Jyc Row’s orchestral output has been consistent as ever over the first month of 2022, and now he’s welcomed in the Chinese new year with this track created for the Equestria Spring Festival Celebration, an online convention based in China. With some appropriate use of erhu alongside soaring strings and steady percussion it gives a lovely uplifting vibe to help welcome the new year.
World
PSFMer – Unicorn Attack | Techno / Afro-Beat
PSFMer doesn’t stop amazing us with his tracks, especially with his brand new release “Unicorn Attack”, which is centered around the new generation movie! This track is a curious but perfect mix of Afro Percussion and Techno, a rare combination that we have seen very sparingly in the fandom, and features vocals from G5 as well as audio by 15.ai. The whole track is a vibe that makes you wanna move your body! The song starts with a constantly growing and evolving percussion rhythm, little by little layering more percussive sounds, like if the track were coming alive. After all this drum craziness, we got some vocal chops, including Hitch screaming the song title – very crazy stuff going on this track! This is a cool and groovy track, so please don’t hesitate to check it out!
[P@D] MirroredReality – Alpenglow | Psytrance / World Music
MirroredReality’s penchant for blending classical instrumentation with electronic elements has created another masterpiece! This particular tune, featured on the “P@D: Aurora” album, is inspired in parts by the song “Alpine Skyline” from the game “A Hat in Time” and MLP’s Yakyakistan, and those respective inspirations are melded fantastically herein. An echoey percussive melody opens the track, and it is soon joined by a synth line that climbs with it through a beautiful melody while light percussion supports the arrangement. Things really take off with the introduction of strings, which add a lovely texture to the melody before the psytrance pulses to the fore backed by a choir melody, a shift that pumps up the energy without losing the flavor of the track. The shifts in pitch on the synth melody give it a world music vibe, the past melding with the new, before the arrangement fades. Another shift brings a whole world-music-flavored electronic arrangement, and the sound design is so good on the synths and chimes that they sound organic, machinery mimicking life. The climb into the psytrance drop and progression to the end have more little shifts that add dynamic flavor. I hope that you will enjoy as much as I did this beautiful track that is a credit to the artist’s imagination and skilled production.
Nyancat380 – Sixty Twenty Twelve (feat. SpinScissor) | Latin / Electronic
Nyancat380 continues building their “Methodic Ways to Break a Mind” album with this fantastic track! The song has an AMAZING groove thanks to its fusion of Latin instrumentation and EDM elements. It kicks off with the sounds of a crowded club before launching into a brisk beat and horns melody. Then it jumps into the main bass groove and the vocals (heck yeah for the awesome lyric video!), and all the accompanying percussion and effects build the arrangement beautifully. The call and response between the vocals and horns heading into the chorus really reinforces the awesome club vibe. Then a breakdown after the second verse pares the arrangement down to a bit of melody and spare percussion which sets up the eventual resumption of the vocals and horns beautifully. The “Cool AF Spin Scissor Solo!” (love the description) adds another dynamic element to the track, and Spin Scissor’s guitar supports the track to the end. The song is ridiculously groovy, dynamic, and polished, and I can’t wait for the rest of the album and pieces of the story! Bonus: there’s also an acapella version of the track if you want to get your remix on!
Kallo Skull – Sands of Somnambula | Orchestral
OH, OH! Check this piece out, my bronies. Something very, very different for your tastes. A track with more of a worldly and cultural feel. Yes, yes, come on in and listen to this wonderous tale from the Sands of Somnambula! Yes, you know the name. The pony of hope became a legend and pillar of Equestria. But what about her home, its culture. This is a taste of it! Would you please sit down and listen to these melodies that let you feel the energy of ancient land. It is filled with themes and elements that are sure to please it with its exotic percussion, mythic choirs, and mindbending composition. It’s a real pleasure that Kallo Skull has put together! As always, This Qilin asks you to judge for yourself.
