DJ Gestap has returned with his first track in a year, as well as his first original track since September 2017, and what a comeback it is! Neon Lights is a bouncy trance piece that’ll make you get out of your seat while feeling absolutely uplifting. The synths, pianos and various electronic effects, especially during the middle are beautifully crafted and atmospheric, really bringing out the best of the trance genre. Welcome back, DJ Gestap!
Electronic
Checkerëd – Thread by Thread | PsyChill
Inspired by General Mumble’s track, Checkerëd delved into dark soundscapes and eerie rhythms for this new original track! The progression will reveal more creative ideas as you surrender to the grip of the sound, and of Rarity too!
VibePoniez – Hearth’s Warming EP | Compilation Album | Lo-fi / Chillout
This is a great time for pony music. New faces are are showing up while old ones are returning, already existing labels are developping while new ones are being created. In terms of chill music, 2019 began with Spikey Wikey’s mix showing there was demand for this family of genres that had been previously left aside by the fandom. Later this year, Tw3Lv3, Steryotype and TheTaZe undertook the responsability of building a scene from the ground up in some sense and produced decent amounts of music to relax/study to, to quote the YouTube stream that rose lo-fi to the popularity it has today. In september they created the label VibePoniez that sought to “promote brony artists who make chill music”. They had expected to have 3 to 4 lo-fi tracks overall on their debut album but it went much beyond their expectations as they recieved submissions from a great diversity of genres and even some from big names in the community.
This long EP starts off with meme tracks from the label founders themselves that are nonetheless very pleasent to listen to. Single Purpose‘s track Setbacks is short, sweet and minimalistic and uses a heart wrenching Octavia sample. Paloris‘ i still miss you makes creative use of Twilight vocal chops from I Have to Find a Way and has a great deep bass which creates a terrific chilled out atmosphere. TheChristmasSong(ChestnutsRoasting) from Steryotype is exactly what you’d expect from him: clean classic lo-fi beats. Reflection by Rayne Dear, an alias of PhonicB∞m apparently, uses some nice percussions made up of various sounds they recorded in their dad’s kitchen. Tw3Lv3 made a liquid drum & bass remix of GrazySmash‘s Dream from Helpie’s Corner: Other Side Of The Mirror, which definitly falls under the chill category. :Twi: by TCB will get a post of its own soon. Happy Mood is Insane Domi aka Mr.Sunset’s first ever released track. Even though it didn’t quite make it in Equinity 02: Catalyst, with a few tweaks and help with mastering from Tw3Lv3 it became a rock solid track to relax to. Lorris Power Note‘s Sentiments brings yet another genre to the album being a cute vocal chops-heavy synthwave track. VibePoniez’ first album and sucess ends on an ambient piece by GrazySmash which comes off as a surprise considering Grazy had only made hard hitting music so far.
Now we almost have enough for a 24/7 pony lo-fi radio! Make sure to follow VibePoniez on Bandcamp and YouTube to catch their latest releases!
Brilliant Venture – Ponies Think Sometimes Differently | Electronica
Never have I ever experienced such a dreamlike intwinement of orchestral, rock, and electronica elements before. In this song, Brilliant Venture expertly pairs a crunchy guitar with a warm, gated synth; a pizzicato violin with bowed strings and nature’s own ambience; a detuned, string-like synth with the song’s end. Brilliant Venture then varnishes the song with tight drums and the most bittersweet vocal chops, gluing it together perfectly. No matter what home is to you, this song will bring you to it. For me, despite having a long-running love of electronic music, the huge cushions of bowed strings bring me there. The only other thing I could ask out of this song is for it to be expanded into a huge, 10-minute long electronica project, for this song truly is a brilliant venture.
[Generic Christmas Album by the Noisiest of Horses] Fyrefox – Evil Enchantress | Techno
Fyrefox, an alias of Dynamite Grizzly decided to give some love to the unarguably best zebra of the show. This very dancy techno track from noise.horse’s Generic Christmas Album by the Noisiest of Horses is heavy on vocal samples and has some of those old one-of-a-kind synths. It also contains references to the eponymous alleged very first music made in the fandom.
Koron Korak – We Will Meet Again | Trance
2012 vibes? 2012 vibes. Koron Korak’s first track of the year (as well as the decade) is a trance piece that’s sure to make you feel nostalgic by bringing in pony samples that any brony’s sure to recognise as well as taking glitzy synth sounds and drums from 90s trance music. A lovely song about friendship needs a lovely mood!
[Equinity] TPressleyJ – Brohoofdab (feat. ShobieShy) | Dubstep
As featured on the Equinity 02: Catalyst compilation album, TPressleyJ and ShobieShy deliver a vibrant dubstep track straight to your door. Get braced by a collage of plucks in the beginning. The well-renowned kick and snare of modern dubstep punch its way in afterward, accompanied by fat, detuned saws. Soon, those saws and drums will fade out, introducing a vocal line that is hard to say anything about. That vocal line again leads into a motley of frequency modulated and bit-crushed basses that are split into two sections, one with the complex sound of classic dubstep, and one inspired by the most rhythmic riddim dubstep tracks. There’s no doubting this song will deliver a frenzied tone wherever you are! Use cautiously.
Toby Macarony – Shenanigans | Album | Electronic
Toby Macarony makes incredible and unique music that only Toby Macarony can make! For years now, they have been pushing the boundaries of conventional dance music and thrilling those paying attention with a hybrid electro swing/horror style while occasionally dabbing into other genres as well.
Shenanigans puts the full array of talent front and center with a variety of amazing tracks! The vocal chop work is out of this world, with the timing, tuning, and modulation.
The first track The Starlight Glimmer Express has a powerful and very jazzy feel. The beat bounces to a train-like cadence and sets the stage for a crazy album.
Songs like Sunset at the Farm, and AJ’s Muscles utilize some country instrumentation and get a very homely, Applejack feel with the twang from a banjo among other stylized instrumentation.
One of the biggest standout tracks on this album is Forever which is a sound bath of incredible vocal chops, expertly panned. It uses only a little bit on piano, focusing almost entirely on the layering of familiar tidbits from several show songs. The track amazes from very early on and only gets better and better throughout the 6 minute run-time! You do not want to miss out hearing this song and it follows that you should do yourself the favor of listening to the full album. There is absolutely no musician in this fandom (or probably outside of it either!) who does what Toby Macarony accomplishes!
[VibePoniez] Power Note – Sentiments | Synthwave
Synthwave is becoming an increasingly popular genre in the community and Lorris Power Note being a pioneer in this recent surge kept at it and created this lovely emotional track for VibePoniez’ Hearth’s Warming EP. The adorable vocal chops introduce a beautiful melody right from the beginning relayed by the synths that couldn’t be more on point. The ’80s kick and snare help set the tone too in this delightfully chillaxed track.
[P@D] Replacer – Passing By | Chillout
With the start of the new year as well as a new decade, why not celebrate it with a soft ballad? Track 68 from Ponies at Dawn: Echoes is a chilled-out piece from Replacer that has a heavy emphasis on piano. The soft atmosphere builds up beautifully by having the piano lead the track with the faint sounds of an organ keyboard in the background before the drums and bass join in on the action. The soft dynamics and progression of the song give it a psychedelic mood, like a Pink Floyd or The Doors song. Sit back, and let Replacer take you on a journey back in time…
Horse Music Herald 