« Older Entries Newer Entries »

Dec 4

V.I.P. Greatest R&B/Hip-Hop/Dance Trax
Release Date: 11/27/13
Price: 1200 yen

Full versions of songs from VIP X.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dec 1

J-Pop Cover Best
Release Date: 1/15/14
Price: 2200 yen

A new J-Pop cover compilation from EMI. What’s interesting about this one is that it’ll feature western artists doing the covers. So far the only announced artist is Che’Nelle, which makes sense since she’s quite popular in Japan and already has a few J-Pop covers under her belt. I don’t know of many other foreign Universal/EMI artists who have done J-Pop covers, though, which makes me wonder if this could end up being another Saifam or Power Music showcase.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nov 21

Dancemania 25 Tracks
Release Date: 2/15/12
Price: 750 yen

It seems that Universals has been updating some old iTunes releases, giving them cleaner artwork and, in some cases, lower prices. The most notable is Dancemania 25 Tracks, which is down to 750 yen from 1200 yen.

Other price drops include:

Wa Euro Best -Download Selection- 1200 yen ? 750 yen
Anim80s 1200 yen ? 750 yen

The downside to all of this is that it seems they’re taking down older stuff. I noticed I no longer have cloud access to the Wa Euro Best releases. -_-

Read the rest of this entry »

Nov 20

ZIP Hot 100 No. 1 Mega Hits – ZIP-FM 20th Anniversary Special
Release Date: 11/20/13
Price: 900 yen

The digital counterpart to ZIP Hot 100 1993-2013 All Time No. 1 Hits features 14 full versions from the CD … which already had full versions. So, yeah, this is kind of pointless if you already have the CD.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nov 19

ZIPmania Super Greatest Hits – ZIP-FM 20th Anniversary Special
Release Date: 11/20/13
Price: 900 yen

Update (11/26/13): As pointed out by Mike D in the comments, the full album is back up on iTunes Japan with the correct track list.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nov 12

ZIPmania All Best Mix
Release Date: 11/13/13
Price: 2190 yen

Update (11/25/13): A bit of good news for Dancemania fans. ZIPmania All Best Mix managed to snag a spot on the Oricon weekly Top 100, debuting at 97 for the week of its release. It’s far from the days when Dancemania releases routinely broke the Top 20, but when you compare it to VIP X (115), Super Eurobeat Vol. 225 (182), Speed Anime Trance Best 19 (111) or even Dancemania Party (184), it’s a surprisingly solid number. ZIPmania’s companion release, ZIP Hot 100, debuted at 125.

And for those that missed it in the comments, the old Dancemania website has been reproduced on Universal’s site: http://microsites.universal-music.co.jp/dancemania/

Read the rest of this entry »

Nov 11

ZIP Hot 100 1993-2013 All Time No. 1 Hits
Release Date: 11/13/13
Price: 2190 yen

This release features songs that have reached the top of the ZIP Hot 100 charts over the past 20 years. Unfortunately, the list skews highly in favor of more recent Universal artists. I think the only EMI artist on the list is Janet Jackson, so I’m not sure how much this will appeal to Dancemania fans. There are 20 full-length tracks plus some talk from ZIP-FM DJs.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nov 2

Christmas ga 100-bai Tanoshiku Naru Party Mix
Release Date: 11/5/13 (Original Release: 11/14/12)
Price: 1886 yen

Looks like EMI are re-issuing the Saifam-produced Christmas album from last year, similar to what they used to do with Christmas Speed.

Read the rest of this entry »

Oct 28

V.I.P. 10th Anniversary Best Mix
Release Date: 10/30/13
Price: 2171 yen

The 10th release in the V.I.P. series will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the series, which began in 2003. Although the series started off featuring only R&B and Hip-Hop, recently there’s been a shift in focus to dance to reflect changing musical tastes.

Also interesting is that Universal now have a VIP page up on their own website, suggesting that the EMI website will no longer be updated in the future.

