Weekly Roundup, Catching Up
This is kind of a half- or two-thirds-update, because there's been a slew of really good tracks in the last couple days that give me a lot more post to write, but I want to get this out now to keep momentum going. There'll be another post on Thursday night or Friday catching up the rest of the week, then we'll get back to normal running with Monday updates.
The SP Ranking 6 is now out, and jesus god has it been that long since SP5, honestly? If someone feels like covering it that would be pretty cool, as weekly_vocaloid appears to have vanished into the mists of who-knows-where while trying to cover the last SP ranking. More importantly, the SP ranking comes from the account of sippotan, who we can only hope is doing better after being caught in the earthquakes earlier this year.
Videos:
【GUMI】 スリープ・スカイ・ウォーク 【オリジナル】大百科
Sleep Sky Walk (yuuyu, Gumi, Pop)
One of the biggest hits this week, and it's not hard to see why - an excellent Gumi track with a jumping synth melody and some lovely gentle sections full of soft chanting. Yuuyu's never let me down and isn't about to start now; this fully deserves the praise it's getting this week.
初音ミクオリジナルＰＶ曲「修道少女と偶像少女」
Sister and Idol (cosMo, Miku, That Very Special Brand Of CosMo Pop)
Relatively hot off the presses, a cosMo song that I actually like! By now you're probably used to cosMo's unique stylings, and this track's kind of full of them, from a madcap chaotic detail-filled video and track up to the terrible turning point where things all get very weird indeed. I'm more of a fan of the start than the end, but it's still an amazing spectacle the whole way through. Be warned of potential triggers past the 3 minute mark.
【いろは・MEIKO】Dead Foresta～睡蓮の湖に沈む～【オリジナル】
Dead Foresta (仕事して, Iroha + Meiko, Traditional)
If you hadn't guessed already, there's basically nothing this track doesn't do perfectly. It's an absolute charm, and shigotoshite totally nails the combination of Meiko and Iroha in the continuing adventures of VOCALOID1 and Catbot.
【神威がくぽ KAITO 鏡音レン】「Arrest Rose」オリジナル曲
Arrest Rose (natsu, Gakupo + Kaito + Len, Rock)
I was already going to load this video with immense praise, as it's one of the best rock tracks this week - but now that I think about it a little further, I'm fairly sure this is the best I've ever heard Vanan'Ice sound. Even Gakupo sounds incredibly crisp and clear, and all three of them work very well off each other for a bombastic track.
【初音ミク】一丁目ゆきみ商店街【ゆっけのオリジナル】
Yukimi Prefecture Shopping District (yukkedoluce, Miku, Pop)
Someone might have to help me out with the title there - I'm fairly sure it's a specific region rather than a compound noun, but I'm having trouble researching it. Anyway, it's been a while since we heard from yukkedoluce but that name is always the sign of a quality track, and this is no different; easy listening chillout acoustic pop with some truly amazing held notes and a great crescendo.
【桃音モモ】サヨナラの瞬き【MMD-PV】
Twinkling Goodbye (mosomoso, Momo + Miku + Luka + Rin, Pop)
I'm deeply week to any kind of light ensemble track - dedicated watchers of the comm will remember my heaping praise on the Nico Unofficial OP - so a track like this is basically perfect for me, soft backup singing and Momo leading the way for her birthday. A cheesy, delightful MMD video sets it off perfectly.
【kous】浮遊夢【Music Video】
【kous】椿姫【Music Video】
Respectively Wandering Dream and Camellia Princess (kous, Miku, Pop)
Two very different tracks from kous this week, both intended to plug the hell out of his album; Wandering Dream is exactly what it says on the tin, a strange dreamlike melody that's full of his signature style with a very weird video. Camellia Princess, on the other hand, is more conventional pop the likes of which I haven't heard from kous in some time - and it's completely charming, immediately getting me irrevocably hooked.
頭の中のSzkieletor 【初音ミク オリジナル】
Szkieletor In My Head (k_zero+A, Miku, ?!)
