Welcome one and all to a truly auspicious event: The latest installment in the My Little Remix series! For those that don’t know (which included me before this album), MLR began in 2011 when the pony music scene was absolutely exploding as a way of pulling artists together into a more cohesive community. There have been nine albums featuring some of the best talent of their respective times, and though the creative mayhem of the early days has come and gone, the songs that those artists and others who took up the horse music banner produced left an indelible impression on the fandom music landscape. What a wonderful delight, then, that the time-honored tradition of remixing has returned for yet another glorious compilation of fandom talent! This album is a really fantastic musical journey full of lovingly produced music, and it is my absolute pleasure to introduce you to its track along with my co-conspirator, Simon. So go download the album, kick back, and join us in this beautiful appreciation of horse music achievement! Also, how great is it that the tracks are labeled “befriends”? Whomever came up with that deserves a hearty huzzah! Alright, let’s get into it!

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d.notive – Let Your Mane Down (Stormwolf Remix)

This wonderful track opens with an upbeat melody and a plucky synth line that has a fun, folky vibe before launching into a more Eurobeat-style arrangement. Then d.notive’s heartfelt vocals begin to share the story of Sweetie Belle’s attempts to help out her big sister in the episode “Sisterhooves Social”. It’s a pepped-up delivery compared to the original, but the bouncy arrangement doesn’t detract from the emotional impact of the song, and the vocals and melodies work fantastically together and really pull the listener into the story.

&I – Farther Away (feat. Chi-chi & Cyril the Wolf) (Foozogz Remix)

The fantastic original version is an introspective pop rock piece full of carefully textured instruments. Here Foozogz supercharges the arrangement and morphs the song into a scintillating firestorm! Opening with a guitar riff, the song quickly launches into a buzzy synth groove before kicking in some simple percussion accentuated by dabs of melody as Chichi’s vocals join in. Soon a groovy bassline and swirling synth pull the listener in, and the vocals get chopped into the melody before the drop kicks in and really sets the mix ablaze. The bass is wide, the grooves are hard, and despair has rarely been so danceable. 

Eurobeat Brony – Luna (feat. Odyssey) (Whitetail Disaster Mode Remix)

The tape deck clicks, and a couple of plaintive lines of melody usher in this sad tale of somepony relating their own difficult situation to Luna being trapped on the moon. It’s actually a more subdued remix of the original, taking the intensity of the speaker’s anguish in a different direction. The result of the thudding base, clanging percussion, and scuffed up vocals is a grittier delivery that is satisfying in its own way, creating a darker atmosphere. After the chorus the arrangement intensifies and surges, taking on a kind of a dark club vibe where you can almost hear the crowd cheering on the madness. There’s a really cool synth line that gets brought into the mix midway through that unsettles the arrangement further.

Maddie Tourmaline – Flower Garden (Circuitfry Remix)

This relatively short song is a sweet tune that’s imbued with cinematic, dancing-through-the-streets magic. Opening with some beautiful strings and horns, the tender lyrics, guitar, and keys pluck and plink their way along as the speaker searches for a way to console somepony special. It’s a sweet serenade that feels like it pulls from equal parts piano-in-the-parlor and Ars antigua, and it doesn’t hang about past the singer’s revelation, but it’s a lovely interjection after the previous, comparatively heavy songs.

Cyril the Wolf – Millennium Alone (Maddie Tourmaline Remix)

The track opens with some cool instrumental ambience that evokes traveling through space, perhaps echoing Celestia’s thoughts of her sister banished to the moon. Then the searing guitar and breakneck percussion kick in, and we are off to the races! The song slows down as Cyril’s vocals are introduced, mimicking the original’s soft opening, but the mixing and melodic instrumentation really punch up the delivery, giving it a pleasing retro-meets-modern-EDM-meets-metal vibe. The strings and distorted bass that take us into the second verse cruise right through where you might expect to hear a drop, but on the other side are Cyril’s powerful vocals. Where the original went more metal in the second half, there’s a delicate balance between the softer and more intense elements in this version which holds until the end of the track arrives with a familiar blend of guitar and strings.

Archie – Chasing the Sunrise (d.notive Remix)

Taking on an Archie track that has a really great 80’s vibe and clean, sharp sound, d.notive stays very true to the spirit of the original through but with a unique delivery. The artist muddies things up by layering in synth, choir, and a riser to open the song that makes it feel like the chorus is soaring out into open space. Throughout the song the ultra cool vibe and melodic progression is still there with funk guitar, saxophone, vocoder, and organ filling in in turn and pushing the arrangement along with a little bit darker vibe. There’s also a great bit in the middle of the track where some classic chimes are paired with sci-fi sound effects. There’s a lot going on here, and it’s all very well done!

