Weekly Roundup, No LJ Errors Edition
Now that LJ's somewhat working again, hopefully I can get the update up today. My shortlist's been made a little obscene by LJ's downtime; there's been a lot of new tracks, the Rinpact album to go through, and after that I couldn't help but lose myself amidst a certain MMD competition's preview tag.
As you might figure out from that, the previews for the MMD 4th Cup have now been released, and can all be found under the associated tag. I'm not going to be making a post about them just yet, that will wait for the main event on the weekend of the 19th, but I have to say that I'm totally stoked. Most of the videos are absolutely stellar, and I've seen a lot of sequels that have me very excited.
Speaking of the 19th! I'm going to be going along to Ayacon, the convention held in the University of Warwick in the UK - mostly because I live all of twenty minutes' drive away. I know at least a couple people from this comm are going, so be sure to look out for me making a goddamn nuisance of myself at the Vocaloid panel, and I'll be sure to buy you a drink or something afterwards.
Also, if you're the sort to go on the Japanese Playstation Network, Dreamy Theatre 2nd is now out for a cool 3900 Yen. Also also, if you're having troubles with Nicovideo, Nicoviewer has returned! Try using 'http://nicoviewer.net/' with the sm/nm number on the end i.e. like so.
Videos:
【調教すげぇ】初音ミク『FREELY TOMORROW』(完成）【オリジナル】
FREELY TOMORROW (Mitchie M, Miku, Club Pop)
The internet as a whole has gone mad for this video, and it easily runs away with this week's roundup. The most impressive thing is an absolutely staggering piece of Miku tuning; outside of some over the top vibrato, she sounds positively human in an incredibly toe-tapping, catchy as hell track. The second most impressive thing is that this is the producer's debut in vocaloid work. There's a reason it's gotten over six hundred thousand views in the space of all of five days; listen to it now and you won't regret a thing.
【初音ミク】ハッピーラッキーアンホリデーマンデー【オリジナルPV】
Happy Lucky Unholy Day Monday (eran, Miku, Pop)
Good lord! I actually managed to skip right over this when I first saw it, seeing only a cheesy electropop intro and a rather scrappy video. I'm glad I went back to take another look - not only is this song catchy enough to make it to the rankings, but the video is another thing entirely, full of great expressions and ridiculousness and a complete and very vivacious manga segment in the second half. If you can get past the relentless grating cheeriness of the song you'll find a real gem.
【初音ミク・巡音ルカ・GUMI+α】 Happy Summer Music 【オリジナルPV】
Happy Summer Music (nana, Miku + Luka + Gumi, Pop)
Awwww. Take Miku, Luka and Gumi and throw them bodily into an extremely perky summer pop song that wouldn't be out of place in Perfume's lineup, sprinkle liberally with Sevencolors' mascot character, add several more dashes of summeriness for good measure, then garnish with some exceptionally pretty video art. Nothing to complain at here, it's fantastic to see an ensemble piece this iconic out of nowhere.
【鏡音リン】 Endroll A 【オリジナル】
Endroll A (yuuyu, Rin, Rock)
You might see a lot of the twins this week; Rinpact! is a recently released compilation album with a whole host of new and high-quality tracks on it, and most of them have ended up in the charts somewhere in the last couple of weeks. Of them, Endroll A is one of the biggest, an occasionally-grungy and otherwise traditionally classic piece of twins rock with a video by Negi, who could be broadly described as one of the most iconic Rin artists.
巡音ルカ「動かない空」【オリジナル】
Unmoving Sky (E.L.V.N., Luka, Smooooooth)
Now this is what Luka's been missing recently. An immensely suave and stylish track, soothing and dreamlike and a perfect showcase for a Luka who hasn't been tuned as a chipmunk, smooth enough to drift away on.
【初音ミク】物をぱらぱら壊す【オリジナル曲PV】
Breaking Things Apart (kikuo, Miku, Emo... Ethnic?)
