Weekly Roundup
Urf. I'm not terribly enthused by this week so far, I have to admit - many links fell by the wayside as I was composing this post, while others have just been pushed off towards next week. Even so! Here's your post, and if I've thrown away something you really think should have been included, let's see it in the comments.
Also, it's audience participation time! Our interests are getting a little stale. All suggestions for additions - whether humorous, serious or entirely self-referential - welcomed.
初音ミクオリジナル曲 「初音ミクの激唱（LONG VERSION）」
(The Praise of Hatsune Miku (cosMo), Miku, Pop)
Llllet's get this out of the way first, just so I can get crucified and move on. Cosmo's latest is another in his recent line of happier, less deathly-emo works with notably less distortion and wackiness than the others. It's also being included on Diva2, and to celebrate the full version was stuck up on nicovideo this week. And... to tell the truth, I'm not very impressed. It's not very intense, exultant, excited or anything much until it really gets going, and it took me a few listens to even really get through it. Even so, it's Big News and is racking up views at an insane rate, so here it is.
【初音ミクオリジナル曲】ロストエンファウンド【ＰＶ付】
(Lost and Found (sasakure), Miku, Pop, PV)
Sasakure is back! And predictably he's taken over the daily charts with this song that's garnered roughly fourty thousand hits a day since going up. Softer than his usual affairs, with a very light and airy Miku voice, I feel this track's often in danger of boring me during the slower sections, but stick it out for the rest of the song and you'll be pleasantly surprised by the louder, more vibrant chorus line.
【鏡音リン・レン】 Never -High Speed Revolution mix- 【オリジナル曲】
(Never -High Speed Revolution Mix- (DATEKEN), Len + Rin, House)
A great remix from both twins to celebrate Natto Day, this is them rapping and singing over a synth beat and practically nothing else. Fortunate, then, that they sound great and the track worms neatly into your skull. The minimalism makes it a little ambient in nature, but that's fine; it just means you'll start unconsciously chanting 'natto!' along with it in no time.
【初音ミク】ヘイムダルの角笛【オリジナルPV】
(Hunting Horn of Heimdall (Kulfi), Miku, Pop, PV)
I was very pleased with the intro of this, and then I was very pleased with the rest of it, too. Kulfi gives us some solid-sounding append (no pun intended, I think it's Light), some scorching guitars from Myon, an entirely acceptable piece of classic Miku pop, and a lovely video. Can't go wrong.
【巡音ルカ】Brella【オリジナル】
(Brella (無力), Luka, Orchestral Pop)
An amazing piece of work; from a slow olde-timey cinematic opening to a perfectly tuned Luka and choral chanting to a badass piano-and-violin acoustic section of sliding scales and rapid-fire notes worthy of wowaka... right back to olde-timey cinematics. Can't fault the song for style, at the very least
【MEIKO】Another Change (Change me Type II) / shu-t【オリジナル】
(Another Change (Change Me Type II) (shu-t), Meiko, Club Pop)
I will ride this shu-tP train as long as it takes for his videos to get some decent recognition. A great sounding Meiko and a solid club track, this is sorely underwatched and I'm starting to wonder if he's cursed or something. It's not as sheerly addicting at his other tracks but it's still heartening to see Meiko around.
【初音ミク】盲目の宇宙飛行士【ゆっけのオリジナル】
(Blind Astronaut (yukkedoluce), Miku, Rock/Pop, PV)
All together: aw. Paired with a video that'll make your heart melt, the general feel of this track as a soft rocky, poppy ballad is driven along by some great guitars and a knack for musical catches. So cute at the end it almost breaks out in puppies.
charActer ／ 初音ミク、巡音ルカ fullver.
(charActer (azuma), Luka + Miku, Orchestral Pop, PV)
Two steps off being called 'operatic', azuma joins the growing ranks of duets with a gothy-if-you-squint-a-bit track that could come straight from Touhou if it weren't a little too soft and slow. With the robots pleasantly tuned and a track full of keyboard instruments I'm hopelessly biased for this, so if you want an objective viewpoint you'll have to look elsewhere. Piano = Very Yes.
【初音ミク】 Dive'N'Arrive【オリジナル】
(Dive'N'Arrive (磯), Miku, Rock)
Epic guitars will hook you in within the first fifteen seconds of this and keep you there through a great track dripping with style. I'm not sure which Append is being used here (Solid?) but Miku dueting with herself works great, and the voices hold up very well even when the music falls away to give them a chance to show off.
