Dancemania EX × Trance Paradise

Exit Trance presents Sagyouyou BGM Trance
Release Date: 10/1/08
Price: 1905 yen

Rememeber when I said that Quake wanted to make trance covers out of anything and everything possible? I wasn’t kidding. Sagyouyou translates to “work,” so “Sagyouyou BGM” is basically music one listens to while at work. And you thought Speed Buyuuden was a strangely themed album.

Okay, it’s really not as strange as you may think. A little further research reveals that a lot of people at work listen to music on NicoNico Douga, which is the Japanese equivalent of YouTube. That’s right: a lot of Sagyouyou BGM is just anime songs. There’s no tentative list yet, but expect a lot of anime songs and “Souse no Aquarion” for the 127th time.

Pre-order at CDJapan

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

Good news, everyone! Hime Trance Speed sold better its second week out and actually reached number one on the international album sales charts. HTS sold 12,000 copies last week compared to 9,000 during the first week of release. That’s a decent bump, but if you haven’t ordered your copy yet, make sure to do so soon in order to guarantee that the series continues!

Mega Trance 09
Release Date: 7/9/08
Price: 1800-2100 yen

Mega Trance 09 downloads have been up on Music Master for a few weeks now, but Kingbeat just added the album today. The odd thing is that Kingbeat has a slightly different selection of tracks up for download. The two Groove Coverage tracks as well as the Sesto Sento tracks are exclusive to Kingbeat, while “Children” and “Shut Up and Drive” are exclusive to Music Master. Music Master tracks are all in 192kbps, while with Kingbeat you have a choice between 192 or 320. Kingbeat is quite a bit more expensive, however.

Here’s the album on Kingbeat: http://www.king-beat.com/g_album_detail.php?ps_alid=100003464

And on Music Master: http://www.music-master.tv/store/default.php?cPath=21_23_52_532

Exit Trance presents CM Trance
Release Date: 10/1/08
Price: 1905 yen

Quake continue their quest to make trance covers of everything. As its name implies, CM Trance will feature trance covers of popular television commercial songs. It seems to be limited to Japanese commercials, so a trance cover of the Big Mac jingle seems unlikely. Darn.

Tentative list after the jump.

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Neon Spread
Release Date: 8/27/08
Price: 2171 yen

EMI have no Dancemania/Trance Paradise releases scheduled for the next three months, but they do have this electro compilation coming out in late August. As far as I can tell, Neon Spread is the name of the party that Mademoiselle Yulia DJs at, and judging by the track list she mostly spins electro.

The final track list is below.

01. Wow (CSS Remix) / Kylie Minogue
02. Big Money Comin’ / Crookers
03. Why Not?! (Tim Deluxe Remix) / Alter Ego
04. Let Me Back Up (Crookers Tetsujin Mix) / Don Rimini
05. White Knight Two / Surkin
06. Seventeen (The Droyds Mix) / Lady Tron
07. Alfie (CSS Remix) / Lily Allen
08. Ballroom (datA remix) / Terry Poison
09. Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death from Above (Simian Mobile Disco Remix) / CSS
10. Crazy Moth3f2ck8z feat. Tes (Midfield General Mix) / Krazy Baldhead
11. 9 to 5 (Tony Senghore’s Gosh Darn It! Dub) / Lady Sovereign
12. Rave On / Don Rimini
13. Tamborzuda (Rave New World Mix) / Sinden + Count of Monte Cristal feat. MC Thiaguinho
14. Mad Again (Boy 8-Bit Remix) / South Rakkas Crew feat. New Kidz
15. Gatas Gatas Gatas (Crookers Remix) / Edu K
16. Travailler (Orgasmic remix) / TTC
17. Dudun-Dun (Boys Noize Remix) / Para One
18. In Yr Underwear (Original) / Fox ‘n’ Wolf
19. We Are All Prostitutes (Princess Superstar Rmx) / Adam Sky vs. Mark Stewart
20. Somebody, Somewhere (Moulinex Remix) / Cazals
21. Bust a Move (Don Rimini Ravekid Rmx) / Young M.C.
22. Rio (Crookers Bang Remix) / Bumblebeez
23. Break It Down (Herve’s Spitfire Remix) / Estaw
24. Shopping on the Dancefloor (Shir Khan Rmx) / Purple Crush
25. The Girls (Album Version) / Calvin Harris
26. The Boys / Dragonette

