katethegreat19- Come Little Children (Garden of Shadows Cover)

Rating: 7/10 Come little children,/ the time's come to play Safety first this All Hallows' Eve! The 'original' appeared in the 1993 Disney film Hocus Pocus, sung by Sarah Jessica Parker. It *may* have been based off a poem by Edgar Allen Poe, which may or may not exist. The cover here was performed by Erutan Music (katethegreat19) and uploaded to YouTube on 27 Oct 2009. Free MP3 download (link) iTunes (link)

Hatsune Miku + Megurine Luka/ Rockleetist- かこめかこめ (Circle You, Circle You)

Rating: 8/10 ***Viewer discretion requested*** NSFW, PG-16 to R... If you're going to need to ask your parents for permission, save the effort and just not watch this. If you don't, you still might not want to watch this. It's time to get serious, I suppose. If I may suggest a listening method? The first video is a speedpaint of Miku, with a Miku + Luka duet. Watch (view) it if you want. I chose to include it because it was one of the few without subtitles. Then you're going to want to look around you to see if anyone is near. Sign out of YouTube or use an InPrivate window. Put on headphones or earplugs if you haven't already. Then listen to Rockleetist's English cover and realize what you were just listening to. My favorite dark Vocaloid song. I sing along to it sometimes. People tend to look at me strangely when I do. Published to niconico by Kamiyanagi; maybe based on the children's game (en.wikipedia link), maybe based on the other thing (CreepyPasta link)

Hatsune Miku- Heart a la Mode

Rating: 6/10 I'm gonna treasure every second of it All Hallows' Eve countdown part 2: A date in San Francisco! Credits in the video. Done by Deco*27 for Georgia Coffee (link). Miku mentions a can of coffee ~ 0:33, and can be seen holding one at 1:31.

Peter Hollens + Kina Grannis- Pompeii (Cover)

Rating: 8/10 But if you close your eyes,/ Does it almost feel like/ nothing changed at all? I felt like doing an All Hallows' Eve countdown so here's this. New tag added: a capella (without instruments). Variety is the spice of life, and my music is much more tasty than the food I cook. Pompeii was done by Bastille, a British rock band. It was track 1 in their album Bad Blood (iTunes link). Here's the link to the official VEVO video. Hollens (YTube link) does a capella covers and composes original songs, and Grannis (YTube link) does covers of stuff and composes original songs. Or if you want to listen to more, you can just look for them by yourself (links in the video, at the end). They've both got a FaceBook page, iTunes, and Twitter.

Groove Coverage- Far Away From Home

Rating: 7/10 If we could make it though the darkest night/ We'd have a brighter day There I go, hoping someone else posts... The parts of the internet that I looked at say the song isn't "In My Dreams". I would readily forgive the poster... but they haven't been active for 2 years. Groove Coverage is a German dance band. I've been listening to some of their music without knowing (as nightcore). Love the strong beat and that the instrumental doesn't interfere with the vocals.

Hatsune Miku & Kagamine Rin - The Lost Lovers

Rating: 8/10 Take two good songs and makes one better song. The video preview is so blurry. Worry not, it doesn't stay that way. Uploaded to niconico on 6 March 2013 by a Nagi Kusanagi. Links to the separate videos: Two-Faced Lovers The Lost One's Weeping End of the Vocaloid explosion, btw. Back to business as usual.

Vocaloid Eight- Night ∞ Series

***Viewer discretion advised*** This qualifies as Dark Vocaloid to me, so I feel like I should add this. There's murder in the videos and suicide in one of them. I was going to make 4 separate posts, but decided to make one megapost as they're all related. The Night ∞ Series was composed by Hitoshizuku-P and Yama△, its illustrations done by Suzunosuke, and the videos made by TSO. Hidari did the character design. All the subbing was done by vgperson. The series actually ended some time ago, on 3 September 14. Rating: 8/10 A meeting such as this, you know, must be fate! Favorite of the series. The mysterious figure sounds like it's voiced by Len, but I'm not sure. This is from the Villager's (Miku's) point of view. Rating: 6/10 Let the excitement swell even higher! *Gasp* The cast doesn't look at fault anymore, does it? This is from their point of view. Rating: 7/10 An odd... thumping sound...? Cardboard-aided. Think of it as a guided tour through a pop-up book. This one is from the audience's point of view. Rating: 7/10 An incident is sure to occur! A fitting end to a fantastic∞series Hope you don't need this: *CAST* Villager- Hatsune Miku Lord- KAITO Lady- MEIKO Mistress- Megurine Luka Maid- GUMI Butler- Camui Gackpo Doll (M)- Kagamine Len Doll (F)- Kagamine Rin Rating: 8/10 Chaotic, which matches the storyline really well. I think this series is better viewed than listened to, but it's still earned a spot on my playlist.

anon + kanon- Heart Chrome

Rating: 7/10 I wanna be with you/ Repeat and love you Crypton Future Media, INC. isn't the only company making Vocaloids. anon and kanon are done by Bplats, INC., and I've never heard them before (Not bad, IMHO). These two are confirmed twins (unlike the Kagamine duo). kanon wears black and is the older of the pair. 1:05 to 1:12 is a nice place, if you want to hear their vocals separately. Hachioji-P did the music, q*Left wrote the lyrics, and WakamuraP made the movie. Animations are from MikuMikuDance. As usual, the video on niconico is a better quality. You need to sign up for a free account, though. (Link) Fun fact: This is an extended version of the anon & kanon demo.