【鏡音リン】リンリン HIGH☆MIND【オリジナル】
(Rin Rin High ☆ Mind (斜め上), Rin, Ridiculously Cheesy Pop, PV)
Watch your volume, this one's a bit loud. It's also entirely likely it'll be far too much for some of you, as it's astoundingly saccharine as Rin squeaks out some chipmunk pop. But for all that I make fun of it it sounds brilliant, catchy and upbeat and with some striking solos.
【初音ミク】モノクロライアー【オリジナル】
(Monochrome Liar (naivu), Miku, Ambient Piano Pop)
Your enjoyment of this track will probably depend entirely on how taken you are with the main piano hook, because you sure as hell will be hearing it a whole lot. Primarily, this is a sparse but pleasantly clean easy listening track with a focus on piano and drums, diverting into electronica when it wants to spice things up.
【鏡音リン】 自白 【オリジナル】
【鏡音リン】 夕闇とオレンジ 【オリジナル】
(Confession and Twilight and Orange (hikari), Rin, Rock, PV)
Two from hikari here, both of which are solidly illustrated by NEGI doing more striking Rin art. I've lumped these two together because they're very much a similar sound, and you'll know what to expect if you've listened to any of his others; strong rock without falling too far into thrash-land. Confession is notably a bit darker than usual, but nothing that seriously impacts the song.
【オリジナル曲】「gain」 baker 【House】
(gain (baker), D.J. Luka, House)
Worth including if only because it's a seriously original and out-there track for Luka to pull off, this is more a lengthy techno track than anything resembling a song. It's got a good beat to it, but is some ways off what I usually look for in a clubbish track. If you like baker's often very strange take on Vocaloid, though, you could do worse than have a look.
【鏡音リン】 Tell me a lie 【オリジナル】
(Tell Me A Lie (black), Rin, Piano Rock, PV)
Not a bad try at all for BlackP's debut on nicovideo - I'm dearly impressed by some of the backing instrumentals here, though Rin's voice seems a little rough and the track as a whole doesn't quite click with me. Young people with impressionable minds should perhaps look away for the first 10 seconds of the video - is there really a studio with that name?
【初音ミクAppend】 原色のリフレイン 【オリジナル曲】
(Primary Colour Refrain (10日), Miku, Floaty Gentle Pop Surprise)
Agh! I was enjoying this light, floaty, gentle append song. Miku sounded pretty good, the track was great to drift off to, I was all prepared to put it further up the post... and then, all of a sudden at 2min30, the guitarist died. His dead body slumping against the strings and holding the note for the rest of the damn video, the whole thing got a little ruined for me. Rest in pace, you crazy strummer.
【初音ミクdark】ビロードの海【オリジナル】
(Sea of Velvet (gomez), Miku, Easy Listening)
Lots of good stuff to listen to here. The Dark voice works very well in this light and gentle track, which drifts its way through a lazy 4 minutes accompanied by some delightful strings and guitars.
Other:
初音ミクが円周率500桁覚えたようです。【ねんどPV】
(Pi to 500 Decimal Places (daniwell), Miku, Daaaaaaw, Claymation PV)
Exactly what it says on the tin, this is a delightful claymation PV and a strangely catchy vocal track...
【MMD】 ミク・ミク・テトで不自然なガール 【Perfume】
(Artificial Girl (Perfume), Miku + Miku + Teto, Electropop, MMD PV)
Yet more Perfume MMD dances being cranked out; this is more quality work, with great attention to detail. I don't think much of the original Perfume track, it's not one of my favorites, but if you like MMD dances then here you go.
【合唱風味で】鎖の少女【初音ミク×重音テト＋波音リツ】
(Chain Girl (noboru), Miku + Teto + Ritsu, Pop, PV)
I like Chain Girl as much as the next person. Actually, probably more - it's one of my favorites, and usually doesn't get skipped past when I'm doing a fickle random hunt around my mp3 player. Even then, this cover seems a little gratuitous? The three switch between each other at almost random times that don't really seem to fit the flow of the song, but I have to admit that they sound great, especially in concert. Watch out for Ritsu's piercing finale.
Edit:
【MAD】Welcome to the MikuMikuDance Parade
A triumphant retrospective on MikuMikuDance, rapid-firing through the development that got the software this far, and giving the closest thing you'll ever get to a crash-course on it, done so upliftingly I felt the need to tear up into highly manly sniffles and stand up and salute. This is why we love MMD and the MMD Cup. o7 GODSPEED, SIRS.
