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Disco Around 50 Super Freak ~ Soul & Funky
Release Date: 1/27/10
Price: 2400 yen
No surprises here; the final list is exactly the same as the early one. EMI have set up a special website for the cross-label series: http://www.emimusic.jp/st/series/ar50/
Hime Trance 4
Release Date: 1/27/10
Price: 1886 yen
Track lengths have been announced and it looks like most of the tracks got healthy edits. The Lil’B song gets the distinction of being the longest track on the album, though Tsukasa’s “Shin Ai” isn’t far behind. Some songs got the short end of the stick, however. While I’m happy that I’ll only have to endure ~2 minutes of “Santa Maria,” the new remix of “Coconut” is the shortest track on the CD, coming in at a paltry 1:22. Hopefully EMI will release a Download Selection so we can hear full versions of these songs.
It’s still unknown who’ll be doing the “Hime” remixes of “Boy” and “Coconut.” However, Shohei Matsutmoto has been confirmed as the producer of the Gavin and ari tracks. Also, making his Hime Trance debut is the one and only king of Rock-Trance, N.O.-SYO!!! He’s collaborated with Kei for the original song, “Somebody’s Voice.” I know Kei has been itching to sing another original song for a while now, so it’s great to see her get her wish.
Around 40 Eurobeat 2
Release Date: 1/27/10
Price: 2381 yen
Not much has changed between the early list and the final one. I wonder how much longer this series can last, because they’ve used up most of the bigger hits by now.
Hime Trance 4
Release Date: 1/27/10
Price: 1886 yen
Album of the year.
Wa Euro Best 2
Release Date: 12/16/09
Price: 1886 yen
Today’s the day! Wa Euro Best 2 is finally out and J-Euro fans will find plenty to love. Although Anime songs once again dominate, there’s also a nice selection of J-Pop covers, including the outstanding “Hana.”
You can listen to samples at HMV: http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/product/detail/3693848
Hime Trance 4
Release Date: 1/27/10
Price: 1886 yen
It’s Jasmine!!! Still no final track list, but updated descriptions are saying that it’ll feature trance remixes of popular Eurobeat songs, which may mean some Wa Euro Best crossovers. There was a rumor a while back that Nagisa would be appearing on Hime Trance, so maybe that’ll come to fruition.
CDJapan also claim that a first-press bonus will be included. If past releases are any indication, it’s probably just a sticker sheet again.
Natsu Monogatari presents Wa Euro Best 2 -Download Selection-
Release Date: 12/9/09
Price: 1200 yen
In a surprise move, EMI have released Wa Euro Best 2 -Download Selection- a week before the CD is set to come out. It includes full versions of the all the songs from the CD except the two Pachislot tracks.
For those outside of Japan, you can grab the album from the Japanese iTunes store (where it’s listed as “Wa Wuro Best 2”) or Music Ocean. Thankfully, this time you can buy the entire album on iTunes for only 1,200 yen, which is a heck of a deal.
I’ll have track reviews up after I get the CD, but so far I’m very happy with most of the songs, “Para Horrible” aside (I think it may be worse than the Rina cover). There’s a good deal of variety, and the fact that most of these songs are actually new this time really makes it worth the money. “Hana” in particular turned out wonderfully.
In the meantime enjoy the TV commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1Mt291pcyA
Disco Around 50 Super Freak ~ Soul & Funk
Release Date: 1/27/10
Price: 2400 yen
Whoa, total déjà vu. The track list is very similar to EMI’s aborted Roppongi Disco Hits compilation, which was supposed to come out this past September. It appears that EMI, Sony, and Victor will be giving the series another try, rebranding it “Disco Around 50” instead of “Gotouchi Disco.” Sony and Victor haven’t announced their releases yet, but you can bet they’ll be out on the same day. Unless, of course, they cancel the series again.
Wa Euro Best 2
Release Date: 12/16/09
Price: 1886 yen
The release of Wa Euro Best 2 is fast approaching and I’ll be promoting the heck out of it until then. 😉
Eurobeat fans in Japan will be interested to know that EMI and Avex will be collaborating on an event promoting both Wa Euro Best 2 and Super Eurobeat 200 on January 10, 2010. The last time the two companies worked together was to promote Natsu Monogatari 2008 and 9LoveJ Super Collection.
In more WEB 2 news, the producers for the tracks have been announced. valle blanco will be responsible for the most tracks, with almost half of the album (9 songs) being done by him. DJ Command comes in a distant second with 3 tracks. Rayto only gets 2 tracks. Meanwhile, 2bad, Honmax, and plum(!!!) get one each. With Honmax confirmed, it’s probably safe to say that “Para Holi” is the same song as the one from Natsu Monogatari 2007, except with Sunplaza Nakano Kun doing the vocals. There’s no way he can do worse than Rina Ayukawa.