This is a fantastic track, and almost impossible to categorise. Dramatic and high-strung, the arcing chorus and atonal notes would be appropriate for grungy emo rock or gothic metal except that they're delivered in a soft track via orchestral instruments, soft zithery strings, or xylophonic scales. Add on a seriously twisted video of scratchy, sketchy animation that may disturb and it's a treat.
【初音ミク】ラジカル男女の唄【オリジナル曲PV付】
Radical Song of Men and Women (scop, Miku, Pop)
As ever, another amazing track from scop. Rather less pleasant than his usual fare, this is a harsher and angrier track that dashes rapidly through its piano scales with a punchy melody line. As you'd expect from scop's work, the accompanying video is terribly smooth. Bonus: there's a bit in the chorus where it sounds disconcertingly like someone's shouting in your left ear, and it tripped me up twice while listening to the song for the update.
【巡音ルカ】 宙吊りダンシング 【オリジナル】
Suspended Mid-air Dance (otetsu, Luka, Rock)
And... you know, speaking of scop, it really sounds a lot like otetsu's been taking lessons from him. Compared to many of otetsu's tracks this is a lighter and less outright rocking track that gives up a guitar or two for some jumpier and softer sections while not letting up the slightest instant on the general quality of the track. I really, really enjoyed this, it's a breath of fresh air for Luka and otetsu.
【鏡音リンAppend】morning shift【オリジナル曲】
Morning Shift (L-tone, Rin, Rock)
【鏡音レンAppend】bank-rupt RPG【オリジナル曲】
Bank-rupt RPG (L-tone, Len, Rock)
I rather like L-tone; up until now, I've considered them to get a bit of a bum rap when it comes to the popularity of their songs. Solid Rin coding and a flair for video-making have always been evident in their work, especially their recent Social Paranoia. They're back this week with not one but two hard-hitting and punchy tracks. Morning Shift is a softer affair with some delightful piano, while Bank-rupt RPG is rough and powerful, and both are particularly stellar during the chorus, when the append tunings become absolutely flawless.
【GUMI】ノイジーラバーソウル【オリジナル】
Noisy Lover Soul (Last Note, Gumi, Rock)
I'm putting this up with some reservations. The track itself I have absolutely no problems with - it's a solid piece of Gumi-style rock, a little on the heavy side, but solid and energetic enough to get my toes tapping. But the Gumi voice is... really something else. It feels too raw and disassociated from the main music, and very stark because of it, and it just makes me dislike the whole thing something fierce. That said, I'm going against some seventy thousand viewers here, so I'm just going to chalk it up to my own tastes.
【初音ミク】甘き死の柩【オリジナル曲】
Coffin of Sweet Death (machigerita, Miku, Rock)
I feel much the same way about this track, but I'm usually happy to trust machigerita either due to his pedigree or my out and out favoritism. In any case, this starts off very similarly to Noisy Lover Soul but makes up for it with an excellent second half that just goes all out into rocking and Miku holding long, mournful notes.
【初音ミク】ぐーぐー【オリジナル】
Zzz (卓球少年, Miku, Meme)
Quite literally a thirty second throwaway track, I'm linking this not because of the base song but because of what the combined forces of utattemita have done to it. If you've ever wanted to hear more incoherent grumbling and guttural snoring than you've ever thought possible, just get yourself over to the snoring festival tag. Or if you want the quick fix, here's 100 versions at once.
【巡音ルカ・GUMI】Lady Face【オリジナル】
Lady Face (Taka, Luka + Gumi, Pop)
Mmmm, I almost called this jazzy, but it's more like a blend of orchestral and guitar pop if you ask me - which you're generally better off not doing, since I mangle genres quite happily. I wish I knew where I stood on this track; sometimes I really like it, and I think that Luka and Gumi work very well together and there's some lovely solos. Some other times I wonder why I'm listening to it when some parts of it are very muted or rather wobbly.
