At some point I might be allowed to call these 'weekly' again
Where the heck did Stelas go? Vanished in a halcyon cloud of memories, instead I have to contend with... okay yeah, nevermind, I'm late yet again. This week's excuse was that it's kind of soul-sapping to have a man first poke around your mouth with sharp metal implements then yank out a chunk of your bone, and have the audacity to charge you for it on top of that.
Now that lovely mental image is out of the way, here's a post. It incorporates a bunch of last week's stuff that didn't hit ranking, and my favourites so far this week, with the rest saved for Monday. And what a week it's shaping up to be already - lots of big names have come out of the woodwork and there's a whole slow of ridiculous MMD videos. And, as the icing on the cake, MMD 5th Cup was announced for August! It's no surprise to anyone - they come on 6-month cycles - but it's still cheering to know there's a whole lot of Stupid in our future.
Videos:
【巡音ルカオリジナルPV】ダンサーインザダーク【fatman×ハツ子】
(Dancer In The Dark (fatman), Luka, Rock, PV)
Rocketing up the charts, this is almost a declaration of war from fatman against AVTechNo, as he takes on their signature Luka style and very nearly outdoes them outright - this half-Engrish, hard-hitting song echoes strongly of DYE or Free and sweeps you up along with it. An absolute treat to find on my shortlist and I just couldn't wait to link it, so at the top of the post it goes; fatman never ceases to impress.
鏡音リンでオリジナル「パンツ脱げるもん！」
(My Underwear's Gonna Come Off! (chomu), Rin, Pop, PV)
Well, I guess I should include this one, even if I felt there were much better offerings last week; I can't deny the PV was terribly pretty, though, and the song has a good solid energy to it, but it just didn't really take in my mind. Of course, you've probably watched this by now, which means I can be lazy and move on.
【初音ミク】Keep Only One Love【オリジナル】
(Keep Only One Love (hachioji), Miku, Electro Pop)
Another track that swept me up and demanded a link when I came across it today, Keep Only One Love borrows strongly from chiptune style for a jaunty, poppy electronic sound that suddenly gives way half way to a dirtier and more angry sound then goes right to the most delightful soft section I've heard in some time. The song to bop along to, out of any of them this week, if you're not dancing around the room to this you've got no soul.
【初音ミク】ＯＲＩＯＮ【オリジナル】
(ORION (nofure), Miku, Easy Pop)
The pickup of this week's ranking, Orion is a gorgeous soft song with strong vocals and a lilty, floaty style. Miku's voice is clear and unwavering, and the song is a wonderful piece of ambience backed up by a great lifting chorus. It doesn't have the same raw addictiveness as Starduster (shut up, Floor) but is definitely cut from the same high-quality cloth.
【PV 付きオリジナル曲】Bye-bye My Blue Bird【鏡音リン】
(Bye-Bye My Blue Bird (peperon), Rin, Angst Pop, PV)
How about some epic angst? This is a pretty classy track and well-deserved it's ranking slot - Rin sounds great and the piano is to die for. Though it's a little generic and can get a little samey, there's really nothing wrong at all here. The PV's similarly well-drawn, though if I'm honest it's only just shy of being a couple zoom images...
【初音ミク】Lost34【オリジナル】
(Lost34 (mamomo), Miku, Pop, PV)
I've no idea how this failed to get on the ranking - an intriguing and jumpy song bouncing between synth strings and soft emo to piano scales and a bit of acoustic guitar then a soft and clear chorus, all in all a lovely mish-mash of styles. While I appreciate it's going to be a little strange for everyone's taste, I can't help but feel it got robbed.
【がくぽ×ミクAppend】絡繰師と碧【オリジナル曲】
(The Curling, Creeping, Coiling Master and Aoi (machigerita), Miku Append Sweet + Gakupo, Goth Rock, PV)
Okay, this is more like epic angst, or perhaps I should say epic goth horror? An absolutely bombastic track from a pair of voices you wouldn't think work together but most assuredly do, the combination of light soft voice and deep voice mixing with bells and highly creepy piano for a tremendously effective track marred only by occasional glitches in pronunciation and weird vocal tone.
【MEIKO】 Trace / shu-t【オリジナル】
(Trace (shu-t), Meiko, Opera Club?)
Damn it, I'll keep holding this torch as long as I need to. shu-t's followup to last week's Meiko track, this yet again looks like it's not going to get anywhere near the ranking but definitely deserves listening to. I like this one slightly less - some of the chords seem highly suspect, and the track just doesn't jump at me as the last one did - but Meiko still sounds absolutely incredible.
