Dancemania EX × Trance Paradise

Dancemania Sparkle – Best of 90s Dance Pop
Release Date: 8/3/11 ⇨ 8/24/11
Price: 2381 yen

Track list has been updated. Same tracks as before, but rearranged positions. Kinda funny how most of the non-Dancemania tracks ended up grouped together.

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Dancemania Sparkle – Best of 90s Dance Pop
Release Date: 8/3/11 ⇨ 8/24/11
Price: 2381 yen

Delayed to August 24th from its original August 3rd release date. In the meantime, EMI have released the cover art and what appears to be the final track list. The cover isn’t quite as nice as Treasure’s; I particularly don’t care for the font used for “Sparkle.”

The tracklist is mostly predictable, with Me & My, Smile.dk, Captain Jack and E-Rotic all making an appearance. There’s also representation from Almighty and AATW, two of the most prolific Dancemania labels. A handful of tracks licensed from other companies round out the list, with Los del Rio, Mr. President, and T-Spoon making their Dancemania debuts. Notable exclusions include Bus Stop and DJ Miko. In fact, it’s disappointing that there’s nothing from Saifam at all. :/

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Dancemania Sparkle – Best of 90s Dance Pop
Release Date: 8/3/11
Price: 2381 yen

Dancemania lives!!! This past April 10 marked the 15th anniversary of the release of the very first Dancemania and I was beginning to wonder if EMI would do anything to commemorate the historic milestone. Of course, I should know better than to question EMI’s love of repeats Unlike Dancemania Treasure, which was released during the 10th anniversary of the series, this release will only be a single disc. The early track list is populated by the repeats you know and love. “Dub-I-Dub,” “Butterfly,” “Captain Jack,” and “Willy…” are all present and accounted for. EMI are also licensing some classic 90s tracks from other labels, so expect some songs that have never appeared on Dancemania before. Actual new tracks seem doubtful, unless they license a new Saifam cover or something. Regardless, I’m just glad EMI haven’t completely abandoned the Dancemania brand.

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You Woke My Heart (Single)
Artist: Pandora
Release Date: 3/30/11
Price: 9,99 €

Brand new album from the Eurodance queen featuring her latest hit singles, “You Woke My Heart,” “You Believed,” and “Kitchy Kitchy” among others. The album is available on iTunes Finland but doesnt yet seem to be available anywhere else.

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You Woke My Heart (Single)
Artist: Pandora feat. JS16
Release Date: 5/9/11

A collaboration between Pandora and another established Dancemania artists, JS16, who was most famous for “Stomp to My Beat.” The maxi single is available on Juno Download, but only in certain European countries. Hopefully it’ll show up on a US download service soon.

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Back to the Dancefloor
Artist: Captain Jack
Release Date: 4/22/11

Captain Jack is back!!! This collection of remixes and new tracks was originally set for release years ago, but is only now seeing the light of day. Right now it’s available in the UK on various sites like UK 7digital or Juno Download. It doesn’t seem to be available at any US stores yet, but this post will be updated when it is. Judging by the samples, the best stuff was already released on last year’s Hits Remixes EP, but the new stuff isn’t half bad.

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Supereurobeat
Artist: Vibration All Stars
Price: $6.99 per album; $1.29 per track

I seem to be a bit late to the party, but Vibration/LED are back and have apparently been releasing tons of compilations on iTunes. The Supereurobeat series is of particular interest to Dancemania fans as it has full versions, instrumentals, a cappella versions of Dancemania tracks. A lot of these were released years ago on Juno Download, but there are two surprise tracks that have never before been made available.

First is “Super Super Hero” by Fireman, which made an appearance on Happy Paradise 2 but has never been made available on vinyl or any other media. “Super Super Hero” was a licensed track, but Davide Di Marcantonio did work on the Fireman project, so its inclusion on Supereurobeat Vol. 03 isn’t that inconceivable.

The real shocker is the “Euro Remix” of Deja Vu’s “My Heart Will Go On,” which originally appeared on Dancemania Euro*Mix Happy Paradise. Although it was available on a promo vinyl issued by EMI, I always assumed LED would never be able to release it themselves since it was licensed from Almighty. I’m honestly wondering if Almighty know about this, so you may want to grab it off Supereurobeat Vol. 01 in case Almighty ever decide to pull it.