鏡音リン「侵略」【オリジナル曲】
Invasion (samfree, Rin, Rock)
Another Rinpact track, another video by NEGI. Samfree have been surprisingly conventional here; there's nothing particularly special about this Rin rock track beyond it being sufficiently rocking and energetic to pass muster as a solid bit of production. If I had to offer a comment it would probably be that, after the ridiculously hard hitting Name Name Burning Night songs, having Rin just simply sing 'motto motto' rather than scream it at the top of her lungs seems like kind of a let down.
【神威がくぽ】 は な げ う た 【オリジナルPV付き】
Nosehair Song (kanimiso, Gakupo, ...)
Possibly the most amazing birthday song Gakupo could have gotten. The rest of the tag is here, but it doesn't stand a chance of beating this... ... this.
【KAITO】神風祭【オリジナル】
Divine Wind Festival (仕事して, Kaito, Ethnic)
Sei! Sei! Sei! Hai! Hai! Hai! Look, if you've ever listened to Shigotoshite before then you know exactly what you're in for; if not, click this then click the producer tag and listen to some of the finest Kaito traditional ballad tunes around. This specific track honestly feels like something of a step backwards; Kaito isn't up to the level I would normally expect, and the song really didn't grab me as much as I'd like. I know the bar for shigotoshite is set rather higher than normal, but even so...
【鏡音リン】 スリーディーロック 【オリジナル曲】
3D ROCK (kyapumira, Rin, Jesus God)
Yeaahhhh. This is pretty funky, I have to say, a kind of 80s-tastic Max Headroom ~super cool~ electronica sound that's almost certainly not going to be to everyone's taste, but my god that wobbly bass line is so catchy like you wouldn't believe.
【初音ミク】涙と夜の存在理由【オリジナル曲】
Tears and the Reason For Night's Existence (yopp, Miku, Pop)
It's been a while since I've been quite this blatantly cheesy at the tail-end of the post, but I think that I'm allowed in one that's as big as this. Archetypal Miku pop through and through, this hits all my buttons just right, from the cheery energetic nature of the melody line to a fantastic guitar solo and some great piano crescendos at each chorus. I've definitely got a soft spot for this sort of stuff.
【初音ミクDARK】 レム 【オリジナル】
REM (co, Miku, Pop)
If you want something a bit darker and grindier at the end of the post, then here's another track that I was hesitant on including until I went back and took another crack at it; the second time through, the intro and the backbeat immediately won me over and I just had to throw it in at the end. Miku doesn't sound incredible, as is my usual gripe with Dark voices, but I love the beat attached to it.
Other/MMD:
がくぽがケチャを踊りたくなったようです【オリジナル？】
aaaaaaaaaaa (kagome, Gakupo(s))
Oh, wait, I forgot about this for Gakupo's birthday too. kagome why are you insane
【MMD】右肩の蝶verレン【Project DIVA2nd 版】その１
Butterfly On My Right Shoulder (nori, MMDPV: mitta, Len, Pop)
As you might expect, MMD stuff is pretty low on the ground with the MMD Cup quite literally breathing down our collective necks, but don't think it's out for the count yet; we've had a number of charming little videos this week, including a fantastic set of motion data ripped from Project Diva and faithfully reproduced here.
初音ミク・巡音ルカ Starring 時報ちゃん- Distorted Princess PV
Distorted Princess (hachioji, MMD: wakamura, Miku + Luka(?), Electropop)
初音ミク - Memories MMDPV
Memories (SmileR, MMD: wakamura, Miku, Pop)
I think I've reached some kind of grumpiness line with wakamura, and then plunged over it head-first. It isn't just the jerky, lifeless use of the Lat models in almost the exact same manner as the rest of his videos that really gets my goat, it's the use of an original model that just happens to have pink hair, rather than bothering with an actual Luka model. Luka's got enough problems without you booting her out of her own video, man.
