I'm not terribly happy with this post but right now I just want to get it up, after two days of working on it and suddenly a ton of bluescreens, thanks Flash Player. Lots to catch up on, lots of Miku, and a little bit of extra news I only caught as I dug through videos. We're still a little behind by a couple days, but I'll fold them into next post.
News:
- Producer Ryuuuu has accused aRth of plagiarism, and in the description of
this video provides links to
this base melody, not originally published to nicovideo but rather prominently displayed in aRth 'classic'
secret. 2ch's detectives swung into action and found several cases of melodies and sound sources lifted from the external site Eternal Wind; at the time of writing, aRth has pulled his videos and issued a public apology, details of which can be found on the dic.nicovideo page
here. As is apparently now
tradition, ほぼ日P has released a perky jazz track to
commemorate the occasion.
- There's a Teto event! I believe this is being marked by a CD for her, though I haven't picked out the details, together with the recent Project Diva news. There's also a ton of
videos for her under this tag.
Videos:
【初音ミク】カゲロウデイズ【オリジナルPV】Heat Haze Days (jin, Miku, Rock)
A phenomenally successful track, this has managed to rack up about 350,000 views in the space of a couple weeks; I think it's pretty damn great, but I have to admit that the Miku voice is a little too high for my tastes and can really cut through the music a little too forcefully. On the other hand, I'm a sucker for chiptune solos and scorching guitar.
【初音ミク(1640㍍)】未来線【オリジナル】Future Line (164 + 40m, Miku, Pop)
【初音ミク】ビフォーアフター【オリジナル】Before After (164, Miku, Rock)
164 composes and 40m writes the lyrics, then both of them arrange it up for a completely iconic pop track with just a hint of light rock and some excellent guitar solos. One of the big hitters this week, there's nothing to complain about in regards to Future Line whatsoever. As if that weren't enough, 164 almost immediately follows it up with Before After, a catchy rock track that isn't quite as classic as Future Line but does come with a fully animated and slick as hell video and no less breathtaking a guitar player.
【初音ミク】ゴシップ【オリジナル曲】Gossip (OSTER Project, Miku, Big Band Jazz)
【GUMI】マスマティガール【オリジナル曲】Mathematic Girl (OSTER Project, Gumi, Pop)
Ah, Gossip. Another of the big ones this last fortnight, Oster's latest track - and say what you like about Oster, but she's uniquely talented amongst vocaloid producers at composing huge jazz tracks such as this - lies somewhere between a big band track and an outright jam session, with long instrumental sections interspersed with some wonderful bits of Miku crooning. It's also been the subject of some hotly contested debate over the
Usako version of the video, which is a bit too raunchy for many commenters to handle. Mathematic Girl, meanwhile, isn't quite my end of the spectrum but is notable for starting right out the gate with a shiny as hell masataka PV - in which things actually happen! Gosh, masataka!
鏡音リン CRYONICSCRYONICS (AVTechNo!, Rin, Drum + Bass)
初音ミク (っ*'ω'*c)(っ*'ω'*c) a.k.a. tear (AVTechNo!, Miku, Electropop)
If your oontz oontz quota's been a bit low recently and you could do with some thumping beats and grinding melodies to pump it back up a bit, look no further: AvTechNo has your back not once but twice over. CRYONICS is a somewhat odd choice given his past record, but he's taken to Rin like a goddamn master and she's flawless in this excellent track - see if you jump as hard as I did at the sudden surprise near the end. tear, on the other hand... ... is a bizarre and substantial departure from his usual style, and yet at the same time kind of adorable. Certainly it's a very fresh track for a producer like AVTechNo, even if on a relisten I really don't think much of Miku's voice.
【初音ミク】夜空色シンパシズム【オリジナル】Night Sky Colour Sympathism (emon, Miku, Pop)
Like there was a chance of me not including this! Emon's back with yet another fun and jumpy pop track with a ton of little touches and tweaks to the music. Not quite as much of an eyeopener as Hello Hello, but a joy to listen to, especially as it harkens back to Milky Way. As ever for emon, the very best bit is the Requisite Quiet Section.