Okay, time to own up - I'm linking this almost purely because of the video, which is amazingly good; smooth as silk and done in a very unique style. The song itself goes through transformations just as abrupt as the video, but remains a solid piece of primarily orchestral pop throughout.
【初音ミク】境界線のセレスティア【オリジナル・PV】
Celestia Boundary (guhehe, Miku, Pop)
Rounding off the softer pop tracks this week, guhehe gives us a more energetic track to work with. I'd almost push it into rock if it weren't for the instruments used - heavy use of strong piano and sudden vibrant stabs at the violin strings accompany a great performance from Miku.
初音ミク - ChaiN De/structioN(オリジナル曲 PV)
ChaiN De/structioN (kyotn, Miku, Trancish Pop)
Kyotn keeps on rolling - this isn't the only track he put out this week, but the better for sure, a gritty breakcore bit of pop with heavy bass synths all over the place. Miku's more tuneful coding works very well alongside it, though it feels a little lacking in general compared to kyotn's other recent tracks and the odd genre is probably only going to make it appeal to certain viewers.
【初音ミク】 ドミノ 【オリジナル】
Domino (nuts rock, Miku, Rock)
Damn, I loved the hell out of this. I didn't expect to at first listen - it's very dirty rock, shot through with distortions and static and a backbeat whose tone is several degrees off from the melody. All in all it's a very confusing package, but the whole thing comes together brilliantly, and is made even better by someone putting up a wonky ascii heart in the comments. It just seems to fit so much better than a properly-formed one.
【リンAppend】空白ホットライン【オリジナルＰＶ】
Space Hotline (Hi-kun, Rin, Pop)
This week saw a number of Rin Append tracks go up, rather more than unusual - most weren't fantastic, but served as pretty good examples of what Rin Append could do. This is one of the ones I liked most - the track isn't incredible but it's certainly listenable, and to me the Rin sounds much better in how she holds the higher notes.
【オリジナル】P.a.r.a.l.y.z.e.【猫村いろは】
P.a.r.a.l.y.z.e. (黒田亜津, Iroha, Jazzy Pop)
It's a testament to akiba ota and shigotoshite that it feels very strange to hear Iroha performing anything other than deep screaming rock or operatic traditional tracks - there's nothing expressly wrong with this light jazzish number beyond Iroha standing out a little too far from the music, but it just doesn't really do anything for me compared to her more energetic, blustering tracks.
【初音ミク】SILVER【オリジナル曲】
SILVER (teiara, Miku, R+B)
Nicovideo, I'm going to disown you if you keep this up. Give this video some love, because for some reason it got an abjectly low number of hits despite being absolutely fantastic - soft and breezy piano-filled R+B with a fantastic Miku encode and some suave backup singing from what I think is Luka, it's a charm to listen to and the perfect lead-out.
MMD/Covers:
【UTAU】Cooking by the book【カバー】
Cooking By The Book (tetorosu, Momo + Defoko + Teto, Lazytown Cover)
Momo what are you doing
[まどか☆マギカ]巴マミのテーマでガチ聖歌[オーケストラ＆ボカロ合唱]
Mami Sanctus (triona / maria, Ensemble, Madoka Cover)
This is exceptionally silly, and requires some background knowledge in Madoka Magica, but I can forgive both of those things because it's also absolutely fantastic. A full-on choir of unusual robots including Tonio, English Luka, Sweet Ann, VY2, Sonika, Big Al and all three Appends sing Mami's theme from Madoka, with full orchestral backup.
【MMD】 カラテカ
Karateka (whoops I forgot attribution, I'll do it when home)
The first two minutes of this video might be the best use of MMD I've ever seen.
【ルシフェルさん】そんなガード形態で大丈夫か？【MMD】
Is This Guard Form Okay? (iota602, Ensemble)
The follow-up to last MMD Cup's runaway El Shaddai winner, this video might be a little more blatant in places and more outright slapstick and silly than the previous one, but it still shows some crazy amount of professionalism in the editing and composition and has some great moments.