Imagine Dragons- Warriors

Rating: 6/10 Farewell, I've gone to take my throne above Far from their best work, but I'll still listen to this occasionally. Composed by Imagine Dragons for the League of Legends 2014 World Finals. The upper player is the music video, and the bottom one is a performance at the event. Here's a download link.

Hatsune Miku- ワールドイズマイン (World is Mine) Dixie Flatline Remix

Rating: 8/10 I just want you to think from your heart that I'm cute Here's a remix of one of the most popular Vocaloid songs! I like this one more because in some places (in the original), it almost sounds like Miku's voice is supporting the music, which isn't right. The remix is also more in line with my other music tastes. "World is Mine" was written and produced by ryo, of Supercell. It's widely considered to be Miku's theme song, and arguably the most popular Vocaloid song. I've also included the original if you don't share my preference of the remix. It's animated. Cause I'm persistent, here's also a link to a Project DIVA Dreamy Theater 2nd version. And it's got English subs. Here's the image link for the remix.

Hatsune Miku- ハト (White Dove)

Rating: 5/10 La~la~la~ This year's International Talk-Like-A-Pirate-Day was just about 1 month ago today. I missed it, but here's a somewhat pirate-themed Vocaloid song to celebrate. She's wearing the "Pirate" module, at least. This song was released on 7 Dec 2007 and is HatanoP's most popular work. Video is from Project DIVA Dreamy Theater 2nd.

Hatsune Miku- 結ンデ開イテ羅刹ト骸 (Hold, Release; Rakshasa and Carcasses)

Rating: 6/10 A leash tied to a pine tree, hanging and swinging/ There has been at least 1 post by two other posters. Vocaloid is back. Welcome, to what I call 'Dark Vocaloid'. You see, Vocaloid is a commercial product, and it's available to anyone who wants to pay for it. And there are people who are less normal than your typical normal people, and some of them might buy a copy of a Vocaloid singer, and decide to use it and publish the result on the internet. Sometimes, that song isn't half bad, and it spreads, and more people listen to it and spread it further. Again, I welcome you, and hope you stay awhile. This was first uploaded to niconico by Hachi (the person who wrote/illustrated/produced the song) on 5 July 2009. The lyrics' meanings are open, but one theory is that they relate to (child) prostitution. You can read more on the Vocaloid wiki here.

Download Festival - Friday: June 13, 2014

Back in June this year, I went to Download Festival (one of the largest and best rock/metal festivals in the U.K.) as my graduation present. And I thought I might do a review of my experience by day, with some of my favorite performances*. I know it was months ago, but I'm slow at getting things done.
*full lineup.
On Friday of the festival I looked around at the different stages and was at the main stage for Black Label Society, Within Temptation, Rob Zombie, and Avenged Sevenfold.

Within Temptation

This is the first band I really knew before attending and so obviously one that would peak my interest. They were the second to last band on the main stage before the headliner, and played set that lasted around an hour. I only knew one song by this Dutch metal band, but after seeing them, I would really like to get to know them better. While vocalist, Sharon den Adel did not have quite as much energy as the frontmen of some of my favorite live acts, she did have a powerful voice, which is definitely something to appreciate from a female in rock. The song "Our Solemn Hour" was one that stayed in my mind long after the show (probably has something to the Latin chant). It's a really neat symphonic metal track off the band's fourth album The Heart of Everything, and has a full, steady beat.

The main stage headliner the first night was American metal band A7X who are not new to this blog. Now, I am not usually the one to review their stuff, but I have enjoyed listening to them since even before the festival. I was quite excited to see this group, and I was not disappointed. The played a set that lasted about two hours (including the encore) that was full of fire (literally) and heavy metal. Their new drummer (RIP the Rev) Arin Ilejay did a pretty darn good job, even with the old songs' complicated and epic beats. Synyster Gates had some beautiful guitar solos that night, along with his song "So Far Away" that vocalist M. Shadows dedicated to their fallen bandmate and friend. The songs I have here are the first single and title song of their newest album Hail to the King (one I think encompasses the album pretty well), as well as "This Means War" also from that album (this song was stuck in my head for days after). Their sixth studio release came out August 2013, and was the first with Ilejay on the drums. Although he is capable of tougher beats, the band wanted to strip down music some, but it still sounds fantastically epic.

