weeklzzzzzzzzzzz
Is it me, or have there not really been many good new releases recently? Have I just not been keeping up with the top 100 very well the past couple weeks? I am feeling pretty damn knackered and very nearly took the entire week off, so I am prepared to believe it. Half-assed descriptions ahoy! If I missed anything, link away in the comments! Miku and Gumi between them positively devastated every other robot this week, with only the refuge of Mr. Music for some.
The 3/9 concert is rapidly approaching! Unfortunately, I didn't have any nicomoney to put towards it, but if anyone out there in commland did and feels like making a post to dump screencaps and a song list in, that would be pretty awesome as hell and would earn you internet points. (If you're going to do this - don't worry about waiting until it's over, just slap up a post and start liveblogging away for anyone else to dump comments in.)
Speaking of nicomoney - as a general heads up, you can now buy premium accounts via Paypal, and this weekend I got confirmation that it doesn't matter what region you're in to do it. If anyone's been thinking about picking up a premium but hasn't wanted to muck around with Webmoney, there you go. I have to admit that the improvement upon getting one has been like night and day.
ugh I will catch up with tags in the morning please to point out mistakes in the translations, I'm sure there's a ton
Videos
【ニコニコラボ】 Mr.Music 【ボーカロイドオリジナル】
Mr. Music (reruriri - Miku, 喜兵衛 - Luka, baker - Miku Append, raibu - Rin, owata - Len, Nem - Gumi, kagome - Yuki)
Surely the biggest news of the week - what happens if you get seven producers and seven robots and set out to make your own version of Smiling, but on the way to the pop studio you trip over a Big Band and some jazz players? Well, you get Mr. Music, the fantastic ensemble piece by a bunch of big-name producers. If that weren't enough, toku pops in on piano, komine does the illustrations, and that helps out with the video. Quality through and through, with some great solos and a supremely catchy beat.
【GUMI】 カーニバル 【オリジナル】
Carnival (otetsu, Gumi, Rock)
A scorching Gumi track from master of rockin' guitars, Otetsu. This has all the interesting little dramatic touches you'd expect from a track with such a loaded title - up to and including showstealing by an organ - along with some bombastic thumping drums and a top-notch bridge section.
【ミクオリジナル曲PV付】ひまわり【三重の人×ぎヴちょこ×キセノンP】
Sunflower (sho, Miku, JAM PROJECT YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH)
This isn't the first time we've heard an absolutely scorching rock and guitar track from sho in memory of a series of interplanetary craft, and probably it won't be the last either - but as long as he keeps the tremendously badass guitars and drums going a million miles a goddamn minute, this time backed up with hilarious choirs of singing angelic hosts, I think I'll cope.
【GUMI】おニューのかさぶた、ペットに食われろ【オリジナル曲】
The New Scab Is Eaten By A Pet (ie no ura etc., Gumi, Fusion)
I'm blanking on how to translate the title properly, I've got the words but it's not fitting very well into a sentence so I leave it up to you kind souls. Also I'm not even going to attempt to romanize that producer name, what the hell. This is catchy and neat and weird and an interesting mix of what basically amounts to lightning-fast wowaka rap, set against a simple but very effective synth background.
【初音ミクAppend】てってってーハウス【Remix】
Tettette (House Remix) (chiitaagaaru, Miku, House)
Instantly charmed, I find it impossible to believe anyone could possibly dislike this ambient house mix of what is by now surely a Miku anthem to last the ages. Jaunty and jumpy and absolutely stylish, full of acoustic guitar and soft tones, if you aren't nodding your head a minute or so in I'll eat my hat.
【初音ミク GUMI】 ユメネコ 【オリジナル】
Dream Cat (pinokio, Miku + Gumi, Rock)
This is much more like it. I haven't been into pinokio's songs as of late, but this has gone a long way towards reversing that, with a catchy style full of quick hooks and the odd bit of synth scales. Some of the duet makes me cringe, as they perhaps get a little too high for their own good, but on the whole this is a quality track.
