fear to go near this genre, as it's a very soft example of the style, comparatively speaking.
Other:
【MikuMikuDance】テトさんが吹っ切れたようです
(Mischievous Function, Teto, MMD)
The alternate form of the Mischievous Function meme. The corresponding nicovideo tag is chock-full of alternate versions using different robots, different robot models, or a dude in a Speedo.
【カバー】mikiで「スカイクラッドの観測者」【いとうかなこ】
(Skyclad Observer (神無月), Miki, Cover)
The OP of Steins;Gate as performed by Miki. This is possibly the best I've ever heard her voice sound, especially when flanked by the voice distortion that the song does, and there's a very good reason for that - the maker of this video's the same one who does these mildly-famous supercell covers with Gumi, you might have heard of him...
【MMD】プリキュアのおねえちゃんに憧れて
(Heartcatcher Paradise, Mini Lat!Miku, MMD PV)
The MMD dance to the Pretty Cure ED theme is nothing new, and has been redone a million times by now. This is a particularly well-done version, though, with some great expressions and a good framerate and some special guests at the start and end. Also, bags and bags of moeblob.
【ドラクエ】＊＊＊＊に合体をさせてみた【MikuMikuDance】
(Joining the Party, Lat!Miku, MMD)
An extremely silly homage to Dragon Quest, done in a parody of classical RPG style.
【MMD】 3D初音ミクAppendでLove&Joy
(Miku Append Love + Joy, Miku Append, MMD PV)
D:
Honestly, I didn't think much of last week on the whole - with Nicovideo somewhat choked by Teto references pickings were rather slim; instead, I got bombarded on Monday with a slew of new songs from a variety of top-name producers, most of which are detailed below along with one of the largest Other sections we've had for a while now. Luka is back in force, with the slight stipulation that she's mostly back to mack on Miku.
Heads up, your friendly mods will be posting a friending meme in a couple days as it's just dawned on us that the last time we did one we had a fifth of the people in the comm, and we're all sure you're very erudite people. Except for that one bot journal collecting automobile asphxiation stories, I guess.
Songs:
カラー化の為ラマーズP終了のお知らせ【Full】
(Mischievous Function (Lamaze animation) (匿名), Teto, Pop, PV)
The meme that took Nicovideo absolutely by storm this week, Lamaze's headnodding lipsync animation of this catchy Teto song caught on like wildfire, spawning a million and one versions from Gundam UC characters to K-On moeblobs, and an entire secondary meme involving buttshaking MMD models as detailed below. There were rumours it was to be Lamaze's last animation on nicovideo - as of writing, though, any mention of that is gone from the video description, replaced with a hearty 'wtf you guys' towards the ever-increasing hit counter.
初音ミク・巡音ルカ オリジナル曲 「ワールズエンド・ダンスホール」
(World's End Dancehall (wowaka), Luka + Miku, Wowaka Pop)
Wowaka returns in blazing style with this new hit that strongly evokes Rolling Girl but throws in Luka for good measure, distorting her voice in classic wowaka style to sing along with Miku in what is a remarkably effective duet. Their voices in the normal verses don't get me too much, but I'm instantly hooked and impressed the moment the chorus kicks in. The rest of the music is classic and well-done wowaka; breakneck speed piano and drums backed up with great guitar work.
【ミク・ルカ】Ladies First【オリジナル曲】
(Ladies First (Oster Project), Luka + Miku, Sugar Pop, PV)
Oster Project's ship is showing more blatantly than ever here with this spiritual successor to One More Kiss, which reuses much of the same artwork but adds a shedload of new style to the video and proceeds on a fluffy, sugarpop version of Magnet. This track might be a little too much - a very high Miku almost dissolves into Chipmunk once or twice, and it's very saccharine in general - but it's Oster Project, and we're always glad to hear what lengths their mind's decayed to.
初音ミク巡音ルカオリジナル曲 「Genesis」
(Genesis (OneRoom), Luka + Miku, Easy Listening)
One of the lead tracks from the Vocalogenesis album, recently released by Exit Tunes and at the time of writing having smashed to the number one spot on the Oricon charts, this is everything you'd expect from OneRoom - an impeccable Miku and Luka duet which, while a little slow, is still a joy to listen to.
【巡音ルカ】メロドラマティック
(Melodramatic (fatman), Luka, Electro Pop)
Fatman is back on track and instantly worming his way back into my heart with this absolutely delightful Luka track. Gone are the misgivings I had about his last couple of tracks, and instead a great Luka voice and some toe-tapping beats with piano and violin frontpieces. Yesssssss.
【巡音ルカ】Flightless Bird【オリジナル】
(Flightless Bird (無力), Luka, Rock)
I honestly wouldn't have thought this was Luka if it weren't right there in the title - a very Miku-esque Luka voice takes us through an orchestral rock track that hit number 1 on the ranking this week. For all that it's a decent piece of music with some admittedly very nice violin synth, it's completely blown away by some of the newer tracks that came out shortly after-ranking and I expect it to slip a tad next week.
