It's up before Thursday, amazing!
Hey guys. At least, for once, I can be quite sure you won't have seen a bunch of these videos - something unusual seems to be up with the ranking this week, and there are a lot of catcalls regarding up-voting and possible cheating to try to subvert Gumi's birthday. Either way, I'm here to help point you at the new releases free from the grasp of ye olde time songs.
We mentioned it in the Gumi post but I want to clarify again - posting is open and we love it when people post. If you've got an idea for a theme post, go for it, if you just want to grab at stuff we missed, go for it, if there's a new video you absolutely must link and we're lazy or late or it just happens to be the middle of the week, go for it, got some juicy news, go for it. The only rules in place are lighthearted ones, we swear, and we've rejigged a couple to clarify what we're going for. They're right there on the profile.
Not long until BRS and MMD 5th Cup. July and August are gonna be great. I had a few more songs to link, but Nicovideo has just packed up for me. Oh well.
ニコニコ動画のオープニングテーマを勝手に作ってみた
(Self-Made Niconico Douga OP Theme (mosomoso), Miku + Luka + Len + Rin, Acoustic Pop)
This is getting pride of place this update because I think it's brilliant, even past all of Gumi's birthday videos. An intensely heartwarming mix of vocals, as Miku takes frontline and the twins play off of each other and Luka 'doo-wops' and spouts English in the background, this is an amazingly cheery attempt at a Nico theme. Wah-wah guitars, plucked acoustics and I think flutes back there somewhere all combine to make this absolutely delightful.
【GUMI】 想イ出カケラ 【オリジナル曲】
(Memory Fragments (devilish), Gumi, Rock)
Easily my favorite Gumi track for her birthday, if this doesn't get into the ranking next week - be it due to upvoting or whatever - I'll eat my socks. From epic guitar scales to a solidly tuned throaty vocal line, it's fantastic.
【鏡音リン】 雨傘とじて 【オリジナル】
(Shut Umbrella (ramune), Rin, Easy Listening)
A gorgeous piece of vocal work from Rin, alongside lilting piano and acoustic guitar and then out of nowhere, a wonderful saxophone solo that made me fall utterly in love with the track. It's not often Rin gets quiet soft tracks, but this is a stunning example, and the woodwinds and brass are perfectly placed. I can't even imagine disliking this track: straight onto the player it goes.
【初音ミク】 cosmic tones 【オリジナル】
(Cosmic Tones (yusuke), Miku, Pop)
It's been a while since we've had something sufficiently cheesy and cheery for me to stick it near the top of the post without cringing internally at myself. This is basically exactly what I look for in a Vocaloid song - a softer pop song with some good guitar, some lovely piano, and a strong and clear voice on top, all aspects guaranteed to make me enjoy a song and feel vaguely guilty subjecting people to it given the glut we already have. Fortunately, this one's particularly nice.
【巡音ルカ】///unknown///【オリジナル】
(///unknown/// (無力), Luka, Orchestral Rock)
A ridiculously classy track, this is some deeply fine rock laced through with pianos, violins, spoken english that doesn't suck, and some damn fine note-holding from Luka. Triumphant crescendos really make this track and there's just nothing anywhere to complain about, except possibly the inability to rename the filename of the inevitable mp3 to the title of the song.
【初音ミク】サカナ【オリジナル】PV
(Fish (kous), Miku, G-guh?, PV)
Kous is back on full bore, backed up by the hie videos we've come to know, love, and just slightly fear. Alternating between aquatic tones and building sounds, into gentle clicking sections whose prime instrument appears to be a ping-pong ball smacked against a wall, into hyperbeat choral sections and glass-splittingly high notes. It's all over the place and it's pretty wonderful.
【初音ミク(40㍍)】 空中アクアリウム 【オリジナル】
(Sky Aquarium (40m), Miku, Pop)
It feels almost blasphemous to put a 40m track this far down the post, but there it is; while I always enjoy 40m's work for pretty much the exact same reasons I mention underneath cosmic tones, there's just too much good stuff this week that it gets pipped to the post for the top spots. That said, this is vintage 40m; crisp, clear vocals and a soft rock / pop style. Don't expect any groundbreaking stuff here, just listen and enjoy it.
【初音ミクDark】 glow 【オリジナル】
(Glow (keeno), Miku Append (Dark), Soft Rock)
Since release, my initial negative opinion of the Dark voice has taken some battering hits from a variety of sources, but none of them had ever really reversed my opinion fully until I heard this track. The voice is absolutely wonderful and fits this song perfectly for a chillout rock track - all my misgivings are gone, just like that. At least, until the next Dark track...
