Weekly Roundup
Trojans and bluescreens and a certain lack of sleep, oh my! There is nothing like the life of a programmer. As a note, if you're thinking about updating Firefox and it's bitching at you to update Flash, you might want to hold off - in the course of writing this post the damn plugin crashed out more than a few times, and I think it's due to Firefox's anti-plugin-crash stuff. Either way, something's a bit broken.
With weekly_vocaloid going on hiatus I don't have as many sources to check my atrocious Japanese work against, so please do correct me if I screw stuff up when naming tracks and I'll fix them up as soon as possible. In other news, I've been busy enjoying what is possibly the most bugfuck insane World Cup ever. I assume everyone involved from players to referees have gone mad from the drone of vuvuzelBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
【初音ミク】 GALLOWS BELL 【オリジナル！】
(Gallows Bell (buzzG), Miku, Pop, PV)
Absolutely amazing, there's a reason this has racked up 30k views in the space of about a day. Miku's pitch is absolutely spot on in an energetic track that utterly gripped me from first blush. Traditional and typical for a Miku rock track? Yes, absolutely, but done with such panache there's no way I could drop it down the post. Plus you get to see L from Death Note mope around in jail.
【鏡音リン】 オトナのオモチャ 【オリジナル】
(Adult's Toy (utsu), Rin, Vocaloud, PV)
Arguably the biggest track of last week? Very possibly, even if it only got up to eight on the ranking. utsuP's new Vocaloud is absolutely stonking, a riotous affair full of loud and angry guitar, loud and angry Rin, and super-distorted, ultra-low roaring something or other on terrifying backup. There's a fantastic power and energy behind it and it's absolutely a must-watch.
【巡音ルカ】Heart Beats【オリジナル】【ＶＯＣＡＬＯＩＤ】
(Heart Beats (Tes), Luka, Pop)
For some reason, I always feel very starved of Luka tracks each week. Okay, so she'd been going through a rough patch, but it's cleared up by now, surely? Especially if tracks as enjoyable as this keep coming along; a cheery, catchy, joyous track that's going immediately onto my mp3 player for the summery feel and generally delightful tone.
【ミクAppend】キャンディアディクトフルコォス【オリジナル曲】
(Candy Addict Full Course (machigerita), Miku Append (Dark), Goth Pop, PV)
Machige continues his exploration of Miku Append and gothic, dark tones with another twisted but absolutely enthralling track, currently lighting up the daily ranking. I'm absolutely taken by this. It's dark but poppy enough to enjoy and bop along to, the Miku's pitched perfectly, and the instruments are fantastic, from the percussion to the whiny off-pitch guitar.
【miki】 Tweet 【オリジナル】
(Tweet (M@SATOSHI), Miki, Chillout Pop)
It's been a while since we've had Miki along, and it's worth it if she's going to be this delightful. This is a soft, drifting pop track full of some crystal-clear singing and even passable English, with great piano and great sliding scales from the synth backing making the verses an absolute joy to listen to. (ps someone explain the 'M@SATOSHI here. No, Aruka here.' to me before I mess up any more attributions.)
【初音ミク】 oval 【そらいろくらぶ】
(oval (yuxuki), Miku Append Soft, Easy Listening, PV)
Yuxuki's tracks, I tend to find, are often very hit or miss. Fortunately there are no such worries this week, as oval is a gorgeously soft and silky track full of gentle tones and snatches of piano surrounded in a soft summer rain vibe with an absolutely fantastic soft Miku voice - it's rare for me to be charmed by the quieter, gentler Miku voices but this track absolutely made it. Fantastic.
初音ミクオリジナル ６
(6 (AVTechNo), Miku, Techno)
For those of you who caught Luka's 9 from last week's post, here's the accompanying Miku video from AVTechNo. Continuing the darker, moodier and more grungy sound, this is full of deep electronic backbeat and a lot more distortion and effect than their average tracks. As I mentioned with 9, these don't really play to my palate - I enjoy them, but am a whole lot less likely to keep them around, but it's very worth listening to at least once, and they gain extra points for inventive theremin use.