And Finally:
【PV】 Chase the Light!-Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas
Did I mention that thanks to that one Madoka MAD, and watching Kaiji, I'm now completely hooked on Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, crazy screamo-dance group that they are? Because I sure am.
The SP Ranking 6 is now out, and jesus god has it been that long since SP5, honestly? If someone feels like covering it that would be pretty cool, as weekly_vocaloid appears to have vanished into the mists of who-knows-where while trying to cover the last SP ranking. More importantly, the SP ranking comes from the account of sippotan, who we can only hope is doing better after being caught in the earthquakes earlier this year.
Videos:
【GUMI】 スリープ・スカイ・ウォーク 【オリジナル】大百科
Sleep Sky Walk (yuuyu, Gumi, Pop)
One of the biggest hits this week, and it's not hard to see why - an excellent Gumi track with a jumping synth melody and some lovely gentle sections full of soft chanting. Yuuyu's never let me down and isn't about to start now; this fully deserves the praise it's getting this week.
初音ミクオリジナルＰＶ曲「修道少女と偶像少女」
Sister and Idol (cosMo, Miku, That Very Special Brand Of CosMo Pop)
Relatively hot off the presses, a cosMo song that I actually like! By now you're probably used to cosMo's unique stylings, and this track's kind of full of them, from a madcap chaotic detail-filled video and track up to the terrible turning point where things all get very weird indeed. I'm more of a fan of the start than the end, but it's still an amazing spectacle the whole way through. Be warned of potential triggers past the 3 minute mark.
【いろは・MEIKO】Dead Foresta～睡蓮の湖に沈む～【オリジナル】
Dead Foresta (仕事して, Iroha + Meiko, Traditional)
If you hadn't guessed already, there's basically nothing this track doesn't do perfectly. It's an absolute charm, and shigotoshite totally nails the combination of Meiko and Iroha in the continuing adventures of VOCALOID1 and Catbot.
【神威がくぽ KAITO 鏡音レン】「Arrest Rose」オリジナル曲
Arrest Rose (natsu, Gakupo + Kaito + Len, Rock)
I was already going to load this video with immense praise, as it's one of the best rock tracks this week - but now that I think about it a little further, I'm fairly sure this is the best I've ever heard Vanan'Ice sound. Even Gakupo sounds incredibly crisp and clear, and all three of them work very well off each other for a bombastic track.
【初音ミク】一丁目ゆきみ商店街【ゆっけのオリジナル】
Yukimi Prefecture Shopping District (yukkedoluce, Miku, Pop)
Someone might have to help me out with the title there - I'm fairly sure it's a specific region rather than a compound noun, but I'm having trouble researching it. Anyway, it's been a while since we heard from yukkedoluce but that name is always the sign of a quality track, and this is no different; easy listening chillout acoustic pop with some truly amazing held notes and a great crescendo.
【桃音モモ】サヨナラの瞬き【MMD-PV】
Twinkling Goodbye (mosomoso, Momo + Miku + Luka + Rin, Pop)
I'm deeply week to any kind of light ensemble track - dedicated watchers of the comm will remember my heaping praise on the Nico Unofficial OP - so a track like this is basically perfect for me, soft backup singing and Momo leading the way for her birthday. A cheesy, delightful MMD video sets it off perfectly.
【kous】浮遊夢【Music Video】
【kous】椿姫【Music Video】
Respectively Wandering Dream and Camellia Princess (kous, Miku, Pop)
Two very different tracks from kous this week, both intended to plug the hell out of his album; Wandering Dream is exactly what it says on the tin, a strange dreamlike melody that's full of his signature style with a very weird video. Camellia Princess, on the other hand, is more conventional pop the likes of which I haven't heard from kous in some time - and it's completely charming, immediately getting me irrevocably hooked.
頭の中のSzkieletor 【初音ミク オリジナル】
Szkieletor In My Head (k_zero+A, Miku, ?!)
Okay, time to own up - I'm linking this almost purely because of the video, which is amazingly good; smooth as silk and done in a very unique style. The song itself goes through transformations just as abrupt as the video, but remains a solid piece of primarily orchestral pop throughout.
