Dancemania EX × Trance Paradise

Natsu Monogatari presents Wa Euro Best
Release Date: 8/5/09
Price: 1886 yen

Interesting discussion going on at ParaParaStage. It seems that DJ Yosshi, the producer of the Natsu Monogatari series, may be forced to retire if Wa Euro Best doesn’t sell well. Seeing as how Natsu Monogatari is basically the only thing keeping the Dancemania brand alive, this is very dire news. If DJ Yosshi goes, then we can say goodbye to Natsu Monogatari 2010 and effectively to Dancemania as well.

According to the thread, Wa Euro Best either has to A) Sell 10,000 copies or B) Place in the Oricon Top 100. The first thing is pretty unlikely, especially if it’s true that he wants it to sell that much in a week. As for placing in the Top 100, let’s take a look at the history of Summer Story’s highest chart placements:

Natsu Monogatari 2007 – 82
Natsu Monogatari 2008 – 162
Natsu Monogatari 2009 – 215

Yeah, not looking all that great. Super Eurobeat hasn’t even broken the top 100 since SEB 190, and the last eurobeat FARM compilation to do well was VIP Hybrid (139th place). The latest Love Para didn’t even break the top 300. 🙁

What sales are necessary to get into the Top 100? Well, it varies. Last week, the 100th album sold a little under 1,500 copies. However, a few weeks ago #100 only sold 1,000 copies. So, somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 copies is the bare minimum for Wa Euro Best to reach the Top 100.

Remember, CDJapan has a coupon for 500 yen off a 3,000 yen order. If you have any interest in seeing Dancemania continue, please consider buying Wa Euro Best.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mademoiselle Yulia ~ Neon Spread 2
Release Date: 8/5/09
Price: 2171 yen

The second release in the Neon Spread series, which primarily focuses on electro. The tracks are once again compiled and mixed by Mademoiselle Yulia.

Read the rest of this entry »

Natsu Monogatari presents Wa Euro Best
Release Date: 8/5/09
Price: 1886 yen

Wow, we’re getting more than one Dancemania release this year. O_O The title translates to Summer Story presents J-Euro Best, which can only mean one thing: repeats. It’s mostly old Akiba Koubou stuff, with some Misa and pachislot songs thrown in for good measure.

We are getting a few new Akiba Koubou songs, though. “Ai wo Torimodose” and “Cat’s Eye” have yet to appear on any other compilations. And though it’s not listed here, there’s also supposed to be a new Rumi Itabashi song titled “True Love Forever.” I’m crossing my fingers for new Misa as well.

Who knows? Maybe if this sells well they’ll release an Italo-Euro Best. They have just enough new Italian-produced eurobeat from the last few years to fill a compilation.

Read the rest of this entry »

Love House Extra
Release Date: 7/22/09
Price: 2171 yen

The Love House series returns with the latest in house music. Okay, not really. I mean, using “Digital Love” in 2009?! The Kylie track ain’t exactly new, either.

On the plus side, there’s supposed to be a new remix of “Final Night” by Bentley Jones. The Jason Nevins remix of “Hot ‘n’ Cold” is nice, too, though they should’ve used the Almighty version.

Read the rest of this entry »

Around 40 Eurobeat
Release Date: 7/22/09
Price: 2381 yen

R40 is a relatively new Japanese term that’s short for “Around 40.” Basically, it refers to people who are around the age of 40. The term is used to market items to people in a specific age group. For instance, a couple of years ago EMI released a compilation titled Disco R35 that featured music that people in their 30’s grew up with (80’s music, for the most part).

R40 Eurobeat features classic 80’s eurobeat that’s been repeated again and again and again on other compilations. It’d be cool if EMI remixed these like they did with the classics on the Happy Paradise series, but it seems they’re far more content going the cheap route.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dancemania presents Natsu Monogatari 2009 supported by 9LoveJ (CD+DVD)
Release Date: 6/10/09
Price: 3000 yen

Akiba Koubou! Akyr! Saifam! Ventura! LED!!! The final list for Natsu Monogatari 2009 has a surprising amount of diversity. Sure, it’s still mostly Anime covers and J-Euro, but there’s enough variety to keep me interested. Plus, no psychedelic!

