DanceMaster | 
01 15th, 2010| 
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.
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Jan
15
Jan
4
Gal Mama Paradise Vol. 00
Release Date: 2/10/10
Price: 1900 yen
Victor Japan have delayed Gal Mama Euro Best and changed the title to Gal Mama Paradise. They’ve also released some details on the track list. It appears that the CD will mostly have repeats from Trance Rave and Buchiage Parance.
Jan
2
Sakuma Euro
Artist: Hitomi Sakuma
Release Date: 2/17/10
Price: 2500 yen
Hitomi Sakuma’s first album debuts this upcoming February! It’s been over 9 years since Hitomi released her debut single, “Change My World,” but the current Wa Euro (J-Euro) craze in Japan means the time is finally right for her first album. There’ll be 12 songs included, two of which appear to be karaoke tracks.
Dec
16
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
Dec
9
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
Dec
8
Ai Love J-Euro ~Japanese Euro Beat Hits~
Release Date: 12/16/09
Price: 1900 yen
FARM will be releasing the cleverly titled Ai Love J-Euro on the same day as Wa Euro Best 2. “Ai” is the Japanese word for “love,” so the title can either be interpreted as “Love Love J-Euro” or “I Love J-Euro.”
The final track list is almost all repeats. Track 8 seems to be a new Akiba Koubou track, however, and track 9 appears to be new as well. Whether or not it’s Quake’s Maki remains to be seen.
Yes, those last 5 tracks aren’t J-Euro. They’ll be part of a bonus “Western Euro” megamix.
Dec
7
Anime*Max 2
Release Date: 1/27/10
Price: 2500 yen
This is certainly a nice surprise! The first Anime*Max came out last April and featured Eurobeat/Hyper Techno covers of anime themes. It was produced by Ventura Music, who used to be a huge contributor to the Dancemania series. Anime*Max wasn’t quite as strong as some of Ventura’s other anime-related works (Anime*Mania, Techno Pop Anime), but it was a solid enough release. Plus, it brought us the epic hyper techno cover of “Gravity,” which would later go on to be included on Natasu Monogatari 2009. The CD didn’t make too much of an impact in terms of sales, so I always assumed it would just be a one-shot affair. Apparently it did well enough for Geneon, however, because they’ll be releasing a sequel in January.
It’s not yet clear if Ventura will be returning to produce, but Geneon will be auditioning for new vocalists.
Dec
6
Nikonikouhaku ~Minna de Tanoshiku Asonjaimashita~
Release Date: 12/9/09
Price: 2405 yen
Previously known as Nico Nico Kouhaku 2009 – Eurobeat Japan Best. The final title is a portmanteau of “Nico Nico” and “Kouhaku.” Nico Nico, of course, is the famous Japanese equivalent of YouTube, where many amateur singers upload their own videos. Kouhaku literally means “red and white,” and I believe in this case refers to a famous singing contest in which singers are separated into red teams and white teams.
The album is produced by Akiba Koubou, currently most famous for their work on Wa Euro Best and the Super Anime Remix series. I’m still unsure if the remixes are actually new since Akiba Koubou have already done a lot of these songs, but there are definitely new vocals. The new vocalists are all amateur singers who have made names for themselves on Nico Nico.
Samples can be heard at Nico Nico: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8813797
Nov
23
magic -Super Model Special-
Release Date: 11/25/09
Price: 1900 yen
Previously known as “Koakuma Magic #2.” I was expecting mostly euro with a bit of trance, but it seems to be evenly split down the middle. Shockingly, they didn’t take the cheap route and license existing covers for some of the songs, so there are a surprising amount of new songs.
Nov
22
Gal Mama Euro Best
Release Date: 12/30/09
Price: 1900 yen
J-Euro fever continues as Victor becomes the latest label to jump on the bandwagon. A “Gal Mama” is apparently a young woman in her 20s who has a baby as a fashion accessory. Examples include Rumi Itabashi (cover model for Natasu Monogatari 2009 and Wa Euro Best 1 and 2), Tsubasa Masuwaka, and Momoeri. The CD is being billed as one that both parent and child can dance to. No track list yet, but I can’t imagine Rumi not being on it. Victor have licensed from Akiba Koubou again, so I’d expect AK tracks plus some repeats from Buchiage Parance and Speed Anime M@ster.
Pre-order at CDJapan.
Nov
19
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.
Nov
19
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.”
Nov
16
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.
Nov
4
Ai Love J-Euro
Release Date: 12/16/09
Price: 1900 yen
FARM will be releasing the cleverly titled Ai Love J-Euro on the same day as Wa Euro Best 2. “Ai” is the Japanese word for “love,” so the title can either be interpreted as “Love Love J-Euro” or “I Love J-Euro.” Unfortunately, it shares something in common with the first Wa Euro Best: repeats, and lots of ’em. I really hope you’re not tired of “Love Happy” or the Ovrar mix of “In My Heart.”
On the plus side, I do spot a new mioco song, and at least the list isn’t dominated by Akiba Koubou.
Oct
26
Koakuma Magic #2
Release Date: 11/25/09
Price: 1900 yen
Koakuma Ageha is a Japanese fashion magazine, similar to egg. They’ve collaborated with various labels in the past to release compilations like Koakuma Trance (Universal), Koakuma Musee Trance (Quake), and Koakuma Magic (Victor). If it isn’t immediately obvious, this will be a sequel to Koakuma Magic, which was mostly eurobeat with a touch of trance. No real announced tracks yet, though they have released a list of models who will be singing some new tracks. Otherwise I’d expect repeats from Buchiage Parance 10.
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