Dancemania EX × Trance Paradise

ZIPmania All Best Mix
Release Date: 9/18/13
Price: 2190 yen

ZIPmania lives!!! Holy crap, EMI/Universal are really pumping out some unexpected releases this year. After reviving the Speed series after a 6-year hiatus, they’ve gone ahead and revived ZIPmania, which hasn’t seen a release since ZIPmania 7 in 2004.

ZIP-FM is a popular radio station in Nagoya, Japan that happens to be celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Their influential ZIP Dance Hits 20 chart used to be full of Dancemania artists back in the late ’90s and early ’00s, and they had a close relationship with EMI for years.

A few artists have been revealed, and the sad reality is that Dancemania will forever be changed by EMI’s sale to Universal. Misa and Pandora do make appearances, as does Katy Perry, but the rest of the list is populated by Universal artists like Lady Gaga, LMFAO, Jennifer Lopez, and Rihanna. One of things I used to love about Dancemania was that it focused more on European artists, so I can’t help but be disappointed that more mainstream artists are showing up. And unless EMI license the tracks from Warner, we might be missing tracks like “Dub-I-Dub” or “Butterfly” that would truly make this an anniversary release.

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Classical Candy 2
Release Date: 10/30/11
Price: 1000 yen

It’s RTTF week here at Dancemania EX, where I’ll be placing a spotlight on the indie/doujin Japan label, RTTF.

I’ve covered RTTF’s follow-up to Classical Candy before, but it’s worth revisiting the album now that I’ve listened to it in full.

Of course, Dancemania fans would be most interested in the new track from Chris Bucknall (a.k.a the “C” part of CJ Crew). It’s a 170 BPM arrangement of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” and it doesn’t disappoint. It’s quite lengthy at about 5:52, so he gets a chance to cover a lot more ground than the painfully short edits from classical Speed. There are pianos abound in the track, as well as some nice synth interpretations of the melody.

Speed Synth Symphony is also back with two tracks that lovingly recall the Dancemania SPEED sound. Seriously, if you listen to them you’ll realize that this guy knows and understands Dancemania Speed. DJ Hyuji also has a vocal(!) trance arrangement of “Pomp and Circumstance” on the album, as well as a trance cover of “Polovtsian Dance.”

Hommarju gets the final track on the album, a rousing trance rendition of Mozart’s “Requiem K.626 Dies Irae.” It’s absolutely amazing and makes me mourn the death of non-anime Exit Trance albums even more. It has everything you could possibly want from a trance song: a hard, galloping beat, random vocal samples, epic trance synths, and CHANTING.

Dancemania fans will also be interested to know that the booklet contains an interview (in Japanese) with Chris Bucknall. DJ Hyuji also posted parts of the interview online: http://rttf.eternalbreeze.net/works/rttf_0004/chris_interviews_web.html

You can visit RTTF’s official website for a crossfade demo. If you’re interested in ordering, DJ Hyuji speaks English and is willing to ship overseas. You can contact him here: http://rttf.eternalbreeze.net/contact.html Just make sure to turn your ad blocker off if you have one installed, otherwise the form won’t appear.

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Classical Candy
Release Date: 5/1/11
Price: 1000 yen

It’s RTTF week here at Dancemania EX, where I’ll be placing a spotlight on the indie/doujin Japan label, RTTF.

RTTF’s Classical Candy releases are probably my favorite from the label. As the title suggests, the album contains new dance arrangements of classical songs, similar to classical Speed or Exit Trance presents TranceMaster.

The opening track, done under DJ Hyuji’s pseudonym, Speed Synth Symphony, is like a love letter to Dancemania Speed. At a staggering 200 BPM, “The Comedian’s Gallop” perfectly encapsulates the SPEED sound and sounds like mix of CJ Crew and Saifam. Also recommended is Hyuji’s “Night Queen,” a cover of Mozart’s “Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herze” that comes complete with vocals and hyper techno elements!

Exit Trance fans will be delighted to know that Hommarju and MK both make appearances on the album. Hommarju does something delightfully different with a speed trance cover of the ragtime tune, “Pine Apple Rag.” I officially want a Ragtime Trance album now. Meanwhile, MK contributes a fantastic ethereal trance arrangement of “Jupiter.”

Tadashi Yamamoto offers a serene piano arrangement of “Gymnopedie,” once again with a light dance beat. Meanwhile, DJ Croco’s rock-trance cover of “Amazing Grace” evokes memories of N.O.-SYO. There’s a fantastic amount of variety on this album, so if you’re at all a fan of classical Speed or Exit Trance, I highly recommend it!

You can visit RTTF’s official website for a crossfade demo. If you’re interested in ordering, DJ Hyuji speaks English and is willing to ship overseas. You can contact him here: http://rttf.eternalbreeze.net/contact.html Just make sure to turn your ad blocker off if you have one installed, otherwise the form won’t appear.

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Beast Beats
Release Date: 5/1/11
Price: 500 yen

It’s RTTF week here at Dancemania EX, where I’ll be placing a spotlight on the indie/doujin Japan label, RTTF.

