Dancemania EX × Trance Paradise

Party Around the World ~Nico Nico.dk ga Yattekitaaaaaa~
Release Date: 7/21/10
Price: 2405 yen

Party Around the World finally gets a Japanese release courtesy of Dreamusic, and they went all out for it. In addition to the first-ever release of “Butterfly ’09″ on a physical CD, the Japanese edition also includes two, new bonus remixes of “Koko Soko”!! Orange Summer, who previously did a remix of “Boys” for Hime Trance 2, provides a trance remix. Meanwhile, Akiba Koubou give the track a Japanese eurobeat remix. Samples can be found at Dreamusic’s special Smile.dk website: http://www.dreamusic.co.jp/sp/smile_dk/

Billed as the “Koko, Soko, Asoko!! Song,” Smile.dk’s “Koko Soko” is making waves in Japan. It’s currently sitting at number 17 on the ZIP-FM Dance Charts and will no doubt move up even more in following weeks. Dreamusic have even put up a music video of sorts:

Oh, and even though the early list didn’t have “Heal My Broken Heart” listed, it is indeed on the final track list.

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Nico Nico Koushien ~Minna Yakyuu Sukika!?~
Release Date: 7/21/10
Price: 2405 yen

A baseball-themed sequel to Nikonikouhaku. Akiba Koubou will be producing once again, though it’s unclear if the songs will still be done in a eurobeat style.

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Party Around the World ~Nico Nico dk ga Yattekitaaaaaa~
Release Date: 7/21/10
Price: 2405 yen

Party Around the World finally gets a Japanese release almost two years after it originally came out. Oddly, the Almighty mix of “Heal My Broken Heart” has been replaced with the new United Forces version of “Butterfly.” There should be enough room on the CD for both, though, and I’m still hoping for more bonus mixes.

Update! CDJapan’s description mentions that there’ll also be trance and eurobeat versions of “Butterfly,” for a total of 15 tracks.

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Anime Euro Best ~School Edition~
Release Date: 5/12/10
Price: 2284 yen

I just got my copy and for those wondering, it’s a non-stop mix. Unfortunately, no full versions appear to be available on iTunes yet. Then again, Dreamusic don’t use iTunes Plus, so they’d be low-quality, DRMed files anyway.

DJ Command absolutely dominates the album with 7 songs, though most are technically repeats or just have new vocals. Still, I think his cover of “Don’t say “lazy”" is my new favorite, displacing kors k’s version. The new Kei songs are great as well. If you can get past the Super Anime Remix repeats, it’s actually a pretty good album. And according to Akiba Koubou, it’s the first release in a new series. I guess AEB is replacing SAR then.

Also, the booklet and back cover list the wrong artist for track 16. They list it as Usa, but it’s really Mi->Na. Akiba Koubou are offering replacement booklets if you’re really bent out of shape about it.

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Anime Euro Best ~School Edition~
Release Date: 5/12/10
Price: 2284 yen

Eurobeat remakes of songs from school-themed anime populate this compilation from Dreamusic. It’s sort of a spinoff from Super Anime Remix. In fact, it has a lot of repeats from SAR, including some with different vocalists. Still, it should be worth it for two new Kei productions.

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Anime Euro Best ~School Edition~
Release Date: 5/12/10
Price: 2284 yen

Super Anime Remix lives on! Well, sort of. Dreamusic will be releasing a new compilation this May with eurobeat covers of anime themes. “School Edition” refers to the fact that the songs will be taken from anime set in schools. I’m not sure why Dreamusic decided to abandon the “Super Anime Remix” brand in favor of “Anime Euro Best,” though I suspect it’s to make it clearer that the genre is eurobeat. It doesn’t hurt that the new title is more similar to EMI’s popular “Wa Euro Best” series. And yeah, the songs will once again be produced by Akiba Koubou.