巡音ルカオリジナル ９
(9 (AVTechNo), Luka, Electro Pop)
AVTechno's offering this week is certainly not as lyrical or smooth as many of their tracks, opting instead for a dirtier sound and more of a reliance on distortion and scratching, thumping and dark. Combine this with a deep resounding Luka voice for a very oppressive track - personally, I prefer their smoother and lighter offerings, but your mileage may vary. This darker style seems to be something of a phase, with '6' - a companion piece by Miku, out this week - being in a similar style.
【鏡音リン・レン】ハローアゲイン【オリジナル】
(Hello Again (mayuko), Len + Rin, ???)
What do you get when you take both twins, a foreign language I can't even begin to place, some xylophones, some organ music, and a double bass and pretty much nothing else? You get this amazing choral track that I can't even begin to properly describe beyond saying that the twins sound completely fantastic; dreamlike and almost purely vocal, it's a bizarre treat.
【鏡音リン】wonder wander【オリジナル曲】
(wonder wander (doddome), Rin, Rock)
I've got kind of a love/hate thing going on with this track. It often feels very scrappy, with Rin's singing scattered and wobbly and the song not really having any impact. Then it'll turn around and throw out a triumphant chord sequence or a heartlifting snatch of piano and I like it all over again. You could certainly do worse.
オリジナル曲・Ancient Ring 【巡音ルカ】
(Ancient Ring (Seiko), Luka, Choral Pop)
Seiko is back with yet more Luka crooning, and Luka sounds as good as ever in his hands - I'm not even going to attempt to spoil this operatic track by describing it further, and will simply demand you go listen to this track to see what Luka can really do when put to it.
【鏡音リン・レン】BITE THE LIP【オリジナル】
(BITE THE LIP (maigoddo), Len + Rin, Rock, MMD)
At this point you should know exactly what to expect from maigoddo - lots of distorted voices, lots of hard rock, lots of fast beats and fantastic sound. This is much the same as his other tracks but a lot lighter - positively melodic in places, it proves maigoddo's got more than his standard tricks if he needs them. If you tune in at all, do so for the terribly manly Squaresoft Main Character Rocker Len model.
【古川本舗】夜と虹色 【初音ミク＆初音ミクDark】
(Rainbow Coloured Evening (古川), Miku + Miku Append Dark, Rock)
This is a very, very star-studded track - sit around for the credits to see a whole slew of people involved including Toku and Nim - and as you'd expect from this collaboration it has some gorgeous instrumentals. Unfortunately, the song and vocals highlight the same problem we've seen recur time and time again - Dark might sound lovely, but it's all for nothing if the music repeatedly swamps the voice and turns it inaudible.
【初音ミク】a tail of the wind【オリジナル】
(A Tail of the Wind (Caz), Miku, Rock)
It's not often my Gratuitous Extra Track of the Week is rock rather than the cheesiest pop I can get my hands on, but this is worth it - Caz' latest might be generic and completely as expected from this producer, but at the same time it's a headbanging triumph, and had me toe-tapping throughout.
Other:
お断りします【PVのようなもの】
(No Thank You (PV) (sweettales), Miku, God Damn Earworm, PV)
A fantastic and silly PV to accompany what is a fantastic and silly song, atatata's illustrations are absolutely spot on, perfect for the music involved. It's all kinds of adorable.
【MMD】 ミク・ミク・テトでナチュラルに恋して 【Perfume】
(Fall In Love Naturally (Perfume), LatMiku x 2 + LatTeto, MMD)
bluh bluh bluh moan teto looks like a copypaste LAT BITCHING ASIDE, this is one hell of an up to date MMD routine of Perfume's first 2010 release, and very smoothly done - expect to see this rehashed with a million different combinations of model in the next few weeks.
心壊サミット【手描きＰＶ風】
(Heartbreak Summit (DECO*27), Miku, Rock, PV)
Scintillating half-PV for an old standby favorite. I've no idea what on earth is going on, to be quite honest, but it's pretty as hell and I really wish they'd done the whole thing.
ワールズエンド・ダンスホール【PV風】
(World's End Dancehall (wowaka), Miku + Luka, Wowaka, PV)
Included if only because I love me some SHAFT anime, this PV takes a bunch of footage from SHAFT OPs, most notably Maria-Holic, and twists it into a somewhat minimalistic but passable World's End Dancehall PV.
【MMD】 オサレなモデルで Kiss！Kiss！Kiss！ HD
(Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! (Buono), Miku x 3, MMD)
Buono are known for a series of excessively candy-pop tracks alongside often elaborate dance tracks - this is a fairly accurate rendition of one of their earlier and better-known songs, though verifying that fact possibly lost me more teeth to saccharine than the trip to the dentist did.