RTTF’s second release was a bit more experimental. DJ Hyuji’s own description describes it as “Club × Orchestra × Ethnic Music.” The opening track is a perfect example of this, being a mish-mash of speed trance, tribal beats and orchestral sections. Meanwhile, the title track, “Beast Beats,” sounds like a lost Re-Venge track for you DDR fans out there, while the similarly palindromic “Xotic Toxic” also has an ethnic feel.

Note that if you order the CD, 100 yen will be donated to WWF Japan, which is pretty cool. And just to be clear, we’re talking about the World Wildlife Fund here, and not the wrestling federation now known as WWE.

You can visit RTTF’s official website for a crossfade demo. If you’re interested in ordering, DJ Hyuji speaks English and is willing to ship overseas. You can contact him here: http://rttf.eternalbreeze.net/contact.html Just make sure to turn your ad blocker off if you have one installed, otherwise the form won’t appear.

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New Frontier of Tokyo
Release Date: 7/3/13
Price: 900 yen

Another random compilation from FARM Records featuring various re… Wait, no! This is brand new, original EDM from some of Japan’s top producers! DJ U*Hey?, Daiki × ZK, DJ Dragon, and DJ Satoshi are just some of the artists with original songs on this digital only compilation.

Available on iTunes Japan and Beatport.

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Run to the Future
Release Date: 10/31/10
Price: 800 yen

It’s RTTF week here at Dancemania EX, where I’ll be placing a spotlight on the indie/doujin Japan label, RTTF. Run by DJ Hyuji, RTTF has put out a lot of great dance albums over the past few years, with lots of different sounds ranging from trance to SPEED to house. DJ Hyuji is a HUGE (pun intended) fan of Dancemania, quite possibly one of the most dedicated I’ve ever met, and the influence of Dancemania, and Dancemania Speed in particular, can definitely be heard throughout RTTF’s albums. He’s also managed to round up a varied amount of guest artists for RTTF’s releases, including Chris Bucknall (of CJ Crew fame), JAKAZiD, Hommarju, MK, and many others.

You can visit RTTF’s official website for crossfade demos of both discs. Luckily, DJ Hyuji also speaks English and is willing to ship overseas. If you’re interested in ordering, you can contact him here: http://rttf.eternalbreeze.net/contact.html Make sure you turn your ad blocker off if you have one installed, otherwise the form won’t appear for some reason.

Impressions on the album after the jump.

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100% Summer Fes Party
Release Date: 6/26/13
Price: 900 yen

Another random compilation from FARM Records featuring various repeats. Available on iTunes Japan.

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Love EDM 2 Compilation
Release Date: 6/5/13
Price: 900 yen

Digital EP featuring full versions from Love EDM 2. Available on iTunes Japan.

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No.1 Party Mix -World Famous R&B- mixed by DJ Satoshi
Release Date: 6/19/13
Price: 1714 yen

House compilation from VillageAgain. Sequel to No.1 Party Mix -R&B House Best-. The music is produced by Power Music, but a number of the tracks are labeled “SME ReMaster Ver.” Translation: “We were too lazy to properly remix this.” The album is currently available only by renting it from Tsutaya or purchasing the digital version on iTunes Japan.

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EDM! EDM!! EDM!!! mixed by DJ Satoshi
Release Date: 4/24/13
Price: 1695 yen

EDM compilation from VillageAgain. Features a lot of repeats from No.1 Party Mix -R&B House Best-.

Also available on iTunes Japan.

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J-Pop Cover Densetsu V
Release Date: 8/7/13
Price: 1905 yen

The fifth release in FARM’s highly successful J-Pop Cover Densetsu series, which has sold a combined 500,000+ units. It’s been a while since J-Pop Cover Densetsu IV, which came out in November of 2011. Mixed by DJ Fumi*Yeah!

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Aww, bittersweet news from the Disko Warp scene. After 8 years, it seems that Pete is feeling burnt out and will be taking a break from Disko Warp for the foreseeable future. More details on his decision can be found in a series of Tumblr posts:

A Heart to Heart
Clarification

In the meantime, Pete is making the entire Disko Warp back catalog (sans licensed covers) available for FREE on SoundCloud. Best of luck, Pete! Hopefully one day you can come back feeling refreshed and ready to make more great music!

Hyper Funkot ~ Mega Speed Dance Traxx
Release Date: 6/19/13
Price: 1886 yen

EMI’s first foray into the world of Funkot. One can only wonder why Enka Speed couldn’t be this fast. -_-

Update (6/27/13): Interesting article on DJ Jet Baron and the Funkot movement: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/06/27/music/sincerity-is-the-new-ecstasy-in-funkots-summer-of-love/ He lost me when he said “Scatman” was objectively awful. -_-

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What’s Up Dance The Greatest Hits 2
Release Date: 6/19/13
Price: 3048 yen

The latest release in the What’s Up! series. Disc 1 features mainstream dance hits, while Disc 2 focuses more on EDM. I can’t help but feel that the list is a little outdated.

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EDM Anthem 2
Release Date: 7/24/13
Price: 2190 yen

The second release in Universal’s EDM series arrives 5 months after the first. With the apparent demise of EMI’s EDM series, it’s possible they’ll just fold more EMI artists into Universal’s series.

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