【GUMI】恋の特急みらくるメッセンジャー！【PVのようなもの】
(Express Miracle Love Messenger (buriru), Gumi, Candy Pop, PV)
You might want earplugs for this one, a relentlessly high-pitched track with a squeaky Gumi and enough sparkle star sweetness noises to risk diabetes. Even then, though, I'm prepared to bet you'll watch it if only for the glorious atatata PV where a tiny fairy Gumi holds forth on her opinions as to how to get the girl and/or boy.
【VOCALOID】狂騒ノ現【オリジナルPV】
(Roaring Reality (wannopo), Rin, Ethnic Rock, PV)
Though parts of this song make me twitch a bit, some of Rin's more squeaky moments amongst them, this is still a pretty pleasant piece of fusion combining good old Rin rocking with zithery plinky traditional tones. It's a little rough, Rin getting rather lost in the louder parts of the music, but the style of it is enough that I can overlook a few problems and the PV only helps its case.
GUMIオリジナル曲PV付き 「方舟の部屋」
(Ark Room (myumu), Gumi, Pop, PV)
I wonder why I don't like this more. It's very good, technically speaking, with some lovely guitar and certainly very little to complain about, but it doesn't seem to grab me. Another slow and gentle song from Gumi to add to the pile, and maybe that's the source of my frustration - it feels a little generic. Still, I expect it to do very well at the ranking.
【初音ミク】妖艶神楽【PV付オリジナル】
(Fascinating Kagura (kagura), Miku, Ethnic Rock, PV)
... where 'kagura' is traditional Shinto dance and music but I didn't have the heart to type that out into an awkward title when I can use it as a noun instead. Anyhow, is that some Zatsune? The comm favorite (behind Big Al) has returned! After the recent spate of traditionalist songs we had in April this one is nothing new but it's the jumpy, energetic choruses that make it.
【GUMI】水際の碧色【オリジナル】
(Emerald Water's Edge (maya), Gumi, Pop, PV)
I'm not really sure how to describe this one? Dramatic Fairy-tale Pop? It's not quite rock, and it's not quite pop, and there's too much in the way of snowy bell sounds to really describe it as anything else. It'll do for now - as you might expect from that quick blurb the feel of the track is a little unearthly except for those slightly awkward sections where the drums come in hard and fast. I can forgive it the waily electric guitar solo given how good it is, though.
【鏡音リン・レン】雛鳥興行譚【オリジナル】
(Baby Bird Travelling Entertainment Show (mayuko), Len + Rin, Creepy Clowns, PV)
Worth listening to if only for the deeply awesome intro section, the twins (because who else would it be, for a video as twisted as this?) deliver a scrappy but excellent attempt at a ringmaster's taunt of a song. Unfortunately, it's not as listenable as it could be, especially as the asides the song often drifts off into don't mesh well with the main body of the music. That said, there's some tremendous atmosphere in this, and I've always liked accordions.
初音ミクオリジナル Contradiction
(Contradiction (AVTechNO), Miku, Technoish Pop)
Listening to this I feel a little like Miku looks - AVTechNO, where did you go wrong? Even if I haven't liked your recent grungey works, at least I could recognize they had energy and beat to them; in comparison this track feels kind of limp and flat and I just can't cut my teeth on it. Another try at their harsher, more hard-hitting style, the problem is that no part of it is really hard-hitting and it all gets a bit light and airy at times as if it doesn't know where it wants to be. I'm not sure if they're deliberately going for a bass+drum style at times or if it just ended up that way.
【巡音ルカ】スペースショートカットキー Part3【PV付オリジナル曲】
(Space Shortcut Key Part 3 (謝謝), Luka and I Don't Know, Dance, PV)
Let's, erm, round off the post with two Luka videos that rather, uh, blunt her reputation: first, an instructive and helpful lesson from a Dance Mixer'd Luka on how to properly use our MacOS shortcut keys. This is mostly here because I'm honestly not certain what else to do with it; I think it's at least safe to call this groundbreaking, but I'm honestly not sure what ground is being broken, or how hard.
【ルカオリジナル】 LOVE INVADERS 【4つ打ち たルカ】
(LOVE INVADERS, WHAT.)
Luka used to the bastion of sane, sensible tracks, I'm pretty sure...
Other:
【低画質】ロンリーガールにローリンガールまぜた【バグ対策】
A mash-up of Lonely Girl and Rolling Girl, combined with a high-quality MMD video for good measure and a completely superfluous but pretty cool rap section. Stick out the slightly awkward early sections for a much better experience.
【Project DIVA Arcade】初音ミクの消失をプレイしてみた。【EXTREME】
【ドリーミーシアター】メルト【ギャラクシー】
Because we probably should, and because we're all (sometimes reluctant) Project Diva fans at heart, I'm sure - two videos, showing off both Dreamy Theatre and Project Diva Arcade. Melt is pretty much as you'd expect, though it does look perhaps a tad plastic to say the least. Disappearance, uhm... it looks awfully happy, doesn't it? If nothing else, be glad I linked these Dreamy Theatre videos rather than the buttshaking one.
