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V.I.P. presents Party Covers
Release Date: 8/1/12
Price: 2171 yen
OMG, it’s Dancemania EX 10!!! I thought that EMI might start licensing from Power Music like every other Japanese label, but it looks like they still have connections with Saifam as a majority of the album is made up of Saifam covers. Tracks by Che’Nelle, Roll Deep and Bentley Jones round out the tracklist. Seriously, they should’ve just made this a Dancemania album, though I’m glad Saifam still get some love from Japan.
Hatsune Rock feat. Hatsune Miku
Release Date: 6/6/12 Release Canceled
Price: 2190 yen
Whoops, I meant to post this earlier, but this release has obviously been canceled. Vocalo Dance sold poorly, so I guess EMI had second thoughts about continuing the series.
Dancemania Party ~ Best of 90s Dance Hits
Release Date: 8/1/12
Price: 2381 yen
Edit (7/10/12): Cover art is out! The new font for Party is much more pleasant to look at and readable. By the way, anyone interested in a contest to celebrate the release? 😉
Final list is out! All 17 tracks from the early list made it. The remaining 10 tracks include 3 Dancemania repeats as well as 7 tracks never before seen on Dancemania. In all, there are 11 tracks out of 27 that are “new” to the series.
In addition to previously announced licenses, there are “new” tracks from N.Y.C.C., Scooter, Matt Bianco, Afrika & The Zulu Kings, Look Twice, and Solid Base. Interestingly, these 6 artists all used to be signed to Victor Japan, though the Solid Base back catalog has been owned by EMI since Dancemania Sparkle. Look Twice were originally signed to EMI in the early 90s, back when Veronica Almqvist (of Smile.dk) was still part of the group, but “Funk You Up” was produced during their Victor Japan days in the late 90s. I wonder if EMI have since picked up the rights to these other former Victor artists…
One of the “new” tracks is the original version of Deja Vu’s “My Heart Will Go On,” which, despite being featured repeatedly on the Speed series, has never appeared on the main series. Great to see Almighty represented once again, but Saifam still get no love. 🙁
Other newly announced tracks include Me & My’s “Baby Boy,” Jennifer’s “If You Were Here,” and 2 Unlimited’s “Twilight Zone.”
Personally, I’m just happy we no longer have to look at that ugly “Sparkle” font. Now bring on Dancemania Party Speed! Please?
Platinum Life -Selected by House Nation-
Release Date: 7/4/12
Price: 2381 yen
New offshoot of the House Nation series from Avex.
Exit Tunes presents VocaloVanguard slow feat. Hatsune Miku
Release Date: 7/18/12
Price: 1905 yen
A Village Vanguard-exclusive release featuring slow-tempo Vocaloid songs. Bonus items include a smartphone clear sticker as well as a special cardboard sleeve case if you purchase both “fast” and “slow” at the same time.
Exit Tunes presents VocaloVanguard fast feat. Hatsune Miku
Release Date: 7/18/12
Price: 1905 yen
A Village Vanguard-exclusive release featuring up-tempo Vocaloid songs. Bonus items include a smartphone clear sticker as well as a special cardboard sleeve case if you purchase both “fast” and “slow” at the same time.
Obscure Questions
Artist: Pinocchio P
Release Date: 7/4/12
Price: 1905 yen
First major album from vocaloid producer, Pinnochi P. Features his biggest hits like “Kusare Gedou to Chocolate” as well as 3 new songs. Every song features Hatsune Miku on vocals.
Bonus items include a cell phone strap (1 of 3 designs), clear file, and B2 size poster. There are also a bevy of retailer-exclusive bonuses available, ranging from bromides to posters and even a picture frame. Samples and more info can be found on the official website.