Thanks for joining me for the first half of the album, and I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did! I now hand it over to my amazing co-writer, Simon, for his take on the second half. Enjoy!

Simon:

Ok, thanks to theCANderson for sharing this awesome album with me–this one’s a special one! For this 10th anniversary of the first Remix War, early fandom producers have reunited to bring to us this amazing album full of amazing remixes. TheCANderson has already shown you the first six songs, and I will introduce you to the other six. Let’s have some fun!

Whitetail – Let’s Go Adventure! (Spry Remix)

For this first one we’ve got a rather short entry clocking in at around one minute and 42 seconds. This one is a rather calm track with a soothing synth and a fast but soft beat. It’s a perfect track for your calm evenings and to put it on loop forever, because that is exactly what this song deserves and is made for!

WoodenToaster – Rainbow Factory (Direct Current Cover)

Content Warning: Everything attached to the name “Rainbow Factory” is considered dark and for older audiences.

This Track starts out with the instrumental we all know and love, but Direct Current gave it an entirely new look. Rather than sing with an auto tuned voice he decided to turn the lyrics into a poem. The recitation, without big emotions behind it, just adds to the gloomy feel of the song. For the ending bit we actually get a bit of background vocals from Woodentoaster as we had in the original, a nice touch for a fittingly dark ending.

Foozogz – A Typical Magic Show (Supersaw Hoover Speedcore Remix)

This brings me back a bit to the last ETC album because this track would fit into an ETC album perfectly. Supersaw has this style of speedcore that manages to be fast and crazy and keep you entertained for the entire two and a half minutes this track blows by.

Nexgen, Aoshi, DaMane, Biscayne & Versal – I’m not Addicted (mcmiag Remix)

Content Warning: Addiction and Drugs

I didn’t think I’d ever reference Shakespeare in an article, but here we are! The beginnings of the original and remix behave like The Bard’s “Sonnet 116” and James Simmons’ “Marital Sonnet 4” in that the latter poem and remix version are answers to their original counterparts. The beginning of the original version of this song was a Wasteland Radio advert for drugs, while this remix starts out with a news piece about using equine therapy to treat addictions. The rest of the remix stays very true to the original while adding these awesome extra drums and increasing the songs length by a bit.

Replacer – Season Infinity (Somasis Remix)

This one is another for my favourite category of “put this on to just chill out for a few minutes”. The melody is this soothing piano and soft vocals. Later the piano is joined by some more instruments and starts sounding a bit Mediterranean. The calm vocals continue near uninterrupted until the end.

Jackle App – Autumn (Replacer Cover) (Foozogz Remix)

For this last song I’ve got something special for you guys: not only is this a remix, but it’s a remix of a cover! 

This song starts out with a bit of random sounds followed by most likely the best synth for a derpy love song I have ever heard and a charming, lovely baseline. That doesn’t hold for long, however, because a riser quickly leads us up to a change of beat and potentially the sweetest song lyrics I have ever heard. “Trot with me through the autumn leaves, and keep close to stay warm,” is the part where this song got me, and mind you that we’re still only about thirty seconds in! Accompanying these amazing lyrics is a fantastic videogame-y melody, but even that doesn’t stay long and is followed by a little build up. Foozogz brings us this firework-like beat that is simply indescribable. After an awesome instrumental section the melody calms down a bit, but it only does so for a short time before we get back to the amazing fireworks beat and yet another instrumental section, this time with its own lead synth! Following that we get another calmer section with a little static crackling in the background, which might sound wrong to some people, but for me it is a fantastic addition that gives the song an even broader variation of fitting sounds to really fill in the soundscape. After another riser we get a second drop, and like last time this is a firework beat like no other. For an outro we first get the normal fadeout stuff, but Foozogz isn’t quite done yet, and so we get a final few chords and end on a literal crash.

Now that I showed you the rest I’ll toss it back to theCANderson to take you to the close!

theCANderson:

Thank you so much to Simon for that typically fantastic analysis, and thank you, my dear reader, for allowing us to introduce you to this album! Most importantly, thank you to those who contributed to this album that celebrates artists who have created such wonderful music for us over the show’s remarkable run and beyond! I have discovered some new favorite artists and songs along the way, and I hope that you have as well! For now, this theCANderson signing off and wishing you a wonderful day full of awesome music!

@dnotive @officalandi @cyrilthewolf @ChichiAi @OdysseyEB @WoodenToaster @Foozogz @GratefulRobber @aoshimusic @Biscayne11 @Versal17 @replacer808 @madstourmaline @rakudachu @SpryTunes @kyliesomasis @DirectCMusic @zovinoise