CD Japan – Neon Spread

Anime*Dance ~Anison Hit Kumikyoku~
Release Date: 10/1/08
Price: 2190 yen

I don’t know why I’m surprised to see a follow-up release to Anime*Dance. After all, speed anime covers are all the rage nowadays. I guess it’s the fact that the sequel comes less than four months after the first. Then again, Quake seemingly release a new Speed Anime Trance every week.

Anyways, the first release featured an eclectic mix of speed and eurobeat anime covers, including two new tracks by Saifam. I’ve only heard a few of the songs, but for the most part I thought they were better than most Quake covers.

Preliminary track list after the jump.

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Buchiage Parance #8
Release Date: 9/24/08
Price: 2648 yen

Before there was Hime Trance, there was Buchiage Trance. Victor’s Trance Rave sub-series was the best-selling trance series in Japan until Hime Trance came along. It’s been struggling in recent years, and by the time the seventh release came out they rebranded the series as Buchiage Parance with a new emphasis on eurobeat and Para Para (hence the title), though trance, techno, and psychedelic continued to be featured. The upcoming eighth release continues the Para Para theme and will once again come with a DVD. No early list yet, but expect Kei to appear.

Pre-order at CDJapan

Neon Spread
Psychedelic Rave Perfect Best+
Release Date: 8/27/08
Price: 1900 yen

The sixth release in Victor Japan’s Psychedelic Rave series, which is a sister series to Trance Rave Best. As the name implies, it’s a best-of compilation featuring the most overexposed psychedelic tracks of the last few years as well as a few new tracks.

Final track list after the jump.

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Exit Trance presents UmaUma Dekiru Trance wo Tsukutte Mita 2 – Sakusha wa Byouki Series
Release Date: 8/20/08
Price: 1905 yen

The official release date is supposed to be August 20, but the digital download site Kingbeat jumped the gun and has full versions up for download now:

http://www.king-beat.com/index.php?main_url=%2Fg_album_detail.php%3Fps_alid%3D100003449%26

Edit: Kingbeat seem to have realized their mistake and have taken the tracks down for the time being. I’m sure they’ll put them back up on the 20th, however.

Super Best Trance 09
Release Date: 8/6/08
Price: 150 yen per track

Full versions of tracks from SBT 09 are now available for purchase on various Japanese download sites. The only viable option for those not living in Japan is Avex’s own mu-mo service:
http://music.mu-mo.net/album/?id=32835&subgenre=4&filetype=music

For info on how to buy from mu-mo, check out Mikaeru’s very informative thread on Eurobeat Prime. Keep in mind that the files up on mu-mo are mostly 128 kbps wma files that are DRM protected. The tracks are 150 yen each, and unfortunately there’s no option to buy the entire album, so if you want all of the tracks you’ll have to shell out 3300 yen.

Am I the only one pissed that Avex mostly put up radio edits? In some cases the edits on the actual nonstop CD are longer than the “full versions”!

Exit Trance presents TranceMaster 02
Release Date: 9/17/08
Price: 1905 yen

The first TranceMaster defied expectations by being 100% new material — a rarity in today’s market. It also managed to bring together some of Japan’s most popular trance DJs, including DJ Kaya and Delaction. The sequel promises to have an even more diverse lineup of DJs, with DJ U*Hey? and Yoji Biomehanika joining fray for the first time.

So far the tentative list has a total of 20 tracks. If Quake go through with the list, that means a full 6 tracks more than the first release.

Tentative list after the jump.

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Quake Trance Best.19
Release Date: 8/23/08
Price: 1905 yen

The final list has been revealed. It’s predictably Manian-heavy, though the new Mayumi Morinaga track is a surprise.

