By Svix
Starts off in marching chiptune, then adds some extra synth around the 40 second mark. It’s got a solid driving beat, and that echoey chiptune backing keeps the track tied together throughout.
By Robert J! Lake
After a few listen-throughs of the album, I kept coming back to this one. I can’t put my finger on it. The whole song’s built around that cool, whanged electric guitar that first features in the intro. It’s a little more experimental than I usually like (an awful lot of backwards instrumentation in the middle), yet in the end, it works as a dark, moody piece.
By Erik “Jit” Scheele
It’s not chiptune, but this song has ‘video game music’ tattooed all over it. It would fit right in were it part of the soundtrack for an SNES game, I suppose. Pretty catchy.
Performed by David Ko. Original ‘I’m a Member of the Midnight Crew’ by Eddie Morton
Barbershop! I hope Eddie Morton is taking notes (well, he should be, but he’s been dead for 75 years, so I guess I can’t blame him).
By Clark “Plazmataz” Powell and Astro Kid. Original “Crystalmanthequins” by Erik “Jit” Scheele, featuring the melody from “Crystalanthemums” by Alexander Rosetti
I liked this song’s predecessor (awesome instrumentation, awesome hook), but it felt a little rough around the edges: the opening is a little jarring, the siren kind of comes out of nowhere, and it lingers musically in places that seem a little odd. It feels a little like the middle of a song, rather than a whole composition.
This new version takes the best part of its source, and expands it into an excellent stand-alone track. The instrumentation is almost exactly the same: it’s only been re-arranged in a very effective manner. Parts that were jarring (like the intro) become smooth and ascending. Even the wailing siren finds a more effective spot in the melody.
It’s like taking an old, faithful car, and then souping it up with a supercharged big block, a new paint job, and a leather interior (complete with new car smell). I can’t complement this song enough.
And if I had to predict, of all the unfeatured tracks, which one had the best shot at being picked up for a Flash animation, I’d have to go with this one. This is my favorite unfeatured ‘sleeper’ track in the catalog.
By Malcolm Brown
It’s an unholy combination of cantillated Russian folk music and Celtic Lord of the Dance (and I mean that in the most complementary sense possible).
By Toby “Radiation” Fox
Another bouncy chiptune track. You could almost call it chirptune – some kind of electronic bird makes up part of the instrumentation. It takes something of a Castlevania turn in the middle (like this).
By Michael Guy Bowman. Featuring Thomas Ferkol on electric guitar
For a song called ‘irreconcilable’, that combination of western acoustic guitar (Tavros) and electric (Vriska) seems pretty damn reconcilable. The horn at the end seems a little played out by now though – that damn juggalo’s everywhere.
By A Lunatic’s Daydream. Featuring melodies by various team members
A rockin’ metal take on Black. The first half’s slick and simple, just a kick-ass jam. Love the clean electric guitar solo that starts around 2:30 or so. The middle section of the song has a completely different feel from the rest of the song: it lazily drifts into a medley of some old favorites, before jumping back into a heavy metal conclusion.
By Malcolm Brown
A marching-band track with a pretty cool backing trumpet and brass section. It teases a little bit of Showtime throughout the first part. A little bit of Unite Synchronization features, too. Then, in the second half it kind of intersects with Showtime a little more for a while. It’s a cool track, if a little heavy-handed in the later parts.
By Toby “Radiation” Fox. Featuring Samm Neiland on viola and Clark Powell on cello
A chipper vaudeville romp. Upright piano and strings all the way. This song gets a ton of mileage out of that simple trio.
By Svix
Catchy. This song ought to feature Sawtooth on the track art instead of Squarewave: the flow is that good.
By Michael Guy Bowman. Vocals by Tavia Morra
It’s a ridiculous gallop through the land of chocolate on a tiny sugary horse.
By Michael Guy Bowman. Featuring Erik “Jit” Scheele on keytar (!) and vocals by Tavia Morra
(I’m just going to back away slowly from this one. I mean, I remember the Spice Girls and Aqua and all that, but that doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it. Whoa.)
By Jeremy “Solatrus” Iamurri
There’s a healthy dose of backwards xylophone in the intro, but it’s just the ambience, not the driving force behind this track. The main melody is reminiscent of Frost, especially after the drums kick in around the middle section. The second half carries a pretty strong electric guitar solo (one of the few guitar features on the album). And the forwards-this-time xylophone coda makes the track something of an aural palindrome.
By Clark “Plazmataz” Powell
Image source: Homestuck.
A big, long, mournful cello piece. I don’t know about the subtitle, Scratch’s Lament, though. For one, I’m not even sure Doc Scratch is capable of lamentation. The track is a little too genuine, a little too legitimately soulful to associate with a smarmy, four-foot-tall puppet with a cue ball for a head.
I don’t know. Maybe this is what’s going through Scratch’s head while Hussie beats the stuffing out of him. I imagine his only regret was that personally embarrassing interlude. Omniscient my ass.
