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Whirlwind is not just a drummer in this fandom, oh no, my fellow bronies. He is quite the musical storyteller. It takes special talent to take real dreams and translate them into relatable music. His debut album tells a story of his OC seeing Equestria. It’s amazing to me how much MLP:FiM means so much to people, and how dreams like this can translate into music such as this. The elements in use are there, creative uses of ambient, electronia, IDM. even a bit of drone, D&B and even glitch-hop. These all bring out the experience of so many ups and downs, drama-filled excitement or moments of peaceful bliss. Whirlwind alone should be commended in the creative experimentation of electronic music that he’s trying to break into, but enough of me talking… Let’s have a listen.
(Listen to the original here! And find this remix album here)
Yes, it’s one more of these, and oh! It’s a wild Whirly Tail! This remix is the literal definition of low to high octane. This gorgeous keyboard melody of the original bass line is so rich as it starts off this track courtesy of Venetin! Do you remember the original slammed you hard? WELL! Just let Whirly Tail’s controlled insanity and genius throw you into the wall! You are launched into an adventure, with some amazing hyper wubbly sinthetics and riffs. That keyboard is then combined with some heart-pounding bass and positively charged riffs that only Whirly’s happy hardcore obliges your presence with! These two then top this sundae off with an awesome electronic solo that is so emotional and exciting, and Whirly’s love for rock and roll speaks right there! If you left happy, Whirly and Venetin’s combined insanity and creativity has done its job! As always, this Qilin asks you to judge for yourself.
You know purity when you hear it. Pure authentic jazz is something magical. It has the ability to sweep you off your feet or reflect in the moments of truth. Leave it to this man to take one of Twilight Sparkle’s crucial character moments and turn them into something so emotionally deep and smooth.
Toby has a distinct reputation of being one of the most original musicians and frankly unappreciated for this talent for music making in the Brony fandom. That might be up for debate depending on who you talk to, however. He has a reputation of making incredibly unique pieces of music, and this track is right on par with those, or even more special. Incredibly smooth piano and saxophone playing, even jazzy drum beats with a dash of Lo-Fi for the electronic flavor. The manipulation of Twilight’s vocals from “You’ll Play Your Part” into more jazz-styled vocals is stunning. Interestingly enough, the music is purely original, created from the ground up from Toby’s craft. Credit to him for making the vocals flow with it!
The most amazing thing about this track is that even without Twilight’s vocals, this song is still good. All the melodies and magic of jazz music is super smooth and fluid.
Imagine this for a moment. The newly crowned princess of Equestria is standing on her balcony with Spike, and these vocals are going through her head with this glorious melody. It really puts into perspective how important that moment in season 4 was for her character growth. As always, this Qilin asks you to judge for yourself.
I know after listening to this song you will have questions. It’s understandable. Eyes represent something that’s been done in music for centuries.
Heavy metal is such an amazing genre to use as a conduit to send a strong message to get you to think really hard. Djohn here has produced a fine use of those elements of anger and frustration, amped right up with a message that should ring into your heart. The guitars, Djohn’s masterful drumming and Sable’s orchestration gives this track its legs. But is the voice of Djohn that is the heart of this track. The message in those lyrics… It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what he’s talking about and he is so good at letting that emotion just come right out.
Now the message in those lyrics is probably going to be controversial to some who hear it; we as Bronies don’t like to hear the truth sometimes. But what Djohn has done is nothing new in music. Bands like System of a Down. Slipknot, Korn, Rage Against the Machine, Linkin Park and Korn are examples. Rappers like Public Enemy, NWA and Eminem are also known for it, and even classic artists like Bob Dylan and Phil Collins.
Every single one of these groups caused controversy to some degree and some people were not happy. But the public curious took a closer look and found those messages and understood.
Take a step back and listen. There is wisdom in those lyrics. Very relatable ones that not only talk about our fandom, but people as a whole. The episode in My Little Pony. “The talk of the town” moral this song is the same as that episode about Zecora; it’s just a lot more blunt and honest in this songTake an honest listen of this song and think about it. This Qilin more than ever asks you to really judge for yourself.
The whole song is centered around this very line, and the moment in this video with it. Music is such a conduit for putting such raw and powerful feelings or even memories into a flow or output with the right elements and ingredients. Dewie uses all the powerful and natural feeling of folk music, with the epic acoustic guitars being the focal element of the journey. The piano is a seasoning for the happy and bliss, the drum beats for emotional building up in song, and semi orchestral tones for making this song feel like it is telling a tale of legends, those being the legends of thousands of bronies at pony conventions. It brings out the true emotion of Dewie’s songwriting with some really refined production. Everything sounds very vibrant and emotional. Vocally, Dewie sings with his absolute best harmony and power, giving the performance of a lifetime in this track.