Also, it's audience participation time! Our interests are getting a little stale. All suggestions for additions - whether humorous, serious or entirely self-referential - welcomed.
初音ミクオリジナル曲 「初音ミクの激唱（LONG VERSION）」
(The Praise of Hatsune Miku (cosMo), Miku, Pop)
Llllet's get this out of the way first, just so I can get crucified and move on. Cosmo's latest is another in his recent line of happier, less deathly-emo works with notably less distortion and wackiness than the others. It's also being included on Diva2, and to celebrate the full version was stuck up on nicovideo this week. And... to tell the truth, I'm not very impressed. It's not very intense, exultant, excited or anything much until it really gets going, and it took me a few listens to even really get through it. Even so, it's Big News and is racking up views at an insane rate, so here it is.
【初音ミクオリジナル曲】ロストエンファウンド【ＰＶ付】
(Lost and Found (sasakure), Miku, Pop, PV)
Sasakure is back! And predictably he's taken over the daily charts with this song that's garnered roughly fourty thousand hits a day since going up. Softer than his usual affairs, with a very light and airy Miku voice, I feel this track's often in danger of boring me during the slower sections, but stick it out for the rest of the song and you'll be pleasantly surprised by the louder, more vibrant chorus line.
【鏡音リン・レン】 Never -High Speed Revolution mix- 【オリジナル曲】
(Never -High Speed Revolution Mix- (DATEKEN), Len + Rin, House)
A great remix from both twins to celebrate Natto Day, this is them rapping and singing over a synth beat and practically nothing else. Fortunate, then, that they sound great and the track worms neatly into your skull. The minimalism makes it a little ambient in nature, but that's fine; it just means you'll start unconsciously chanting 'natto!' along with it in no time.
【初音ミク】ヘイムダルの角笛【オリジナルPV】
(Hunting Horn of Heimdall (Kulfi), Miku, Pop, PV)
I was very pleased with the intro of this, and then I was very pleased with the rest of it, too. Kulfi gives us some solid-sounding append (no pun intended, I think it's Light), some scorching guitars from Myon, an entirely acceptable piece of classic Miku pop, and a lovely video. Can't go wrong.
【巡音ルカ】Brella【オリジナル】
(Brella (無力), Luka, Orchestral Pop)
An amazing piece of work; from a slow olde-timey cinematic opening to a perfectly tuned Luka and choral chanting to a badass piano-and-violin acoustic section of sliding scales and rapid-fire notes worthy of wowaka... right back to olde-timey cinematics. Can't fault the song for style, at the very least
【MEIKO】Another Change (Change me Type II) / shu-t【オリジナル】
(Another Change (Change Me Type II) (shu-t), Meiko, Club Pop)
I will ride this shu-tP train as long as it takes for his videos to get some decent recognition. A great sounding Meiko and a solid club track, this is sorely underwatched and I'm starting to wonder if he's cursed or something. It's not as sheerly addicting at his other tracks but it's still heartening to see Meiko around.
【初音ミク】盲目の宇宙飛行士【ゆっけのオリジナル】
(Blind Astronaut (yukkedoluce), Miku, Rock/Pop, PV)
All together: aw. Paired with a video that'll make your heart melt, the general feel of this track as a soft rocky, poppy ballad is driven along by some great guitars and a knack for musical catches. So cute at the end it almost breaks out in puppies.
charActer ／ 初音ミク、巡音ルカ fullver.
(charActer (azuma), Luka + Miku, Orchestral Pop, PV)
Two steps off being called 'operatic', azuma joins the growing ranks of duets with a gothy-if-you-squint-a-bit track that could come straight from Touhou if it weren't a little too soft and slow. With the robots pleasantly tuned and a track full of keyboard instruments I'm hopelessly biased for this, so if you want an objective viewpoint you'll have to look elsewhere. Piano = Very Yes.
【初音ミク】 Dive'N'Arrive【オリジナル】
(Dive'N'Arrive (磯), Miku, Rock)
Epic guitars will hook you in within the first fifteen seconds of this and keep you there through a great track dripping with style. I'm not sure which Append is being used here (Solid?) but Miku dueting with herself works great, and the voices hold up very well even when the music falls away to give them a chance to show off.
