Weekly (Early) Roundup
This wasn't really meant to be up today, but so many tracks last week and this weekend were sufficiently awesome that I really wanted to throw something up to mark them specially. Don't worry, this post is guaranteed 100% Heart Sutra free. Unless I lied.
It's been almost exclusively a Miku week, kids. Sorry about that. Heart Sutra has kind of left the Vocaloid song population reeling, so we're also a bit light on the ground. If you do anything at all this post, though, scroll down to the Other videos, as they're all golden. There's an amazing version of Mozaik Role down there. Go!
初音ミクオリジナル曲 「Calc.」
(Calc. (JimmyThumb), Miku, Rock Pop)
Drop what you're doing and go and listen to this right now. JimmyThumb of OneRoom fame blazes in at the top of this post with a good old, traditional, absolutely amazing track. It's poppy and jumpy and basically what Miku was made for, by now JimmyThumb impeccably knows what he's doing, and the chorus will have you dancing around the room before you realise you're doing it.
【初音ミク（1640㍍）】 タイムマシン 【オリジナル】
(Time Machine (40m / 164), Miku, Pop)
Don't go back to what you were doing just yet! Straight off the back of Calc is another fantastic Miku track, and if you squealed a little with joy when you saw those two producers in close proximity rest assured you are not alone. Miku's a little overdramatic here, laying it on heavy with a wobbly voice, but she rallies it well and the whole track is worse than Calc but still an absolute joy.
【リン・レン・ＫＡＩＴＯ・体験版Lily】マーシュの双子【オリジナル】
(Twin's Mache (mayuko), Len + Rin + Kaito + Lily, Goth Pop, PV)
... or Twin's Evil Influence, but I think I've got one too many 'a's for it to be that. Either way, Mayuko provides possibly the weirdest combination of voices that I've heard in some time, but they all work together surprisingly well. Lily, as ever, doesn't really sound terribly distinct, floating somewhere around Meiko, but she gets some solo sections to show off in; in mayuko, meanwhile, the twins and Kaito have a veteran hand.
【巡音ルカ】bullet【オリジナル曲】
(Bullet (喜兵衛), Luka, Soft Rock, PV)
Well. I was going to talk about how this is a pretty good angsty soft rock track from Luka, the kind of mopey-but-upbeat sound that I've come to like after several years of following bands like Feeder around. Not to mention the PV from hatsuko that's a bit light on actual meaningful content but all kinds of pretty. And then one single Nicovideo comment ruined it for me and I can't stop staring at them.
【初音ミク・巡音ルカ】 キ三ノセイ 【オリジナル曲】
(Your Fault (般), Miku + Luka, Funk Pop)
This song is already deeply funky from the get-go, a driving Miku and Luka duet with some great drums and beat - and then the gorgeous twangy staccato guitar kicks in and the whole track comes together around it fabulously. I'm not sure this really needed to be a duet, per se - the pair of them really kind of merge together a lot, and are hard to individually pick out - but it's nothing to complain about.
【鏡音リン】 時の侭に 【オリジナル曲】
(As Time Is (DATEKEN), Rin, Traditional Pop, PV)
Who needs Rin Append, when Dateken can happily and easily rig up a Rin whose voice wavers and warbles like she's forty years older? Joking aside, I have to say I really like Rin's encoding here. She needs a bit less vibrato, and she cracks a little in places, but otherwise she sounds fantastic, and I wouldn't have normally pegged her for being able to make me like a slow song like this.
【初音ミク・GUMI】Did you call me?【オリジナル曲】
(Did You Call Me? (saculy), Miku + Gumi, Electronica Pop, PV)
Aw, this is kind of scrappy but I like it. There's a neat kind of split between the fast sections and the slow here, a languid crooning between the two folding into a more upbeat, Perfume-y style. There's something very Euro- about the whole thing that I can't seem to shake; whenever they sing 'Do you know me?' the combination of singing and organ makes my brain jump to thinking they're French or something.
初音ミクオリジナル ・・・ソバニ
(Nearby (AVTechNo), Miku, Acoustic Ambient Pop)
AVTechNo's still in the doghouse as far as I'm concerned, but this is at least a solid start to worming his way out of it. Dropping the strange atonal tones and bizarre cadences of his recent works, this is a soft and gentle Miku Dark track which drops out to some lovely snatches of piano or acoustics. My interest in it started to wane near the end, but it's an improvement over recent offerings.
【初音ミク】 予定調和 【オリジナル】
(Preestablished Harmony (俳人), Miku, Rock)
Some problems with quality here leave the track feeling a little muted and indistinct - even then, I find myself loving this a whole lot. There's something warming about the guitars; nothing really unique, nothing really to stand out from the crowd of other Miku rock songs, but god damn if those solos don't sound fantastic.