Read the rest of this entry »

Dancemania presents Natsu Monogatari 2009 supported by 9LoveJ (CD+DVD)
Release Date: 6/10/09
Price: 3000 yen

Are you ready for a Summer Story? The early track list is out for this year’s edition of Natsu Monogatari, and it’s chock full of anime and J-euro, much like last year’s release. On the plus side, there’s also brand new eurobeat from Italian labels, as well as Dancemania classics.

For those interested in who’ll be dancing on the DVD, D-tan from ParaParaStage has a post with that info.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dancemania presents Natsu Monogatari 2009 supported by 9LoveJ (CD+DVD)
Release Date: 6/10/09
Price: 3000 yen

Natsu Monogatari returns for a third year in a row! Despite last year’s average release, it is nice to see the series return since it’s pretty much the only thing keeping Dancemania alive.

In the past, Natsu Monogatari albums were released on the last Wednesday of June, so theoretically NM 2009 should be released on June 24. However, the actual release date this year will be a few weeks earlier, on June 10. The change is most likely because Avex have decided to release Campus Summit 2009 on June 24, perhaps in an attempt to supplant the competition.

Read the rest of this entry »

Trans//lation ~J-pop Dance Covers~
Artist: Bentley Jones
Release Date: 3/25/09
Price: 2190 yen

The final track list is out, and it’s still full of Ouendan goodness. Again, it’s mostly unknown which tracks will be translated into English, but I’d personally love to hear English versions of “Kibun Jojo” and “Glamorous Sky.”

For more info on Bentley Jones, check out my previous post or visit his official website.

Read the rest of this entry »

Trans//lation ~J-pop Dance Covers~
Artist: Bentley Jones
Release Date: 3/25/09
Price: 2190 yen

Lee Brotherton, a.k.a. Bentley Jones, is best known in the gaming community for writing and performing “Dreams of an Absolution” for the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog video game. He’s also an accomplished artist in his own right, producing many of his own songs as well as remixes for popular artists.

In 2008 he signed an album deal with EMI Music Japan. A long-time fan of J-pop, his first album will be full of J-pop dance covers. Some will be sung in their native Japanese, while others will be rewritten with English lyrics. So far the only known English song will be a cover of Juju’s “Sunao ni Naretara.” Although not mentioned in the early track list sent out to retailers, there are also reports that he’ll be doing an English-language cover of Ayumi Hamasaki’s “Depend on you,” cleverly titled, “Depend on me.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Hime Trance Anime*Mix!
Release Date: 1/21/09
Price: 2171 yen

The good news is that Anime*Mix is selling better than Tsukasa Mix. The bad news is that the sales still haven’t all that great. In its first week out it moved about 6,000 units, and during week two it sold an additional 4,000. Hime Trance Speed, by comparison, sold 9,000 copies in its first week out, then 12,000 more the second week. I think Anime*Mix’s sales are enough to continue the series for a while, but if things don’t pick up Hime Trance could go the way of Dancemania. 🙁

Hime Trance Anime*Mix!
Release Date: 1/21/09
Price: 2171 yen

Album of the year! Okay, it may be a tad early to make such a bold claim, but Hime Trance Anime*Mix! is at least the best trance release to come out of Japan in quite a while. Unlike the last 3 or so Hime Trance releases, Anime*Mix! has a very good ratio of new songs to old. And while there are a few repeats, almost all of them are exceptional and are worthy of being repeated. If you’ve soured on trance because of the constant repeats, then Anime*Mix may well reinvigorate your love of trance.

Anime*Mix! brings together some of the best trance producers Japan has to offer. Delaction and Dank-One once again bring their A-games, while newer artists such as Redalice and CMS help to add a dose of freshness. Unfortunately, the booklet is light on credits, so it’s hard to tell who produced some of the tracks.

