Zephy's Off-Kilter Picks of the Week #2

Here is the second edition of our new feature Zephy's Off Kilter Picks of the Week. These are some assorted tracks that are the favorites of busybody (and bmd staff member) Zephysonas!  He has selected them as the cream of the crop of brony music this week. We hope you give this a read and them a listen. reat collaboration.

~Rock~  Michael Pallante - Bad Babs Seed

I love seeing new takes on older songs to reinvigorate my interests and bring back nostalgic remembrances of what we found so entertaining with them in the first place. The extremely talented Michael Pallante brings us this delightful rendition of "Babs seed," delivering it with stellar execution and style. The brony fandom has its fair share of rock tunes, but it is somewhat rare to see a rock tune that has a more slow and laid back atmosphere. The powerful and fluid base line of this song really shines and establishes a unique almost surrealistic atmosphere. When matched with flawless drums, guitar and voice you get one heck of a song.

~Chant~ 4EverfreeBrony - Chant of Immortality (ft. Chi-Chi)

If I had to sum up this piece in two words, they would be impressive and beautiful. Despite this song already being featured on a spotlight post with EQD, I could not pass up mentioning it for those who had perhaps looked it over. The diffident instrumental track slots quietly into the background, letting the fantastically layered voice work to shine forth. A truly, truly outrageous gem.

~Orchestral~ Night Breeze - The Nascence of a Story

It is always a risk when creating tunes that are longer than the standard and common 3-5 minute lengths. The artist needs to really draw the listener into their creation and keep them interested throughout. A veteran brony-orchestral-arranger, Night Breeze shows the coalescence of their formidable expertise with this epic song, filled with tempo and stylistic changes that flow like warm chocolate syrup. A tune that is an adventure in itself to listen to.

~Chill~ Alfiux - The Hollow Shades

There are tunes that follow the conventional format of music, and then there are tunes that deviate with the hopes of creating greater atmospheric responses. This is another piece with fabulous layering and dynamic diversity throughout. Listening to this more than once, you can hear lines of music and sound that you may not have noticed before hand. A particular line that really stands out to me, is the subtle ambient noises that run in the background. Having those kinds of ambient sounds can be difficult to do properly, but ALfiux's subtle approach hits the nail on the head.

~ Rock - Jeff Burgess Filly Dreams
Some artists are so energetic and passionate with their music, that the fun of it truly shines through to their listeners. Jeff Burgess is one of those artists. A long time fan of Mr. Burgess, I was greatly pleased to see that along with the release of a handful of songs to his youtube, he would be releasing a new full album. I find myself having a good time whenever listening to this talented and versatile artist.

~Alt. Rock~ The Shake Ups - Our Little Timelord

One thing I am always on the lookout for is uniquely quirky musicians and bands, and the second I heard one of "The Shakeups Band's," songs, I knew that they were one of those bands. A word that always comes to mind when hearing their tunes is 'wholesome'. Their songs has a certain raw musical (almost garage bandy) approach that is usually hard to make sound truly excellent (but they do). The "Shake Ups Band," is refreshingly charming with every tune they create.

~Orchestral~ Carbon Maestro - Embattled - Derpy and Carrot Top's Epic

 Until this last week, I had never heard of Carbon Maestro and their orchestral compositions. However when I heard this tune I immediately added them to my list of musicians to look out for. What stood out to me right away was the vocal chant part at the commencement of the tune, which immediately had me sold. An "Epic," piece of music indeed and I expect to see many more from this artist.