By Jeremy “Solatrus” Iamurri
It’s a tale of two songs. The first half is marching-band lite, with a skittery clarinet melody backed up by one lonesome, solemn, drawn-out horn (and the inevitable ticking grandfather clock, because it’s The Felt, and they keep time). Around 3:40 it cracks open into a full-blown synth-driven overture that gives the track a different feel.
By Erik “Jit” Scheele
Mostly piano, with a side of flute and strings. There’s plenty of time-themed effects in the track, but they’re subtle and serve to accent the melody, rather than overwhelm it. Great melody.
By Mark Hadley
AUGH!
When I heard the first 30 seconds of this song, I was digging it big time. It’s got an Eastern bloc, Prokofiev sort of vibe. You know, ‘harness the means of production’ and all that. Then, cue the tape deck rewinds.
It’s a high concept track, and I get it: rewind to the beginning, add another layer to the song. It’s clever, but since the effect destroys the flow of the song, it can’t be much more than a novelty. A mildly entertaining one, but still just a novelty.
By Thomas “EidolonOrpheus” Ferkol
Call me a traditionalist, but I like this track better in reverse. It’s not just some previous track played backwards: it’s an original composition, all the way through (a very symphonic reimagining of Clockwork Melody).
The reversed play fits the album theme, but makes it tough to listen to.
By Thomas “suehprOnolodiE” Ferkol
Image source: SBAHJ
Play the track in reverse, and it’s a cool crescendo of a song all the way through, with a different take on a familiar melody to boot. Yeah, I know, I’m missing the point, but I just can’t swing that abstract.
By DJ 最テー
Image source: Homestuck.
Karkat start thrashing up stunts something uncannybrutal on his quest for “MAD PALEMATES YO” and get this way rude clown under control. Shit is basically flying off the hook. It’s like shit wants nothing to do with that hook. The hook filed for divorce from that shit and is now seeking custody of the hook and the shit’s two kids.
Oh yeah, the song’s great, too. Heavy metal with a side of 80’s style thrash. It inspired me to look up some wicked flagrant quotes. Perfect for some rudebrazen wicked extreme shoosh-papping.
By repeatedScales
A futuristic techno tune (them Captors sure love their techno raves, it seems). These sort of techno tunes fall a little outside my own personal musical taste, but I can’t deny the energy and the complexity in a track like this.
By Eston “silence” Schweickart. Bass performance by Alex Amlie-Wolf
Fanart source: xamag.
Outstanding. This is one of my favorite songs on the album. It’s another fantastic combination of chiptune and more traditional instrumentation. There’s a few individual parts that I really like: the slap bass intro, the main chiptune hook, and the piano interlude that starts around the 2:20 mark.
And the track has great flow: all these segments are tied together cleanly. There’s no part of the song that doesn’t work well: just a solid, cheerful, driving energy throughout.
By DJ 最テー
What’s cool about this song is how it develops over time. It starts off with an antique marching band sort of feel (like something out of the Civil War or something), before kicking off with a little more depth in the horns.
It takes a different turn in the second half, switching up the snare drum with something a little more synthetic. Near the end, it works in a little chiptune, before dropping back into that marching band feel.
By David “Dirtiest” Dycus
A playful Caribbean tune. I doubt it’s possible to make a song maudlin and brooding when you’re working with xylophone, woodblock and guiro.
By Yan “Nucleose” Rodriguez
Acoustic guitar and flute: yeah, this is the perfect song for a showdown between Vriska and Tavros, only they’re in the American Southwest wearing cowboy hats, in a Mexican standoff with Eli Wallach for some reason.
Seriously, if you like this, go check out some Ennio Morricone, the undisputed king of the Italian western soundtrack. Metallica opens their shows with this (the first link, specifically). Specifically because it kicks ass.
By Frank Haught
Passive and atmospheric. The staticky, swishy percussion beat gives it a techno feel, but it’s not exactly the kind of thing that plays at troll-raves. It’s a cool jam (in a refrain-y, haunting sort of way, of course).
By Ray McDougall
Most of Vriska’s tunes are pretty intense. This is a nice change of pace. Strings, piano, and xylophone carry the melody. It’s introspective and miles-below-the-ocean calm. The chiptune and synth that starts around 2:30 is so subdued, you could swear it was just another instrument in the orchestra (probably played by Luigi and Sonic the Hedgehog, respectively).
By Plumegeist
Starts out almost operatic, like it has a story to tell. After that, it’s more whimsical than anything, driven by strung-out clarinet and staccato xylophone. It’s reminiscent of something Tchaikovsky might have written.
By Kera L. Jones
This album is jam-packed with excellent, classically-inspired music, and this track might be the purest out of all of them. If I didn’t have the credits right in front of me, I’d swear it was co-composed by Edvard Grieg and Pee Wee Herman.
On a heavier note, this song could fit right into a tense moment in an action movie. Or more appropriately perhaps, into the climax of a stage play.
By Gec
Chiptune drives it, but it’s that hostile backing rhythm that makes this song.
By Paul Tuttle Starr
Image source: Homestuck.
STRONG.
The groove is excellent. The combination of violin and hip-hop synth is outstanding, and it makes for a track that sounds fresh every time you listen to it.
