Weekly Music

Friday, August 29, 2014

Darren Korb - "Setting Sail, Coming Home"

Rating: 9/10
Continuing from yesterday, more of my favorite VGM, there is nobody better in the world at composing VGM than Darren Korb. Darren Korb composed the soundtracks for Bastion and Transistor, in my opinion the two best video game soundtracks of all time. This song is the ending/credits song for the main ending of Bastion, and it is absolutely amazing. Although most of the soundtrack is instrumental, this song is one of the four songs which features vocals, and both the lyrical and musical composition of this song are exceptional, both in and out of the context of the game. The lyrics don't particularly make sense out of context from the game, but even so I think anyone can appreciate how beatiful this song is at the end of a beautiful video game. If anyone reading this has not played Bastion before, even if you don't play very many video games, you should seriously consider playing it. It is my favorite game of all time and is very much worth your time.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Tsukasa Tawada - "Semifinal Battle"

Rating: 8/10
Time for a short run of some songs from my favorite video game soundtracks. Starting off with some serious nostalgia, the first, and to this date still my favorite, Pokemon game, Pokemon Colosseum. The entire soundtrack is excellent, as everything I have found by Tsukasa Tawada. In general the soundtrack has this interesting rock/jazz fusion stuff going on, although it is less evident in this song than in others. Definitely this one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite soundtracks and favorite games of all time.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Captain Dan and the Scruvey Crew - "Sea Monsters"

Rating: 7/10
What we gonna do with sea monsters? We're gonna kill em an grill em, we be the nautical mobsters!
Quick warning, this video contains large amounts of cartoon blood and violence, if you don't want that, find a different video or listen to the song elsewhere, anyways, on with the review. Arr, I posted my favorite Captain Dan and the Scruvey Crew song, Blackbeard's Treasure, a while ago and I think it's time to return to my favorite authentic pirate hiphop with another one of my favorites. Sea Monsters tells the exploits of Captain Dan as sails the oceans defeating the world's sea monsters and similarly to the other song by them I posted, I find it absolutely hilarious.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

The Coopers - "Summer's Child" (Free Download)

Rating: 7/10
Humble ears learn their lesson... from birds that sang all along
Summer's Child just aches of dancing on the beach and driving along the sunset with lilting fingers strumming on chords. Sharp drums offset this track from the usual lullaby, and give it a near-ska vibe. This choral tune by The Coopers is best sung with friends.

Insan3Lik3- Bad Pitched

Rating: 5/10
Hey~ / YOUR FACE
Unfortunately, the version I like the most got deleted from YouTube a while ago, posted by a certain dReSMusicWorld... perhaps you've heard of the account? 

Anyways, it's a bit off, but this version is the closest I've found to it.

DJ Satomi- Castle in the Sky


Rating: 8/10
There's a place in my mind / No one knows where it hides
One of the more 'pop' trance songs out there, and the song that got me interested in trance. Enjoy~

 You can buy the track from iTunes here.

Sabaton - "Primo Victoria"

Rating: 8/10
On the 6th of June, on the shores of western Europe, 1944, D-day upon us.
Back to my specialty, time for one of my favorite power metal bands SABATON! Sabaton is what you get when a group of Swedish military history lovers make a power metal band, a really, really good power metal band. Their songs are all about battles, people, and events from various wars throughout history. They tend to focus on more modern wars, particularly World Wars 1 and 2. This particular song if you can't figure out from the lyrics, is based on D-day, the allied invasion of France on June 6, 1944. This is one of their better songs, but definitely not one of the absolute best and it still is amazing. Expect more Sabaton coming from me in the future because they are amazing.