【MikuMikuDance】Thriller【MMD】
This is exactly what it says on the tin. What are you waiting for?
We mentioned it in the Gumi post but I want to clarify again - posting is open and we love it when people post. If you've got an idea for a theme post, go for it, if you just want to grab at stuff we missed, go for it, if there's a new video you absolutely must link and we're lazy or late or it just happens to be the middle of the week, go for it, got some juicy news, go for it. The only rules in place are lighthearted ones, we swear, and we've rejigged a couple to clarify what we're going for. They're right there on the profile.
Not long until BRS and MMD 5th Cup. July and August are gonna be great. I had a few more songs to link, but Nicovideo has just packed up for me. Oh well.
ニコニコ動画のオープニングテーマを勝手に作ってみた
(Self-Made Niconico Douga OP Theme (mosomoso), Miku + Luka + Len + Rin, Acoustic Pop)
This is getting pride of place this update because I think it's brilliant, even past all of Gumi's birthday videos. An intensely heartwarming mix of vocals, as Miku takes frontline and the twins play off of each other and Luka 'doo-wops' and spouts English in the background, this is an amazingly cheery attempt at a Nico theme. Wah-wah guitars, plucked acoustics and I think flutes back there somewhere all combine to make this absolutely delightful.
【GUMI】 想イ出カケラ 【オリジナル曲】
(Memory Fragments (devilish), Gumi, Rock)
Easily my favorite Gumi track for her birthday, if this doesn't get into the ranking next week - be it due to upvoting or whatever - I'll eat my socks. From epic guitar scales to a solidly tuned throaty vocal line, it's fantastic.
【鏡音リン】 雨傘とじて 【オリジナル】
(Shut Umbrella (ramune), Rin, Easy Listening)
A gorgeous piece of vocal work from Rin, alongside lilting piano and acoustic guitar and then out of nowhere, a wonderful saxophone solo that made me fall utterly in love with the track. It's not often Rin gets quiet soft tracks, but this is a stunning example, and the woodwinds and brass are perfectly placed. I can't even imagine disliking this track: straight onto the player it goes.
【初音ミク】 cosmic tones 【オリジナル】
(Cosmic Tones (yusuke), Miku, Pop)
It's been a while since we've had something sufficiently cheesy and cheery for me to stick it near the top of the post without cringing internally at myself. This is basically exactly what I look for in a Vocaloid song - a softer pop song with some good guitar, some lovely piano, and a strong and clear voice on top, all aspects guaranteed to make me enjoy a song and feel vaguely guilty subjecting people to it given the glut we already have. Fortunately, this one's particularly nice.
【巡音ルカ】///unknown///【オリジナル】
(///unknown/// (無力), Luka, Orchestral Rock)
A ridiculously classy track, this is some deeply fine rock laced through with pianos, violins, spoken english that doesn't suck, and some damn fine note-holding from Luka. Triumphant crescendos really make this track and there's just nothing anywhere to complain about, except possibly the inability to rename the filename of the inevitable mp3 to the title of the song.
【初音ミク】サカナ【オリジナル】PV
(Fish (kous), Miku, G-guh?, PV)
Kous is back on full bore, backed up by the hie videos we've come to know, love, and just slightly fear. Alternating between aquatic tones and building sounds, into gentle clicking sections whose prime instrument appears to be a ping-pong ball smacked against a wall, into hyperbeat choral sections and glass-splittingly high notes. It's all over the place and it's pretty wonderful.
【初音ミク(40㍍)】 空中アクアリウム 【オリジナル】
(Sky Aquarium (40m), Miku, Pop)
It feels almost blasphemous to put a 40m track this far down the post, but there it is; while I always enjoy 40m's work for pretty much the exact same reasons I mention underneath cosmic tones, there's just too much good stuff this week that it gets pipped to the post for the top spots. That said, this is vintage 40m; crisp, clear vocals and a soft rock / pop style. Don't expect any groundbreaking stuff here, just listen and enjoy it.
【初音ミクDark】 glow 【オリジナル】
(Glow (keeno), Miku Append (Dark), Soft Rock)
Since release, my initial negative opinion of the Dark voice has taken some battering hits from a variety of sources, but none of them had ever really reversed my opinion fully until I heard this track. The voice is absolutely wonderful and fits this song perfectly for a chillout rock track - all my misgivings are gone, just like that. At least, until the next Dark track...
【GUMI】恋の特急みらくるメッセンジャー！【PVのようなもの】
(Express Miracle Love Messenger (buriru), Gumi, Candy Pop, PV)
You might want earplugs for this one, a relentlessly high-pitched track with a squeaky Gumi and enough sparkle star sweetness noises to risk diabetes. Even then, though, I'm prepared to bet you'll watch it if only for the glorious atatata PV where a tiny fairy Gumi holds forth on her opinions as to how to get the girl and/or boy.