[初音ミクAppendオリジナル曲] 五月少女
(May Girl (millstones), Miku Append (Vivid), Electroish Pop)
Millstones continue to do quality work, if a little off their usual genre - this is an incredibly toe-tapping acoustic guitar and piano pop track shot through with electronic beats, suggestions of steel drums, and a lovely Miku voice. I dare you, and defy you, not to bop along to this charming track.
【鏡音リン】クドリャフカ【オリジナル曲】PV付
(Kudryavka (Piannissimo), Rin, Baaaaaaaaaw Pop, PV)
Also known as Laika, the first Russian dog to be sent off into space. Rin's voice is clear and bright in this rather bawtastic video with some fantastic imagery to accompany the song. While I'm not terribly taken with the music itself, occupying a sort of general soft rock space, Rin's tone absolutely makes it.
【初音ミク】outro【オリジナル】
(outro (zudodon), Rin, Electro Rock?)
Gosh. I don't even know how to classify this one - it's as if *tear* grew up into hard pulsing beats and echoing electronic beats that occasionally give way to Rin's voice. Very light in tone and very light on music and preferring instead a sequence of spaced soft and harsh beats, the track's kind of schizophrenic but makes for an enthralling ambient sound.
【初音ミク】 ロベリア / Lobelia 【オリジナル】
(Lobelia (sequel), Miku, Rock, PV)
This slightly generic but well-produced rock song has some problems, mixing and some aspects of Miku's voice among them, but makes up for it with some gorgeous instrumentation - especially some excellent guitar - and a very slick video.
【初音ミク】seventeen【オリジナル曲PV付】
(seventeen (scop), Miku, Pop, PV)
A shiny, adorable PV can't really help alleviate my feeling a little let down by this track; with some of scop's recent tracks being unabashed successes, this feels like it drags a lot, and seriously risks becoming a bit of a bore. That said, it's a very heartwarming sound, full of very playful piano and some lovely little hangs.
【初音ミク】ネガポジサイクル【オリジナル】
(Negative Positive Cycle (疾風), Append Miku (Solid), Soft Rock, PV)
I'm inexplicably charmed by this song - it's kind of rough and the Solid voice really does sound very strange, with a bizarre back-sound that gives it a very strange accent. But god, the clapping and the organs and the guitar and the really derpy hand-drawn scribbly PV just completely carry the song.
【鏡音レン】7番目の僕【オリジナル】
(7th Me (mayuko), Len + Len + Len + Len + Len + Len, Goth Pop)
This is pretty cool - six versions of Len, differently pitched, coming together to sing a terribly angsty choral song. Very light on instrumentation, this is all about the lyrics and the voices, and I'm pleased to report that the tuning is really clear and crisp - the crescendo where they all start singing in harmony is pretty damn sweet, if mildly creepy.
【初音ミクオリジナル】Fly with me
(Fly With Me (sososo), Miku, Trance, PV)
Probably not to everyone's taste, this is a straight-up trance track, with all the thumpy beats and repetition and whatnot that you'd expect; even if you're not a fan of the genre, however, it's probably worth taking a look if only for the video produced by Tripshots, who are responsible for some of the better known commercial-grade PVs out there (Nebula, Anger).
【巡音ルカ】Excalibur【オリジナル】
(Excalibur (Caz), Luka, Vocaloud)
This isn't a terribly special piece of Vocaloud, but it's been consistently high on the top 100 ranking for a few days, and Caz's name is usually a sign of solid quantity. This has some excellent sections, to be certain, and fear not if you usually fear to go near this genre, as it's a very soft example of the style, comparatively speaking.
Other:
【MikuMikuDance】テトさんが吹っ切れたようです
(Mischievous Function, Teto, MMD)
The alternate form of the Mischievous Function meme. The corresponding nicovideo tag is chock-full of alternate versions using different robots, different robot models, or a dude in a Speedo.
【カバー】mikiで「スカイクラッドの観測者」【いとうかなこ】
(Skyclad Observer (神無月), Miki, Cover)
The OP of Steins;Gate as performed by Miki. This is possibly the best I've ever heard her voice sound, especially when flanked by the voice distortion that the song does, and there's a very good reason for that - the maker of this video's the same one who does these mildly-famous supercell covers with Gumi, you might have heard of him...
【MMD】プリキュアのおねえちゃんに憧れて
(Heartcatcher Paradise, Mini Lat!Miku, MMD PV)
The MMD dance to the Pretty Cure ED theme is nothing new, and has been redone a million times by now. This is a particularly well-done version, though, with some great expressions and a good framerate and some special guests at the start and end. Also, bags and bags of moeblob.
【ドラクエ】＊＊＊＊に合体をさせてみた【MikuMikuDance】
(Joining the Party, Lat!Miku, MMD)
An extremely silly homage to Dragon Quest, done in a parody of classical RPG style.
【MMD】 3D初音ミクAppendでLove&Joy
(Miku Append Love + Joy, Miku Append, MMD PV)
D: