Dancemania EX × Trance Paradise

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.

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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.

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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.

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Utattemita Anison/J-Pop Speed
Release Date: 7/4/12
Price: 1905 yen

I knew it! EMI finally came to their senses and retroactively added all of the Utattemita Anison/J-Pop CDs to the Dancemania brand. They’re now part of the “Utattemita” series and are listed just above the Natsu Monogatari/Wa Euro Best releases. The two latest releases are also currently featured on the front page of the Dancemania website.

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Campus Summit 2012 meets mixi
Release Date: 8/8/12
Price: 1905 yen

Wow, for the first time since 2002 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’ll be interesting to see what FARM Records have in store for the tie-up CD. So far they’ve announced J-Pop, K-Pop, and Western Club hits, so it could end up sounding a lot like FARM’s Age mix series.

Edit: The official Campus Summit 2012 website has announced some songs. There are 3 different versions of the official event theme song, “Minna My Mixi.” One, or maybe even all, of the versions will probably appear on the CD. There’s also an image song titled, “130% chance!!”

01. Minna My Mixi feat. DJ Mikan / Yumachi & Aina
02. Minna My Mixi feat. DJ Mikan / Gal Doll
03. Minna My Mixi feat. DJ Mikan / Misaki
04. 130% chance!! / Gal Doll

Pre-order at CDJapan.

V.I.P. presents Party Covers
Release Date: 8/1/12
Price: 2171 yen

Roll Deep’s Japan-exclusive “Poi Poi Poi” takes the lead on this collection of covers. Again, no mention of who will be providing the covers, but I hope EMI licenses at least a few of them FARM Records. I’d love to see Daiki x ZK on an EMI album. 😀

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Dancemania Party ~ Best of 90s Dance Hits
Release Date: 8/1/12
Price: 2381 yen

Early list is out, and thankfully there are no Sparkle repeats! The Aqua, Real McCoy, Robert Miles and Funky Diamonds tracks ended up being as predicted. The Spice Girls and Smile.dk songs were also safe choices, which is a bit disappointing since they’re not particular favorites of mine. Meanwhile, the A*Teens track turned out to be their debut single, “Mamma Mia.”

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Vocal Vitality
Release Date: 4/30/12
Price: 1429 yen

NANCY AND THE BOYS! After a 7-year hiatus, Nancy and the Boys return with a brand new, original track titled, “Shine a Light on You”. Special thanks to DJ Hyuji for the shout-out on his twitter! It’s great to see Dancemania Speed live on through its fans. 😀

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SuperSonicBeatRush
Release Date: 10/30/11
Price: 1429 yen

Another doujin compilation featuring Chris Bucknall of CJ Crew.

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Classical Candy 2
Release Date: 10/30/11
Price: 1429 yen

So, I’m finally going to be posting the interview I conducted with Chris Bucknall (The ‘C’ of CJ Crew) soon, and in the process of writing up an artist spotlight I found that he’s been active in making Speed music again. That’s right, folks, CJ Crew are back!

This doujin compilation was released last October by Japan-based RTTF Records and compiles speed versions of classical tracks (think classical Speed) from a variety of artists. Exit Trance fans may be interested in the Hommarju track, but Dancemania fans will be more interested in the return of Chris Bucknall to the Japanese hardcore scene. The booklet even has a special interview with Chris Bucknall!

Stay tuned for more on CJ Crew!

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Mori mix
Release Date: 6/13/12
Price: 1200 yen

iTunes release of Mori no Cover Densetsu with The Parents Project tracks removed.

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Mori no Cover Densetsu
Release Date: 6/13/12
Price: 1619 yen

Spinoff of the popular J-Pop Cover Densetsu series, this time focusing mainly on Ghibli covers and “healing” songs. The title translates to “Forest Cover Legend.” Many of the songs were featured on Ghibli in the Mix, which was released all the way back in 2009.

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J-Rap Cover Densetsu
Release Date: 6/13/12
Price: 1429 yen

First album from the J-Rap duo who were first featured on FARM’s J-Pop Cover Densetsu Best.

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V.I.P. presents Party Covers
Release Date: 8/1/12
Price: 2171 yen

In recent years the V.I.P. series has shifted from R&B/Hip-Hop to Dance/House songs, reflecting the increased popularity of dance music thanks in part to artists like Lady Gaga and David Guetta. There’s no doubt in my mind that those two artists’ songs will be heavily featured in this new compilation from EMI, but I’m very curious as to who will be providing the covers. A lot of Japanese labels have been licensing from US-based Power Music, but I’d love to see Saifam contribute.

Pre-order at CDJapan.

Dancemania Party ~ Best of 90s Dance Hits
Release Date: 8/1/12
Price: 2381 yen

Dancemania lives!!! I was beginning to think that the Dancemania brand would only be revived for occasional anniversary releases every 5 years, but Dancemania’s sweet 16 will be celebrated with another collection of 90s dance hits. EMI picked up the rights to Solid Base, Mr. President and T-Spoon last year with the release of Dancemania Sparkle. They even regained the AATW rights from Avex, so it would’ve been a waste not to put them to good use.

No track list yet, but I’m hoping it’s not a straight retread of Sparkle. They used most of the best-known songs in Sparkle already, though, so it’ll be interesting to see what else they consider to be 90’s dance hits.

Update! (6/12/12): Some artists have been revealed, and I think it’s safe to say it won’t simply be a copy of Dancemania Sparkle.

01. Spice Girls
02. Smile.dk
03. Aqua
04. The Real McCoy
05. Robert Miles
06. Funky Diamonds
07. A*Teens

As far as I know only the Spice Girls and Smile.dk back catalogs are owned by EMI, so there seems to be a pretty heavy emphasis on non-EMI artists (unless EMI have since bought the rights to them as well). “Another Night,” “Children,” and “Get It On,” will probably be the Real McCoy, Robert Miles, and Funky Diamonds tracks, respectively. “Barbie Girl” was already on Sparkle, so the Aqua track may be “Roses Are Red” or “Cartoon Heroes” instead. A*Teens are an odd choice since they popped up in the late 90s. If they stick strictly to the 90s theme that leaves only ABBA covers. However, if they’re a bit more lenient we may hear “Halfway Around the World” again.

I think the track list is shaping up pretty nicely so far, but for the love of god, please include Bus Stop and Saifam. And ditch the annoying euro-reggae.

Pre-order at CDJapan.