Corny, slightly evil chiptune. It’s a boss track for the kind of bumbling villain that ties damsels to train tracks. Like, I don’t know, Clubs Deuce or something. It reminds me of whenever one of the Edison family shows up in Maniac Mansion: they’re technically the bad guys, but usually they don’t really mean any harm. The kid usually just wants to talk about his hamster or his commando package or something. And Nurse Edna just wants a little attention, if you know what I mean.
Speaking of Maniac Mansion: it’s an old, old adventure game, but if the Homestuck game is even remotely like it in spirit, I’ll be mightily pleased.
Shortcuts builds a lot of its sound off of the real world – all of the tracks feature samples and background sounds taken from various locales. The source for this song was simple enough: a busy crosswalk with a robotic countdown. Yet from that meager seed comes a really solid little piece of music.
The world slowly fades away into the jam (except for our friendly guide, the disembodied robo-crossing guard). If done poorly, this could easily be called gimmicky. But it’s not done poorly. It’s immersive and clever, and a great, relaxing track to boot. My top track on the album.
By Jeremy “Solatrus” Iamurri. Featuring Clark Powell on cello.
The chiptune melody’s catchy and relaxing, especially when the percussion kicks in. And the bridge has a bit of that Earthbound ‘safe at home, get some rest’ vibe.
This one would fit right in on Strife! As on many of the tracks on that album, there’s a killer metal track backing up a lighter, simpler main melody. Good stuff.
It’s the first minute or so that does it for me on this track: eerie, naturalistic synth percussion, combined with bombastic bass drum. The choir’s a tad indulgent, but on the whole it’s another cool take on Teal Hunter.
By Michael Guy Bowman. Original “Harlequin” by Mark Hadley. Guitar by Joseph Aylsworth.
A faithful, almost note-for-note rock cover of Harlequin for most of its length. The bridge at 1:20 is more interesting, though, as it takes off into a little more freestyle solo guitar work.
There’s a few different versions of the first part of Cascade: an early version called Cascade (Beta) on Volume 8 as a bonus track, as well as the version actually used in the Flash animation (that would make it the Alpha, I guess?). Tensei released a reworked version well after the fact, as well: Cascade (Drector’s Cut).
It’s as much a jam as the original, and I dare say parts of it sound like a remastering: tune in to the guitar section starting around 0:50, the sound is fantastic. Some other parts have been changed up as well, like the xylophone part in the beginning.
What a cool trio of intertwining melodies. Deep in the background is faux-bass and faux-strings, done in synth. On top of that, a robotic chiptune melody wanders its way through the whole song, and the combination of these two backing tracks create a great contrast with the more traditional piano primary.
I especially like the jazzy backing set for this one, and the extended instrumental around 3:00 is sharp and… I don’t know, urbane, I guess? Reminds me of a walk through a busy city.
That backing, whomping synth from Frost makes another appearance here. The composition stands on its own, though: the fuzzy bit around 1:50’s pretty slick.
By Robert J! Lake. Original “Verdancy” by Kalibration.
The original version of Verdancy is kinda plain: a new meter, some eerie effects, and a counter-melody helps to flesh it out into a jam. To put it into comic perspective, it’s as though Jade knocked out a bass solo, sent it to Dave, and he sent it back with the turntables in full effect. The jarring, panning guitar riff is especially cool.
By Xenocidebot. Original “MeGaLoVania” by Toby “Radiation” Fox.
The synth intro’s a little jarring, but that growling electric guitar that drops in almost immediately helps to make up for it. It’s a somehow harsher, more metal remake of MeGaLoVania.
Heh, probably the purest rave track I’ve heard to date in Homestuck music. This one chronicles that one time Jane and Roxy found a neon pyramid full of glow sticks.
A bouncy, lighthearted remix of his original Serenade, off of Homestuck Volume 8. Just a half-moment’s shift in the lead makes for a whole different tune.
For a song written in a minor key, it’s almost impossibly bright and cheery. And it’s the inspiration for an endless parade of remixes and covers. A quick search shows no less than twenty remixes that draw inspiration partly or wholly from this one song.