【初音ミクAppend】瞬きの間に【オリジナル曲】
In A Blink (夢見る, Miku, Rock)
Nicovideo didn't think much of this, but for some reason I couldn't quite fathom I really did. I think it calls back to the sort of Coldplay kind of angsty rock that you sometimes want to laze around listening to, but more pleasant and a bit more upbeat. (not hard, with Coldplay...) Either way, I liked it.
【GUMI】 教えてハインリッヒ 【オリジナル】
Teachings of Heinrich (蜻蛉, Gumi, Breakbeat Chillout)
A surprisingly gorgeous minimalistic track, consisting almost purely of a fantastic Gumi voice and some gentle synth breakbeat tones. The gentle first half sets up perfectly for the slightest bit of crescendo in the second, and it's all tremendously effective.
【初音ミク】ザ・カンニング【オリジナル】
The Cheating (ほぼ日, Miku, P... op?)
Uggghhhhhhh I didn't like this at all. Something about Miku's voice bugs me, and the rest of the track doesn't really have enough... track for me to really get into it. It's nr. 2 on the daily ranking right now and has held steady for a couple days there, but it's not for me.
【GUMI】 卒業 -また会う日まで- 【オリジナル曲PV付】
Graduation -Until We Meet Again- (kk2, Gumi, Pop Rock)
Gumi could sound better and flubs a couple of notes, but this is a solid and energetic bit of pop rock that isn't afraid to step up the tempo when it has to, and uses some nice plucky guitars and a great piano solo.
【鏡音リン】鳥篭の中のマリア【オリジナル曲】
Maria in the Birdcage (muhmue, Rin, Synth Oontz Rock)
Definitely not my week for agreeing with Nicovideo, I guess - despite a couple of strange changes in style and a Rin I wouldn't usually expect to click with, I couldn't get enough of this powerful track. It would be nice if the transitions weren't quite so jarring, but that's the only real complaint I could muster.
【おどP】マーキュリー【初音ミク】
Mercury (vocaliod, Miku, Acoustic Pop)
I've got a bit of an odd love-hate thing going on with this one. I think the instrumentation is brilliant, and I love every second of the acoustic guitar, but when Miku starts singing it's like I instantly lose interest until the next solo comes along. She's not even that bad; I'm at a loss to explain it.
【鏡音リン】Alone【民族風ロックPV付】
Alone (森下リョウ, Rin, Traditional Angst)
Rin is perhaps a little overwrought in this sort-of-orchestral track that seems to be trying to straddle modern music with the full-on gothic angst tracks that pop up every so often. I didn't think much of Rin, but the song itself was kind of charming for the touches here and there, like some great synth strings and some pretty decent encoding.
【初音ミク】Heart Shooter【オリジナル】
Heart Shooter (chibaken, Miku, Club Pop)
Some ridiculously cutesy pop can take us out this week, with a little dash of club style in the drums and synths. It's pretty teeth-rotting, sure, but if that's your thing then you're in excellent hands here.
Other:
｢Mr.Music｣歌ってみた【栗瀬柿美黒民月】
Mr. Music (kuri purin / seriyu / kaki choco / vivienne / 96neko / wotamin / tsukiha, Ensemble, Utattemita)
And if you haven't gotten enough of Mr. Music already, here's the excellent utattemita from a bunch of solid nicosinger names.
【MikuMikuDance】マリエルさんの紹介動画のような何か。
Holy Balls Look At That Background (kz, MMDPV: kanihira)
Okay, so I don't need much provocation to post a version of Yellow, but that really isn't the point of this video. MMD is pushed to the limit - water effects, glow effects, and a whole new map to put it all on combine to make the most breathtaking vista yet. It looks fantastic as hell.
【第6回MMD杯Ex】 保護者さんもステージに 【ojoリスペクト2】大百科
Haku Will Also Perform (MMDPV: susuki, Haku)
In shame, I apologise for missing this video the first time, because it's fantastic. You may have spotted a video during MMD 6th Cup of Petite Miku's First Time On Stage, together with fumbling her dance and dropping her stuff. Here's Haku's version, only she's clutching a bottle and stumbling more and more...