【巡音ルカ】ワンコール・ラブコール【オリジナル曲】
(One Call, Love Call (般), Luka, R + B)
I'm torn on whether One Call is a double meaning here, as it's also a term for a single call by adult phonelines to purposefully register a number on the mobile they're calling. In any case, this is a very strange and distorted track; lots of neat effects and sudden tone changes around the place. I think I kind of like it, though it's definitely an acquired taste: as far as phonecall related tracks go, though, nothing will beat Sepiamusic for me.
【ミクオリジナル】終わりのスタート【恋竹林】
(The Start Of The End (koichikurin), Miku, Pop)
I defy you to avoid waving your arms along with the guitar in this immensely uplifting track. From slow hanging sections to the fantastic sound of the strings backed by strong piano and a delightful array of psychadelic colours, the chorus is really a treat. It's nothing we haven't heard before but it's pulled off so well and I'm pretty sure Luka kicks in for a dueting finish.
【鏡音リン】希望の橋と自由の魔法【PV付オリジナル】
(Magic Bridge of Hope And Freedom (164), Rin + Black Rock Rin, Rock, PV)
203 Soundworks continue to pump out rather professional tracks, and they're usually seen immediately going straight to Exit Works CDs, usually with good reason. The instrumentation on this rock track is really solid - it's a fun, fast-paced tune with some good solid guitars that carries itself well, combined with an at least decent PV. The only marring points here: Rin is often very squeaky, especially in the chorus where her voice gets high enough to make me wince, and the track doesn't have anything particularly stand-out to really grab a listener.
【初音ミク】 アマオト 【オリジナル曲】
(Rainfall (taa), Miku, Funky Pop)
A terribly smooth track, this one, with some absolutely brilliant guitar and a pleasant lilt of a tone to match the gentle theme of the song itself. Miku sounds great, the careful use of piano and drums sets off the guitar beautifully. I'm really, really taken with this one, though it could certainly come off as a little too sparse for some tastes. The piano and guitar solos are to die for, though.
【GUMI オリジナル曲】めぐたん星人【ぽぽぽぽぽぽぽぽぽ】
(Space Being Megu-tan (kanimiso), Gumi, ?!?!, PV)
Anything I could say would only lessen the impact of the start of this track, so I'll avoid spoilering it. Suffice it to say this is exactly as weird as the title makes it sound.
【巡音ルカ】 チープタイムディスコ 【オリジナル曲】
(Cheap Time Disco (BETTI), Luka, Eurobeat Allegedly)
This isn't incredibly good a track, but I've been on an Easypop kick lately and BETTI continues to deliver tracks that worm their way into my head. I disagree slightly with the 'Eurobeat' appelation - it feels like it falls just short of that, though not for a reason I can really put my finger on - but it's a pleasantly fluffy toe-tapper electropop Luka song with some top-dollar bongo. Not a three-word combination I ever expected to use.
【初音ミクオリジナル/PV】 s
(s (effe), Miku, Ambient Pop, PV)
A very careful, slow and minimalistic track, consisting pretty much of a piano, an ECG monitor, and fifty thousand wire brushes on a cymbal. The result is a lengthy track that isn't one you'd ever listen to for high-energy vocals or rocking out, but that suffices very nicely for six minutes of background ambience and the gentle drifting off of one's attention span. Edit: Relinked, coz it moved.
【鏡音レン】月花ノ姫歌-虹-【オリジナルリメイク2】
(Kaguya's Tears Ascending Into The Moon (hatano), Len + Gakupo, Ethnic / Traditional)
So that Len doesn't feel left out, here's a remake of this ethnic rocker of a song featuring Gakupo to really round off our robot collection this post. I don't think much of this track when taken as a whole, it's kind of slow and ponderous, but it shines through with some absolutely brilliant instrumental moments and the most gripping intro I've heard in some time. If you've been jonesing for some traditionalist music, though, this should do quite nicely, especially as the artist got permission from hatano to reupload it.
初音ミク（Θ）恋愛部活動記録
(Romantic Love Activity Record (niboshisan), Miku Append Sweet, ??? Pop)
Nicovideo really likes this one, and I have to admit I don't see it. Certainly I can't fault the track for being, er, all sorts of original with crazy scales everywhere and a lot of random asides and extra instruments kicking in. But it's all a bit too chipmunk pop for me, and Miku Sweet's voice just disappears under the interesting sections of music, leaving me a little underwhelmed.
