My favorites for the more reserved tracks in the catalog will be filed under #haunting refrains.
Written by Malcolm Brown. Arrangement by Kevin Regamey
The original haunting refrain, and the very first track on the album. I would be remiss not to include it as a pick. Homestuck Vol. 1-4 contains many remixes and reimaginings of this song, and many of them are good listens, but I prefer the original, unaccompanied piano out of all of them.
Fanart. Source: potatokind.
By Malcolm Brown
The most shocking twist yet. Heavy, ominous horns drive it forward behind a rushing arpeggio of strings. Brief, but it stands on its own (and it’ll show up again later on).
By Malcolm Brown
This track opens with a great steady bassline that underpins the whole song. The melody is rolling and leisurely, working its way up to a high point before cruising back downwards with a counterpoint hook. It’s relaxing and it doesn’t become dull or repetitive.
By Toby “Radiation” Fox. Original (Doctor) by George Buzinkai
Source: Homestuck
I mentioned in an earlier review that I preferred Doctor as part of a greater composition, rather than as a stand-alone piece. This is the song I had in mind when I mentioned that. Doctor is a big part of this song, and it’s even better for it.
The song begins on a low note, like a music box desperately trying to squeeze out a few more notes before it reaches the end of its winding. From there, it builds progressively, in steps, before cooling off again near the end.
There’s another original song that’s part of Savior of the Waking World: Penumbra Phantasm by Radiation. That’s the flute melody that begins around halfway through the song. In fact, I didn’t mention it earlier, but Descend ends with a fragment from this same song. There’s a few Flash animations where Penumbra Phantasm has been used as a sort of coda, and it can’t help but be memorable. Yet the song has not been released on its own, and it may never be. It’s the white whale of the Homestuck catalog: many other tracks are made better by featuring it.
By Mark Hadley. Original (Homestuck Anthem) by Clark “Plazmataz” Powell
Absolutely superb. As I’ve mentioned previously, this is my favorite single track in the Homestuck catalog (to date, in any case).
An ethereal, mellow xylophone provides the main melody, backed by a reserved string section. A subtle harp counter-melody adds just the right amount of complexity: it’s a simple track, and is all the better for it. The second half of the song is more powerful, but this is accomplished austerely by adding deeper strings and doubling up on the main melody. The song evokes feelings of discovery, of new beginnings, of simple, childlike wonder.
In the flash animation (which kicks off Act 5 Act 2), certainly these themes make sense. As the viewers, we’re seeing John’s life in fast motion: his relationship with Dad, the first time he meets Jade, all kinds of poignant moments. Moments in a protagonist’s life, one whom we care about as a character.
Within the story, ironically, Karkat’s mind is racing in completely the opposite direction. His initial curiosity begins turning to anger, then to hate. In his own words, “IT IS A HATE SO PURE AND HOT IT WOULD CONSUME YOUR SAD UNDERDEVELOPED HUMAN THINK PAN TO EVEN CONTEMPLATE.” Watching Karkat get madder and madder forms a hilarious contrast to the viewer’s experience. It’s like seeing Sonny Corleone get shot… while Dream Weaver plays in the background. Well, that’s how Karkat would describe it, anyways.
By Steve Everson
Starts with a military, marching-band percussion beat, and a ping-y, staccato lead melody carries most of the song. Can’t put my finger on exactly what I like about it.
By Clark “Plazmataz” Powell
Fantastic. Usually I’m put off by the sort of choppy audio effects that this song features, but here’s is subtle: it’s there to establish atmosphere, not drive the song forward. This track is way up there on my list of favorites (probably top ten), and this isn’t even my favorite version of this song.
By Steve Everson. Original (Doctor) by George Buzinkai
My favorite stand-alone version of Doctor. Planet Healer comes close, but I like the instrumentation a little better on Plague Doctor.
By Erik “Jit” Scheele
This one’s interesting in that it features chiptune, but as the backing harmony rather than the main melody (which is mostly piano and flute). There’s a nice call back to Showtime in the middle, too. It’s a great listen.
By Erik “Jit” Scheele and Michael Guy Bowman
Starts out simple, with yet another strong piano melody. Starting in the second half, a backing string section starts building up the atmosphere, and the track soars after that. Soars in a moody, mournful way. Somehow. Like Tom Cruise in Top Gun after he got Goose killed.
By Erik “Jit” Scheele
In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a sucker for simple piano refrains. This one fits that description to a letter. The track plays out gradually and thoughtfully. It’s an interesting choice at the end, too, letting the last couple of notes go unplayed.
By Joren “Tensei” de Bruin. Original ‘Homestuck Anthem’ by Clark “Plazmataz” Powell
OK, it’s elevator music. Let’s just put that on the table where everyone can see it. Now that that’s on the table, we can talk about it as a song. Before the advent of Muzak, bossa nova used to be pretty popular in a real, non faux way (and it still is in some real, totally non-fake circles that I wouldn’t know anything about).
This song takes a basic existing melody (one of my favorites, as it happens), and executes it in this new style very, very well. I dare you not to like this song. Go ahead, try it.
By Mark Hadley. Original ‘Black’ by Toby “Radiation” Fox
There’s two versions of this song in the catalog, and I’m a big fan of both of them for completely different reasons. Restrained, skittish piano set against deep, gloomy strings. The otherworldly synth whomping that starts in the second half is great.
By Mark Hadley. Original ‘Squiddles!’ by Alexander Rosetti. Original 'Dissension’ by David Ko
There’s been a few good songs on the Dissension theme, but this one’s my favorite. It has a personality of its own. It dances around the main melody with its own unique voice. Just when you think it’s about to move into familiar territory, it sidesteps towards something new and different.
And then, you’ve got to give credit to a track that uses the Squiddles theme as a source, yet results in a song that would fit into a dramatic moment in an action movie.
By Jeremy “Solatrus” Iamurri
An atmospheric, shimmering chiptune track. The backing percussion’s my favorite part: it’s really muted, and serves to complement the song, rather than overwhelm it.
By Clark ‘Plazmataz’ Powell. Original “Upward Movement” by Kalibration
The weird synth intro resembles sonar, as if it’s searching for something or someone (quite fitting for the void player featured in the Flash). The main riff has a sort of Eastern flair. It’s well done and makes for a great song, even as it treads back into more familiar territory in the second half.
By Erik ‘Jit’ Scheele. Original “Harlequin” by Mark Hadley
This music library must have the greatest collection of ‘scary as hell carnival music’ tracks in the world. Gamzee approves. As strange as it sounds, this is probably my favorite version of the ‘Harlequin’ motif. Crazy honk horns (and what seems to be some kind of a dinosaur) in the background are a bonus.
By Clark “Plazmataz” Powell
Excellent. Just excellent. At its core it’s another simple piano tune. Starts off with a simple arpeggio – it’s a technique that’s quite common in the Homestuck library, and it’s almost always effective.
But the piano part – though superb – isn’t my favorite part of the song. It’s the percussion line that gets me. It reminds me a little of another song in that it’s very simple and static, but powerful in its own right.
This version of the song’s even better than the one featured in Cascade, in my opinion. It’s not forced to build up near the end (as required by the Flash animation), so it stands a little better as its own composition.