【MMD】よせあばれすわこ++【60fps】
Only barely on-topic, so snuck in at the end - the famous Touhou manic collection of dances, only this time extended with a whole bunch of MMD references and done in 60fps by a wholly adorable Suwako model. Awwwwww.
Now that lovely mental image is out of the way, here's a post. It incorporates a bunch of last week's stuff that didn't hit ranking, and my favourites so far this week, with the rest saved for Monday. And what a week it's shaping up to be already - lots of big names have come out of the woodwork and there's a whole slow of ridiculous MMD videos. And, as the icing on the cake, MMD 5th Cup was announced for August! It's no surprise to anyone - they come on 6-month cycles - but it's still cheering to know there's a whole lot of Stupid in our future.
Videos:
【巡音ルカオリジナルPV】ダンサーインザダーク【fatman×ハツ子】
(Dancer In The Dark (fatman), Luka, Rock, PV)
Rocketing up the charts, this is almost a declaration of war from fatman against AVTechNo, as he takes on their signature Luka style and very nearly outdoes them outright - this half-Engrish, hard-hitting song echoes strongly of DYE or Free and sweeps you up along with it. An absolute treat to find on my shortlist and I just couldn't wait to link it, so at the top of the post it goes; fatman never ceases to impress.
鏡音リンでオリジナル「パンツ脱げるもん！」
(My Underwear's Gonna Come Off! (chomu), Rin, Pop, PV)
Well, I guess I should include this one, even if I felt there were much better offerings last week; I can't deny the PV was terribly pretty, though, and the song has a good solid energy to it, but it just didn't really take in my mind. Of course, you've probably watched this by now, which means I can be lazy and move on.
【初音ミク】Keep Only One Love【オリジナル】
(Keep Only One Love (hachioji), Miku, Electro Pop)
Another track that swept me up and demanded a link when I came across it today, Keep Only One Love borrows strongly from chiptune style for a jaunty, poppy electronic sound that suddenly gives way half way to a dirtier and more angry sound then goes right to the most delightful soft section I've heard in some time. The song to bop along to, out of any of them this week, if you're not dancing around the room to this you've got no soul.
【初音ミク】ＯＲＩＯＮ【オリジナル】
(ORION (nofure), Miku, Easy Pop)
The pickup of this week's ranking, Orion is a gorgeous soft song with strong vocals and a lilty, floaty style. Miku's voice is clear and unwavering, and the song is a wonderful piece of ambience backed up by a great lifting chorus. It doesn't have the same raw addictiveness as Starduster (shut up, Floor) but is definitely cut from the same high-quality cloth.
【PV 付きオリジナル曲】Bye-bye My Blue Bird【鏡音リン】
(Bye-Bye My Blue Bird (peperon), Rin, Angst Pop, PV)
How about some epic angst? This is a pretty classy track and well-deserved it's ranking slot - Rin sounds great and the piano is to die for. Though it's a little generic and can get a little samey, there's really nothing wrong at all here. The PV's similarly well-drawn, though if I'm honest it's only just shy of being a couple zoom images...
【初音ミク】Lost34【オリジナル】
(Lost34 (mamomo), Miku, Pop, PV)
I've no idea how this failed to get on the ranking - an intriguing and jumpy song bouncing between synth strings and soft emo to piano scales and a bit of acoustic guitar then a soft and clear chorus, all in all a lovely mish-mash of styles. While I appreciate it's going to be a little strange for everyone's taste, I can't help but feel it got robbed.
【がくぽ×ミクAppend】絡繰師と碧【オリジナル曲】
(The Curling, Creeping, Coiling Master and Aoi (machigerita), Miku Append Sweet + Gakupo, Goth Rock, PV)
Okay, this is more like epic angst, or perhaps I should say epic goth horror? An absolutely bombastic track from a pair of voices you wouldn't think work together but most assuredly do, the combination of light soft voice and deep voice mixing with bells and highly creepy piano for a tremendously effective track marred only by occasional glitches in pronunciation and weird vocal tone.
【MEIKO】 Trace / shu-t【オリジナル】
(Trace (shu-t), Meiko, Opera Club?)
Damn it, I'll keep holding this torch as long as I need to. shu-t's followup to last week's Meiko track, this yet again looks like it's not going to get anywhere near the ranking but definitely deserves listening to. I like this one slightly less - some of the chords seem highly suspect, and the track just doesn't jump at me as the last one did - but Meiko still sounds absolutely incredible.
巡音ルカオリジナル ９
(9 (AVTechNo), Luka, Electro Pop)
AVTechno's offering this week is certainly not as lyrical or smooth as many of their tracks, opting instead for a dirtier sound and more of a reliance on distortion and scratching, thumping and dark. Combine this with a deep resounding Luka voice for a very oppressive track - personally, I prefer their smoother and lighter offerings, but your mileage may vary. This darker style seems to be something of a phase, with '6' - a companion piece by Miku, out this week - being in a similar style.