【GUMI】 ロンディーノ 【オリジナル曲PV付き】Rondino (takamatt, Gumi, R+B)
Well, perhaps not R+B so much as pop R+B, as one commenter puts it. The smooth track is a little too perky and fast a beat to really be described as a single genre, and becomes some kind of mediterranean latino dance at the chorus; great for a bit of suave listening.
【初音ミク】アフターナイト ワンダーランド【オリジナル曲】Afternight Wonderland (糞田舎, Miku, Jazz Pop)
It's the week for suave songs, I guess - this bit of lounge-like jazz is a little bit fantastic, with an appropriately deep Miku that's a little rough but doesn't get on the nerves at all, helped out by some lovely backing crooning and a delightful toe-tapping melody.
【マチゲリータ×涼平(メガマソ)】ザタワーオブデカダン【初音ミク】The Tower of Decadence (machigerita + megaman, Miku, Rock)
But for every suave track this week there's a hard rock track to go with it. This track carries a lot of the machigerita hallmarks - a tendency to veer off suddenly into Hammer Horror territory, for instance, and a deeply dark atmosphere - while at the same time exhibiting some tremendous pounding drums and rocking guitar, all set at a massively fast tempo.
【初音ミク】Fleeting Reality【オリジナルPV付】Fleeting Reality (yuukii, Miku, Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawk!)
And this time there's even two. If Tower of Decadence wasn't quite epic and heroic enough for you then this will at least quell your fears and stave off your craving - this is high rock through and through, and only augmented further by the video of Miku and boyfriend fighting a mechanical Persona demon only to die hideously. Top notch work.
GUMI・鏡音リンアレンジ曲「え?あぁ、そう。(Hard-R.K.G.M.REMIX)」Eh? Aa, sou. (Hard-R.K.G.M.REMIX) (cosMo, Gumi + Rin, Remix)
cosMo just finds the time out of nowhere to throw out a staggering remix to 蝶々's signature track. I don't honestly know what to say here - the voices are a little rough and it makes me think that it might be playing off the original song's enduring fanbase, but the sheer breadth of the piano involved throughout the arrange really does make me a very happy listener.
【巡音ルカ】 地雷原夜道 【オリジナル】Minefield Night Path (dongaringo, Luka, ?!)
Incredibly unique, I can't help but feel that this track might have been more appropriate in a week or two as part of the run up into Halloween - I'm not going to complain about this bandstanding track coming a little early, though, as it's a gleefully bizarre listen that projects wildly from oppressive and dark to operatic to downright striking.
【初音ミク】ガラクタ少女【オリジナル】Garbage Girl (Polyphonic Branch, Miku, Pop)
Let's face it, I only really like this track because of the wonderful tinkling piano notes shot straight through it, trilling gently in the background as over the top of it Miku scratches out a slightly atonal pop track with just enough distortion to it to make it interesting but not overbearing. It could use a little more impact to it, as nothing really forced my attention to the fore, but that outro is so good.
【GUMI】 しましまメロディ 【オリジナル】Shimashima Melody (utsu, Gumi, Pop)
If you've been jonesing for some cheesy pop-rock this week - requisite emon track aside - then worry not, because utsu has your back with relentless cheerfulness, roaring guitar, a well-tuned Gumi, and a violin-filled bridge section. There's nothing terribly special about this track; it's just fun as hell and got my head bobbing almost immediately.
【初音ミク】 才能シュレッダー 【オリジナル】Talent Shredder (不純異性交遊, Miku, Rock)
Gosh, what a track. Full of energy and verve and some awesome guitar, Miku's voice is a little bit way-too-high for my tastes, but this song is redeemed instantly by a breakneck pace, some fantastic instruments and a whole bunch of little vocal twangs.
【GUMI】 シック☆チック 【オリジナル曲】Chic☆Chick (BETTI/Easypop, Gumi, Electropop)
If you've heard any of Easypop's stuff, from Happy Synthesizer right down to My Room Disco, you know exactly the sort of music you're in for here... but it just doesn't have the raw energy or catchiness that those tracks do, and Gumi sounds just rough enough to put me off this track a little. It's still good, but if you're getting a little tired of this genre it's probably not going to do much for you.