【MMD】君のことが頭から離れない【レンネル】
Du Gehst Mir Nicht Mehr Aus Dem Kopf (MMD: svaahaa, Neru + Len)
This MMD shipper video is pretty much worth it just for the excellent bit of german acapella.
The 3/9 concert is rapidly approaching! Unfortunately, I didn't have any nicomoney to put towards it, but if anyone out there in commland did and feels like making a post to dump screencaps and a song list in, that would be pretty awesome as hell and would earn you internet points. (If you're going to do this - don't worry about waiting until it's over, just slap up a post and start liveblogging away for anyone else to dump comments in.)
Speaking of nicomoney - as a general heads up, you can now buy premium accounts via Paypal, and this weekend I got confirmation that it doesn't matter what region you're in to do it. If anyone's been thinking about picking up a premium but hasn't wanted to muck around with Webmoney, there you go. I have to admit that the improvement upon getting one has been like night and day.
ugh I will catch up with tags in the morning please to point out mistakes in the translations, I'm sure there's a ton
Videos
【ニコニコラボ】 Mr.Music 【ボーカロイドオリジナル】
Mr. Music (reruriri - Miku, 喜兵衛 - Luka, baker - Miku Append, raibu - Rin, owata - Len, Nem - Gumi, kagome - Yuki)
Surely the biggest news of the week - what happens if you get seven producers and seven robots and set out to make your own version of Smiling, but on the way to the pop studio you trip over a Big Band and some jazz players? Well, you get Mr. Music, the fantastic ensemble piece by a bunch of big-name producers. If that weren't enough, toku pops in on piano, komine does the illustrations, and that helps out with the video. Quality through and through, with some great solos and a supremely catchy beat.
【GUMI】 カーニバル 【オリジナル】
Carnival (otetsu, Gumi, Rock)
A scorching Gumi track from master of rockin' guitars, Otetsu. This has all the interesting little dramatic touches you'd expect from a track with such a loaded title - up to and including showstealing by an organ - along with some bombastic thumping drums and a top-notch bridge section.
【ミクオリジナル曲PV付】ひまわり【三重の人×ぎヴちょこ×キセノンP】
Sunflower (sho, Miku, JAM PROJECT YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH)
This isn't the first time we've heard an absolutely scorching rock and guitar track from sho in memory of a series of interplanetary craft, and probably it won't be the last either - but as long as he keeps the tremendously badass guitars and drums going a million miles a goddamn minute, this time backed up with hilarious choirs of singing angelic hosts, I think I'll cope.
【GUMI】おニューのかさぶた、ペットに食われろ【オリジナル曲】
The New Scab Is Eaten By A Pet (ie no ura etc., Gumi, Fusion)
I'm blanking on how to translate the title properly, I've got the words but it's not fitting very well into a sentence so I leave it up to you kind souls. Also I'm not even going to attempt to romanize that producer name, what the hell. This is catchy and neat and weird and an interesting mix of what basically amounts to lightning-fast wowaka rap, set against a simple but very effective synth background.
【初音ミクAppend】てってってーハウス【Remix】
Tettette (House Remix) (chiitaagaaru, Miku, House)
Instantly charmed, I find it impossible to believe anyone could possibly dislike this ambient house mix of what is by now surely a Miku anthem to last the ages. Jaunty and jumpy and absolutely stylish, full of acoustic guitar and soft tones, if you aren't nodding your head a minute or so in I'll eat my hat.
【初音ミク GUMI】 ユメネコ 【オリジナル】
Dream Cat (pinokio, Miku + Gumi, Rock)
This is much more like it. I haven't been into pinokio's songs as of late, but this has gone a long way towards reversing that, with a catchy style full of quick hooks and the odd bit of synth scales. Some of the duet makes me cringe, as they perhaps get a little too high for their own good, but on the whole this is a quality track.
【初音ミクAppend】瞬きの間に【オリジナル曲】
In A Blink (夢見る, Miku, Rock)
Nicovideo didn't think much of this, but for some reason I couldn't quite fathom I really did. I think it calls back to the sort of Coldplay kind of angsty rock that you sometimes want to laze around listening to, but more pleasant and a bit more upbeat. (not hard, with Coldplay...) Either way, I liked it.
