Dancemania EX × Trance Paradise

Oriental Space Tribute Album ~Scorpion~
Release Date: 6/18/08
Price: 2476 yen

As I mentioned on the forums, DJ Kousuke, a.k.a. Oriental Space, passed away on February 27, 2008. A tribute page can be found here.

On June 18, FARM will release a 2-disc tribute album in honor of DJ Kousuke, with the first disc tentatively featuring a nonstop mix of his best tracks. Disc 2 will feature an all-star lineup of Japan’s top trance DJs taking on DJ Kousuke’s greatest hits. The tentative track list for the second disc follows:

01. Magical Express (Heavens Wire vs. Drumroller Remix)
02. Kimi o Nosete (DJ Uto Remix)
03. Just Do It (DJ Kaya Remix)
04. Platinum (Overhead Champion Remix)
05. Alexandrite (DJ Tora Remix)
06. Yakuscha (DJ U*Hey? Remix)
07. All of Time (Delaction Remix)
08. Scorpion (DJ Ten Remix)
09. Last Ecstasy (DJ Ozawa Remix)

As I’ve mentioned, “Magical Express” has always been a sentimental favorite since it was the track that first got me in to Trance Rave. Heavens Wire also happens to be my favorite DJ, so to have him remixing it is a dream come true. The rest of the list looks solid as well, though hopefully the final list will also have Nasca Joker, DJ Yoshinori, Ryu*, and N.O.-SYO to complete the set of Japan’s best DJs.

Tentative list announced:

01. Ima Kono Toki Dake / Shin Yoshimune Soundtrack
02. Sousei no Aquarion (Speed Mix) / Dank-One feat. ari
03. Tamashii no Refrain [from Shin Seiki Evangelion] / Kayoco
04. God Knows… [from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu] /
05. Motteke! Sailor Fuku [from Lucky*Star] /
06. Sorairo Days [from Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann] /
07. Mizu no Hoshi he Ai wo Komete (For Us to Decide) [from Kidou Senshi Zeta Gundam] / Haruna Ochi
08. Prologue / Tsukasa
09. Butterfly (Speed Mix) / Smile.dk
10. Max Don’t Have Sex with Your Ex (Speed Mix) / E-Rotic
11. Sky High (Speed Mix) / DJ Miko
12. Girlfriend (Avril Lavigne Cover) / Hanna
13. Cartoon Heroes (Aqua Cover) / Barbie Young
14. Paya Paya (Speed Remix) / Dank-One feat. ari
15. D.O.U.B.T!!! ~Ai no Kakehiki wa DA*U*TO*~ (Speed Remix) / 4 Skips vs. Floorbreaker
16. I Do I Do I Do (Speed Remix) / Creamy
17. Sound of My Dream / DJ 92

Looks like they weren’t kidding when they said it would be a mixture of Hime Trance, Dancemania Speed, and Anime songs. With the exception of the Hanna track (hooray for new Saifam Speed!), all of the other Dancemania tracks have existing Speed remixes, so expect them to be recycled yet again.

I spot at least two Anime Speed repeats, and if I remember correctly they were among the better Ventura-produced tracks. Still unsure who’ll be doing the other new anime songs, though.

DJ 92 is an artist associated with digi-up, which is also the home of kors k, DJ Shimamura, and other J-Core artists. It’s more than possible that they could be the ones remixing the Hime Trance songs.

If this sells well, perhaps we’ll see the return of the main Speed series. If you’re so inclined, pre-order at CDJapan or HMV.

CD Japan – Hime Trance Speed

Hime Trance Speed
Release Date: 7/30/08
Price: 1886 yen

Long live SPEED! Many of us had thought that the Speed series had ended with the lackluster Happy Speed, but EMI have announced a brand new entry set for release this July. Details are sparse at the moment, but according to an advertisement in the liner notes of Hime Trance Best, Hime Trance Speed will feature both the familiar “Hime Trance” sound as well as the “Dancemania” sound. Anime covers are also set to appear. The logo to the left was revealed in the Hime Trance Best booklet.

The only confirmed artist so far is Kei. Of course, it wouldn’t really be Hime Trance if Misa and Tsukasa didn’t also make an appearance, so don’t be surprised if they make an appearance as well.

EMI presumably still have a good relationship with Saifam and LED, which hopefully means we’ll finally get new Jenny Rom, Rose and/or Judy Crystal.

Link to this post, please:
https://www.dancemania-ex.com/2008/05/17/hime-trance-speed/

Discuss here.

Love House Platinum
Release Date: 6/25/08 (Delayed to 7/2/08)
Price: 2648 yen

2-disc follow-up release to last year’s Love House. Specially priced at only 2648 yen (w/o tax). The tentative list is below.

