L-Train has recently made quite a splash in our community with his recent forays into electro swing, with many fun and colorful releases in this modernization of the swing genre. His newest track, “Books and Branches” comes to us hot off the press, courtesy of the newest Ponies at Dawn compilation album, “Aurora.” Making creative use of Twilight’s vocals from her “Morning in Ponyville” song from the season 3 finale, “Books and Branches” gets us up and moving to an upbeat melody, catchy chorus, bouncy bassline, and epic drum and guitar solos punctuated by lively horns and woodwinds. All in all, I think it’s safe to say that L-Train, this electro swing king has done it again with “Books and Branches” – a vibrant track that’s sure to make you feel that “Everything is certainly fine!”
Swing
L-Train – Unicorn Strut | Electro Swing
This song explains how to be a unicorn….in a funky way! L-Train has produced a lot of Electro Swing bangers lately, and this song is no exception! It uses vocal chops from the movie song “Fit Right in”, but it isn’t actually a remix–this is an original piece! The track starts out (as you might have expected) with a gorgeous melody, and then we quickly get the synth bass. As in L-Train’s last song, “Mi Amore”, the synth bass is very present in the track. After a bit of the amazing instrumental we get the first vocals, and at first the bass is the only thing accompanying them before other elements gradually join in. After concluding this part on some more of the amazing instrumental we come to my favourite part of the song: while the beat stays the same, we get a loop of the chops “a unicorn trots” and “our unicorn butts”, as the vocals move from one ear to the other. When they’re in the right ear, you hear “A unicorn trots”, and while they’re in your left ear you hear “our unicorn butts”. This is soon followed by an amazing guitar solo. We end on some more vocal parts followed closely by some more of the lovely instrumental.
This was proofread by theCANderson, big thanks to him!
[ASOS] SP1TF1R3 – Malicious Intent | Electro Swing / Bounce
ASOS: Eclair presents the little hellion and psychopath only known as Cozy Glow. Let me tell you, that’s the vibe you get from this dive into Electro Swing with some Melbourne bounce courtesy of SP1TF1R3. The vocal chops are only just the taste of this track. Give some props to SP1TF1R3 for trying a radio intro in his song. The beats and bumps of this track will have you swaying with a sick little smile as you hear Cozy’s sweet but little hellion-like laugh sound off in this track. But man, the composition is smooth, buzzing with melodies that take some inspiration from L-train work and blend it with some bounce! Holy crap is working with the energies of Cozy characters like a charm! A banger about Cozy Glow. I am sure a lot of her fans will be pleased with this gem. As always, this Qilin asks you to judge for yourself.
Wooshy – Fit Right In (Cover) | Orchestral / Electro Swing
Okay, this is cool. Wooshy (better known for making slick PMVs) has taken this great song and made it sound like it’s playing out of the orchestra pit at a Broadway adaptation of the film (please, oh please make this a reality). The video plays through the original song followed by the adaptation as it runs through the sheet music score, and it’s a great way to see how Wooshy constructed their version. The energy from this arrangement is so uplifting, and it’s great to hear all the supporting percussive instruments add their depth and nuance to this piece. Kudos to the artist–I am super thankful that they decided to follow their muse on this journey!
[P@D] L-Train – Mi Amore (Set It Off) (feat. StealingShad3z) | Electro Swing
Well, well, well, L-Train returns once more to Electro Swing for Ponies at Dawn’s newest Album, “Oceansong”. This time on his adventure through all the different Princesses it’s Cadence’s turn, and with the help of Stealing Shad3z he made this one just as much of a banger as the others. This one starts out with only the synth bass as the rest of the arrangement slowly builds up, and like his previous songs the synth bass is always there clearly to hear. The lyrics are one big flirt with the Princess of Love herself. As always the vocals take center stage pretty quickly. A bit later on the instrumentation changes around a bit as we get to the pre-drop lines, and soon we get this wonderful rhythm that gives off a bit of a “Daybreaker Boogie” vibe, but this one is short-lived as we return to the lyrics again. Soon enough we get two changes. First, we get another pre-drop, but then we get something unexpected in yet another verse but with another instrumental. Next up is my absolute favorite part of the entire song: They give us a little intro for the guitar solo, and this might be the most simple yet genius solo intro I have ever heard! After the solo the vocals and the old instrumental resume immediately. As the outro we get one more drop and a semi open ending to the whole flirting endeavour. Let’s see if she actually calls tomorrow!
This track was quite a fun one to go through! L-Train has got some more music on Oceansong for us with his track “Into the Deep (Escape of the Hippogriffs)“, so be sure to check out that one as well!
Proofread once again by the one and only theCANderson!
TIFWhitney – Le Derp (Aventrix Bootleg Remix) | Electro Swing / Complextro House
The original version of this song by TiFWhitney is a bouncy delight that fuses electro swing and glitch hop to great effect. This version retains those wonderful elements but delivers them at House pace creating a danceable and delightful uptempo remix! The song sounds as if it was always intended to run at express pace, and the Derpy vocal chops are a nice addition, too. Also, if you got a little bit of a Star Wars cantina vibe from the music then you might enjoy the choice of artwork for the video. The Derp is strong with this one.
[P@D] L-Train – Paint The Moon Red (feat. Koa, TheMusicReborn, Zephysonas & General Mumble) | Electro Swing
So, everypony, it’s finally here. This is the first pre-release from the 21st Ponies at Dawn compilation album “Eclipse“. This song is kind of the Luna version of “Daybreaker Boogie”, and this time L-Train got some more people to help make this song awesome…and they did! But enough fanboying from me–let’s get to the bottom of this wonderful Swing piece. The track starts out amazingly with a saxophone solo supported by an awesome beat; then the incredible voice of Koa enters and sings about how Luna is back, and she’s ready to swing after a thousand years on the moon. The beat slowly ramps up in the background until the saxophone takes over again for the chorus. After the amazing chorus Koa chimes in once more, singing about how we should all throw down to our hearts’ content until the palace can’t handle us anymore, and the saxophone takes over again, this time supported by vocal chops from Koa. As the saxophone keeps on grooving, Koa sings again about dancing completely fancy free. Honestly, this is an amazing track that I have no words for other than that my first reaction was to bob my head along at 4 in the morning.
This article was proofread by thecanderson, so big thanks to him.
RedSpark – Progress | Electro Swing
There are always so many original ideas of fan songs to be had while rewatching the show, and RedSpark illustrates that once more with this creative and fitting spin on the Flim & Flam brothers! The Electro Swing genre works very well and you can easily imagine this as a BGM or character theme for the brothers in the show!
[P@D] L-Train – Daybreaker Boogie (feat. 4EverfreeBrony) | Electro Swing
Evil has never been this funky before. Track 4 from the upcoming Ponies at Dawn album Ignite is Daybreaker Boogie, an electro swing song by L-Train with vocals from 4everfreebrony! Although he’s primarily known for his hard-hitting metal bangers, this taste of fire is definitely welcome! 4efb’s vocals fit the instrumental perfectly as he sings from the evil perspective of Daybreaker, hoping to lure in an unnamed character. A very fitting theme considering this track’s hot as can be. Ignite drops on May 2nd!
AwkwardMarina – Anthropology (Forest Rain Remix) (feat. Dr. Thallium) | Electro Swing
(Listen to the original classic here)
Swing dance is a classic stable of big band era music. Leave it to a musical genius like Forest Rain to take this beloved classic, Flavors it with a twist and swirl of the 1920’s. The result of this is banger that can be played at any brony gathering or weddings for that matter, that will get those dancing vibes throughout your body. With Miss Rain conducting the big band you get this modern take of swing music with all the big band elements to the tune. All the brass and strings instruments with a touch of today’s electronica, plus a touch of real sax from Dr. Thallium It’s time to learn that Equestrian two step. So grab your best somepony and go to town. As always this Qilin asks you to judge for yourself.
Horse Music Herald 