These words ring out with profound truth of bronies withstanding the test of time and public opinion. The song hits you right in the personal core of these bounds and memories being in a state of unbreakable legend. From my personal standpoint as I write this, the lyrics with the moments played in the video brings this sense of being overjoyed with a fandom that saved my well being. The feelings of being at a pony con and nothing else matters in the world, that the pure fun, laughter and warm and life changing fellowships that happen in those halls. Many, many bronies have found life saving happiness and renewed passion learning new skills and learning new things about themselves. The kinship you form at these cons are magical, standing in panels and in unity singing a song from the show, dancing with the person next to you, reacting to special moments that only happen at these pony cons. Watching a friend that worked so hard for years to get there do and living a dream, and you getting to be there share the moment with them! Standing arm and arm at the brony music concerts emotionally crying as a song that means so much to you and others is being played to you live, right in that moment. Or something as simple as playing a game or having lunch with someone that means a lot to you and you becoming closer. This song hits all of those buttons. I can honestly say that this song is so heartfelt to me and a lot of other bronies who found a place where they could find real friends in such a harsh world that is not fair. But for a special weekend at a pony con, the world is right. Not bad for such a niche fandom.
If you shed a few tears listening to this song, then you know. The song has an amazing sax solo with this super emotional melody about never forgetting what Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Fluttershy have done for us. Never let the brony spirit go out. Remember that feeling and never forget that “We Were Here”. Please check out Dewie’s album Reflection, where you get this song and history of his journey as a musician. As always, this Qilin asks you to judge for yourself.
A remix of this already? If you read everything I said about the original, all of that still applies. Dropper, however, changes the complexity of this song by amping up the intensity. It’s a big fight confrontation, and feels like walking out in front of a hundred thousand ponies to fight for a big prize. The melodies are big and powerful, and it sets you into a mood that makes you feel as if something is about to go down between foes. You will be out of your seat, jumping to how raucous this is The more intense melody and the bass makes Forest Rain’s lyrics about confrontation even more serious. You be the judge. This Qilin highly recommends this one if you want to get into that big fight feel!
It’s not mayhem until natural disasters, right? For one of the closing acts on COREQUESTRIA Vol 1:PonyVille, DASH has composed the musical equivalent of tyrannical downpore. They synthetically use a deep, booming bass, as well as scratching and screeching effects to create a melody of a raging monsoon, and a certain Pegasus sleeping at the worst possible time. The sounds of doom add to this with a haunting gong. The pace of the track gets more intense as things go on and you wonder if Ponyville can survive, effectively simulating more chaos! Splittercore is a genre that is particularly present in tracks of pure horror and mayhem! Hold on for dear life and check this track out. As always, this Qilin asks you to judge for yourself.
(Warning: The following album has strong adult language, and intense horror themes. you have been warned.)
This article was Co-written by Nevermourn and DrakeEmberHeart.
If you’re looking for something really out there, or if you’re feeling adventurous in the realm of the brony music community, then my partner for this article, Nevermourn, and I want to point you to Equestrian Terror Corps’s first compilation album, “COREQUESTRIA Vol 1: Ponyville”. From listening to this Album, it’s very different from a lot of electronic music out there in the fandom. The theme of this album is horror, chaotic and disturbing electronic music that tells the tale of a disorated Ponyville, plagued by these themes. You’ll find hardcore, rawstyle, speedcore, terrorcore, breakcore, Spittercore and even some chiptune! The tracks themselves are full of some of the most interesting productions of music I’ve heard. The use of vocal chops and insanely fast, haunting and eerie-sounding elements are well done. The album will basically brainwash you into listening, as well as give you a sense of the bizarre! One of the most intriguing things is the recurring theme of various moments or episodes from the show and getting them twisted and turned for some of these tracks. It’s worth a listen. Let’s have a look, shall we?
Keeping with the theme of insanely bizarre compositions, Sergeant Moon\Enuna seems to have a thing for vocal chops in a lot of them! This one has a melody of what I like to think is distorted hip hop music with a haunting texture to it. Just like the show The Twilight Zone. No pun intended. This song goes into the mind of a crazy Twilight Sparkle. There is a flavor of distorted vocal chops in this track of well-known mainstream rapper Lil’ Jon manipulated to the point where it sounds like he is saying horse puns. Off-putting as that sounds, it’s strange but it works! The composer amps up as the track gets more insane. Even Twilight herself asks for more with the help of Pony.Ai. This track, like I said, may not be for everybody, but it’s certainly something that stands out about how bizarre in creative Corequestria Vol 1: Ponyville is. You must hear it for yourself. As always, this Qilin really wants you to judge for yourself!
Horse Music Herald 