Back on Track.

Jan 23, 2011 02:04

Hello hello! I'm back, recovered from my illness and jetlag - more or less, though I'm still coughing up a storm - and I would like to assure all viewers that the lateness of this post had absolutely nothing to do with the sudden appearance of the MMD 6th Cup Previews.

... it certainly had everything to do with no videos loading worth a damn, however. I'm almost tempted to go and finally premium my account, if only so that I stop getting shunted back to economy mode at what seems like an earlier and earlier time each successive night. And of course, once again, I had to drop many songs just because of the good old 'connection failure' message; it's getting rather frustrating.

I'm going to be going a little fast, as I have two weeks worth to catch up here. I didn't think much of this last week's tracks, so most of them are going to be somewhat old, but I'm now fully up to date either way.

Edit: For those wondering, you're forced into economy mode during the following times. For best results and avoidance of the terrible 'could not connect' message, try to avoid these hours. These are just estimates, though - you'll have better luck at the edges of these timezones.

6pm-2am on weekdays (9am-5pm GMT, 4am-noon EST, 1am-9am PST)
10am-2am on weekends or holidays (1am-5pm GMT, 8pm-noon EST, 5pm-9am PST)



初音ミク(Θ)どういうことなの!?

What Do You Mean The--!? (kuchibashi, Miku, Pop)
First things first - turn off the comments, as the video's getting a little full of them. This massively well-produced track is a madcap ride through a very strange mind, but energetic and upbeat and brimming with just as much style as the accompanying MMD video, full of tricks and hooks that just won't leave you alone.



【神威がくぽ KAITO 鏡音レン】「LOVELESS×××」オリジナル曲【PV付】

LOVELESS××× (natsu, Len + Kaito + Gakupo, Oh My)
You should probably go watch this if only because it is VanaN'Ice being completely ridiculous.



【初音ミク】オリジナリティ【ごめんなさい】

Originality (satsuki ga tenkomori, Miku, Pop)
I don't particularly want to spoil the surprise here, so I'll leave it up to the stalwart viewers to listen to this, translate or at least look at the description, then make up your own minds. Suffice it to say that it is, perhaps, a little bit tongue-in-cheek.



【初音ミク】ドミノ倒シ【オリジナル曲PV付】

Domino Topple (scop, Miku, Orchestral Rock)
Yes! It'll take all of twenty seconds to realise that this track is scop firing on all cylinders once more, and the excellent piano and delightful mishmash of musical styles in the chorus will only reinforce that. Absolutely classic, this is filled with scop's hallmarks and a welcome return to form from some of his lower-key works.



【初音ミク(40㍍)】 妄想スケッチ 【オリジナル曲PV】

Delusion Sketch (40m, Miku, Pop)
Considerably punchier than your average 40m track, it's a nice change to have some real power behind his music; more than once I've wished that Time Machine or Kyodai Shoujo had a stronger beat, and here's a track full of heavier guitar and the pianist slamming the keys down. And even with these differences, it's still a 40m track at heart, with all that entails: a catchy tune, and a very solid Miku encode.



【巡音ルカ・GUMI】 speed 【オリジナル・PV】

Speed (otetsu, Luka + Gumi, Rock)
I'm a little torn on this one. On the one hand, the track as a whole feels a lot more accessible than many of otetsu's tracks, a slightly softer and more mainstream rock 'experience' while still being in the excellent otetsu vein. Luka sets off well against Gumi, with many of the surrounding effects of the track keeping them together well. On the other hand, I really don't know if I like chipmunk Luka much at all.



【初音ミク】 腐れ外道とチョコレゐト 【オリジナル】

Rotting Heresy and Chocolate (pinokio, Miku, Crazy)
Keep being that shining star, pinokio. Like some terrifying crossover between cosMo and kagome, this track runs at breakneck speed in a catchy pop/rock beat... until it doesn't, and instead lapses into scattered notes or simplistic chiptune tones or just the odd bit of white noise. Very strange, but sticks to your brain like nothing else.



【巡音ルカ】 ANAGRAM 【オリジナル&MMDPV】

ANAGRAM (maigoddo, Luka, Rock)
Back with yet another finely produced MMD PV, maigoddo is slowing down a little, switching out the punk and hard rock - but not the blindfolds - for a traditional Luka soft rock angst track somewhere in the region of Palette. I don't like it quite as much as his harsher style, but it works more than well enough. Be sure to see the big finish.



『初音ミク』リスキーゲーム『オリジナルPV付』

Risky Game (黒うさ, Miku, Orchestral Jazz)
Miku's a little wobbly in the introduction here, but don't let that put you off - the real draw of this gorgeously smooth track are the orchestral segments full of dynamic violin and gentle jazzy piano and catchy snare drums, combined with a super-suave video of everyone being, well, super-suave. As you might expect, given my delight for the instruments involved, it's one of my favorites from the last fortnight.