【鏡音リン】リンリン HIGH☆MIND【オリジナル】
(Rin Rin High ☆ Mind (斜め上), Rin, Ridiculously Cheesy Pop, PV)
Watch your volume, this one's a bit loud. It's also entirely likely it'll be far too much for some of you, as it's astoundingly saccharine as Rin squeaks out some chipmunk pop. But for all that I make fun of it it sounds brilliant, catchy and upbeat and with some striking solos.
【初音ミク】モノクロライアー【オリジナル】
(Monochrome Liar (naivu), Miku, Ambient Piano Pop)
Your enjoyment of this track will probably depend entirely on how taken you are with the main piano hook, because you sure as hell will be hearing it a whole lot. Primarily, this is a sparse but pleasantly clean easy listening track with a focus on piano and drums, diverting into electronica when it wants to spice things up.
【鏡音リン】 自白 【オリジナル】
【鏡音リン】 夕闇とオレンジ 【オリジナル】
(Confession and Twilight and Orange (hikari), Rin, Rock, PV)
Two from hikari here, both of which are solidly illustrated by NEGI doing more striking Rin art. I've lumped these two together because they're very much a similar sound, and you'll know what to expect if you've listened to any of his others; strong rock without falling too far into thrash-land. Confession is notably a bit darker than usual, but nothing that seriously impacts the song.
【オリジナル曲】「gain」 baker 【House】
(gain (baker), D.J. Luka, House)
Worth including if only because it's a seriously original and out-there track for Luka to pull off, this is more a lengthy techno track than anything resembling a song. It's got a good beat to it, but is some ways off what I usually look for in a clubbish track. If you like baker's often very strange take on Vocaloid, though, you could do worse than have a look.
【鏡音リン】 Tell me a lie 【オリジナル】
(Tell Me A Lie (black), Rin, Piano Rock, PV)
Not a bad try at all for BlackP's debut on nicovideo - I'm dearly impressed by some of the backing instrumentals here, though Rin's voice seems a little rough and the track as a whole doesn't quite click with me. Young people with impressionable minds should perhaps look away for the first 10 seconds of the video - is there really a studio with that name?
【初音ミクAppend】 原色のリフレイン 【オリジナル曲】
(Primary Colour Refrain (10日), Miku, Floaty Gentle Pop Surprise)
Agh! I was enjoying this light, floaty, gentle append song. Miku sounded pretty good, the track was great to drift off to, I was all prepared to put it further up the post... and then, all of a sudden at 2min30, the guitarist died. His dead body slumping against the strings and holding the note for the rest of the damn video, the whole thing got a little ruined for me. Rest in pace, you crazy strummer.
【初音ミクdark】ビロードの海【オリジナル】
(Sea of Velvet (gomez), Miku, Easy Listening)
Lots of good stuff to listen to here. The Dark voice works very well in this light and gentle track, which drifts its way through a lazy 4 minutes accompanied by some delightful strings and guitars.
Other:
初音ミクが円周率500桁覚えたようです。【ねんどPV】
(Pi to 500 Decimal Places (daniwell), Miku, Daaaaaaw, Claymation PV)
Exactly what it says on the tin, this is a delightful claymation PV and a strangely catchy vocal track...
【MMD】 ミク・ミク・テトで不自然なガール 【Perfume】
(Artificial Girl (Perfume), Miku + Miku + Teto, Electropop, MMD PV)
Yet more Perfume MMD dances being cranked out; this is more quality work, with great attention to detail. I don't think much of the original Perfume track, it's not one of my favorites, but if you like MMD dances then here you go.
【合唱風味で】鎖の少女【初音ミク×重音テト＋波音リツ】
(Chain Girl (noboru), Miku + Teto + Ritsu, Pop, PV)
I like Chain Girl as much as the next person. Actually, probably more - it's one of my favorites, and usually doesn't get skipped past when I'm doing a fickle random hunt around my mp3 player. Even then, this cover seems a little gratuitous? The three switch between each other at almost random times that don't really seem to fit the flow of the song, but I have to admit that they sound great, especially in concert. Watch out for Ritsu's piercing finale.
Edit:
【MAD】Welcome to the MikuMikuDance Parade
A triumphant retrospective on MikuMikuDance, rapid-firing through the development that got the software this far, and giving the closest thing you'll ever get to a crash-course on it, done so upliftingly I felt the need to tear up into highly manly sniffles and stand up and salute. This is why we love MMD and the MMD Cup. o7 GODSPEED, SIRS.