Around 40 Eurobeat 2
Release Date: 1/27/10
Price: 2381 yen
January is certainly becoming the month of surprise sequels. Around 40 Eurobeat did reasonably well in sales, but it wasn’t exactly a huge hit. Disco R35 before it sold much, much better yet it never got a sequel. In any case, “eurobeat” seems to be a fashionable word again in Japan, so I guess EMI will milk it as much as possible.
Most of the announced tracks thus far should be familiar to fans of Dancemania Super Classics. The problem with 80s eurodance compilations is that by definition they have to be 100% repeats. 🙁
Included as a bonus track is Youni Oginome’s Japanese cover of “Dancing Hero,” better known to most fans as “Eat You Up.”
Hime Trance 4
Release Date: 1/27/10
Price: 1886 yen
It’s been over 2 years since Hime Trance 3 came out, so it’s about damn time that we finally got Hime Trance 4! This actually comes as a huge surprise, as it’s been quite a while since the last Hime Trance release, and I would’ve expected an Anime*Mix! 2 before another entry in the main series.
01. Shuuketsu no Sono e (Delaction Remix) / Tsukasa
02. Eternal Blaze (Delaction Remix) / Tsukasa
03. Barbie Girl / Savannah
04. I Should Be So Lucky / A.Kay-B.J.
05. Coconuts (Remix) / Smile.dk
06. Licky Licky (Remix) / Crispy
07. Boy / Misa
08. Cinderella / Delaction
09. Without You / Delaction
So far it looks like it’ll be a Delactionfest, with at least 4 Delaction songs/remixes planned. “Eternal Blaze” will be repeated for the third time in the Hime Trance series, but it’s so awesome that I frankly don’t care. Tsukasa will be back with a new song, however, with a Delaction remix of the anime theme, “Shuuketsu no Sono e.” Delaction will also be contributing two brand new songs: “Cinderella” (would’ve been more appropriate on Hime Trance 3, no?) and “Without You.” With Delaction being so prominent on this release, I’d be shocked if they weren’t the ones mixing.
Next up are a couple of Saifam remixes. “I Should Be So Lucky” would be great with a Delaction remix à la “Toy Boy,” though I can’t help but wonder why they didn’t just use the Kylie version since she’s still with EMI. “Barbie Girl” is the more interesting of the two, especially given Aqua’s recent comeback. A 4 Skips vs. Floorbreaker mix would be absolutely ace, as long as they keep all of the lyrics this time. 😉
Smile.dk return to Hime Trance with a new remix of “Coconut,” which is rather shocking. It’s far from my favorite song, and it’s never even appeared on Dancemania nor released as a single in Japan. I would’ve preferred something from Party Around the World if possible, but given the proper remix “Coconut” could be a lot of fun.
Crispy are a surprise inclusion, since they used to be signed with Victor Japan and not EMI. It’s possible that EMI have picked up the rights to their back catalogue. It’s a little odd that they’d choose Crispy over a more established Dancemania artist like Bambee, Creamy, or Ni-Ni.
Finally, there’s Misa’s “Boy,” which could pass as trance in its original form. I’m still pretty pissed about “Dam Dariram” on Hime Trance 3, so they had better spend the money to get “Boy” remixed.
As for what I hope will appear, I’m still yearning for an epic trance remix of Creamy’s “I Do I Do I Do.” Bambee’s “You Are My Dream” is also on the top of my wishlist, as is Ni-Ni’s “Spacy Crazy Girl.” Oh, and give us a REAL trance remix of “Dam Dariram”!!!
Pre-order at CDJapan.
Wa Euro Best 2
Release Date: 12/16/09
Price: 1886 yen
EMI have updated the official Dancemania website with the final track list for Wa Euro Best 2. Unlike the travesty that was the first Wa Euro Best track list, this one mostly features new songs! There are 14 brand new tracks plus an additional two tracks new to Dancemania.
One Love
Artist: David Guetta
Release Date: 10/14/09
Price: 2190 yen
The Japanese edition of David Guetta’s latest album includes four bonus tracks that the US version doesn’t have.
Wa Euro Best 2
Release Date: 12/16/09
Price: 1886 yen
I’m not sure if it’ll still be promoted as “Natsu Monogatari presents” since it won’t actually be released during the summer. ^^; In any case, the success of Wa Euro Best — over 50,000 copies sold — means we’ll be getting a sequel in less than 5 months. And unlike the first Wa Euro Best, this one will mostly be new tracks; the early list only has 4 repeats!
In addition to the usual anime tracks, there’ll also be a number of classic J-Pop covers. I’m most excited by “Hana.” It’s a lovely song, so I can’t wait to see how it’ll translate to eurobeat. And out of all of Akiba Koubou’s vocalists, I think Shihori is the only one who could pull it off.
And yes, Rumi will be on the cover again.
One Love
Artist: David Guetta
Release Date: 10/14/09
Price: 2190 yen
The Japanese edition of David Guetta’s latest album comes out this October and so far it looks like it’ll have at least two bonus tracks. CDJapan also mentions that it’ll have an exclusive new album cover.
DanceMaster | 
01 17th, 2010| 
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