WEKEED - "R A R E" (Free Download)

Rating: 5/10
Finding our way... running through a new night
WEKEED is the epitome of smooth electro, with deep trance vibes and a head bobbing beat to boot. Need to relax to some wavy synths and vocal samples? Pick it up here.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Meg & Dia - "Monster (DotEXE Remix)"

Rating: 6/10
Monster, how should I feel? Creatures lie here, looking through the window
I'm not really the biggest fan of dubstep, but I found this song while playing the rhythm game osu! and thought it was alright, I haven't heard the original but I think this remix is pretty solid.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Cœur de Pirate - "Hôtel Amour"

Rating: 6/10
But sleep, at least this night...And dream of the infinite
Working recently to build the soundtracks to the game Child of Light and Canadian TV show Trauma, Cœur de Pirate echoes soulfully in her older work, Blonde. Check it out.

ONE OK ROCK - "Re:make"

Rating: 7/10
I can't believe in you, I see you 'nother day, ‘nother way
This song doesn't really stand out to me as being amazing in any particular way, but I quite like it. It's a really solid J-Rock track that I discovered a while ago. The chorus is really catchy and the vocalist for these guys is quite good, overall, a song worth hearing, but not anything too insane.

Klaypex - "1941" (feat. Virian)

Rating: 6/10
I'll bring the cadillac if you bring the rum... I wanna party like it's 1941
Released this past week, Klaypex's Anything Goes boasts quite a variety of styles, from big room house to electro swing, as exemplified in this track. This duo has gained a large following from their first major release's feature on several viral videos, but this new collection should ensure they retain their audience. Happy listening!

Saturday, August 23, 2014

ArchonofFail's Top 10 Touhou Original Songs #1!

Rating: 8/10
Solar Sect of Mystic Wisdom ~ Nuclear Fusion. Holy shit this song, a final boss theme to end all final boss themes. The intro just building up and building up until the amazing chorus, I cannot get enough of this song it's so great! Well, that concludes my top 10 Touhou original songs, I might return to Touhou and do an honorable mentions post, but for now, on to other amazing music!
Link to #2
Link to #3
Link to #4
Link to #5
Link to #6
Link to #7
Link to #8
Link to #9
Link to #10

Friday, August 22, 2014

Hatsune Miku - 千本桜 (Senbonzakura) ICBM Remix by k r a n ✧


Rating: 9/10
This one, that one, doesn't matter, every single person gathers / Marching to our saintly deaths now! / 1 2 3 4  
Written by Kurousa-P and uploaded to Niconico (think of it as YouTube for Japan) on September 17, 2011, this song has entered the Vocaloid Hall of Fame. It's been featured in multiple Vocaloid live concerts and sheet music has appeared in several books. It's also been novelized (3 parts); you can buy a copy from Amazon Japan.


Alright, so why did I choose this version, of all the other cover and remixes out there, not to mention the original? Feel free to smite me down in righteous fury, but it's 'cause I personally love how k r a n blends English/Japanese in her remix. Kurousa-P's work is excellent, but k r a n's isn't half bad, and doing the bilanguage blend puts hers above Kurousa-P's, in my opinion. It'd also feel wrong to feature a repost of this remix when I can share the original remix.

If you're into that sort of stuff, here's a nightcore of the non-remixed version.

ArchonofFail's Top 10 Touhou Original Songs #2

Rating: 8/10
Whooooops, looks like I missed a bit more than a day this time, anyways, nearly done with the list! I am such a huge fan of this song, I don't really have much to say besides that. !!Warning!! tomorrow's post, will be epic, make sure to come back for it!
Link to #3
Link to #4
Link to #5
Link to #6
Link to #7
Link to #8
Link to #9
Link to #10

Arty - "Up All Night" (Nev Cover)

Rating: 5/10
There's an angel beside saying things just ain't right, but I'm no good at listening
There's a really special feeling when you see someone take a great tune, skillfully cover it, and have a brilliant time doing so. This entire anthem bursts out as fun, especially when watching the dexterity of that hand-over-hand motion. You can see the original here.

Stromae - "Papaoutai"

Rating: 7/10
Sans même devoir lui parler....Il sait ce qui ne va pas.
A son calls out to his absentee father, begging for understanding and interaction. Stromae captures this call beautifully in this electronic/piano studded piece with a driving beat and choral backing, not too mention the physical manifestation of an empty husk present in the accompanying video.