And Finally...
【邦楽BadApple!!】傷林果
Now this is how you cover Bad Apple!!.
As you might figure out from that, the previews for the MMD 4th Cup have now been released, and can all be found under the associated tag. I'm not going to be making a post about them just yet, that will wait for the main event on the weekend of the 19th, but I have to say that I'm totally stoked. Most of the videos are absolutely stellar, and I've seen a lot of sequels that have me very excited.
Speaking of the 19th! I'm going to be going along to Ayacon, the convention held in the University of Warwick in the UK - mostly because I live all of twenty minutes' drive away. I know at least a couple people from this comm are going, so be sure to look out for me making a goddamn nuisance of myself at the Vocaloid panel, and I'll be sure to buy you a drink or something afterwards.
Also, if you're the sort to go on the Japanese Playstation Network, Dreamy Theatre 2nd is now out for a cool 3900 Yen. Also also, if you're having troubles with Nicovideo, Nicoviewer has returned! Try using 'http://nicoviewer.net/' with the sm/nm number on the end i.e. like so.
Videos:
【調教すげぇ】初音ミク『FREELY TOMORROW』(完成）【オリジナル】
FREELY TOMORROW (Mitchie M, Miku, Club Pop)
The internet as a whole has gone mad for this video, and it easily runs away with this week's roundup. The most impressive thing is an absolutely staggering piece of Miku tuning; outside of some over the top vibrato, she sounds positively human in an incredibly toe-tapping, catchy as hell track. The second most impressive thing is that this is the producer's debut in vocaloid work. There's a reason it's gotten over six hundred thousand views in the space of all of five days; listen to it now and you won't regret a thing.
【初音ミク】ハッピーラッキーアンホリデーマンデー【オリジナルPV】
Happy Lucky Unholy Day Monday (eran, Miku, Pop)
Good lord! I actually managed to skip right over this when I first saw it, seeing only a cheesy electropop intro and a rather scrappy video. I'm glad I went back to take another look - not only is this song catchy enough to make it to the rankings, but the video is another thing entirely, full of great expressions and ridiculousness and a complete and very vivacious manga segment in the second half. If you can get past the relentless grating cheeriness of the song you'll find a real gem.
【初音ミク・巡音ルカ・GUMI+α】 Happy Summer Music 【オリジナルPV】
Happy Summer Music (nana, Miku + Luka + Gumi, Pop)
Awwww. Take Miku, Luka and Gumi and throw them bodily into an extremely perky summer pop song that wouldn't be out of place in Perfume's lineup, sprinkle liberally with Sevencolors' mascot character, add several more dashes of summeriness for good measure, then garnish with some exceptionally pretty video art. Nothing to complain at here, it's fantastic to see an ensemble piece this iconic out of nowhere.
【鏡音リン】 Endroll A 【オリジナル】
Endroll A (yuuyu, Rin, Rock)
You might see a lot of the twins this week; Rinpact! is a recently released compilation album with a whole host of new and high-quality tracks on it, and most of them have ended up in the charts somewhere in the last couple of weeks. Of them, Endroll A is one of the biggest, an occasionally-grungy and otherwise traditionally classic piece of twins rock with a video by Negi, who could be broadly described as one of the most iconic Rin artists.
巡音ルカ「動かない空」【オリジナル】
Unmoving Sky (E.L.V.N., Luka, Smooooooth)
Now this is what Luka's been missing recently. An immensely suave and stylish track, soothing and dreamlike and a perfect showcase for a Luka who hasn't been tuned as a chipmunk, smooth enough to drift away on.
【初音ミク】物をぱらぱら壊す【オリジナル曲PV】
Breaking Things Apart (kikuo, Miku, Emo... Ethnic?)