01. Come On (B.U.S. Remix) / Mayumi Morinaga
02. Booming Track (Raindropz! Remix) / Ekowrait
03. Godlike (Original Mix) / Deepforces
04. Tell Me Why I’m Crying Out (Rocco & Bass-T Remix) / Stylerockerz
05. Jump (Trance Mix) / Cerla vs. Manian
06. Because the Night (Manian Bootleg Cut) / Cascada
07. Hold Me Tonight (Freddy Hawk Remix) / Manian
08. Everytime You Need Me (Club Mix) / Kindervater feat. Nadja
09. Played-A-Live (Bootleg Mix) / The Real Booty Babes
10. Suddenly (Stevie B Mix) / Crush on Shristie
11. Walking a Line (De-Grees Remix) / Cane
12. Wish You Were Here (Handz Up Club Mix) / Jan Wayne & Scarlet
13. Something (Extended Mix) / Alex Megane
14. True Faith (Frisco Remix) / Liz Kay
15. Reborn (Phalanx Remix) / Allison
16. Sandra’s Song (DJ Space Raven Mix) / DJ Space Raven vs Wavetraxx
17. Paradise (Original Mix) / Thomas Petersen vs Gainworx
Bonus Tracks
18. Caramelldansen (Album Version) / Caramell
19. Caipirinha (Extended Version) / Carinho

Pre-order at CDJapan

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

The Dancemania Speed series has been dormant for a while now (and no, I don’t count Happy Speed), so it came as a surprise to see the series revived in the form of Hime Trance Speed. HTS is clash of the old with the new, with classic Dancemania Speed tracks appearing along with brand-new remixes of popular Hime Trance and anime songs.

It is a little jarring to hear all of the different styles come together on the same album, sort of like Speed Buyuuden. However, unlike Quiqman, DJ Hibiki of Delaction did a great job with the mixing. The album starts off at 160 BPM and stays there for the first few tracks before going up to 170-180 BPM, where it stays for the remainder of the album. No unnaturally fast BPMs here.

The transitions are mostly of the beat-mixing variety, and for the most part work well. The only awkward transition is the one into “Max,” if only because he kept the “Smile” part in.

Sales have been brisk so far, so I do think a sequel is a given. With any luck, we may also finally see Speed G6. KCP and Runaway may no longer be around, but Delaction, Shohei Matsumoto, and the J-Core artists have proven that they’re more than capable of producing fantastic Speed songs. If we do get a Hime Trance Speed 2, I just hope there are fewer repeats and more contributions from Saifam and LED. Use those new Rose songs, EMI!

Full review after the jump, but for now, enjoy the TV commercial:
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=KjcnaUmJyhY

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Exit Trance presents Pagal! Trance
Release Date: 9/17/08
Price: 2000 yen

So, I googled “pagyaru” and discovered that it’s a fashion statement in Japan. It seems to be aimed at the equivalent of the US “tween” market, which should give you an idea of what this CD will be about. Pagal! is also a comic book illustrated by female illustrator Britney Hamada. Ms. Hamada will be the one producing the CD, and will also be drawing the cover art.

Tentative list full of repeats after the jump. Warning: It contains both “Sousei no Aquarion” and “Caramelldansen.”

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Quake Trance Best.19
Release Date: 8/23/08
Price: 1905 yen

Quake Trance has been somewhat neglected in recent months in favor of the more lucrative Exit Trance series. The 19th release in the series was originally supposed to come out in July, but was delayed to August, making it a full 5 months since the last release. In the past, new releases would come out every 3 months, so it’s clear that DJ Uto has new priorities.

Only a few tracks have been announced so far:

01. Yozora (Trance Cover) / Originally by Miliyah Kato
02. Come On (Trance Cover) / Originally by Charlie
03. Caipirinha / Carinho
04. Undecided / Cascada
05. Undecided / Liz Kay
06. Caramelldansen / Caramell

I think “Caramelldansen” just surpassed “Sousei no Aquarion” as the most overexposed song of the year. We’ll know for sure if other labels start commissioning their own covers, or if it somehow shows up on TranceMaster 2.

As always, the album will be mixed by the original trance gansta, DJ Uto.

Pre-order at CDJapan