【鏡音リン・レン】ハローアゲイン【オリジナル】
(Hello Again (mayuko), Len + Rin, ???)
What do you get when you take both twins, a foreign language I can't even begin to place, some xylophones, some organ music, and a double bass and pretty much nothing else? You get this amazing choral track that I can't even begin to properly describe beyond saying that the twins sound completely fantastic; dreamlike and almost purely vocal, it's a bizarre treat.
【鏡音リン】wonder wander【オリジナル曲】
(wonder wander (doddome), Rin, Rock)
I've got kind of a love/hate thing going on with this track. It often feels very scrappy, with Rin's singing scattered and wobbly and the song not really having any impact. Then it'll turn around and throw out a triumphant chord sequence or a heartlifting snatch of piano and I like it all over again. You could certainly do worse.
オリジナル曲・Ancient Ring 【巡音ルカ】
(Ancient Ring (Seiko), Luka, Choral Pop)
Seiko is back with yet more Luka crooning, and Luka sounds as good as ever in his hands - I'm not even going to attempt to spoil this operatic track by describing it further, and will simply demand you go listen to this track to see what Luka can really do when put to it.
【鏡音リン・レン】BITE THE LIP【オリジナル】
(BITE THE LIP (maigoddo), Len + Rin, Rock, MMD)
At this point you should know exactly what to expect from maigoddo - lots of distorted voices, lots of hard rock, lots of fast beats and fantastic sound. This is much the same as his other tracks but a lot lighter - positively melodic in places, it proves maigoddo's got more than his standard tricks if he needs them. If you tune in at all, do so for the terribly manly Squaresoft Main Character Rocker Len model.
【古川本舗】夜と虹色 【初音ミク＆初音ミクDark】
(Rainbow Coloured Evening (古川), Miku + Miku Append Dark, Rock)
This is a very, very star-studded track - sit around for the credits to see a whole slew of people involved including Toku and Nim - and as you'd expect from this collaboration it has some gorgeous instrumentals. Unfortunately, the song and vocals highlight the same problem we've seen recur time and time again - Dark might sound lovely, but it's all for nothing if the music repeatedly swamps the voice and turns it inaudible.
【初音ミク】a tail of the wind【オリジナル】
(A Tail of the Wind (Caz), Miku, Rock)
It's not often my Gratuitous Extra Track of the Week is rock rather than the cheesiest pop I can get my hands on, but this is worth it - Caz' latest might be generic and completely as expected from this producer, but at the same time it's a headbanging triumph, and had me toe-tapping throughout.
Other:
お断りします【PVのようなもの】
(No Thank You (PV) (sweettales), Miku, God Damn Earworm, PV)
A fantastic and silly PV to accompany what is a fantastic and silly song, atatata's illustrations are absolutely spot on, perfect for the music involved. It's all kinds of adorable.
【MMD】 ミク・ミク・テトでナチュラルに恋して 【Perfume】
(Fall In Love Naturally (Perfume), LatMiku x 2 + LatTeto, MMD)
bluh bluh bluh moan teto looks like a copypaste LAT BITCHING ASIDE, this is one hell of an up to date MMD routine of Perfume's first 2010 release, and very smoothly done - expect to see this rehashed with a million different combinations of model in the next few weeks.
心壊サミット【手描きＰＶ風】
(Heartbreak Summit (DECO*27), Miku, Rock, PV)
Scintillating half-PV for an old standby favorite. I've no idea what on earth is going on, to be quite honest, but it's pretty as hell and I really wish they'd done the whole thing.
ワールズエンド・ダンスホール【PV風】
(World's End Dancehall (wowaka), Miku + Luka, Wowaka, PV)
Included if only because I love me some SHAFT anime, this PV takes a bunch of footage from SHAFT OPs, most notably Maria-Holic, and twists it into a somewhat minimalistic but passable World's End Dancehall PV.
【MMD】 オサレなモデルで Kiss！Kiss！Kiss！ HD
(Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! (Buono), Miku x 3, MMD)
Buono are known for a series of excessively candy-pop tracks alongside often elaborate dance tracks - this is a fairly accurate rendition of one of their earlier and better-known songs, though verifying that fact possibly lost me more teeth to saccharine than the trip to the dentist did.
【MMD】よせあばれすわこ++【60fps】
Only barely on-topic, so snuck in at the end - the famous Touhou manic collection of dances, only this time extended with a whole bunch of MMD references and done in 60fps by a wholly adorable Suwako model. Awwwwww.