【GUMI】 教えてハインリッヒ 【オリジナル】
Teachings of Heinrich (蜻蛉, Gumi, Breakbeat Chillout)
A surprisingly gorgeous minimalistic track, consisting almost purely of a fantastic Gumi voice and some gentle synth breakbeat tones. The gentle first half sets up perfectly for the slightest bit of crescendo in the second, and it's all tremendously effective.
【初音ミク】ザ・カンニング【オリジナル】
The Cheating (ほぼ日, Miku, P... op?)
Uggghhhhhhh I didn't like this at all. Something about Miku's voice bugs me, and the rest of the track doesn't really have enough... track for me to really get into it. It's nr. 2 on the daily ranking right now and has held steady for a couple days there, but it's not for me.
【GUMI】 卒業 -また会う日まで- 【オリジナル曲PV付】
Graduation -Until We Meet Again- (kk2, Gumi, Pop Rock)
Gumi could sound better and flubs a couple of notes, but this is a solid and energetic bit of pop rock that isn't afraid to step up the tempo when it has to, and uses some nice plucky guitars and a great piano solo.
【鏡音リン】鳥篭の中のマリア【オリジナル曲】
Maria in the Birdcage (muhmue, Rin, Synth Oontz Rock)
Definitely not my week for agreeing with Nicovideo, I guess - despite a couple of strange changes in style and a Rin I wouldn't usually expect to click with, I couldn't get enough of this powerful track. It would be nice if the transitions weren't quite so jarring, but that's the only real complaint I could muster.
【おどP】マーキュリー【初音ミク】
Mercury (vocaliod, Miku, Acoustic Pop)
I've got a bit of an odd love-hate thing going on with this one. I think the instrumentation is brilliant, and I love every second of the acoustic guitar, but when Miku starts singing it's like I instantly lose interest until the next solo comes along. She's not even that bad; I'm at a loss to explain it.
【鏡音リン】Alone【民族風ロックPV付】
Alone (森下リョウ, Rin, Traditional Angst)
Rin is perhaps a little overwrought in this sort-of-orchestral track that seems to be trying to straddle modern music with the full-on gothic angst tracks that pop up every so often. I didn't think much of Rin, but the song itself was kind of charming for the touches here and there, like some great synth strings and some pretty decent encoding.
【初音ミク】Heart Shooter【オリジナル】
Heart Shooter (chibaken, Miku, Club Pop)
Some ridiculously cutesy pop can take us out this week, with a little dash of club style in the drums and synths. It's pretty teeth-rotting, sure, but if that's your thing then you're in excellent hands here.
Other:
｢Mr.Music｣歌ってみた【栗瀬柿美黒民月】
Mr. Music (kuri purin / seriyu / kaki choco / vivienne / 96neko / wotamin / tsukiha, Ensemble, Utattemita)
And if you haven't gotten enough of Mr. Music already, here's the excellent utattemita from a bunch of solid nicosinger names.
【MikuMikuDance】マリエルさんの紹介動画のような何か。
Holy Balls Look At That Background (kz, MMDPV: kanihira)
Okay, so I don't need much provocation to post a version of Yellow, but that really isn't the point of this video. MMD is pushed to the limit - water effects, glow effects, and a whole new map to put it all on combine to make the most breathtaking vista yet. It looks fantastic as hell.
【第6回MMD杯Ex】 保護者さんもステージに 【ojoリスペクト2】大百科
Haku Will Also Perform (MMDPV: susuki, Haku)
In shame, I apologise for missing this video the first time, because it's fantastic. You may have spotted a video during MMD 6th Cup of Petite Miku's First Time On Stage, together with fumbling her dance and dropping her stuff. Here's Haku's version, only she's clutching a bottle and stumbling more and more...
【MMD】君のことが頭から離れない【レンネル】
Du Gehst Mir Nicht Mehr Aus Dem Kopf (MMD: svaahaa, Neru + Len)
This MMD shipper video is pretty much worth it just for the excellent bit of german acapella.