Disc 1 – Sweet Side
01. Wow / Kylie Minogue
02. Bed (Haji+Emanuel Remix) / J. Holiday
03. Angel (Axwell Remix) / Pharrell Williams
04. It’s You, It’s Me / Kaskade
05. Missing Groovejet / Everything but the Girl vs. Spiller
06. Sensitivity / The Shapeshifters vs. Chic
07. Don’t Mess with My Man (Mood 2 Swing Main Vocal) / Lucy Pearl
08. The Rain (Rasmus Faber Remix) / Reel People
09. Insatiable (Rasmus Faber Remix) / Thick Dick
10. Dove (I’ll Be Loving You) (T&F vs. Moltosugo Radio Mix) / Moony
11. Garden of Love (Joey Negro Club Mix) / The Sunburst Band
12. It Comes the Morning / Alex Natale & Fluid Delux
13. Join Me the Brother (Axwell Remix) / Afro Angel
14. say that you love me (FK-EK English vocal mix) / AK
15. Rise (Eric Kupper Remix) / Samantha James

Disc 2 – Party Time
01. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger / Daft Punk
02. Disco Lies (Spencer and Hill Remix) / Moby
03. Salmon Dance (Herve Remix) / The Chemical Brothers
04. Delirious / David Guetta feat. Tara McDonald
05. NYC Beat / Armand van Helden
06. I Fell in Love with the DJ (WAWA Vocal Mix) / Che’Nelle
07. To the Club / Spankox

Dancemania fans will see many familiar as well as some not-so-familiar names. Spankox, for example, is yet another alias for Agostino Carollo, better known as X-Treme.

CD Japan – Love House Platinum

Dancemania presents Natsu Monogatari 2008 supported by 9LoveJ (CD+DVD)
Release Date: 6/25/08
Price: 3000 yen

The sequel to last year’s immensely popular Natsu Monogatari 2007. It will again be CD+DVD, with the CD featuring a nonstop mix of 30 tracks plus 3 bonus tracks. Expect new tracks from Dancemania mainstay, LED, as well as a bunch of anime covers from a new Japanese label, Akiba Records. Fans of classic 90’s eurodance will be delighted to know that a lot of old favorites will also be present.

Special thanks to cigy41987 at PPS and Jayveemon over at SEPH for posting the list. I believe the original source was DJ Yossy’s mixi blog, so the list is definitely official. Here’s the list with romanized titles:

CD
01. Sousei no Aquarion / Haruka
02. Shangri-La / Shihori
03. Zankoku na Tenshi no These / Shihori
04. Ai ga Tomaranai / TH Shimai
05. Samishii Nettaigyo / Yu~tan·Mi~tan
06. Naked Dance / Two-Mix
07. Take Me Time Machine / Tugumi
08. Butterfly / Smile.dk
09. Barbie Girl / Aqua
10. Hero / Papaya
11. Willy Use a Billy…Boy / E-Rotic
12. I Will Survive (Motiv 8 Club Mix) / Diana Ross
13. Ticket to Fly / Solid Base
14. This Must Be a Dream / Basic Element
15. Mirror of Love / 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor
16. Bye Bye Para Girl (Hyper Techno HMX Mix) / Sunplaza Nakano Kun feat. DJ Yossy
17. Koi wa Shock, Thrill, Suspense (Hyper Techno Mix) / Shihori
18. (I Need A) Miracle (Red Monster Mix) / Cascada
19. Bad Boy (Red Monster Remix) / Cascada
20. Natsu Monogatari ~Summer Story~ (SP Show*Hey? vs. Big Kiss Remix) / Misa
21. Warrior (Final Round Mix) / DJ U*Hey?
22. Dead or Alive / Heavens Wire
23. Move Away / Skazi
24. World Destruction / Skazi vs. Duvdev
25. Let’s Go Come On / Manuel
26. El Sonido del Diablo (Super Euro Mix) / Toledo Sombrero
27. Electro Cow / Garcon
28. Music in the Night / Elisa
29. Love Me Queen / Jimmy Bravo
30. Wings of Fire / Jackie ‘O
Bonus Tracks
31. Bye Bye Para Girl (2008 Trance Mix) / Sunplaza Nakano Kun feat. DJ Yossy
32. Lucky Boy (Extended Mix) / Queen Regina
33. Chemical Love (Extended Mix) / John Desire

DVD
01. Sousei no Aquarion (Hyper Techno HMX Mix) / Haruka
02. Shooting Star / Bang!
03. Dub-I-Dub (2007 Eurobeat Version) / Me & My
04. Naked Dance / Two-Mix
05. El Sonido del Diablo (Super Euro Mix) / Toledo Sombrero
06. Love Me Queen / Jimmy Bravo
07. Shangri-La / Shihori
08. Music in the Night / Elisa
09. Bye Bye Para Girl / Sunplaza Nakano Kun feat. DJ Yossy
10. Wings of Fire / Jackie ‘O
11. Zankoku na Tenshi no These / Shihori

CD Japan – Summer Story 2008 [CD+DVD]

You can also order at HMV, or Amazon Japan. Amazon currently has the lowest price (2678 yen).

Discuss here.

Hime Trance Best
Release Date: 5/14/08
Price: 2171 yen

I was hoping against hope that Hime Trance Best would actually be better than it looked on paper. I’m sorry to say that it’s not. Read my track-by-track impressions below, or skip to my overall impressions.

