« Older Entries Newer Entries »
Utattemita Anison Speed
Release Date: 7/4/12
Price: 1905 yen
Final list has been released, and it’s still not clear if we’ll be getting new arrangements. “Discotheque,” one of my favorite AKBK productions, does get a resing by Shihori, but the listed artists and arrangers are same as before for everything else. There are even 3 repeats from the regular Utattemita Anison. I’m even more worried that this will be nothing but repeats yet again.
Electloid feat. Hatsune Miku
Release Date: 6/6/12
Price: 1905 yen
New electro Vocaloid compilation from FARM Records. Bonus items include a Memopad and an IC Card Customize Sheet. Retailer-exclusive bonuses include alternative covers and clear files. Visit the official website for samples and more info.
Age mix 2 ~All Genre Best~
Release Date: 7/11/12
Price: 1905 yen
Sequel to last year’s Age mix, which was a surprise best-seller. Features covers of J-Pop, K-Pop, Anison, Western and Disco hits.
Crystal House -R&B Party- mixed by Daiki × ZK
Release Date: 7/11/12
Price: 1714 yen
Crystal House is the name of a fashion party produced by DJ Daiki, and this new tie-up compilation album from FARM Records will be mixed by my current favorite production duo, Daiki × ZK! That can only mean a majority of the album will be populated by their own tracks. Naturally, that means lots of repeats, but there are new tracks planned as well, including a cover of Pitbull’s “Back in Time”.
Zoku Fami Compi
Release Date: 5/23/12
Price: 1800 yen
Sequel to last year’s Fami Compi. Includes arrangements by TeddyLoid and sasakure.UK.
Mega Dance Climax
Release Date: 7/25/12
Price: 1886 yen
Dancemania × Dance Panic!?! Full Moon’s new series will feature dance pop hits of the 80s and 90s including lots of Dancemania and Dance Panic! classics like “Dub-I-Dub,” “Samba de Janeiro,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” “Call Me Mañana,” and more! Right now I get the feeling that they’ll just be licensing the tracks from EMI and Victor, but I would love AKBK forever if they actually did eurobeat remixes. I guess another possibility is that they’ll be licensing covers from Saifam. In any case, it’ll be interesting to see how the series develops in the future.
As mentioned, 2012 marks the 7th birthday of Disko Warp and also serves as a rebirth of sorts for the label. Earlier this year all of Disko Warp’s Bandcamp releases became pay-what-you-want, and I recently conducted a short interview with the head of Disko Warp himself, Pete Ellison, discussing the changes as well as the future of Disko Warp.
Switching to a “pay what you want” model is a bold move. What prompted this decision? Was it a response to piracy? A desire to spread the Disko Warp brand? Or did a monkey accidentally press the wrong button at Bandcamp?
Pete: It’s a complicated answer. At the beginning of this year I just decided it was time for a change, and I wanted to really step back and look at everything I’d done with Disko Warp and see what’s working and what’s not working. It takes money and time to maintain a large catalog of releases for sale via iTunes and other distributors. A lot of our back catalog was actually costing me money to keep it up, and my business model that was working great for me when I started the label 7 years ago just needed to be ditched completely and rebuilt from the ground up. So I’ve drawn a line in the sand so to speak.
Less Than Three 2012 Remixes (Single)
Artist: Becky
Release Date: 5/5/12
Price: Name Your Price
In celebration of Disko Warps’s 7th birthday, Disko Warp recently released 7 new remixes of their first-ever release, “Less Than Three.” Available exclusively at Bandcamp. As always for their Bandcamp releases, it’s pay what you want! Eurobeat fans will definitely want to check out the Sugano and Odyssey remixes, as well as the J-Euro remix by DJ Skyblue.
Don Gino – EP
Artist: Disco Gino
Price: $3.96
The latest track from J-Mi and Midi-D is a sequel to “Disco Gino” which, oddly enough, hasn’t seen a single release outside of the Disko Warp remix. I was afraid that the Disco Gino gimmick would wear thin, but exploiting a different Italian stereotype this time was a good call. The J-Mi & Midi-D remix in particular is highly recommended. That said, the best Pizza-related song still goes to “Kochira Mona Pizza.”
And I know it’s supposed to be a mafioso hat on the cover, but I keep seeing either an elf or an orc. o_O
Para Para Fantasia!! Vol. 1
Release Date: 5/27/12
Price: 1400 yen
A joint-release DVD by A-One and NJK Record. Features Para Para done to Toho Eurobeat and Toho Euro Flash tracks while the dancers wear Toho-inspired costumes and bags over their heads.
Toho Euromach Remixies+
Release Date: 5/27/12
Price: 800 yen
New release in the DJ Command-produced series. In addition to the rare TEF non-stop mix, the CD also compiles instrumental versions of tracks from TEF 01 plus two new remixes. Visit the official website for more info: http://nijika.net/
Toho Eurobeat Vol. 5 ~ Imperishable Night
Release Date: 5/27/12
Price: 1400 yen
Doujin release featuring eurobeat covers of popular touhou songs. Odd that they’re releasing it in May, as in the past they’ve waited for the August Comiket to release TEB CDs. You can visit the official website for a crossfade demo.
For fans outside of Japan, White Canvas is willing to ship overseas, and they’ll be carrying TEB 5: http://www.w-canvas.com/products/detail.php?product_id=35451 For more information on their service, go to their info page: http://www.w-canvas.com/user_data/information.php. In addition to the price of the CD and overseas shipping, there’s also a 1,000 yen commission per order, so it might be a good idea to pick up TEB 1-4 and Best 2011 at the same time. Note that I haven’t used White Canvas, but I’ve read online that speak decent English, so it might be your best shot at acquiring these CDs.
CDJapan also have a new shopping service so you might be able to ask them to buy it for you.
Saifam Speed – May 2012
Artist: Various Artists
Another random set of Speed songs. “Turning Japanese” turned out pretty well, but “Not Afraid” lacks the rapid-fire rapping of CJ Crew’s “Lose Yourself” and ends up sounding a bit slow. “Iron Man” appears to be a slightly reworked version of the SAI1416 track released 4 years ago.
SPE190 – [4:41] Turning Japanese (The Factory Speed mix) / Speedmaster
SPE191 – [5:15] Not Afraid (The Factory Speed mix) / MC Boy
SPE192 – [5:12] Iron Man (The Factory Speedo mix) / Speedogang
And I forgot to mention it last month, but Saifam also did a Zippers cover of the Captain Jack song, “People Like to Party.”
DAN19057 – [4:15] People Like to Party (The Factory Team remix) / Zippers
Moonlight Shadow (Single)
Artist: Hikari.
Release Date: 4/25/12
Price: $9.95
New digital single from FARM Records. Available on iTunes Japan and Beatport. Also includes a cover of the Astroline song, “Close My Eyes.”
EX:P3 ~EX:Producers 3~
Release Date: 7/4/12
Price: 1905 yen
Third release in the FARM-produced Vocaloid series. Visit the official website for additional details.
DanceMaster | 
06 6th, 2012| 
Loading ...