【VOCALOID】狂騒ノ現【オリジナルPV】
(Roaring Reality (wannopo), Rin, Ethnic Rock, PV)
Though parts of this song make me twitch a bit, some of Rin's more squeaky moments amongst them, this is still a pretty pleasant piece of fusion combining good old Rin rocking with zithery plinky traditional tones. It's a little rough, Rin getting rather lost in the louder parts of the music, but the style of it is enough that I can overlook a few problems and the PV only helps its case.
GUMIオリジナル曲PV付き 「方舟の部屋」
(Ark Room (myumu), Gumi, Pop, PV)
I wonder why I don't like this more. It's very good, technically speaking, with some lovely guitar and certainly very little to complain about, but it doesn't seem to grab me. Another slow and gentle song from Gumi to add to the pile, and maybe that's the source of my frustration - it feels a little generic. Still, I expect it to do very well at the ranking.
【初音ミク】妖艶神楽【PV付オリジナル】
(Fascinating Kagura (kagura), Miku, Ethnic Rock, PV)
... where 'kagura' is traditional Shinto dance and music but I didn't have the heart to type that out into an awkward title when I can use it as a noun instead. Anyhow, is that some Zatsune? The comm favorite (behind Big Al) has returned! After the recent spate of traditionalist songs we had in April this one is nothing new but it's the jumpy, energetic choruses that make it.
【GUMI】水際の碧色【オリジナル】
(Emerald Water's Edge (maya), Gumi, Pop, PV)
I'm not really sure how to describe this one? Dramatic Fairy-tale Pop? It's not quite rock, and it's not quite pop, and there's too much in the way of snowy bell sounds to really describe it as anything else. It'll do for now - as you might expect from that quick blurb the feel of the track is a little unearthly except for those slightly awkward sections where the drums come in hard and fast. I can forgive it the waily electric guitar solo given how good it is, though.
【鏡音リン・レン】雛鳥興行譚【オリジナル】
(Baby Bird Travelling Entertainment Show (mayuko), Len + Rin, Creepy Clowns, PV)
Worth listening to if only for the deeply awesome intro section, the twins (because who else would it be, for a video as twisted as this?) deliver a scrappy but excellent attempt at a ringmaster's taunt of a song. Unfortunately, it's not as listenable as it could be, especially as the asides the song often drifts off into don't mesh well with the main body of the music. That said, there's some tremendous atmosphere in this, and I've always liked accordions.
初音ミクオリジナル Contradiction
(Contradiction (AVTechNO), Miku, Technoish Pop)
Listening to this I feel a little like Miku looks - AVTechNO, where did you go wrong? Even if I haven't liked your recent grungey works, at least I could recognize they had energy and beat to them; in comparison this track feels kind of limp and flat and I just can't cut my teeth on it. Another try at their harsher, more hard-hitting style, the problem is that no part of it is really hard-hitting and it all gets a bit light and airy at times as if it doesn't know where it wants to be. I'm not sure if they're deliberately going for a bass+drum style at times or if it just ended up that way.
【巡音ルカ】スペースショートカットキー Part3【PV付オリジナル曲】
(Space Shortcut Key Part 3 (謝謝), Luka and I Don't Know, Dance, PV)
Let's, erm, round off the post with two Luka videos that rather, uh, blunt her reputation: first, an instructive and helpful lesson from a Dance Mixer'd Luka on how to properly use our MacOS shortcut keys. This is mostly here because I'm honestly not certain what else to do with it; I think it's at least safe to call this groundbreaking, but I'm honestly not sure what ground is being broken, or how hard.
【ルカオリジナル】 LOVE INVADERS 【4つ打ち たルカ】
(LOVE INVADERS, WHAT.)
Luka used to the bastion of sane, sensible tracks, I'm pretty sure...
Other:
【低画質】ロンリーガールにローリンガールまぜた【バグ対策】
A mash-up of Lonely Girl and Rolling Girl, combined with a high-quality MMD video for good measure and a completely superfluous but pretty cool rap section. Stick out the slightly awkward early sections for a much better experience.
【Project DIVA Arcade】初音ミクの消失をプレイしてみた。【EXTREME】
【ドリーミーシアター】メルト【ギャラクシー】
Because we probably should, and because we're all (sometimes reluctant) Project Diva fans at heart, I'm sure - two videos, showing off both Dreamy Theatre and Project Diva Arcade. Melt is pretty much as you'd expect, though it does look perhaps a tad plastic to say the least. Disappearance, uhm... it looks awfully happy, doesn't it? If nothing else, be glad I linked these Dreamy Theatre videos rather than the buttshaking one.
【MikuMikuDance】Thriller【MMD】
This is exactly what it says on the tin. What are you waiting for?