01. Sousei no Aquarion / Dank-One feat. ari
I really wanted to love this, but after hearing Delaction’s version everything else pales in comparison. Ari’s voice isn’t quite strong enough to pull off the really high notes. The definitive part of this song is the “aishiteru” lyric, and ari fails to sing it with any confidence. The music itself is pleasant, with a good amount of pianos and other instruments strewn about.

02. Soko ni Aru Kamoshirenai… / Yoshimune Soundtrack
Still holds up well for a song from 2003.

03. Distance ~In Your Love~ / Misao Aoyama
Exactly the same as the Hime Trance 3 edit.

04. D.O.U.B.T!!! ~Ai no Kakehiki wa DA*U*TO*~ (Hime Tra Best Edit) / 4 Skips vs. Floorbreaker
Added backing synths during the chorus. Actually, it’s possible they were there before, and they’re just more prominent now.

05. Glitter / Kei
I think the song title says it all. More energetic than “Happy Days, Happy Times,” but not quite as catchy as “Sayonara.”

06. Flower (Spacey vs. garamonn Remix) / Pile
Spacey vs garamonn remixes all have similar synths, so if you heard their remix of “Prologue” you’ll know what to expect. “Flower” is nice and upbeat. However, they play around with Pile’s vocals a bit too much. I would’ve liked to hear her voice unaltered.

07. Love & Sunshine (Delaction Remix – Hime Tra Best Special Version) / 4 Skips
They basically Russian Rouletted this song. In other words, they added a lot of random vocal samples (“C’mon!”, “Somebody scream!”, “Party people!”). Nowhere near as intrusive as the “hostalk,” but kind of pointless all the same.

08. Friends / Love Scandals
Sniff, DJ Kousuke 🙁 This was originally a DJ Kaya instrumental, and then DJ Kousuke added vocals and his own brand of synths for its Hime Trance 3 debut. The melody is absolutely infectious.

09. Kimi e no Omoi (Spacey vs. garamonn Remix) / Tsukasa
Where’s Heavens Wire when you need him? Decent remix, but I’m sure Heavens Wire could’ve done so much more with this.

10. Y.E.S!! (Nihonbo Official Han) / Heavens Wire vs. Zodiac Force
YES! Piano trance! Sounds like a mix of previous 4 Skips vs. Floorbreaker tracks and Shohei’s remix of “Natsu Monogatari.” I approve.

11. Happy Days, Happy Times / Kei
Not the most memorable Kei song. I’d much prefer “Sayonara” or “Get Wild.”

12. Weather News ~Haretara Ii na~ (Hime Tra Best Special Version) / Gavin feat. Aya
My name is Gavin desu! Gavin has new (and longer) narration that mentions Hime Trance Best. Otherwise, exactly the same as before.

13. 1 Nichi (Big Kiss vs. Raversonic Remix) / Misa
Nothing new to report here.

14. Memory / Miu*Miu
This…still puts me to sleep.

15. Forever Love / Delaction feat. Chika
Hooray for barking samples! Still unbearably cute — just the way I like it!

16. Banzai (Red Monster Mocchi’s Edit) / Misa
I blame FARM for this. They used this remix on Mega Trance 01, so apparently EMI think they can get away with it, too. Why not use the excellent Overhead Champion mix of “So So” instead?

17. Zankoku na Tenshi no These / mint
This? Is amazing. Mint’s vocals sound more natural here, not to mention shockingly like the original. The production is also top notch, with vaguely eurobeat-y synths!

18. Tokyo / Heart Land
Hahahahaha! This is indeed a Japanese cover of Keen’s “Tokyo.” I have a whole post on “Tokyo” coming up soon, so I’ll have more on this then.

19. Everybody Happy (Vocal Version) / mint
Much like “Memory,” this isn’t a horrible song, just a bit lacking in energy.

20. Realize (Club Mix) / Mari Ohta with Shujinko
Another rather old song. Still holds up well, I think.

21. KI*SE*KI* / 4 Skips vs. Floorbreaker
Nothing new here either.

22. In My Heart (Heavens Wire Rmx) / Tsukasa
Ends really abruptly.

Bonus Track
23. Love & Joy / Yuki Kimura
It’s “Love & Joy.” Again.

Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome! I’m a long-time fan of Dancemania, Trance Paradise, and various other Japanese dance and/or trance compilations. I’ll be posting news, reviews, samples, and other random thoughts about said compilations here.

First, a little primer. Dancemania is “Japan’s #1 dance music series!” First released in 1996 by what was then Toshiba-EMI, Dancemania primarily features eurodance, though various sub-series focus on other dance genres. Most people probably know Dancemania best as the series that Dance Dance Revolution gets most of its licenses from.

Trance Paradise is Dancemania’s sister series and focuses solely on trance. The series began in 2004 as a joint effort between EMI and FARM Records. Since then it has spawned an immensely popular sub-series, Hime Trance, which features trance with primarily female vocals.

There are various other trance compilations that I’ll be reporting on from time to time, including Mega Trance, Super Best Trance, Quake Trance, and Trance Rave Best. I’ll go into more detail on those in the future.

If you have any thoughts or comments, leave them here or on the Forums.