I believe the only LED Dancemania tracks still not available are the ones from Natsu Monogatari 2009. With any luck they’ll appear on an upcoming release.

Full list of available albums and Dancemania-related tracks after the jump.

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Anim80s – Anime Hits in 80s Disco Style (Animeighties)
Release Date: 12/22/10
Price: 1886 yen

I didn’t think it could get any stranger than Ghibli Reggae (yes, it’s real), but somehow DJ Yossy and EMI have managed to create an even more bizarre amalgam of musical styles. Anim80s features popular anime themes, including many recent ones, done in 80s disco style. That means a booming bassline, 80s synths and, of course, hand claps! Think Dancemania Super Classics/80s, except with anime themes.

Mind you, the synths don’t come across too well in the video, and not all of the songs quite hit the mark, but all in all it’s a fantastic release for fans of that classic PWL/SAW sound. I’ll have a full review up shortly. In the meantime, you can also download the album from iTunes Japan for 1200 yen. Unfortunately, iTunes doesn’t have full versions. It’s just the same non-stop mix as the CD.

Also worth mentioning is that technically Akiba Koubou didn’t produce most of the CD. Instead, many songs were outsourced to dance Beyond, who have previously worked on Hyper Yocomix and the bootleg Hime Tra series from Get Over the Records. Many tracks were also done by Youhei Fujita. Rayto ended up with 3 tracks, while DJ Command arranged only one song on the album.

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Wa Euro presents Tokumori Anime
Release Date: 12/8/10
Price: 1500 yen

A special, limited release featuring the best of Wa Euro anime covers. In other words, yet another excuse to reuse the same old repeats. “Tokumori” is used in Japanese restaurants to refer to and “extra large” portion of food, so think of this as an extra helping of Wa Euro. I suppose 1500 yen for a CD release isn’t too bad, but after Premier Euro I don’t see a need for yet another best-of compilation.

As I said, the CD saw extremely limited release, so you won’t be able to find it on most online retailers. It looks like it won’t be available digitally, either. What? If EMI can reuse the same old tracks, I can reuse the same old descriptions.

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Wa Euro presents Tokumori J-Pop
Release Date: 12/8/10
Price: 1500 yen

A special, limited release featuring the best of Wa Euro J-Pop covers. In other words, yet another excuse to reuse the same old repeats. “Tokumori” is used in Japanese restaurants to refer to and “extra large” portion of food, so think of this as an extra helping of Wa Euro. I suppose 1500 yen for a CD release isn’t too bad, but after Premier Euro I don’t see a need for yet another best-of compilation.

As I said, the CD saw extremely limited release, so you won’t be able to find it on most online retailers. It looks like it won’t be available digitally, either.

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Back to the Dancefloor
Artist: Captain Jack
Release Date: January 2011

Captain Jack is back!!! This collection of remixes and new tracks was originally set for release this past October, but apparently it’s been delayed until the new year. It’s surprisingly mostly new material, so if you’re only interested in the new remixes of classic CJ tracks, then you’re better off getting the Hit Remixes 2010 single. I believe this is the first time that the Cheeky Trax remix of “Dream A Dream” has been commercially available, however.

“People Like to Party” was a great track, so I’m actually really looking forward to the new songs. “How does it feel” looks like it’ll be the requisite eurodance ballad, though.

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Hit Remixes 2010 (Single)
Artist: Captain Jack
Release Date: 11/22/10

Now this is more like it! Ace da Brain starts off this collection of 2010 remixes with a trance remix of Captain Jack’s eponymous song. It’s a fantastic remix that gives the song a fresh feel yet still retains CJ’s distinct military style. “Drill Instructor” is similarly updated with a trance sound, and thankfully retains all of the lyrics. “Soldier Soldier,” is a noticeably darker take on the song, with a strong emphasis on bass. For purists, I *think* that they kept the old vocals. If not, then Bruce does one heckuva Franky Gee impersonation. All in all, it’s a great collection of remixes, and if the upcoming “Back to the Dancefloor” is anywhere near as good as this then we’re in for quite a treat.

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Move That Body 2010 (Single)
Artist: Look Twice
Release Date: 10/18/10

Look Twice’s 2010 update of their biggest hit is finally out, at least in some European countries. I think the new mixes are really good, but unfortunately I’ve yet to find a US store that sells them. >_<