« Older Entries Newer Entries »
J-Pop Cover Mix better better
Release Date: 8/1/12
Price: 1143 yen
J-Pop cover compilation featuring J-Pop classics with dance beats made for driving. Samples are available at CDJapan, and they actually sound surprisingly good. I can’t find too much info on who produced the CD, but 1143 is a great price.
At Last (Single)
Artist: Dina Rao
Release Date: 6/5/12
Price: $4.95
A cover of the classic Etta James song featuring the deep, jazzy vocals of Dina Rao and a variety of catch dance remixes. My favorite is actually the piano-based acoustic mix, as it best shows off Miss Rao’s fantastic voice. You can buy the single from Amazon MP3 or iTunes. More options, including a physical copy, can be found on Dina Rao’s official website.
Beach Mix
Artist: Koda Kumi
Release Date: 8/8/12
Price: 2371 yen (CD+DVD Edition) or 1905 yen (CD Only Edition)
4 Skips? Floorbreaker?! Overhead Champion?!? Could it be the return of J-Trance? Sadly, no. Koda Kumi’s latest remix album may have familiar J-Trance names, but the remixes are decidedly not trance. Instead, most of the remixes are house/electro or geared toward a beach crowd. Not necessarily bad, but a wasted opportunity to bring J-Trance back to the forefront. Visit the official website for samples and more info.
You can also buy the album on iTunes JP for 2400 yen. That’s right, you’d be paying more for the digital version than you would for the CD. Stay classy, Avex. Although, to be fair, my understanding is that all iTunes releases are now DRM-free, 256Kbps AAC files.
Campus Summit 2012 meets mixi
Release Date: 8/8/12
Price: 1905 yen
The first time since 2002 that there’ll be a Campus Summit release from a label other than Avex. I’ve always associated Campus Summit with gyaru culture, and thus Para Para, so it’s odd that most of the album is composed of house and J-Pop/K-Pop covers. The final 3 tracks appear to be eurobeat, though.
Samidarete…www (Single)
Artist: Umikamome Kotone from Sta+Pura! Seika Gakuin Geino Bu team. Etoile
Release Date: 8/8/12
Price: 1800 yen
Another new single from Toei’s idol-training game. This one has Eurobeat remixes by valle blanco and Rayto/TKS.
Dancemania Party ~ Best of 90s Dance Hits
Release Date: 8/1/12
Price: 2381 yen
Dancemania is still alive!! That’s MST’s special message, in English no less, to Dancemania fans!
Yes, Dancemania Party is full of many songs that fans have heard multiple times, but there are 12 songs that are “new” to the series. “Roses Are Red” turned out to be a different remix than the one previously used on ZIPmania Best, so it technically counts as a “new” track. The other new tracks are great representatives of 90s eurodance, particularly the tracks that previously appeared on Victor’s Dance Panic series. I’m just glad they shied away from the euro-reggae that was prominent on Sparkle.
For those interested, “Moonlight Shadow” is the original version from Dancemania 7 and not the new vocal version from X8, while “My Heart Will Go On” is the Definitive mix.
The mixing by MST is generally very good. I think he put more effort into this one than usual just because he didn’t have to mix the same old tracks again. I just wish he’d stop using that fake crowd noise.
V.I.P. presents Party Covers
Release Date: 8/1/12
Price: 2171 yen
Dancemania lives!!! Oh, wait, wrong album. It’s easy to get confused since the track list for this CD is dominated by Saifam. After being excluded from recent Dancemania albums I was getting worried that EMI had cut ties with the Italian label, but Saifam are here in full force. Tracks by Che’Nelle, Roll Deep and Bentley Jones round out the list.
Dance Climax
Release Date: 7/25/12
Price: 1886 yen
A new dance compilation series from Full Moon Records. It was originally titled, “Mega Dance Climax,” but the title has since changed. The track list is also vastly different from the early one. Whereas it was originally going to be a collection of mostly 90s eurodance hits, the final list also features quite a few 70s disco and 80s pop. It’s almost certain that they used cover versions for most of the tracks, but no retailers have any artists listed and AKBK haven’t added the CD to their website yet so who knows who provided the songs.
Love the old-school NOW-style cover.
You Put the Music in Me – EP
Artist: DJ Kawasaki feat. N’Dea Davenport
Release Date: 7/18/12
Price: 600 yen
Digital EP featuring the new song from DJ Kawasaki feat. N’Dea Davenport that appeared on Magic ~ A Collection of Black Disco Classics.
Magic ~ A Collection of Black Disco Classics mixed by DJ Kawasaki
Release Date: 7/25/12
Price: 2381 yen
A new compilation from EMI, mixed by DJ Kawasaki. As the title suggests, it collects disco classics. It also has a new song by DJ Kawasaki feat. N’Dea Davenport.
SQ Chips 2
Release Date: 7/25/12
Price: 1800 yen
Sequel to last year’s SQ Chips, once again featuring chiptune versions of classic Squaresoft songs. Visit the official website for samples. There are also retailer-exclusive CDs from Village Vanguard and Tower Records featuring bonus tracks.
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. A lot of repeats from other FARM compilations, but I do spot a few new tracks. Sad that there’s no Eurobeat on this like there was on the first one.
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.
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?
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.
DanceMaster | 
08 18th, 2012| 
Loading ...