But then, on another level, it has the feeling of a requiem, of a funeral dirge. Or maybe, just a cry for help: the ‘SOS’ morse code bit near the end pretty well reinforces that. It’s hip and sad all at the same time.
This is good listening. In fact, it’s my top track for the album. It’s a shame that its only feature in the comic (so far!) is buried deep into one of the Openbound games.
By Marcus Carline. With Rachel St. Marseille (voice), Steve Blum (piano), Nicole Sequeira (bass), and Eric Hagstrom (drums)
When I heard this song the first time I dismissed it, which was a mistake. It’s done in the style of a 40’s lounge singer, with a jazz trio backing her up. I mentioned that techno’s a little bit outside of my own personal taste: this is way outside my usual playlist.
That being said, I like this. A lot. It’s smooth, and the vocals are fantastic. And it’s very, very clever. Read the lyrics if you get a chance.
By Samm Neiland
Just can’t get into it. The track serves its genre well, but pipe-organ hymns and unaccompanied Troll-Latin make for a tall order. The second half of the song is undeniably impressive, though.
By Monobrow
Fanart source: tinikah.
A smooth (Dave-influenced? It just screams ‘coolkid’) percussion beat combined with an easygoing reimagining of Doctor. It’s a cool mix of synth and guitar spread throughout (that melodic guitar cover of Doctor’s main hook that starts around 3:30 is just effortlessly smooth and mellow).
By David DeCou
Fanart source: tinikah. Seriously, go check her work out, it’s fantastic!
Wonderfully dark and brooding. The cello opening sets the tone, and this track features some of the best ambient effects (the rain, the heartbeat, and the clock) I’ve ever heard in a song like this. Effects such as these (including the pipe organ in the background) could easily be gimmicky, but they’re used sparingly, and they work great to accent the main melody.
All of this falls away for the harp interlude in the middle, though. And that little section is the best part of the composition.
By Nathan “EbonHawk7x” H
Fanart source: tinikah.
There’s quite a few epic, symphonic covers scattered throughout this album, and they’re almost all good. This one’s no exception: it’s almost ecclesiastical, with its soaring soprano-heavy choir organ (the ol’ Wurlitzer gets quite a workout on this album, too).
That heavy electric guitar gives the track a metal edge, though. It makes for an almost unrecognizable remix of that venerable chiptune track ‘Atomyk Ebonpyre.’
By David Ellis (A Lunatic’s Daydream). Saxophone performed by Malik Refaat.
Fanart source: tinikah.
‘The Beginning of Something Really Excellent’ is positive, energetic, and a little aggressive. This remix trades in the techno for a funky rhythm electric guitar, a solid bassline, and a fantastic alto saxophone lead. It’s just so damnably catchy, like the main theme from an 80’s sitcom.
What an awesome, imaginative remix. This is my top track for the album. It’s that good. No regrets.
By David Ellis (A Lunatic’s Daydream)
That leadoff hook, which serves as a sort of chorus and anchor for the whole song, is excellent. In hindsight, this track is more appropriate now than ever for Jane: the cheerful synth parts represent her normal personality, while the staccato electric guitar breaks represent the Betty Crocker corporate juggernaut that has bent her unwillingly to its subjug(gl?)ation.
By Plumegeist
Intense and driving: a perfect fit for Mr. Strider. It’s a little industrial, but not at all harsh. The muffled, jerky, rising fade-in makes for a cool effect. Music to get shit done by.
By Elisa “Moony” McCabe
Don’t let the hokey ragtime piano intro fool you: most of the track is darker in tone. Just as it sounds like it’s about to break out, it falls back a little bit and stays in check.
By Gec
It’s perky and cheerful, and that phased-in drum beat intro is awfully cool, too.
By Solarbear
Image source: Homestuck.
One of the few pure chiptune tracks on either coloUrs and mayhem album. I can’t put my finger on it, but the main melody has a really cool, unpredictable rhythm, almost like there’s two main rhythms going on at the same time. It’s like something David Byrne would write, if he worked in the medium of chiptune.
By Haunter
It’s got a monster hook, and that’s all it really takes sometimes. That final synth whomp at the end of the song (a full 10 seconds of dead time precede it) unsettled me, too. So there’s that.
By viaSatellite and infiniteKnife
An electro-symphonic cover of Beatdown. It’s a new twist on an old standard (well, old by the Homestuck book, anyways). Although the some of the string parts feel a little forced, it’s a cool jam (especially starting in about the final third of the song, where it picks up on a time measure that’s a little more suited for rock).
Extra points for working a god-damned didgeridoo into the intro.
By Shandy
Reminds me a little of Indigo Heir, except that it’s not quite so perceptibly despondent. That simple drum set percussion line (that fade-in is pretty damn slick) sets the groove, while the flute and strings are more about atmosphere.
By Tristan Scroggins
I like this song. I really do. The performance is great, and the song itself is infectious. But it gives off a little bit of a ‘Home Depot commercial’ or maybe 'New Yankee Workshop guy finishing a cabinet with dados and rabbits or some shit’ vibe.