【鏡音リン・レンAppend】からくり卍ばーすと【オリジナル】

Trick 卍 Burst (hitoshizuku, Len + Rin, Rock)
Hitoshizuku, I'm sure your new track has a very compelling story told out in a handdrawn and lovingly managed PV. Unfortunately, I can't stop to confirm this because I can't stand more than twenty seconds of the twin's voices in the intro. I may possibly have been spoilt by other Append tracks, but something about them feels very off.



【初音ミク】 バベル 【オリジナル】

Babel (ATOLS, Miku, ???)
ATOLS' mind is a very strange place, as this technoish, dancish who-knows-what genre track will show quite ably. This has already been up once, and garnered a frankly astounding number of hits - but then it was killed off, and has been reuploaded, and I'm not quite sure why. It's a pretty good track; not quite to my tastes, and Miku's a little warbly, but there's some catchy segments and twists in there.



【鏡音リン】 Love Timer 【VOCALOID】【オリジナル】

Love Timer (Tes., Rin, Pop)
Though lacking some of the immediate catchiness of emon's other hits, Love Timer remains a strong pop track that's jumpy and energetic and makes excellent use of both Rin's voice and of lulls and crescendos. Watch out for the blasts of trumpet, especially during the absolutely addictive slow section.



【初音ミク←】アストロ【オリジナル】

Astro (←, Miku, Space Pop)
Twinkly pop tones mesh well with lengthy, soft pauses and a scorching combination of guitar riffs, rising scales, and thumping drums in this slightly schizophrenic track. Miku sounds fairly solid throughout, if a little softer than I tend to like - either way, at its core, this is a good track from a high-brow producer that's hard to dislike or put down.



【初音ミク】ストロボラスト【オリジナル】

Strobe Last (powapowa, Miku, Electropop)
A companion piece of sorts to November's Hello Strobe, this time utilising a very soft Append voice and a number of differences in the mix. It's interesting to compare and contrast the two, but I can't say I found this as pleasant as its forebear to listen to - this can be chalked up entirely to my own problems with the voice, though, so if you're okay with it, give it a try.



【GUMI】十面相【オリジナル曲PV付き】

Ten Faces (YM, Gumi, Rock)
A very strange and stylised Gumi track, with a video exactly to match. It isn't the best song in the world nor is Gumi the most clear she's ever been, though the track as a whole certainly stands out from the pack for sheer weirdness value and has garnered a solid amount of fame on Nicovideo this last fortnight.



【初音ミク】Cipher サイファ【FLEET】【オリジナル】

Cipher (FLEET, Miku, Pop)
Let's have some good old traditional cheese to make up for the weirdness. This is a pop tour de force by Fleet and associated crew; for those of you who can't get enough of good old jPop Vocaloid music, well, here's your chance to OD a little. Entirely formulaic, but entirely heartwarming and full of everything that got me into this fandom to begin with. And, thoughtfully, an English translation right there!



【巡音ルカ】ビューティフルドリーマー【オリジナル楽曲と映像】

Beautiful Dreamer (電子, Luka, Pop)
And you know what, I make no apologies for this. None, you hear me? Luka comes out of the blue with a relentlessly adorable track positively dripping with oldschool jpop charm and some great guitars and electrobeats to help it along. I'm terribly addicted to it, for no particular reason that I can fathom; it just sounds really good.



【初音ミク】 La, La, Love You 【オリジナル】

La, La, Love You (yusuke, Miku, Pop)
We finish our brief trek into the realms of cheesy cheesy adorable pop with yusuke's offering, and this time there's trumpets. It's just as tooth-rotting as the last two songs only moreso, but I've always been a sucker for brass instruments and it helps round this track out nicely.



【鏡音レン六人盛り】KEEP×OUT!【オリジナル】

KEEP×OUT! (rerere, Len x 6, Boyband Pop)
Well, it's not the best Len song I've ever heard, in tone or in coding, but it's certainly one that made me grin all the way through. Featuring a cadre of Lens singing in concert, the gimmick here is that each has been coded by a different producer, respectively nikoromu / shiero / chiku / rerere / orebanana / giga. The final result is a surprisingly tuneful mix and a solid track, though watch out for the end where it suddenly gets all risky. There's also a 5 x Kaito song in the same style over here, with bonus Talkloid action, but be warned: it's exponentially more cheesy.



