Dancemania EX × Trance Paradise

What’s Up! The Best ~ 10th Anniversary
Release Date: 12/4/13 12/25/13
Price: 2838 yen

Ah, now we know why V.I.P didn’t come out in December like it usually does. It seems that Universal have reserved the month for the 10th anniversary release of their own long-running R&B/Hip-Hop/Dance compilation series, What’s Up! The anniversary release will be a 2-disc set. Disc 1 will focus on dance, including the latest EDM hits. Disc 2 will feature R&B/Hip-Hop from the past decade. Both discs will be non-stop mixes. The set will come in a 2-disc wide case, as well as a cardboard sleeve.

Apparently “Wanna See U Dance” uses the same melody as “Samba de Janeiro.” It’s like a requirement that it appears on every dance compilation.

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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.

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I Love Party Pop
Release Date: 11/27/13 ? 12/25/13
Price: 1900 yen

The second release in Universal’s I Love Party series. No track list yet, but it’ll most likely be mainstream top 40 hits. I’d expect Lady Gaga’s “Applause” plus stuff from Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry and other Universal/EMI artists. I just hope they use more recent material this time instead of old, dated tracks.

Pre-order at CDJapan.

I Love Party -Welcome 2 da Dance Floor-
Release Date: 4/24/13
Price: 1886 yen

The first release in Universal’s I Love Party series, which focuses on dance pop songs. Waaay too mainstream for my tastes. It doesn’t help that a lot of the songs are already a few years old.

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What’s Up! The Best ~ 10th Anniversary
Release Date: 12/4/13 12/25/13
Price: 2838 yen

Ah, now we know why V.I.P didn’t come out in December like it usually does. It seems that Universal have reserved the month for the 10th anniversary release of their own long-running R&B/Hip-Hop/Dance compilation series, What’s Up! No track list yet, but it’ll be a 2-disc set. Disc 1 will focus on dance, including the latest EDM hits. Disc 2 will feature R&B/Hip-Hop from the past decade. The set will come in a 2-disc wide case, as well as a cardboard sleeve.

Pre-order at CDJapan.

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.

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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.

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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/

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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…

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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.

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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.

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