Songbird Choir – Firelight Dance | World Music
I love it when a character from the show gets some fandom love, especially one that got comparatively less screen time! This track is focused on Mistmane, and let me tell you, it’s packed with creativity and fantastic music! The music itself is very unique, and a blast to listen to; catchy bass drum and traditional Asian music, and some piano towards the end all mix together perfectly to make a great song!
Avicii – The Nights | House
Today, as part of our format change, I’m going to talk about the song “The Nights” from the late EDM wonder Avicii. The track starts out with a short, but amazing “Hey!” to introduce the lyrics. The vocals in the first verse talk all about the younger years where you learn your lessons and make memories, and how throughout all of that we always have the support of our parents. Our goal should be to face our fears and embrace challenges so that we live a life worth remembering. All this is accompanied by some more “Hey!”s and this amazing folk-like instrumental, as well as the amazing beats Avicii is famous for. As we get closer to the drop the folk elements take a backseat, and the awesome House beats and a lovely piano take over. Introduced by the short line “My father told me”, we get our build up, joined again by some “Hey!”s, this time with added clapping, and then we come to the drop – and oh my god – this drop is one of the best I have ever heard! It’s a fun melody joined by strings to make the perfect House drop. The drop is short and sweet, and afterwards we get straight back to the lyrics telling us to do big things: to “carve your name into those shining stars” and to not throw our life away. Soon after we get the amazing house beats that are just a pleasure to listen to. After that we once again come to the pre-drop lyrics, and the beat gets even better with all sorts of fun things attached, and then we get into the build up again. The drop once again is just a fun explosion of all things House and those awesome strings. We end the whole thing on one last “My father told me”, and then the song fades out. I can’t tell you enough how great this song is, and I implore you all to listen for yourselves!
New site, old friends, and this article is again proofread by Chris Anderson, big thanks to him!
Toby Macarony – Autumn’s Stars | Alternative Electronic
Toby is at it again with their distinctive style and flare! This one is a surprisingly tranquil piece with a very soothing atmosphere, a groovy bassline and a plethora of wonderful instrumentation. Choirs? Pan flutes? Grungy breakbeats? This has it all and has an astounding dynamic range! I’ve always been a Kirin fan and I just have to say I don’t know how they do it. Making ethnic inspired melodies, groovy basses and choirs work together in harmony but once again Toby knocked it out of the park!
Crusader! – Firelight (Covering Aurelleah & John Kenza) (feat. PegasYs) | Folk
Today everypony we have an awesome remix by Crusader! of a classic. Crusader! has the perfect voice for a happy upbeat cover of this amazing song. The track starts with a lovely Melodica solo accompanied by a little guitar until Crusader! begins singing the amazing lyrics, which are now mostly accompanied by the guitar. As we near the drop the guitar nearly completely disappears until the drop. Oh the drop–what I haven’t mentioned yet is that Crusader! doesn’t use any of the original synths or drum loops, and the effect is that, especially in the drop, with the guitar and the Melodica going wild, it feels like a whole new song! After we return to the lyrics Crusader! surprises us once more by all of a sudden adding claps, hammering in the campfire vibe. The claps disappear as we near the drop. Leading with the classical Crusader! GO!, we get an even more beefed up version of the drop than before, this time with the addition of the claps and even more. For the finish we first get a combination of both vocals and the drop before the outro takes us home with some more awesome singing.
So time for some more detail gushing!
You might have realized it or not (it certainly took me a few listens through), but at some points Crusader! accentuates the lyrics a bit differently than PegasYs did in the original, making for a small but all the more amazing difference that helps make this feel like a whole new song. In addition to all the things I mentioned above you can also at times hear a clarinet playing as a bit of a background melody.
Once more thanks to my friend thecanderson for proofreading and happy holidays to all of you!
[P@D] Tripon – And In Darkness May She Reign | Dark Ambient Technofolk
My second favorite from P@D Eclipse, And In Darkness May She Reign is the kind of dark beauty from Tripon that we all wished for when we saw that name in the tracklist. Atmospheric, deep and mysterious, its progression is a real journey into unknown and faraway territories, and also a trip into fascinating lore that the musician crafted and that you can read from the description!
Horse Music Herald 