Avenged Sevenfold

Hatsune Miku- Error Propagation Plus

Rating: 6/10 Show 2 of the Miku Expo (LA) started approx. 5 1/2 hours ago. From the guy who brought you Nyan Cat! Although... truthfully, this song does bear resemblance to something else... (*sneeze*). Song and video (MikuMikuDance) made by Daniwell-P. You can see the song's website here. Far as I can tell (I'm not fluent in Japanese), if what Miku be singing was translated into English, they'd still be gibberish. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Hatsune Miku- Sharing the World

Rating: 6/10 I can see this future is right now Here's the theme song for the Miku Expo. A live concert is happening today and tomorrow at the NOKIA Theatre. There's also a Hatsune Miku Halloween Party at Los Angeles Center Studios, also 11 Oct and 12 Oct. Also appeared live on the Late Show with David Letterman (link). Song is in English, so you don't need to look at the subtitles to see what's being sung. Produced by BIGHEAD. iTunes link.

Hatsune Miku- Rolling Girl

Rating: 7/10 One more time, one more time More fastpaced, cheerful, catchy stuff with less-than-positive lyrics. Methinks the included video suits the song better than a Project DIVA Dreamy animation, so that's what I gave you. You can find one here, though. Made by wowaka. Video credits in the video. This song was posted on niconico on 14 Feb 2010, and got to #2 of the Weekly Rankings. Does anyone I don't know care what I post? Does anyone even read this accompanying text, or watch the embedded video?

Sam Tsui & Christina Grimmie- Just a Dream

Rating: 7/10 But wait, I guess that I wasn't in enough Song originally performed by Nelly and released on iTunes on 16 Aug 2010. I was going to include a nightcore version, but another provider got cut due to "multiple third-party claims of copyright infringement regarding material the user posted". YouTube links: Tsui Grimmie

Yoshino Nanjō- Only My Railgun

Rating: 8/10 I don't care about limits; they're meaningless Upbeat with a strong and catchy melody and punctuated with vocal-focused sections. Love the formula. This song was produced by fripSide and used as the season 1 opening theme of "A Certain Scientific Railgun". I've included the official video and the anime opening. The opening is subbed, so you might want to watch both. A nightcore version is available here (it's also subbed). It's so odd how ArchonofFail and I keep doing similar stuff. This time, it's anime openings.

Man with a Mission ft. Takuma - "Database"

Rating: 8/10 With the second season beginning and keeping this epic OP I thought now would be a good time to post this song. Log Horizon is one of my favorite anime and this song is certainly part of the reason why. An interesting rock song combining some hip-hop elements along with combining English and Japanese makes a really interesting song and I love it. Interestingly the OP version has different singing that the full version. Also unfortunately the normal version of the second OP version isn't on youtube so I included the preview for it which is still excellent. Hype song, hype anime, looking forward to the rest of Log Horizon and this song every week.

Hatsune Miku- August 31

Rating: 6/10 I'm so grateful to this world you are a part of This song makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It's slow, calming; not what I usually listen to. Credits are in the video. Uploaded to niconico on 31 August 2014. Subbed version uploaded to Youtube by decentsubs on 3 October 2014.

Nightwish - "The Kinslayer"

Rating: 7/10 This is one of my favorite examples of classic Nightwish from Wishmaster which was their heaviest album, this a great example of that style with the power metalesque instrumentation but given the symphonic twist with the keyboard and Tarja's vocals. A really interesting example, quite possibly the song that best exemplifies symphonic power metal as a genre. This is definitely one a song that I didn't like as much when I first heard it but it has grown on me a lot over time.

Vocaloid Five- Birthday Song for Miku

Rating: 6/10 When we hear the sound of your voice/ The world changes, Happy Birthday! This song is sung by Kaito, Meiko, Len, Luka, and Rin. When you listen to this and wonder what they're singing in English, please remember that only Luka has an English voicebank. Seven people worked on the video, click here for the list. Of the seven, six were involved with the video; only Mitchie M (known for doing realistic Vocaloid musics) did the music. The song was requested by Crypton Future Media, INC. to celebrate Miku's 5th birthday. It got uploaded to niconico on 20 July 2012. The embedded player doesn't allow captions, so here's a YouTube link if you want to watch the video and read the subtitles.

Elliot Berger ft. Laura Brehm- Diamond Sky

Rating: 7/10 Under a diamond sky/ Everyone wants to shine I can't say this for most nightcore edits: The non-nightcore is just as good, if not better, than the nightcore version. Both are included for your auditory pleasure. This track was included in Spotlight Compilation, Vol. 1, a collaboration between Monstercat, Tasty Network, Trap n Bass & EDM Spotlight. Here's a iTunes link.