Not only does Anime*Mix! have a wide array of producers, but it also has an equally diverse set of vocal talent. Hinax and Mepomi are among the artists making their Hime Trance debuts. Meanwhile, Tsukasa and Kei, both reigning trance queens, return with awesome new material. The only “hime” missing is Misa. 🙁

Interestingly, while the first half of the album is a standard 145 BPM, the second half speeds up significantly. At first it goes to 150, but soon reaches around 165 before ending at 180 BPM. Methinks that if there’s a Hime Trance Speed 2, a good chunk of the second half will be repeated.

Sales have been decent so far, though from what I can tell it’s tracking slightly below Hime Trance Speed. I certainly hope sales improve so that we can guarantee a sequel. EMI are pretty much out of anime songs to repeat, so a potential sequel would be 100% new material.

Order at CDJapan. First-press copies come with stickers, but all copies will come with a lyrics booklet.

Full track-by-track review after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hime Trance Anime*Mix
Release Date: 1/21/09
Price: 2171 yen

The official Dancemania website has been updated with Hime Trance Anime*Mix info. Pay no heed to the 1/14 release date; the official release date is still 1/21.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hime Trance Anime*Mix
Release Date: 1/21/09
Price: 2171 yen

One new song from Tsukasa!
Two new songs from Kei!!
Two new songs from ari/Aya!!!
Two new songs from Chika!!!!
Two new songs from mint!!!!!
Gavin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As Kylie would put it, wa-wa-wa-WOW! The only Hime Trance queen missing is Misa!

There are, of course, some repeats. Six tracks are from previous releases in the Hime Trance series. EMI also chose to license one song from Quake’s Speed Anime Trance Best series. Thankfully, it turns out to be one of the best: Florence’s “Komm, susser Tod.” Still, 7 old tracks out of 21 means that 2/3 of the album is brand new. That’s the largest percentage of new tracks on a Dancemania/Trance Paradise album in quite some time.

I’ve also been informed by DJ Tomoe that the princess on the cover is modeled after Rei Ayanami from the Neon Genesis Evangelion series. Hooray for copyright infringement!

Read the rest of this entry »

Hime Trance Tsukasa Mix
Release Date: 11/12/08
Price: 1886 yen

I was fully expecting to hate this based on principle alone. After all, less than half of the album is actually new, and how many times have we heard In My Heart now? It’s as if there are two constants in J-Trance: In My Heart and Sousei no Aquarion.

After giving the album a few listens, however, I have to admit that it’s convenient having all of the Tsukasa tracks collected in a nice little package (emphasis on little). In My Heart, Mermaid, and Prologue have long since been played out, but Kira Kira, Precious My Love and Kimi e no Omoi still have an air of freshness about them so I don’t mind listening to them again.

As for the new tracks, they’re all surprisingly exceptional. Eternal Blaze leads the way with Delaction’s melodic synths combining with Tsukasa’s cute vocals for pure aural perfection. Meanwhile, “Dear…” and “Love & Joy” have been given new remixes that breath new life into these old songs. Merry Christmas finishes the non-stop mix with a sweet, Engrish-filled Christmas song.

The first 6 tracks run at a constant 145 BPM, then it ramps up to 160 BPM for Prologue followed by ~175 BPM for Love & Joy. Merry Christmas finishes things off at 140 BPM. None of the transitions are particularly noteworthy, but since most of the album is 145 BPM, Team Cha-Meshi easily managed to make the non-stop mix seamless.

First-press copies came with (useless) stickers, but all copies come with a lyrics booklet. It’s rather surprising how much English is actually in these songs, though you’d never know it based on Tsukasa’s pronunciations. She’s actually admitted that English is difficult for her, and that she sings it all phonetically.

Sadly, Tsukasa Mix has not been selling well at all. Whereas Hime Trance Speed sold 9,000 units in its first week out, Tsukasa Mix has sold well under 2,000 copies after one week. If you ever want to see a Kei Mix or Misa Mix, then please support the Hime Trance series.

Full track-by-track review after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »