This song was inspired in part by the love of the ASoS community and Heartsong’s appreciation for the support that they have received through its members, and that love shines beautifully throughout this song! The opening strings, brass, and xylophone meld together so sweetly as Heartsong’s OC, Violet Aria, sings to plants to help them grow. It pairs wonderfully with the lovely background art, which glows with sunny brilliance. The lyrical nature of the song allows the listener to drift along on the combined voice of the instruments as the progression takes you on a life-affirming stroll through the fields. It’s so sweet and satisfying and a wonderful contribution to the ASoS: Eclair album!
Author: thecanderson
Vanessa Hudgens – Gonna Be My Day (Koron Korak Remix) | Electro House
And now for something a bit different! For this remix Koron Korak recreates the original melody and then offsets it from the vocals, creating what sounds like a conversation between the singer and the arrangement. The arrangement itself has a really cool vibe to it that channels the warm, summery feeling of the background art. The chorus pumps up the arrangement and introduces a jazzy saxophone melody, an unexpected but awesome choice. It’s definitely the instrumental that drives this song, and the vocals, though left largely unaltered, function more like another instrument. The bridge adds a great chippy synth that soars along with the vocals before the saxophone takes over at the end and steals the show. This is a thorough, thoughtful exploration and reimagining of the original, and the effort is very much appreciated.
Vanessa Hudgens – Gonna Be My Day (Seventh Element Remix) | Drum & Bass
It’s always interesting hearing everyone’s approach to these remixes. Seventh Element takes the original and pushes up the tempo, creating a greater sense of urgency. The opening keys combine with new synths, percussion, and effects to create a reverby, bubbly beginning, and then the strings kick in as the song builds into the chorus. The arrangement feels like it’s winding up for a big emotional punch, but instead we get a bubbly, peppy chorus that bounces merrily along. It’s a great combination, and the song flows along really nicely with some fun tweaks after the bridge that give it this great, chippy vibe without getting crunchy. It all makes for a lively pick-me-up of the tune that keeps the positive vibes of the original while doing its own thing.
Aventrix Fixes Assertive Fluttershy Fixes ArtAttack – Still Shy VIP (feat. Metajoker) | Drum & Bass
First ArtAttack created this terrific song with the goal of capturing Fluttershy’s capability for being both gently nurturing and forcefully protective. Then the Original VIP updated the arrangement and added Metajoker vocals to make the song that much more epic and impactful. Then Assertive Fluttershy created their Fix that reworked the song to create a UK Hardcore version for My Little Remix War V. Now Aventrix has created their own version that takes the hardcore mix and polishes it up. The tempo, key, and EQ have been adjusted, and new synths, drums, and FX create a super clean sound. You’d never know that this track was made on a phone using audio from YouTube. It sounds great, it’s a wonderful link to horse music history, and there’s a higher quality free download link in the description that I would recommend for full audio goodness. Get in there and create some new nostalgia!
Evgeniy Doctor feat. Brilliant Venture – Royal Guard (NeighGative_ Dark Tech Mix) | Dark Tech Trance
This track is based off of this fantastic original version meant to evoke the feeling of Canterlot Castle at night from the perspective of the Royal Guard, but it takes the original techno delivery and gives it a wonderful Nightmare Night twist! This track debuted during the NeighGative_ set at Ponyville Ciderfest this year and now gets unleashed upon listeners through this amazing individual release. NeighGative_ videos have fantastic background art and effects, and this track is no exception. Sonically, Luna’s formerly ethereal vocals get a crunchy, blippy, distorted treatment which makes sense when the intensity ramps up and the image of Nightmare Moon appears in the background art. Ominous vocal chops round out an arrangement that pulses with dark intensity. A cool shift in the synth melody at the end accompanies a shift in the background art, and the song concludes with Luna announcing, “I am a nightmare.” The citizens of Ponyville may not be safe, but at least we listeners received this entrancing contribution to the catalog of amazing Nightmare Night tunes!
Altius Volantis – Flutterfright | Hardcore
Altius Volantis has contributed a frightful Nightmare Night tune, and the effort is much appreciated! The track opens with some Flutterchops over a spooky melody, and the progression ramps up intensity by layering in additional synths before adding some percussion that could be footsteps on the path behind you…or maybe just the wind? Another Fluttershy chop and some rumbling bass introduces a shift to a more stripped down but no less intense arrangement before Fluttershy screams “RUN!” and the drop hits. Things go really off the rails at this point as the intensity skyrockets and the background image shifts, and you can really hear the artist’s fondness for noise.horse tracks coming through here. A return to a calmer delivery just sets the listener up for more madness, and the track wraps up with a Rainbow Dash cackle, letting us know that everything will (probably) be okay. The experience made me wish that I was enjoying this song as part of a Headless Horse album, but I’m glad that an alumnus of the label stepped up with this ripper of a track that channels the spoopi elements of the holiday in such a wonderful way!
Koron Korak – Missing Heart | Dark Ambient
This track may surprise those only familiar with Koron Korak’s more recent fare, which has been a joyful exploration of pony goodness, but the artist has long been adept at channeling any emotion into their music. The description of this song as an outlet for the artist’s darkest feelings at their lowest point makes a lot of sense, and the image of Cadence literally missing her heart perfectly embodies this sentiment. The distorted, synth-driven opening growls fair warning at you, and the echoey percussion, ambient rumbles, screeches, haunting vocal effects, and dark keys are perfect accompaniments. The percussion simulates a misfiring heart before unsteadying effects herald an actual, faint heart beat, creeping into the song before dying out. It’s dark stuff, but it’s incredibly well-done, and we can all be thankful both for this incredible encapsulation of despair and that the artist is in a better space now.
Deavas – Eternal Night | Metal
All hail Nightmare Moon, ruler of one of the best times of the year for Pony music! Deavas doesn’t mess around with this tribute, opening with some hard charging guitar riffs and percussion and a clip from the Mare of the Hour herself tormenting the citizens of Ponyville. The song launches into full effect after Nightmare Moon shouts “the night will last forever”, and the dueling guitar melodies do an awesome job of embodying the storm of fear felt by the witnesses to this auspicious event. There’s awesome guitar work throughout the song that mixes with nice changes of pace, and ending with Luna’s evil laugh is the perfect culmination for this rock maelstrom.
SpinScissor – drawing near | Ambient
SpinScissor is no stranger to exploring characters’ psyches with their music, and this song is another fine example of what they can achieve when thus inspired! This amazing ambient track examines Twilight’s mental state when Principal Cinch forces her to join the school team in My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Friendship Games. It must have been devastating for Twilight to have her academic future threatened, and you can hear her wrestling to keep things mentally compartmentalized here. The pulsing beat lends a wonderful “heart in the throat” vibe complimented by bits of vocal chops and distorted synths and ambience that swirls around the listener. There are also wonderful breaks with ambience and keys that give calm moments before the arrangement pulls the listener back into Twilight’s doubts. SpinScissor really nailed the ambient effects–they have a delightfully unsettling nature as they tinkle, buzz, and percolate through the song. The vocal chop melody toward the end of the song is so well done as well, and adding that more concrete element and then taking it away is a perfect touch.
Harmonic Six – On The Fringe | Alternative Electronic
Harmonic Six pays tribute to Babs Seed, the fourth Cutie Mark Crusader and founder of the CMC Manehattan branch, with this delightful tune! It opens with chops from the episode “One Bad Apple”, with Babs and the CMC’s reconciling after their differences during the episode. Gentle acoustic guitar accompanies the chops before a lovely bassline joins in, and the guitar shifts to a lively melody. The introduction of percussion, xylophone, and gentle keys and woodwinds in the second half fills out the arrangement and give this song a wonderful soundtrack quality. It really sounds like it could be from an episode! The tone of the track perfectly fits the heartfelt camaraderie and playfulness of the group, echoed by the video’s background, a screencap from the episode. It’s a beautiful tribute to the character and a burst of positive energy that would make the CMC’s proud!
Horse Music Herald 