【初音ミク】境界線のセレスティア【オリジナル・PV】
Celestia Boundary (guhehe, Miku, Pop)
Rounding off the softer pop tracks this week, guhehe gives us a more energetic track to work with. I'd almost push it into rock if it weren't for the instruments used - heavy use of strong piano and sudden vibrant stabs at the violin strings accompany a great performance from Miku.
初音ミク - ChaiN De/structioN(オリジナル曲 PV)
ChaiN De/structioN (kyotn, Miku, Trancish Pop)
Kyotn keeps on rolling - this isn't the only track he put out this week, but the better for sure, a gritty breakcore bit of pop with heavy bass synths all over the place. Miku's more tuneful coding works very well alongside it, though it feels a little lacking in general compared to kyotn's other recent tracks and the odd genre is probably only going to make it appeal to certain viewers.
【初音ミク】 ドミノ 【オリジナル】
Domino (nuts rock, Miku, Rock)
Damn, I loved the hell out of this. I didn't expect to at first listen - it's very dirty rock, shot through with distortions and static and a backbeat whose tone is several degrees off from the melody. All in all it's a very confusing package, but the whole thing comes together brilliantly, and is made even better by someone putting up a wonky ascii heart in the comments. It just seems to fit so much better than a properly-formed one.
【リンAppend】空白ホットライン【オリジナルＰＶ】
Space Hotline (Hi-kun, Rin, Pop)
This week saw a number of Rin Append tracks go up, rather more than unusual - most weren't fantastic, but served as pretty good examples of what Rin Append could do. This is one of the ones I liked most - the track isn't incredible but it's certainly listenable, and to me the Rin sounds much better in how she holds the higher notes.
【オリジナル】P.a.r.a.l.y.z.e.【猫村いろは】
P.a.r.a.l.y.z.e. (黒田亜津, Iroha, Jazzy Pop)
It's a testament to akiba ota and shigotoshite that it feels very strange to hear Iroha performing anything other than deep screaming rock or operatic traditional tracks - there's nothing expressly wrong with this light jazzish number beyond Iroha standing out a little too far from the music, but it just doesn't really do anything for me compared to her more energetic, blustering tracks.
【初音ミク】SILVER【オリジナル曲】
SILVER (teiara, Miku, R+B)
Nicovideo, I'm going to disown you if you keep this up. Give this video some love, because for some reason it got an abjectly low number of hits despite being absolutely fantastic - soft and breezy piano-filled R+B with a fantastic Miku encode and some suave backup singing from what I think is Luka, it's a charm to listen to and the perfect lead-out.
MMD/Covers:
【UTAU】Cooking by the book【カバー】
Cooking By The Book (tetorosu, Momo + Defoko + Teto, Lazytown Cover)
Momo what are you doing
[まどか☆マギカ]巴マミのテーマでガチ聖歌[オーケストラ＆ボカロ合唱]
Mami Sanctus (triona / maria, Ensemble, Madoka Cover)
This is exceptionally silly, and requires some background knowledge in Madoka Magica, but I can forgive both of those things because it's also absolutely fantastic. A full-on choir of unusual robots including Tonio, English Luka, Sweet Ann, VY2, Sonika, Big Al and all three Appends sing Mami's theme from Madoka, with full orchestral backup.
【MMD】 カラテカ
Karateka (whoops I forgot attribution, I'll do it when home)
The first two minutes of this video might be the best use of MMD I've ever seen.
【ルシフェルさん】そんなガード形態で大丈夫か？【MMD】
Is This Guard Form Okay? (iota602, Ensemble)
The follow-up to last MMD Cup's runaway El Shaddai winner, this video might be a little more blatant in places and more outright slapstick and silly than the previous one, but it still shows some crazy amount of professionalism in the editing and composition and has some great moments.
And Finally:
【PV】 Chase the Light!-Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas
Did I mention that thanks to that one Madoka MAD, and watching Kaiji, I'm now completely hooked on Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, crazy screamo-dance group that they are? Because I sure am.