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Nikonikouhaku ~Minna de Tanoshiku Asonjaimashita~
Release Date: 12/9/09
Price: 2405 yen

Previously known as Nico Nico Kouhaku 2009 – Eurobeat Japan Best. The final title is a portmanteau of “Nico Nico” and “Kouhaku.” Nico Nico, of course, is the famous Japanese equivalent of YouTube, where many amateur singers upload their own videos. Kouhaku literally means “red and white,” and I believe in this case refers to a famous singing contest in which singers are separated into red teams and white teams.

The album is produced by Akiba Koubou, currently most famous for their work on Wa Euro Best and the Super Anime Remix series. I’m still unsure if the remixes are actually new since Akiba Koubou have already done a lot of these songs, but there are definitely new vocals. The new vocalists are all amateur singers who have made names for themselves on Nico Nico.

Samples can be heard at Nico Nico: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8813797

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Nico Nico Kouhaku 2009 – Eurobeat Japan Best
Release Date: 12/9/09
Price: 2405 yen

Upcoming J-Euro release from Dreamusic, the label behind Super Anime Remix. After the success of Wa Euro Best, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that other labels are trying to capitalize on the genre’s renewed popularity. The artists listed below aren’t confirmed yet. I’m under the assumption that they’ll be using the existing remixes, but will have new vocalists from Nico Nico. Of course, it’s also possible that they’ll be cheap and use the existing vocals as well.

It’s not all repeats, however. There are at least three tracks that haven’t appeared on SAR.

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Girls Night Out * ZIP
Release Date: 8/26/09
Price: 1886 yen

“Koko Soko” didn’t make it on the final list.

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Girls Night Out * ZIP
Release Date: 8/26/09
Price: 1886 yen

KOKO SOKO. No, not the Saifam cover, but the original Smile.dk version! Dreamusic have been known to license Western artists before — they released the Carlito albums in Japan — so I’m wondering if this means there’ll be a Japanese release of “Party Around the World” after all. That’s pure speculation of course, but it’s still great to see Smile.dk on Japanese compilations again.

In other news, “Lucky Number” by the Swedish triplets Three is supposedly produced by Overhead Champion.

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Super Anime Remix presents Techno Pop
Release Date: 6/17/09
Price: 2381 yen

At first glance it looks like there are a lot of repeats, but I’m fairly sure these are all new tracks or remixes. It appears that all of the tracks will be full-length versions. They better be if there are only 12 tracks in all.

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Super Anime Remix Best
Release Date: 7/22/09
Price: 2857 yen

The first SAR came out less than a year ago, yet Dreamusic have already deemed it necessary to do a best-of release. Because everyone was really clamoring to hear “Sousei no Aquarion” again. That said, at least it has Tugumi’s excellent cover of “Naraku no Hana.”

I’m not entirely sure what the two CDs will have. My best guess is that both will be non-stop mixes. Meanwhile, the DVD will contain ParaPara routines for the most overexpos– err, best Akiba Koubou songs.

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Super Anime Remix Touge stage 2
Release Date: 5/27/09
Price: 2381 yen

I was excited to hear that Red Monster would be back with a new collaboration with Tugumi, but I never would have imagined that the duo would be taking on my favorite anime theme, “Naraku no Hana”!! I’m also a big fan of “Uninstall” and, of course, “Glamorous Sky.” I really like “Shangri-La,” too, but didn’t need to hear it repeated again.

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Super Anime Remix Vol. 3
Release Date: 4/22/09
Price: 2286 yen

Not a bad final list, with plenty of songs that haven’t been covered by Quake (at least not yet). “Lion” is a repeat from Super Anime Remix Touge, but everything else is new.

Disc 1 is a non-stop mix, while disc 2 contains the full versions.

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Super Anime Remix presents Techno Pop
Release Date: 6/17/09
Price: 2381 yen

Would it be at all possible to have an anime remix album without “Sousei” or “Zankoku”? I guess the answer is a resounding no, because the tentative list for SAR Techno Pop has both. On the plus side, it also has “Naraku no Hana.”

Unlike the main SAR series, Techno Pop will be a single CD. Whether or not it will be a non-stop mix has yet to be determined. If the final list only has 13 songs, however, I’d expect full-length versions plus a short mega mix.

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