This is a fantastic track, and almost impossible to categorise. Dramatic and high-strung, the arcing chorus and atonal notes would be appropriate for grungy emo rock or gothic metal except that they're delivered in a soft track via orchestral instruments, soft zithery strings, or xylophonic scales. Add on a seriously twisted video of scratchy, sketchy animation that may disturb and it's a treat.
【初音ミク】ラジカル男女の唄【オリジナル曲PV付】
Radical Song of Men and Women (scop, Miku, Pop)
As ever, another amazing track from scop. Rather less pleasant than his usual fare, this is a harsher and angrier track that dashes rapidly through its piano scales with a punchy melody line. As you'd expect from scop's work, the accompanying video is terribly smooth. Bonus: there's a bit in the chorus where it sounds disconcertingly like someone's shouting in your left ear, and it tripped me up twice while listening to the song for the update.
【巡音ルカ】 宙吊りダンシング 【オリジナル】
Suspended Mid-air Dance (otetsu, Luka, Rock)
And... you know, speaking of scop, it really sounds a lot like otetsu's been taking lessons from him. Compared to many of otetsu's tracks this is a lighter and less outright rocking track that gives up a guitar or two for some jumpier and softer sections while not letting up the slightest instant on the general quality of the track. I really, really enjoyed this, it's a breath of fresh air for Luka and otetsu.
【鏡音リンAppend】morning shift【オリジナル曲】
Morning Shift (L-tone, Rin, Rock)
【鏡音レンAppend】bank-rupt RPG【オリジナル曲】
Bank-rupt RPG (L-tone, Len, Rock)
I rather like L-tone; up until now, I've considered them to get a bit of a bum rap when it comes to the popularity of their songs. Solid Rin coding and a flair for video-making have always been evident in their work, especially their recent Social Paranoia. They're back this week with not one but two hard-hitting and punchy tracks. Morning Shift is a softer affair with some delightful piano, while Bank-rupt RPG is rough and powerful, and both are particularly stellar during the chorus, when the append tunings become absolutely flawless.
【GUMI】ノイジーラバーソウル【オリジナル】
Noisy Lover Soul (Last Note, Gumi, Rock)
I'm putting this up with some reservations. The track itself I have absolutely no problems with - it's a solid piece of Gumi-style rock, a little on the heavy side, but solid and energetic enough to get my toes tapping. But the Gumi voice is... really something else. It feels too raw and disassociated from the main music, and very stark because of it, and it just makes me dislike the whole thing something fierce. That said, I'm going against some seventy thousand viewers here, so I'm just going to chalk it up to my own tastes.
【初音ミク】甘き死の柩【オリジナル曲】
Coffin of Sweet Death (machigerita, Miku, Rock)
I feel much the same way about this track, but I'm usually happy to trust machigerita either due to his pedigree or my out and out favoritism. In any case, this starts off very similarly to Noisy Lover Soul but makes up for it with an excellent second half that just goes all out into rocking and Miku holding long, mournful notes.
【初音ミク】ぐーぐー【オリジナル】
Zzz (卓球少年, Miku, Meme)
Quite literally a thirty second throwaway track, I'm linking this not because of the base song but because of what the combined forces of utattemita have done to it. If you've ever wanted to hear more incoherent grumbling and guttural snoring than you've ever thought possible, just get yourself over to the snoring festival tag. Or if you want the quick fix, here's 100 versions at once.
【巡音ルカ・GUMI】Lady Face【オリジナル】
Lady Face (Taka, Luka + Gumi, Pop)
Mmmm, I almost called this jazzy, but it's more like a blend of orchestral and guitar pop if you ask me - which you're generally better off not doing, since I mangle genres quite happily. I wish I knew where I stood on this track; sometimes I really like it, and I think that Luka and Gumi work very well together and there's some lovely solos. Some other times I wonder why I'm listening to it when some parts of it are very muted or rather wobbly.
