ph00t's Favorites 9/3 - 9/16
Our staff member ph00tbag (AKA Sonic Rainboom) wanted to give a shout out to a lot of very special tracks this week.
Vocal Score - Rainbow Factory (Cover)
Vocal Score's cover of this tune is bar none my favorite version. The removal of the percussion, placing responsibility for rhythm on the guitar, enhances the tune's sombreness, and makes it so much more evocative than even the original. The acoustic nature of the vocals also lets Vocal Score emote much better. As good as Rainbow Factory was before, this really breaks the mold.
M. Pallante - Too Many Pinkie Pies
With Too Many Pinkie Pies, M. Pallante finds a little something worth writing about in Pinkie's attitude during the whole Mirror Pool debacle. I feel like Pallante really did well giving voice to that conflict. I'm also a big fan of the ska influences in the track.
I love WoodLore's vocals in this tune. They've got so much emotion and rawness. I'm also a fan of the plucked sound in the outro. Particularly engaging about this tune is the way he suggests a rather dark background for Zecora. Needless to say, Cora has me on the edge of my seat waiting for the other two tunes in the cycle.
ATW and Ashenflash - Seaside Slumber
I love the creative production in the intro to this tune. Hell, I love the production throughout the tune. The tune takes its time getting to the vocals, but that's okay, because it's so much fun to listen to. My favorite part, because I'm strange, is how at the end, there's a little guitar slide, which segues right into a seagull sample that starts playing.
Knife Pony ft. Feather - Stay (Aoshi Remix)
I just love all the things Aoshi does with the vocal line. He drops the modulator pitch on the vocoder during the verse to change the singer's sex, then he makes the chorus sound much more exclamatory by making monotone, and much higher, giving more impact to the drop. I really love the industrial sounds he uses in the drop as well. I just can't get enough of this guy lately.
And the Rainfall & Derpidety - Tulips
The atmosphere in Tulips is really quite wonderful. There's this mixing of sounds in the reverb and delay that makes me think of sunlight filtering through a field of tall grass and wildflowers. This tune really takes on a new life when the bongos kick in in the last verse. I really ought to read Background Pony one of these days.