【初音ミク】 Scars 【オリジナル】
(Scars (demigura), Miku, Rock, PV)
I'm a little on the fence about this one. It's been getting decent views, but something doesn't click right with me. I think the music is perhaps trying to do too many things at once - a strong frontline guitar and slightly thrashy rock, and both an operatic crooning Miku and a rather scratchy singing Miku, all three firing on all guns at the same time. To me, it ends up as song salad - but see what you think.
More drive/巡音ルカ・鏡音リン
(More Drive (azuma / lamaze), Luka + Rin, Engrish Pop)
You know, when I saw the names involved here I really expected something big, something that would really move me. I didn't expect that to take the form of my moving my head into my hands, though - watch at your peril as this is, uh, very different to what I was hoping for. I've been trying to make up my mind all week: do I like it, or is this some kind of strange auditory Stockholm syndrome?
【初音ミク】ぴったんこ【オリジナル】
(Pettanko (hachioji), Miku, Dancey Pop)
Here's your gratuitous link for the update, because I am nothing if not deeply entrenched in worshipping the ground 8#Prince walks on. This song doesn't grab me as much as Keep Only One Love or Sweet Devil did - something's missing from it, above and beyond the quality hit that's left it sounding fuzzy and a little indistinct - but I bopped along to it quite happily.
Other:
【MMD】天樂【PV】
(Heavenly Music, Rin + Len + Miku + Luka, Bleached J-Rocker)
I can't help it, something about these models - the whole video, really - just makes me laugh my head off. I think it's the super-blonde surfer look the twins have got going on? Maybe it's the completely out of the blue Luka/Miku moment (and Len's reaction) immediately following some ridiculously extravagant posing from the former? Either way, for all the silliness involved cort has outdone himself - the closeups are full of detail and very well animated. And even more flamboyant than Kaito's Eternally, I Sing For You, or Palette ever were.
【MMD】 DIVA風ミクで、みくみくにしてあげる♪
(Diva Style Miku, Miku Miku Ni Shite Ageru, Miku, wao.)
Now this is an MMD model. Remember ages back, when I linked the Cirno's Math Class video that looked like it used Diva-perfect-or-even-better models of Miku, Kaito and Meiko? This is the final result - now released, it is my deep hope that this gets picked up and used by all and sundry, and generates sufficient attention to get the badass Kaito and Meiko versions released as well.
「モザイクロール」アコギでロックしてみた
(Mozaik Role (Acoustic Guitar Solo), MANLY TEARS)
There's no better way to finish off this post. A breathtaking and deeply wonderful solo rendition of Deco's ridiculously successful hit. There, I finally run out of superlatives.
It's been almost exclusively a Miku week, kids. Sorry about that. Heart Sutra has kind of left the Vocaloid song population reeling, so we're also a bit light on the ground. If you do anything at all this post, though, scroll down to the Other videos, as they're all golden. There's an amazing version of Mozaik Role down there. Go!
初音ミクオリジナル曲 「Calc.」
(Calc. (JimmyThumb), Miku, Rock Pop)
Drop what you're doing and go and listen to this right now. JimmyThumb of OneRoom fame blazes in at the top of this post with a good old, traditional, absolutely amazing track. It's poppy and jumpy and basically what Miku was made for, by now JimmyThumb impeccably knows what he's doing, and the chorus will have you dancing around the room before you realise you're doing it.
【初音ミク（1640㍍）】 タイムマシン 【オリジナル】
(Time Machine (40m / 164), Miku, Pop)
Don't go back to what you were doing just yet! Straight off the back of Calc is another fantastic Miku track, and if you squealed a little with joy when you saw those two producers in close proximity rest assured you are not alone. Miku's a little overdramatic here, laying it on heavy with a wobbly voice, but she rallies it well and the whole track is worse than Calc but still an absolute joy.
【リン・レン・ＫＡＩＴＯ・体験版Lily】マーシュの双子【オリジナル】
(Twin's Mache (mayuko), Len + Rin + Kaito + Lily, Goth Pop, PV)
... or Twin's Evil Influence, but I think I've got one too many 'a's for it to be that. Either way, Mayuko provides possibly the weirdest combination of voices that I've heard in some time, but they all work together surprisingly well. Lily, as ever, doesn't really sound terribly distinct, floating somewhere around Meiko, but she gets some solo sections to show off in; in mayuko, meanwhile, the twins and Kaito have a veteran hand.
【巡音ルカ】bullet【オリジナル曲】
(Bullet (喜兵衛), Luka, Soft Rock, PV)
Well. I was going to talk about how this is a pretty good angsty soft rock track from Luka, the kind of mopey-but-upbeat sound that I've come to like after several years of following bands like Feeder around. Not to mention the PV from hatsuko that's a bit light on actual meaningful content but all kinds of pretty. And then one single Nicovideo comment ruined it for me and I can't stop staring at them.