鏡音リン「侵略」【オリジナル曲】
Invasion (samfree, Rin, Rock)
Another Rinpact track, another video by NEGI. Samfree have been surprisingly conventional here; there's nothing particularly special about this Rin rock track beyond it being sufficiently rocking and energetic to pass muster as a solid bit of production. If I had to offer a comment it would probably be that, after the ridiculously hard hitting Name Name Burning Night songs, having Rin just simply sing 'motto motto' rather than scream it at the top of her lungs seems like kind of a let down.
【神威がくぽ】 は な げ う た 【オリジナルPV付き】
Nosehair Song (kanimiso, Gakupo, ...)
Possibly the most amazing birthday song Gakupo could have gotten. The rest of the tag is here, but it doesn't stand a chance of beating this... ... this.
【KAITO】神風祭【オリジナル】
Divine Wind Festival (仕事して, Kaito, Ethnic)
Sei! Sei! Sei! Hai! Hai! Hai! Look, if you've ever listened to Shigotoshite before then you know exactly what you're in for; if not, click this then click the producer tag and listen to some of the finest Kaito traditional ballad tunes around. This specific track honestly feels like something of a step backwards; Kaito isn't up to the level I would normally expect, and the song really didn't grab me as much as I'd like. I know the bar for shigotoshite is set rather higher than normal, but even so...
【鏡音リン】 スリーディーロック 【オリジナル曲】
3D ROCK (kyapumira, Rin, Jesus God)
Yeaahhhh. This is pretty funky, I have to say, a kind of 80s-tastic Max Headroom ~super cool~ electronica sound that's almost certainly not going to be to everyone's taste, but my god that wobbly bass line is so catchy like you wouldn't believe.
【初音ミク】涙と夜の存在理由【オリジナル曲】
Tears and the Reason For Night's Existence (yopp, Miku, Pop)
It's been a while since I've been quite this blatantly cheesy at the tail-end of the post, but I think that I'm allowed in one that's as big as this. Archetypal Miku pop through and through, this hits all my buttons just right, from the cheery energetic nature of the melody line to a fantastic guitar solo and some great piano crescendos at each chorus. I've definitely got a soft spot for this sort of stuff.
【初音ミクDARK】 レム 【オリジナル】
REM (co, Miku, Pop)
If you want something a bit darker and grindier at the end of the post, then here's another track that I was hesitant on including until I went back and took another crack at it; the second time through, the intro and the backbeat immediately won me over and I just had to throw it in at the end. Miku doesn't sound incredible, as is my usual gripe with Dark voices, but I love the beat attached to it.
Other/MMD:
がくぽがケチャを踊りたくなったようです【オリジナル？】
aaaaaaaaaaa (kagome, Gakupo(s))
Oh, wait, I forgot about this for Gakupo's birthday too. kagome why are you insane
【MMD】右肩の蝶verレン【Project DIVA2nd 版】その１
Butterfly On My Right Shoulder (nori, MMDPV: mitta, Len, Pop)
As you might expect, MMD stuff is pretty low on the ground with the MMD Cup quite literally breathing down our collective necks, but don't think it's out for the count yet; we've had a number of charming little videos this week, including a fantastic set of motion data ripped from Project Diva and faithfully reproduced here.
初音ミク・巡音ルカ Starring 時報ちゃん- Distorted Princess PV
Distorted Princess (hachioji, MMD: wakamura, Miku + Luka(?), Electropop)
初音ミク - Memories MMDPV
Memories (SmileR, MMD: wakamura, Miku, Pop)
I think I've reached some kind of grumpiness line with wakamura, and then plunged over it head-first. It isn't just the jerky, lifeless use of the Lat models in almost the exact same manner as the rest of his videos that really gets my goat, it's the use of an original model that just happens to have pink hair, rather than bothering with an actual Luka model. Luka's got enough problems without you booting her out of her own video, man.
And Finally...
【邦楽BadApple!!】傷林果
Now this is how you cover Bad Apple!!.