Dancemania EX × Trance Paradise

Super Anime Beat
Release Date: 6/24/09
Price: 1900 yen

When I first saw the title I thought Avex was finally jumping on the anime bandwagon. It turns out, however, that this is actually a Victor release (although Avex do have an anime release coming out soon). At first I was afraid that it would just be a collection of Quake repeats, but it appears that this will feature brand new eurobeat covers. Surprisingly, the covers will be done by the very same Quake artists who have contributed to the Speed Anime Trance Best series! I’m just glad it’s not Akiba Koubou again.

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Trance Rave Best XVII
Release Date: 6/24/09
Price: 1900 yen

Trance Rave Best used to have exclusive tracks, but lately they’ve been full of nothing but Quake repeats. Supposedly this latest volume will include original songs from Japanese DJs. I’ll believe it when I see it, though. Scheduled artists include Cascada and Infected Mushroom, while DJ Kaya will once again be mixing.

Pre-order at CDJapan

Quake Trance presents Quake News #05
Release Date: 7/1/09
Price: 999 yen

The latest tracks picked by Helios.

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Exit Trance presents Zenbei No. 1 Cinema Covers 2
Release Date: 7/1/09
Price: 1905 yen

Interesting that they changed the title from “Cinema Trance” to “Cinema Covers.” I guess they don’t want to pigeonhole themselves. No early track list, but I’ll be happy as long as it still contains copious amounts of Engrish.

Pre-order at CDJapan.

Exit Trance presents Speed Anime Trance Best 7
Release Date: 7/1/09
Price: 1905 yen

The seventh release in the SATB series will feature themes from the following shows:

01. “Minami-ke Okaeri”
02. “To Aru Majutsu no Index”
03. “Tora Dora!”
04. “Rideback”
05. “Maria†Holic”

Pre-order at CDJapan.

(Hapikoa) Happy Core*Speed 1
Release Date: 6/17/09
Price: 2500 yen

The final list is out, and it’s shockingly repeat-free! Every track is either a new remix or a new song. That’s quite a feat these days. Naturally, I’m mostly looking forward to “Naraku no Hana,” but there’s lots of eye-catching stuff here. I don’t know what a “Happy Rag-Ska-Break-Trance-Core Remix” sounds like, but I’d sure like to know!

Every copy will come with a hologram sheet, whatever that is.

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The 2009 remake of “Butterfly” is finally out! Featuring Veronica and Malin on vocals, it’s a complete reworking of the original. Okay, maybe not so much. Vocals aside, it’s mostly the same as the original, with a few added flourishes. For instance, they definitely took some cues from the Delaction remix.

Anyway, the song is up for download on a variety of digital download services:
lala
iTunes

Only a radio edit is available for now. I’m assuming a longer edit will appear on the rumored remix album.

01. [3:07] Butterfly ’09 (United Forces Airplay Edit)

King of Techno (CD+DVD)
Release Date: 7/8/09
Price: 2500 yen

What. The. Fridge? How’d DM Ashura end up on a random Japanese hyper techno compilation? King of Techno is part of the new King of Dance series by the independent label, JC Records. JC have been closely affiliated with Akiba Koubou, which explains what Mi->Na is doing here. Still doesn’t explain DM Ashura, though.

The CD will be a nonstop mix, while the DVD will have TechPara routines. Future releases in the series include King of Euro and King of Trance.

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Exit Tunes presents Vocalostar
Release Date: 6/17/09
Price: 1905 yen

The early list for Vocalostar is somewhat similar to that of the now-canceled Vocarhythm 2. I’m still not sure why they changed the title at all. Vocarhythm was a huge seller for Quake, so one would think they’d keep the name for familiarity’s sake.

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Quake Trance Best 21
Release Date: 6/17/09
Price: 1905 yen

Axel F 🙁

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Exit Trance presents UmaUma Dekiru Trance wo Tsukutte Mita 5 – Hyper Kenja Time
Release Date: 6/17/09
Price: 1905 yen

Please don’t google “Kenja Time.” Trust me. Anyway, Quake didn’t provide retailers with a tentative list for this release, so the track list remains a mystery. I do have a crazy theory that “Caramelldansen” will appear again. Just call it a hunch.

Pre-order at CDJapan.

Disko Warp Meets Sakuma Hitomi & J-Girls
Release Date: 6/3/09

Quick update regarding this album. The release date has slipped from 5/27 to 6/3, apparently due to the Golden Week holiday in Japan. Also, the Disko Warp remix of “Over You” is presumably appearing on Pony Canyon’s upcoming “Happy Core*Speed” compilation.

For more info, visit the official Disko Warp website or the Disko Warp MySpace.

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Ready for Take Off
Artist: Overhead Champion
Release Date: 4/29/09
Price: 300 yen

Avex haven’t been doing much with trance lately, so it was a surprise to see a brand new digital single from Overhead Champion.

Ready For Take Off

01. [7:22] Ready for Take Off (Extended)
02. [3:44] Ready for Take Off (Radio Edit)

Starts off electro-ish, but transitions into classic OHC, which is very much a good thing. Hopefully this is a sign that Avex haven’t abandoned the SBT series yet. The single is now available for purchase on iTunes and various other Japanese download services. Keep in mind that Avex still haven’t made the switch to iTunes Plus, so if you grab the single from there you’ll get saddled with DRM and likely a low bit rate as well.

Dance Dance Revolution S
Release Date: 4/15/09
Price: 1500 yen

Konami recently released a digital soundtrack for their mobile DDR game, Dance Dance Revolution S. It’s mostly notable for featuring a new remix of the Naoki and Smile.dk collaboration, “A Geisha’s Dream.” The remix is nothing outstanding, but it is a nice change of pace from the original, which was too similar to “Butterfly” for my liking.

The soundtrack is available for purchase on iTunes.

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Moe*Dance presented by Anime*Dance
Release Date: 5/27/09
Price: 2381 yen

The final list is out, and there are more new tracks than I expected. Many of the tracks have been covered by Quake before, but it could be interesting to hear a different take on them.

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