Commence the inane babbling
Most of my involvement with the furry phenonemon as a whole is through the music affiliated with it. However, I recently realized this is far from universal when I met a furry at school [this has happened multiple times with neither of us being aware for months, I don't know why and I don't want to] who wasn't aware furry-adjacent music existed at all, or assumed it was just the kind of youtube parodies that make you want to eat lead. Being me, I completely missed the chance to tell him about it, but if I were to try to go back in time and bring it up, this is the collection I would put together. It is not an attempt at anything remembling objectivity or comprehensiveness, just an assembleage of my favorite tracks. If you asked someone else to make this list (multiple people on RYM have) it would look totally different, but that's the beauty of this kind of thing, isn't it? A lot of these are mostly anthro-adjacent regarding their covers / themes and artists, but italicized titles indicate those with openly furry-themed lyrics.
Side A - Electronic
NenaRen - Something Beautiful You're always there when I need you, you're something beautiful (Happy hardcore) One of my favorite tracks out of the scene (and ever, actually.) Energetic and epic (basically rave-ready,) but tender and sweet at the same time. I absolutely love electronic with such an eye for melody, plus this kind of distinctively 2009 autotune/vocal processing is one of my favorite things musically. Renard - BARA LOVE BLAST DOGGES Your paws, your ears, your nose, my tears (Happy hardcore? electropop?) Track about fictional crushes; still rave-ready, but oddly emotional. If this version is too heavy, there's a lovely acoustic take on it too (which I personally like better.) Futret - (More Than) Deer to Me (Renard's Last Use of This Acapella Remix) (Breakcore) This one's just goofy as hell, but there's moments on it that are more beautiful than they have any right to be, and judging by comments I've seen elsewhere I'm not the only one wondering why an openly silly breakcore track kinda makes them want to cry. MEATTOOTH - BAMBINO MASSIVE (Mashcore) A lot of furry-associated music is the general realm of break/speed/mashcores, which I'll try to avoid flooding the list with, but this one's one of the best (in my probably terrible opinion.) It managed to give me high school nostalgia when I was still in high school. Astro The Fox - Amuse Me, Kraken (Chipbreak) Another breakcore track (I'm so sorry,) but this time in a more chipbreak-style and made mostly on an authentic 1989 Gameboy! There's a whole corner of furry music that's basically people who fell in love with Lapfox Trax and did their own take on the multi-alias/sona solo label concept, which usually ends up as less of a ripoff (since none of them can really do what Emma does anyway) and instead an entirely separate experience growing around a borrowed framework, of which Elysian Tunes is a prime example. mowmowmow - Everybody Loves Me! (w/ 4lung) I don't care too much for the rest of her work, but cmon, this one's good. Many summer day bike rides were had to this over the years.
Side B - Indie
Furry Loser - In the Land of Funny Animals Get up and get out of bed Put on your suit (not that one, the other one) (Indie rock)
An indie rock track that captures the spirit of furry-ness (as I experience it) pretty well - an alternate interpretation of reality for those out of place in the main paradigm and a home for such individuals. I was really split between including it and Funny Animals, by the same artist. If you like one, give the other a listen! chocofriendz - ice halo I wandered through a wheat field under cloudy skies when a heavenly sparkle reflected in my eyes (Bedroom pop) Homemade pop, as heartfelt as the cover implies. Pulled straight out of a small-town fuzzy handdrawn halloween world. Winter spent in gloves and a hoodie. Sergeant Hare Apollo - O Captain (Soldier's Lament) I heed the winter soldier's call But summer never came (Indie rock) "On a young private's unrequited love for the captain of his regiment." The artist has three singles out so far and they're all good enough that I could have chosen any of them, can't wait for the album. Catface - My Colors! Inside everyone's a star that shines a glow inside our heart and brain Let it continue to burn on; don't let it fizzle from a little rain (Pop punk, chiptune) A love letter to creativity and wonder and coloring outside the lines. The album as a whole is one of the most unique and best mergings of rock and electronic I've heard, while escaping all the usual hyperpop / internet music pitfalls. Seriously one of a kind, so of course the artist just up and disappeared one day. We miss you, catface.
Side C - A Little Something Different
Lil Raptor - Dragon's Milk and The Redeemer The rain's gone cold again... How did you sleep last night? Gorgeous shoegaze/post-rock with a side of screamo. Somewhere between a sorrowful lament and a charge to either glory or death. I spent days aimlessly walking back roads to it on loop last winter. Demensa - Pigmented Triad Relaxed chiptune-ish VGM from a surrealistic visual novel by the artist. 2047 - Cold Rain Ambient optimized for watching radio towers and oil refineries at night. 2047's sprawling body of work is a world inandof itself (the genre they singlehandly started in 2015, deathdream, is still going strong) but this and Star Girl are the pieces I come back to again and again. Soundtrack to the background scenes and lives glimpsed in a cyberpunk movie after the camera stops rolling. Silver Dove - last train home. (Guitar drone) Minimal droning ambient for lonely rides home and vacant aimless wandering. Moving through the world like a ghost. hyi - misery We decompose when we're buried We break apart when least ready We both know misery We both know misery (Glitch pop) Not everything around here is sunshine and rainbows but there's beauty to be found regardless.
Some other artists I like not mentionend here: SCREAMR (Noise, speedcore, mashcore) - Alternately making eerie dark ambient glitch noise and memeridden speedcore goofiness. tabby cat diaries (melancholy noise) - Auditory desperation, love songs verging on psychosis. andrew k. (guitar ambient, shoegaze, breakcore) - Gorgeous guitar drones, emotional breakcore, and heavy noise (across multiple aliases.) Like memories stored on oversatured film, precious moments encoded in incomprehensible blurs. Obviously this is just a tiny slice of an absolutely immense scene you could spend years immersed in (I speak from experience.) Have fun and send me anything interesting you find.