【初音ミク】 Music kick -M/U/S/I/C Remix-
(Music Kick -M/U/S/I/C Remix- (Clean Tears), Miku, Electro Club)
A remix of G-Koba's original, this is done by Clean Tears straight off the back of Chemical Inversion, and you can pretty much imply from that what you're in for. A solid bit of club music, I'm kind of sad that it didn't pick up many views, as the only real problem here is a rather chipmunk Miku. In all other aspects Clean Tears remain exceedingly capable as far as putting out a catchy tune.
Other:
「くるみ☆ぽんちお」に絵を付けてみた
(Kurumi Ponchio a.k.a. That One NSFW Song, Miku, Hyper Pop, PV)
Oh my god. So. Some of you may remember the artist for this PV - creator of the Familymart video and a dozen adorable Takoluka videos besides, who draws extremely SD and moe versions of the robots. Some of you may remember the music for this PV, which featured a lot of practically single entendre and a NSFW video that stuck at the top of the daily charts for an ungodly long time. Now... combine those two things. Brain broken yet?
[実写合成]ひたすらくるくるダブルラリアット
(Double Lariat (agoaniki), Utattemita, Pop, PV)
First off, I apologise if this video gives you nightmares forever. For all that it's a very, very well animated video in an amazingly photorealistic style, the features and the faces kind of leave something ... to be desired, and the utattemita accompanying it is not exactly the best ever. That said, the video is chock-full of Nicovideo references and viewers have been going absolutely batshit over it... and it really is amazingly good animation.
( トエトのPVだよ ) Oo｡(・ω |【はんら】
(Toeto (toraboruta), Luka, Pop, PV)
An absolutely adorable Toeto PV, I am saying nothing more about this other than you should go and watch it and you are a terrible person if you dislike it.
初音ミク・巡音ルカ 「ワールズエンド・ダンスホール」【PV】
(World's End Dancehall (wowaka), Luka + Miku, Rock, PV)
You all surely know the song at this point: The internet at large continues to go absolutely bonkers over World's End Dancehall, with the latest PV garnering many, many hits by crossing over a confused robot opening doors with a logo-centric, internettish style that echoes the original Uraomote PV and it's bold, stark use of infographics.
【ブブゼラ】ブ っ 切 れ た【おちゃめ機能】
(Mischievous Function (Vuvuzela Mix) (匿名), Utattemita, Pop)
Hey guys, this is a pretty cool remiBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
With weekly_vocaloid going on hiatus I don't have as many sources to check my atrocious Japanese work against, so please do correct me if I screw stuff up when naming tracks and I'll fix them up as soon as possible. In other news, I've been busy enjoying what is possibly the most bugfuck insane World Cup ever. I assume everyone involved from players to referees have gone mad from the drone of vuvuzelBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
【初音ミク】 GALLOWS BELL 【オリジナル！】
(Gallows Bell (buzzG), Miku, Pop, PV)
Absolutely amazing, there's a reason this has racked up 30k views in the space of about a day. Miku's pitch is absolutely spot on in an energetic track that utterly gripped me from first blush. Traditional and typical for a Miku rock track? Yes, absolutely, but done with such panache there's no way I could drop it down the post. Plus you get to see L from Death Note mope around in jail.
【鏡音リン】 オトナのオモチャ 【オリジナル】
(Adult's Toy (utsu), Rin, Vocaloud, PV)
Arguably the biggest track of last week? Very possibly, even if it only got up to eight on the ranking. utsuP's new Vocaloud is absolutely stonking, a riotous affair full of loud and angry guitar, loud and angry Rin, and super-distorted, ultra-low roaring something or other on terrifying backup. There's a fantastic power and energy behind it and it's absolutely a must-watch.
【巡音ルカ】Heart Beats【オリジナル】【ＶＯＣＡＬＯＩＤ】
(Heart Beats (Tes), Luka, Pop)
For some reason, I always feel very starved of Luka tracks each week. Okay, so she'd been going through a rough patch, but it's cleared up by now, surely? Especially if tracks as enjoyable as this keep coming along; a cheery, catchy, joyous track that's going immediately onto my mp3 player for the summery feel and generally delightful tone.