Exit Tunes presents Final Fiction
Artist: Cl?sh (96 Neko × Shuujin P)
Release Date: 5/2/12 ? 7/4/12
Price: 1905 yen
First major album from Vocaloid producer, Cl?sh (96 Neko × Shuujin P). Originally titled Exit Tunes presents “Cl?sh”. Bonus items include a cell phone strap (1 of 5 designs), mouse pad (1 of 5 designs), and poster. Send in the included survey for a clear file. Retailer-exclusive bonuses include bonus CDs, bromides, and can badges. Visit the official website for samples and more info.
Utattemita Anison/J-Pop Speed
Release Date: 7/4/12
Price: 1905 yen
As promised, I cooked up a little spreadsheet comparing BPMs, which you can find after the jump. BPMs were calculated using MixMeister BPM Analyzer, though I had to manually check some. The Anison album ranges from 160-180 BPM, while the J-Pop album starts at 150 and ends at 180 BPM.
DJ Hirocky did a great job mixing both albums, but in terms of energy Anison has a better selection of tracks. After all, half of the tracks on Anison were produced by DJ Command and many of the others were by Rayto/Tks. The J-Pop album suffers from starting off far too slow and, of course, having way too many repeats from the original album. If you’re new to Akiba Koubou, then these are certainly better options than the original Utattemita albums, but for long-time fans it’s yet another slap in the face.
Utattemita Anison Speed
Release Date: 7/4/12
Price: 1905 yen
Okay, EMI and AKBK are just straight up trolling now. This has 12 repeats from the original Utattemita J-Pop, and 6 of those are the same BPM as before. What the hell were they thinking when they made this? It’s a shame that all of AKBK’s “Speed” release have been so lazy and disappointing, because I LOVED the Geki Atsu! Drama Euro releases and thought this was going to be a banner year for AKBK. Instead, they’ve been running their repeats into the ground.
Utattemita Anison Speed
Release Date: 7/4/12
Price: 1905 yen
Somehow I got my copy a day early. I <3 CDJapan so much.
I’ll get the extremely bad, yet entirely unsurprising news out of the way first: there are no new arrangements. The slightly good news is that at least this time AKBK showed some effort by increasing the tempo of some of the songs. The minimum BPM on this album is 160, and a lot of these songs were previously in the 150-155 range, so it’s not a huge difference. However, many songs that were already over 160 BPM, including some that were already featured on the regular Utattemita Anison, are the same tempo as before. Sigh. The return of Dancemania Speed this is not. I’m working on a quick spreadsheet that compares the BPMs, which I’ll hopefully have up in a bit.
I will say that I enjoyed the mixing a lot, and it has my two most-loved AKBK productions ever, one right after the other. Oh, actually, I was lying about there being no new tracks. “Discotheque” is technically a new resing by Shihori. I don’t get why they didn’t just use the existing Prico version since she’s an utaite and would’ve fit perfectly. Also “We Are” is a resing of a track that originally appeared on Akiba Koubou presents Utatte Mita Collection Tsukareta Otoko.
Campus Summit 2012 meets mixi
Release Date: 8/8/12
Price: 1905 yen
Early list is out, and there’s no Eurobeat in sight. Indeed, it’s mostly J-Pop, K-Pop, Reggae and House songs. The only possible exception is the official event theme song, “Minna My Miku,” which is produced by Delta Partners and will likely be Eurobeat.
Too Love To Love (Initial P Remix) (Single)
Artist: maria?polo
Release Date: 6/29/12
Price: Free!
A brand new remix of the DJ Command track, originally featured on Toho Euro Flash Vol. 2. It’s available for free at Bandcamp!
Exit Tunes presents GUMing from Megpoid
Release Date: 9/5/12
Price: 1905 yen
Fourth GUMI release from Exit Tunes, following GUMism, GUMitive, and GUMish.
Hoshi no Shoujo to Gensou Gakudo
Artist: cosMo @ Bousou P
Release Date: 8/15/12
Price: 1905 yen
Second album from cosMo @ Bousou P on the Exit Tunes label. Comes with a rubber cell phone strap, mouse pad, and poster. Send in the included survey for a clear file.
DanceMaster | 
07 10th, 2012| 
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