Dancemania EX × Trance Paradise

Dancemania Sparkle – Best of 90s Dance Pop
Release Date: 8/3/11
Price: 2381 yen

Dancemania lives!!! This past April 10 marked the 15th anniversary of the release of the very first Dancemania and I was beginning to wonder if EMI would do anything to commemorate the historic milestone. Of course, I should know better than to question EMI’s love of repeats 😛 Unlike Dancemania Treasure, which was released during the 10th anniversary of the series, this release will only be a single disc. The early track list is populated by the repeats you know and love. “Dub-I-Dub,” “Butterfly,” “Captain Jack,” and “Willy…” are all present and accounted for. EMI are also licensing some classic 90s tracks from other labels, so expect some songs that have never appeared on Dancemania before. Actual new tracks seem doubtful, unless they license a new Saifam cover or something. Regardless, I’m just glad EMI haven’t completely abandoned the Dancemania brand.

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Club Camelot International Mix
Release Date: 7/27/11
Price: 2171 yen

New club compilation from EMI. It’s pretty much a hodgepodge of tracks collected from various genres. Featured artists include Katy Perry, KT Tunstall, Spice Girls, Karl Wolf and David Guetta. Years ago they would’ve made this part of the Dancemania series. :/

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V.I.P. presents Electro House Party
Release Date: 5/25/11
Price: 1500 yen

Full versions of EMI songs from VIP Celebrity Party Mix. In some cases they opted for radio edits instead of the full club mixes, though. :/

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V.I.P. Celebrity Party Mix
Release Date: 5/25/11
Price: 2171 yen

Yet another offshoot of the V.I.P. series, this time focusing on house and club remixes. Wait, didn’t this used to be called Love House? This was originally supposed to be released in February, but was delayed to late May. Too bad they didn’t spend the time getting a more current selection of songs.

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Go! Go! Trax! mixed by DJ Murakamigo
Release Date: 6/22/11
Price: 2171 yen

New compilation from EMI and ZIP-FM that encompasses a wide variety of genres. From recent pop hits like “California Girls” to disco classics like “September,” this CD has it all. Mixed by DJ Murakamigo.

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One Hit Wonders -For Around 40-
Release Date: 2/2/11
Price: 2381 yen

CD compiling the greatest one hit wonders from the 90s. Early 90s hip-hop is represented by the classics “U Can’t Touch This” and “Ice Ice Baby.” Meanwhile, “Butterfly” and “Dub-I-Dub” serve as reminders of the apex of mid-90s bubblegum dance. EMI’s official site lists 18 tracks, but apparently they added “Samba de Janeiro” back to the list at the last minute.

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Dance Pop Paradise ~ Best of PWL Hits
Release Date: 2/9/11
Price: 2171 yen

A compilation of the best PWL hits from 80s and 90s.

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V.I.P. Celebrity Party Mix
Release Date: 2/9/11
Price: 2171 yen

Yet another offshoot of the V.I.P. series, this time focusing on house and club remixes. Wait, didn’t this used to be called Love House?

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One Hit Wonders -For Around 40-
Release Date: 2/2/11
Price: 2381 yen

Let’s start 2011 off with the greatest one hit wonders from the 90s. Early 90s hip-hop is represented by the classics “U Can’t Touch This” and “Ice Ice Baby.” Meanwhile, “Butterfly” and “Dub-I-Dub” serve as reminders of the apex of mid-90s bubblegum dance. The final track list is expected to include 18 tracks.

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Anim80s – Anime Hits in 80s Disco Style (Animeighties)
Release Date: 12/22/10
Price: 1886 yen

I didn’t think it could get any stranger than Ghibli Reggae (yes, it’s real), but somehow DJ Yossy and EMI have managed to create an even more bizarre amalgam of musical styles. Anim80s features popular anime themes, including many recent ones, done in 80s disco style. That means a booming bassline, 80s synths and, of course, hand claps! Think Dancemania Super Classics/80s, except with anime themes.

Mind you, the synths don’t come across too well in the video, and not all of the songs quite hit the mark, but all in all it’s a fantastic release for fans of that classic PWL/SAW sound. I’ll have a full review up shortly. In the meantime, you can also download the album from iTunes Japan for 1200 yen. Unfortunately, iTunes doesn’t have full versions. It’s just the same non-stop mix as the CD. 🙁

Also worth mentioning is that technically Akiba Koubou didn’t produce most of the CD. Instead, many songs were outsourced to dance Beyond, who have previously worked on Hyper Yocomix and the bootleg Hime Tra series from Get Over the Records. Many tracks were also done by Youhei Fujita. Rayto ended up with 3 tracks, while DJ Command arranged only one song on the album.

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V.I.P. presents Ultimate Hit Trax
Release Date: 12/22/10
Price: 1500 yen

Full-lengths versions of tracks from V.I.P. VII. Only 15 of the 27 tracks from the CD are here, namely the EMI tracks.

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Wa Euro presents Tokumori Anime
Release Date: 12/8/10
Price: 1500 yen

A special, limited release featuring the best of Wa Euro anime covers. In other words, yet another excuse to reuse the same old repeats. “Tokumori” is used in Japanese restaurants to refer to and “extra large” portion of food, so think of this as an extra helping of Wa Euro. I suppose 1500 yen for a CD release isn’t too bad, but after Premier Euro I don’t see a need for yet another best-of compilation.

As I said, the CD saw extremely limited release, so you won’t be able to find it on most online retailers. It looks like it won’t be available digitally, either. What? If EMI can reuse the same old tracks, I can reuse the same old descriptions. 😛

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Wa Euro presents Tokumori J-Pop
Release Date: 12/8/10
Price: 1500 yen

A special, limited release featuring the best of Wa Euro J-Pop covers. In other words, yet another excuse to reuse the same old repeats. “Tokumori” is used in Japanese restaurants to refer to and “extra large” portion of food, so think of this as an extra helping of Wa Euro. I suppose 1500 yen for a CD release isn’t too bad, but after Premier Euro I don’t see a need for yet another best-of compilation.

As I said, the CD saw extremely limited release, so you won’t be able to find it on most online retailers. It looks like it won’t be available digitally, either.

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Anim80s – Anime Hits in 80s Disco Style (Animeighties)
Release Date: 12/22/10
Price: 1886 yen

This looks absolutely amazing. Akiba Koubou mainstays Nagisa, Shihori, and Kei are joined by Utatte Mita mega stars Hana-tan, Kou-Hey, Usa, Priko, and more! Best of all, we’re guaranteed ZERO repeats! The only problem is that 30 tracks can only mean ridiculously short edits, but with any luck EMI will release a download edition with full-length tracks.

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V.I.P. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop/Dance Trax VII
Release Date: 12/15/10
Price: 2171 yen

EMI’s long-running R&B compilation series returns in 2010 with a dance twist. Really, they might as well have dropped the R&B/Hip-Hop part of the title, because the track list is more reflective of Top 40 hits. The tracks are also somewhat outdated. Why pick “Poker Face” instead of something from the Fame Monster EP? There are way too many annoying “singers” on this album, too.

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