Purification 【VY1/オリジナル曲】Purification (Seiko, VY1, Ballad Trance)
Seiko's declining popularity always makes me cry whenever it comes up. I can't explain it beyond the fact she's using VY1 and other unusual robots nowadays, and people just aren't clicking the songs, which is a criminal shame. Her coding of VY1 is basically perfect here, with some incredible vocal work, especially in the solos.
【いろは・ルカ】私が踊る時(宝塚版)【エリザベート】When I Dance (Takarazura Edition) (根気, Luka + Iroha, Opera)
I wouldn't exactly call this a track to listen to for music's sake, per se, or at least generally speaking the average member of the vocaloid fan crowd isn't going to want to sit down to a bit of light synthesized opera of an evening. But this is worth listening to just for how much power is behind their voices as they belt out this charming track - Luka has some truly awesome moments, and Iroha makes a very nice Kenshin substitute according to the video.
Other:
ドット絵ミクでsm12855300Pixel Miku (chiitaagaaru, Miku + Miku, !?)
I love this video something chronic. Adorable pixel art meets a suave as silk Parappa remix, as Neru and Haku (or rather, two recoloured Mikus...) dance along and mack on each other to the tune of Master Onion's Romantic Love. The animation is incredibly charming.
【Concept Movie】初音ミクの激唱【VOCALOID-PV】Hatsune Miku no Gekishou (cosMo, MMDPV: Aono.Y, Miku, Rock)
While it would have been nice to see a little more choreography in this video - it's kind of one of those Miku posing in front of the camera ones - there's no denying the sheer amount of breathtaking work that must have gone into making this tremendous video look so gosh-darn pretty. Full of extensive use of effects and references to other songs, it's a very fitting Gekishou video and a deserved success.
【映像を】 腐れ外道とチョコレゐト 【付けてみた】Rotting Heresy and Chocolate (pinokio, PV: すす泥棒, Miku, Rock)
【MMD】マッシュルームマザー【PV】Mushroom Mother (pinokio, MMDPV: MAO, Miku, Crazed)
Holy god, I swear pinokio gets the very best videos. The first is a crazy, crazy animation to go with an equally manic and confused track, and it's fantastic. 3D rendering meshes with papercrafts, drawings and a touch of Monty Python-style stop animation to create a massive spectacle that shouldn't be missed. The second is a Lat routine for my recent favorite Mushroom Mother, and is a little less on the crazy side but no less unsettling in the end.
【MMD】みくずきんで「クローバー♣クラブ」Clover♣Club (yuuyu, MMDPV: muubu, Miku, Pop)
I'm getting more and more convinced that muubu must be an inside source, here. Fresh after banging out a grand total of four versions of Miku, to correspond to the various convenience store tie-ins, out pops this perfect recreation of PJD2nd's Clover Club with a model to match.
【MMD】XSミクさん たんじょうさいMikuXS Birthday (samfree, MMDPV: Re:YaMa, Ensemble, Pop)
To celebrate the one year anniversary of the MikuXS model: all the rest of them! This is your standard Gravity=Reality dance with a whole bunch of robots attached, but it's worth a look for a) Neru's amazing eyebrows, b) a Luka model that doesn't suck. No, I mean really this time. Okay, she's a little bit on the moeblob side but that's keeping with the rest of them.
【MUGEN】mugenでルカさんが回るようです3【MMD】Luka in MUGEN 3 (so, Luka)
The continuing adventures of a dedicated MUGEN player and his attempts to use MMD to provide a graphical model to program and code a Luka character for popular open-sourced streetfighter program MUGEN. There's been a few of these videos and while nothing ever happens, I find them interesting just to watch the project evolve. Now, with special moves!
【MMD】ミクさんに、DB第1話の再現をお願いしてみましたが…。Dragonball Vocaloids (MMD: sevens, Miku + Neru + Meiko)
This is an extremely silly MMD, and that's all I'm going to say about that. Lovely effects on some of the moves, though. It's bizarre to think that a year ago we had to put up with some really clunky particle physics and that was all.