【ミクAppend】キャンディアディクトフルコォス【オリジナル曲】
(Candy Addict Full Course (machigerita), Miku Append (Dark), Goth Pop, PV)
Machige continues his exploration of Miku Append and gothic, dark tones with another twisted but absolutely enthralling track, currently lighting up the daily ranking. I'm absolutely taken by this. It's dark but poppy enough to enjoy and bop along to, the Miku's pitched perfectly, and the instruments are fantastic, from the percussion to the whiny off-pitch guitar.
【miki】 Tweet 【オリジナル】
(Tweet (M@SATOSHI), Miki, Chillout Pop)
It's been a while since we've had Miki along, and it's worth it if she's going to be this delightful. This is a soft, drifting pop track full of some crystal-clear singing and even passable English, with great piano and great sliding scales from the synth backing making the verses an absolute joy to listen to. (ps someone explain the 'M@SATOSHI here. No, Aruka here.' to me before I mess up any more attributions.)
【初音ミク】 oval 【そらいろくらぶ】
(oval (yuxuki), Miku Append Soft, Easy Listening, PV)
Yuxuki's tracks, I tend to find, are often very hit or miss. Fortunately there are no such worries this week, as oval is a gorgeously soft and silky track full of gentle tones and snatches of piano surrounded in a soft summer rain vibe with an absolutely fantastic soft Miku voice - it's rare for me to be charmed by the quieter, gentler Miku voices but this track absolutely made it. Fantastic.
初音ミクオリジナル ６
(6 (AVTechNo), Miku, Techno)
For those of you who caught Luka's 9 from last week's post, here's the accompanying Miku video from AVTechNo. Continuing the darker, moodier and more grungy sound, this is full of deep electronic backbeat and a lot more distortion and effect than their average tracks. As I mentioned with 9, these don't really play to my palate - I enjoy them, but am a whole lot less likely to keep them around, but it's very worth listening to at least once, and they gain extra points for inventive theremin use.
【巡音ルカ】ワンコール・ラブコール【オリジナル曲】
(One Call, Love Call (般), Luka, R + B)
I'm torn on whether One Call is a double meaning here, as it's also a term for a single call by adult phonelines to purposefully register a number on the mobile they're calling. In any case, this is a very strange and distorted track; lots of neat effects and sudden tone changes around the place. I think I kind of like it, though it's definitely an acquired taste: as far as phonecall related tracks go, though, nothing will beat Sepiamusic for me.
【ミクオリジナル】終わりのスタート【恋竹林】
(The Start Of The End (koichikurin), Miku, Pop)
I defy you to avoid waving your arms along with the guitar in this immensely uplifting track. From slow hanging sections to the fantastic sound of the strings backed by strong piano and a delightful array of psychadelic colours, the chorus is really a treat. It's nothing we haven't heard before but it's pulled off so well and I'm pretty sure Luka kicks in for a dueting finish.
【鏡音リン】希望の橋と自由の魔法【PV付オリジナル】
(Magic Bridge of Hope And Freedom (164), Rin + Black Rock Rin, Rock, PV)
203 Soundworks continue to pump out rather professional tracks, and they're usually seen immediately going straight to Exit Works CDs, usually with good reason. The instrumentation on this rock track is really solid - it's a fun, fast-paced tune with some good solid guitars that carries itself well, combined with an at least decent PV. The only marring points here: Rin is often very squeaky, especially in the chorus where her voice gets high enough to make me wince, and the track doesn't have anything particularly stand-out to really grab a listener.
【初音ミク】 アマオト 【オリジナル曲】
(Rainfall (taa), Miku, Funky Pop)
A terribly smooth track, this one, with some absolutely brilliant guitar and a pleasant lilt of a tone to match the gentle theme of the song itself. Miku sounds great, the careful use of piano and drums sets off the guitar beautifully. I'm really, really taken with this one, though it could certainly come off as a little too sparse for some tastes. The piano and guitar solos are to die for, though.
【GUMI オリジナル曲】めぐたん星人【ぽぽぽぽぽぽぽぽぽ】
(Space Being Megu-tan (kanimiso), Gumi, ?!?!, PV)
Anything I could say would only lessen the impact of the start of this track, so I'll avoid spoilering it. Suffice it to say this is exactly as weird as the title makes it sound.