Read the rest of this entry »

Oct 22

ZIPmania All Best Mix
Release Date: 11/13/13
Price: 2190 yen

Final list and cover art are out. It’s great to see the Dancemania mascot being so prominent. 😀

The final list is pretty much the same as the early one, so not much new info other than the addition of “Why Don’t You” by Gramophonedzie, and the Che’Nelle remix being done by ZIP staff. I’m a bit disappointed that there are really only 3 Dancemania tracks, with one of them from Crazy Frog. It’s nice to know EMI still have the rights to E-Rotic and Misa, but Captain Jack is the second-most prolific Dancemania artist, and the fact that he’s not present here makes me wonder if they let the rights go.

Still, not a bad list overall. I could probably do without the more mainstream, non-remixed songs from LMFAO and Flo Rida, but at least most of the other mainstream songs are here in remixed form. In particular, I’m glad they licensed the kz remix of “Take Over Control” from FARM since it’s an awesome remix that breathes new life into the song.

Read the rest of this entry »

Oct 21

ZIP Hot 100 1993-2013 All Time No. 1 Hits
Release Date: 11/13/13
Price: 2190 yen

Canceled again!

Okay, not really. A final list and cover art have emerged, so I’m pretty sure this will actually come out this time. This release features songs that have reached the top of the ZIP Hot 100 charts over the past 20 years. Unfortunately, the list skews highly in favor of more recent Universal artists. I think the only EMI artist on the list is Janet Jackson, so I’m not sure how much this will appeal to Dancemania fans. There are 20 full-length tracks plus some talk from ZIP-FM DJs.

Read the rest of this entry »

Oct 1

ZIPmania All Best Mix
Release Date: 11/13/13
Price: 2190 yen

Dancemania lives! ZIPmania All Best Mix has been resurrected from the dead and will (hopefully) come out this November!

There’s also a new early list out, and dare I say it? It’s not that bad. There’s quite a bit of EDM, and even the more mainstream artists mostly appear with remixes. Dancemania gets representation in the form of Misa, E-Rotic, and Crazy Frog (uggh), though there’s also eurodance from Da Buzz and O-Zone, the latter of which appears in Almighty form. Even trance gets in on the action, with Groove Coverage and DJ Ten’s remix of “Ass Up!” making appearances. Also interesting will be a newly commissioned dance remix of Che’Nelle’s “Aishiteru.”

I swear, if they cancel this again…

Read the rest of this entry »

Oct 1

ZIPmania All Best Mix
Release Date: 11/13/13
Price: 2190 yen

It appears the reports of Dancemania’s death are greatly exaggerated. That’s right, ZIP Hot 100 and ZIP Mania All Best Mix have been given a reprieve and have been rescheduled for release this November! This release will focus more on the pop side of ZIP-FM, and includes songs that hit No. 1 on the ZIP Hot 100 charts. A It’s unclear whether this will also count as a Dancemania release, or if it will even be mixed.

Make sure to check out the updated early list. It’s unfortunately pretty light on EMI artists and perhaps a bit too heavy on more recent offerings.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sep 27

V.I.P. 10th Anniversary Best Mix
Release Date: 10/30/13
Price: 2171 yen

The 10th release in the V.I.P. series will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the series, which began in 2003. The release is a little earlier than usual, though. Previous release in the main series have always come out in December. I wonder if this non-stop mix is a special release, and they’ll release a proper V.I.P. X in December?

Anyway, it’s nice to see Universal continue an EMI series. There may be hope for Dancemania yet. I’m sure in 2016 they’ll announce a 20th anniversary Dancemania release…then cancel it two months later.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sep 18

Whatever Harajuku
Artist: Mademoiselle Yulia
Release Date: 9/18/13
Price: 1886 yen

Second album from the electro queen.

Read the rest of this entry »

« Older Entries Newer Entries »