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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!

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Stablefree – Discord (feat. Replacer) (Covering Odyssey Eurobeat) (Blue Velocity Remix) | Electro Swing

Do you remember Discord? Yes you do. Do you remember Stablefree and Replacer’s cover of it? Well as many great jazz or big band songs in the fandom it got an electro swing remix. Blue Velocity doesn’t upload often but when they do it’s always a treat. To make it work they had to have it sound older and newer at the same time, and Replacer‘s piano playing got a chance to shine anew. You can practically hear Discord’s laugh in the brass, and that beat and pace makes for the perfect mix of chaos and swing!

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Daniel Ingram – Being Big is All It Takes (Toby Macarony Remix) | Happy Hardcore / Electro Swing

Toby Macarony is probably my favourite pony musician so I might be slightly biased towards his works, but you have to give this one a listen! It’s energetic and just bursting with happiness, even if it starts off kind of chaotic. In my opinion, it perfectly captures the feeling of when you first turned into a teenager. The vocal chops mixed in during the halfway point of the song is a nice touch and amplifies the euphoric feeling of the track. In typical Toby fashion, there’s sharp, Eurobeat-style techno stabs throughout the song, with a really sweet jazzy saxophone melody to act as a bridge to close out the song.  This is a track that’s sure to brighten up your day!

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JayB – I Love Everything (Toby Macarony Remix) | Electro Swing

 

You never know what you are going to get with Toby Macarony and this time, it’s an exciting, upbeat remix of JayB’s classic I Love Everything. The track starts with a flashy, moving piano part before the synths, drums, and trademark Fluttershy vocals take over. An added synth solo in the middle and Fluttershy-centered breakdown shortly after keeps things interesting while still maintaining the famous TM style!

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Andy Feelin & The Stone Pit – Granny Take Me Home | Russian Chanson

If you thought you had heard everything in this musical community, think again! Andy Feelin (from Przewalskis Ponies) and The Stone Pit bring us this very creative Russian jazz/ballad fusion telling the story of Big Mac getting put on the wrong side of the law after defending the farm from thieves. The instrumentation follows a very well-composed jazz pattern with syncopated brass and saxophones playing around a sweet, smooth percussion beat. Following a Russian theme of songs about criminals, this community once again shows its creative brilliance!

 

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Arabesque Sympony – Jolly Ol Saint Nick (Covering Daniel Ingram) | Big Band

Arabesque Sympony shows off his clever musical skills in this track covering Spike’s feature from the MLP Holiday Album. The jazzy, swingin’ piece is recomposed brilliantly, allowing the bright brass tones to shine through, but not so much that it distracts from Sympony’s wonderful vocals. He even subtly adds Spike’s original vocals in at the end as a great accent to the track!

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Rusty Thorsell – Courage (Hope and Chances) | Pop / Swing

Rusty is always good for something unique that only he could make and Courage fits that description perfectly. It is fun to bounce back and forth with this track while the piano sets much of the rhythm. Rusty accomplishes a nice, contrasting feel with the vocal work: singing in an upbeat tone to concepts of sad nostalgia mixed with optimism for hope and chances of the future. The latter portion of the song features a surprising and well-placed choir drop that doubles down on the energy of the track to round out the end of the song with a fun send-off.

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Daniel Ingram – Pinkie’s Present (Vinny Schway Remix) | Electro Swing

We don’t often get pony Electro Swing and this time Vinny Schway got us covered, with a tasteful remix of Pinkie’s Present from S06E08 A Hearth’s Warming Tail! Pinkie is leading the way around town and all the happiness around with her vocals, as punchy beats and jazzy piano are paving the road to a heart-warming time with the ponies.

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Rusty – Imposter Syndrome | Electro Swing

Rusty is at it again! This song tells us about his realization of developing what is known as “Imposter Syndrome”; which is where you feel that anything good in your life, whether it be your actions or things you just find good in general, are all due to manipulation, luck, or someone else’s work. Rusty does a great job at telling this tale with infectious and emotional vocal work, that I don’t hear very often and there are plenty of developments through out to keep you coming back for more. Electro Swing is hard to do right. The melody and groove in this gives off such a great vibe and the creative ways that Rusty went about producing this, is just incredible! You do not want to pass this one up!