【巡音ルカ】 チープタイムディスコ 【オリジナル曲】
(Cheap Time Disco (BETTI), Luka, Eurobeat Allegedly)
This isn't incredibly good a track, but I've been on an Easypop kick lately and BETTI continues to deliver tracks that worm their way into my head. I disagree slightly with the 'Eurobeat' appelation - it feels like it falls just short of that, though not for a reason I can really put my finger on - but it's a pleasantly fluffy toe-tapper electropop Luka song with some top-dollar bongo. Not a three-word combination I ever expected to use.
【初音ミクオリジナル/PV】 s
(s (effe), Miku, Ambient Pop, PV)
A very careful, slow and minimalistic track, consisting pretty much of a piano, an ECG monitor, and fifty thousand wire brushes on a cymbal. The result is a lengthy track that isn't one you'd ever listen to for high-energy vocals or rocking out, but that suffices very nicely for six minutes of background ambience and the gentle drifting off of one's attention span. Edit: Relinked, coz it moved.
【鏡音レン】月花ノ姫歌-虹-【オリジナルリメイク2】
(Kaguya's Tears Ascending Into The Moon (hatano), Len + Gakupo, Ethnic / Traditional)
So that Len doesn't feel left out, here's a remake of this ethnic rocker of a song featuring Gakupo to really round off our robot collection this post. I don't think much of this track when taken as a whole, it's kind of slow and ponderous, but it shines through with some absolutely brilliant instrumental moments and the most gripping intro I've heard in some time. If you've been jonesing for some traditionalist music, though, this should do quite nicely, especially as the artist got permission from hatano to reupload it.
初音ミク（Θ）恋愛部活動記録
(Romantic Love Activity Record (niboshisan), Miku Append Sweet, ??? Pop)
Nicovideo really likes this one, and I have to admit I don't see it. Certainly I can't fault the track for being, er, all sorts of original with crazy scales everywhere and a lot of random asides and extra instruments kicking in. But it's all a bit too chipmunk pop for me, and Miku Sweet's voice just disappears under the interesting sections of music, leaving me a little underwhelmed.
【初音ミク】 Music kick -M/U/S/I/C Remix-
(Music Kick -M/U/S/I/C Remix- (Clean Tears), Miku, Electro Club)
A remix of G-Koba's original, this is done by Clean Tears straight off the back of Chemical Inversion, and you can pretty much imply from that what you're in for. A solid bit of club music, I'm kind of sad that it didn't pick up many views, as the only real problem here is a rather chipmunk Miku. In all other aspects Clean Tears remain exceedingly capable as far as putting out a catchy tune.
Other:
「くるみ☆ぽんちお」に絵を付けてみた
(Kurumi Ponchio a.k.a. That One NSFW Song, Miku, Hyper Pop, PV)
Oh my god. So. Some of you may remember the artist for this PV - creator of the Familymart video and a dozen adorable Takoluka videos besides, who draws extremely SD and moe versions of the robots. Some of you may remember the music for this PV, which featured a lot of practically single entendre and a NSFW video that stuck at the top of the daily charts for an ungodly long time. Now... combine those two things. Brain broken yet?
[実写合成]ひたすらくるくるダブルラリアット
(Double Lariat (agoaniki), Utattemita, Pop, PV)
First off, I apologise if this video gives you nightmares forever. For all that it's a very, very well animated video in an amazingly photorealistic style, the features and the faces kind of leave something ... to be desired, and the utattemita accompanying it is not exactly the best ever. That said, the video is chock-full of Nicovideo references and viewers have been going absolutely batshit over it... and it really is amazingly good animation.
( トエトのPVだよ ) Oo｡(・ω |【はんら】
(Toeto (toraboruta), Luka, Pop, PV)
An absolutely adorable Toeto PV, I am saying nothing more about this other than you should go and watch it and you are a terrible person if you dislike it.
初音ミク・巡音ルカ 「ワールズエンド・ダンスホール」【PV】
(World's End Dancehall (wowaka), Luka + Miku, Rock, PV)
You all surely know the song at this point: The internet at large continues to go absolutely bonkers over World's End Dancehall, with the latest PV garnering many, many hits by crossing over a confused robot opening doors with a logo-centric, internettish style that echoes the original Uraomote PV and it's bold, stark use of infographics.
【ブブゼラ】ブ っ 切 れ た【おちゃめ機能】
(Mischievous Function (Vuvuzela Mix) (匿名), Utattemita, Pop)
Hey guys, this is a pretty cool remiBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