【初音ミク・巡音ルカ】 キ三ノセイ 【オリジナル曲】
(Your Fault (般), Miku + Luka, Funk Pop)
This song is already deeply funky from the get-go, a driving Miku and Luka duet with some great drums and beat - and then the gorgeous twangy staccato guitar kicks in and the whole track comes together around it fabulously. I'm not sure this really needed to be a duet, per se - the pair of them really kind of merge together a lot, and are hard to individually pick out - but it's nothing to complain about.
【鏡音リン】 時の侭に 【オリジナル曲】
(As Time Is (DATEKEN), Rin, Traditional Pop, PV)
Who needs Rin Append, when Dateken can happily and easily rig up a Rin whose voice wavers and warbles like she's forty years older? Joking aside, I have to say I really like Rin's encoding here. She needs a bit less vibrato, and she cracks a little in places, but otherwise she sounds fantastic, and I wouldn't have normally pegged her for being able to make me like a slow song like this.
【初音ミク・GUMI】Did you call me?【オリジナル曲】
(Did You Call Me? (saculy), Miku + Gumi, Electronica Pop, PV)
Aw, this is kind of scrappy but I like it. There's a neat kind of split between the fast sections and the slow here, a languid crooning between the two folding into a more upbeat, Perfume-y style. There's something very Euro- about the whole thing that I can't seem to shake; whenever they sing 'Do you know me?' the combination of singing and organ makes my brain jump to thinking they're French or something.
初音ミクオリジナル ・・・ソバニ
(Nearby (AVTechNo), Miku, Acoustic Ambient Pop)
AVTechNo's still in the doghouse as far as I'm concerned, but this is at least a solid start to worming his way out of it. Dropping the strange atonal tones and bizarre cadences of his recent works, this is a soft and gentle Miku Dark track which drops out to some lovely snatches of piano or acoustics. My interest in it started to wane near the end, but it's an improvement over recent offerings.
【初音ミク】 予定調和 【オリジナル】
(Preestablished Harmony (俳人), Miku, Rock)
Some problems with quality here leave the track feeling a little muted and indistinct - even then, I find myself loving this a whole lot. There's something warming about the guitars; nothing really unique, nothing really to stand out from the crowd of other Miku rock songs, but god damn if those solos don't sound fantastic.
【初音ミク】 Scars 【オリジナル】
(Scars (demigura), Miku, Rock, PV)
I'm a little on the fence about this one. It's been getting decent views, but something doesn't click right with me. I think the music is perhaps trying to do too many things at once - a strong frontline guitar and slightly thrashy rock, and both an operatic crooning Miku and a rather scratchy singing Miku, all three firing on all guns at the same time. To me, it ends up as song salad - but see what you think.
More drive/巡音ルカ・鏡音リン
(More Drive (azuma / lamaze), Luka + Rin, Engrish Pop)
You know, when I saw the names involved here I really expected something big, something that would really move me. I didn't expect that to take the form of my moving my head into my hands, though - watch at your peril as this is, uh, very different to what I was hoping for. I've been trying to make up my mind all week: do I like it, or is this some kind of strange auditory Stockholm syndrome?
【初音ミク】ぴったんこ【オリジナル】
(Pettanko (hachioji), Miku, Dancey Pop)
Here's your gratuitous link for the update, because I am nothing if not deeply entrenched in worshipping the ground 8#Prince walks on. This song doesn't grab me as much as Keep Only One Love or Sweet Devil did - something's missing from it, above and beyond the quality hit that's left it sounding fuzzy and a little indistinct - but I bopped along to it quite happily.
Other:
【MMD】天樂【PV】
(Heavenly Music, Rin + Len + Miku + Luka, Bleached J-Rocker)
I can't help it, something about these models - the whole video, really - just makes me laugh my head off. I think it's the super-blonde surfer look the twins have got going on? Maybe it's the completely out of the blue Luka/Miku moment (and Len's reaction) immediately following some ridiculously extravagant posing from the former? Either way, for all the silliness involved cort has outdone himself - the closeups are full of detail and very well animated. And even more flamboyant than Kaito's Eternally, I Sing For You, or Palette ever were.
【MMD】 DIVA風ミクで、みくみくにしてあげる♪
(Diva Style Miku, Miku Miku Ni Shite Ageru, Miku, wao.)
Now this is an MMD model. Remember ages back, when I linked the Cirno's Math Class video that looked like it used Diva-perfect-or-even-better models of Miku, Kaito and Meiko? This is the final result - now released, it is my deep hope that this gets picked up and used by all and sundry, and generates sufficient attention to get the badass Kaito and Meiko versions released as well.
「モザイクロール」アコギでロックしてみた
(Mozaik Role (Acoustic Guitar Solo), MANLY TEARS)
There's no better way to finish off this post. A breathtaking and deeply wonderful solo rendition of Deco's ridiculously successful hit. There, I finally run out of superlatives.