【鏡音リン】サディスティック・ラブ【オリジナルPV付き】

Sadistic Love (junky, Rin, Pop)
Junky turns his considerable talents to Rin in this track, but something really hasn't worked right; despite a truly breathtaking video, the music just isn't up to par. Sparse on instruments, mixed oddly and quietly, and most of all auto-tuned into oblivion, it really says something when poppy electronica music fails to really engage me. That said, I'd watch this at least twice more just for the video.



crush down (remake) 【MEIKOオリジナル】



metropolis crisis (remake) 【MEIKOオリジナル】



libido / L.A.M.B 【MEIKOオリジナル】

Respectively Crush Down, Metropolis Crisis and libido (L.A.M.B., Meiko, Rock)
L.A.M.B.'s been going crazy these last two weeks, spitting out two Meiko remakes and an original. While they aren't as top-notch as the work of producers such as shu-t, it's good to see Meiko get some solid use in the wake of news about her upcoming upgrades, and good to hear her bust out some tunes in a voice that isn't perfect but has certainly come a long way from her beginnings.



巡音ルカとmikiによる「カムパネルラ」Remix

Campanella Remix (ichikura, Miki + Luka, Electronica Breakbeat...?)
Including this mostly because otherwise dosetsu will have my hide, this remix of Campanella is startling for more than just the choice of robots, an electronic mix full of scratchy deformation, speedbeats, power chords, and fragmented, confused vocal samples. Faster and considerably more striking than the original, it's worth a listen.



【初音ミク】 なないろの朝 【オリジナル曲】

Rainbow Morning (wato, Miku, Piano)
There's absolutely no contest here for final slot of the update this week. Wato brings us a completely delightful track, full of nothing but the most ecstatic and happy-to-be-alive piano you've ever heard and not one nor two but three Mikus singing to it in harmony. It's a terrific song for cheering yourself up and a fine ending to the post.

Other:



【劇団タコリン】 MMDで動画作ってたら侵略されてたでゲソ

MMD Virtua Fighter (MMD: ribbondog, Ensemble)
An astounding labour of love, this video is a straight-up parody of Virtua Fighter, copying over characters from Vocaloid, Touhou, Idolmaster and more and having them fight each other in silly fashion. Neru completely steals the show as the most appropriate character I've ever seen, but the whole thing is a joy and I shudder to think how long it took.



【MMD】 ミク・テト・リンに ねぇ を踊ってもらいました 【Perfume】

Ne (Perfume, MMDPV: kachisaku, Miku + Teto + Rin, Electropop)
A ridiculously high quality video aping the dance steps of everyone's favourite earworm merchant, this is an excellent bit of choreography done with aplomb by Miku and Miku and Miku the rest of the Lat team. A great bit of work, but perhaps a little too great - my computer almost ground to a halt trying to display some of the effects outside of economy mode.



【MMD】 こっち向いてBaby 【日本鬼子さん】

The Kocchi Muite Baby Extravaganza (World + Dog)
Nicovideo went a little bit insane this past week in the wake of the high-definition Kocchi Muite Baby dance linked a couple weeks back, as everyone and their mother decided to make their own version using every character under the sun, including such gems as Diva Miku, BRS, Sakuya, Lucifel or Voltes V. The tag itself is here, sorted by views, and it's worth looking through, as the vast majority of entries are surprisingly well done. The absolute winner for me, though, has to be the above: a simply amazing model of Oniko.



初音ミク - Melody Line MMDPV

Melody Line (SmileR, MMDPV: wakamura, Miku, Electropop)
I'm honestly surprised; I really hadn't pegged SmileR as having the sort of fame that warrants a wakamura PV just yet, but I guess I'm not the only one sitting up and paying attention to them. As you'd expect from any wakamura video, this is a very pretty rendition, but I can't help but get the feeling I'm starting to be able to predict these videos a little too well; Lat!Miku floating in a cylindrical science room? Yep, check...



【ねんどろ風初音ミク&鏡音リン】マトリョシカ【MMD】

Nendoroid Miku + Rin Matryoshka (hachi, MMDPV: miruri, Miku + Rin, Rock)
The most adorable Matryoshka yet???

mmd cup, p: satsuki ga tenkomori, p: miruri, p: ←, p: kuchibashi, p: 黒うさ, p: hitoshizuku, linkdump, vocaloid: megurine luka, vocaloid: kagamine len, p: smiler, vocaloid: kaito, wtf r u doin nicovideo, p: wakamura, vocaloid: miki, vocaloid: kagamine rin, p: powapowa, p: pinokio, p: ym, p: kachisaku, p: junky, p: scop, vocaloid: meiko, p: wato, p: yusuke, p: 電子, p: mygod, p: ribbondog, p: ichikura, p: l.a.m.b., vocaloid: kamui gakupo, p: rerere, vocaloid: gumi, vocaloid: hatsune miku, p: hachi, p: natsu, p: fleet, p: atols, p: 40m, p: emon, mmd, p: otetsu

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