A yearly tradition now, this new re-imagining of Vylet’s No Matter What stars brand new amazing vocals as well as an instrumental more polished than ever, for the reiteration of the song along added meanings!
Misc
FilledSilhoutte – The Warmth | Hip-Hop
Chill vibes for days! FilledSilhoutte crafted a minimalist hip-hop beat perfect for a rainy day. Indeed, the song starts out with the sound of droplets hitting the ground; sweet piano chords then join in soon followed by percussion. However, it is only when the bass finally comes in that we can feel the warmth as if coming home on a cold winter day. The vibe that emanates from the beat is reminiscent to that of Vylet’s beautiful Princess. The warmth is from the hearth and for the heart as the song ends with a cute little vocal clip from A Hearth’s Warming Tail.
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.
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!
[Equinity] Skelter – Airborne | Hybrid Trap
It seems like the sky has become a big source of inspiration for our fandom’s musicians, which makes sense as they’ve got nowhere to go but up! Track 14 from Equinity 02: Catalyst as well as one of two of Skelter’s contributions to the album, Airborne is a fantastic hybrid trap song that really makes you feel like you’re high in the sky. The melodies capture a triumphant mood with its mix of hard-hitting trap synths and drums with orchestral elements and the occasional Rainbow Dash sample, building up and climaxing with a powerful drop. Such a strong blend of genres! On a different note, welcome to 2020! Let’s see what amazing music will await us this year.
[Equinity] Cynifree – Mumbo Jumbo | Tribal House
Keeping with the Equinity theme, we have Cynifree with Mumbo Jumbo! Equinity 02: Catalyst‘s 26th track is a throwback to season 1 territory with references to Zecora in the tribal-esque beat and samples of her dialogue from Bridle Gossip placed throughout in time with the rhythm. The perfect soundtrack for a race through the forest.
Heartsong – Mask of Night | Orchestral
A mashup of My Little Pony and Bionicle! When you think you’ve seen it all … The first half is a cover of William Anderson’s Luna’s theme. It keeps the beautiful harp and the choirs however the main melody is played first by the woodwinds and then joined in by the strings, instead of introducing both at once. This lets the music slowly build up and serve as an extended version of the original of sorts. The astonishing prose poem in the description that accompanies the piece is one of Heartsong’s best works so far and explores the depths of Luna’s psyche. It is as much a part of the whole experience as the music itself.
Equestria Electric Symphony Orchestra – Life of a Brony | Soft Pop
EESO has a very distinctive style and it is always a joy to hear a new track from them because you can be assured that it will be wholesome and genuinely heartfelt. Life of a Brony has a soft, showtunes-y feel like a love song from a Disney movie or a warm, season-ending track from MLP. The piano composition is on point with beautiful accompaniment from violins and just the right amount of energy from the percussion to make this song both soothing and easy to rock back and forth to.
Mane In Green – Rarity’s Dream | Orchestral
Mane In Green has blessed us with her fluff once again with this beautifully crafted piece about Rarity. The song showcases Green’s signature orchestral style while also capturing Rarity’s personality with flying colors. Elegant, dramatic and mellow, this track progresses in many different forms and moods as the sky also lightens and darkens now and again to fit with each progression. What a beautiful trip!
Horse Music Herald 