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Utattemita Anison/J-Pop Speed
Release Date: 7/4/12
Price: 1905 yen
I knew it! EMI finally came to their senses and retroactively added all of the Utattemita Anison/J-Pop CDs to the Dancemania brand. They’re now part of the “Utattemita” series and are listed just above the Natsu Monogatari/Wa Euro Best releases. The two latest releases are also currently featured on the front page of the Dancemania website.
Vocal Vitality
Release Date: 4/30/12
Price: 1429 yen
NANCY AND THE BOYS! After a 7-year hiatus, Nancy and the Boys return with a brand new, original track titled, “Shine a Light on You”. Special thanks to DJ Hyuji for the shout-out on his twitter! It’s great to see Dancemania Speed live on through its fans. 😀
SuperSonicBeatRush
Release Date: 10/30/11
Price: 1429 yen
Another doujin compilation featuring Chris Bucknall of CJ Crew.
Classical Candy 2
Release Date: 10/30/11
Price: 1429 yen
So, I’m finally going to be posting the interview I conducted with Chris Bucknall (The ‘C’ of CJ Crew) soon, and in the process of writing up an artist spotlight I found that he’s been active in making Speed music again. That’s right, folks, CJ Crew are back!
This doujin compilation was released last October by Japan-based RTTF Records and compiles speed versions of classical tracks (think classical Speed) from a variety of artists. Exit Trance fans may be interested in the Hommarju track, but Dancemania fans will be more interested in the return of Chris Bucknall to the Japanese hardcore scene. The booklet even has a special interview with Chris Bucknall!
Stay tuned for more on CJ Crew!
Saifam Speed – June 2012
Artist: Various Artists
June’s Speed releases bring us a Disko Warp remix of the Happy Paradise 2 classic, “Bang! Ready to Go,” to accompany the recent J-Mi & Midi-D remix. I kinda wonder why the chose that track out of all the Happy Paradise songs to remix. Anyway, this marks the first time Disko Warp have done a remix for Saifam. Perhaps Saifam will return the favor in the future?
Also out is a Speed cover of the Richard Marx 80s song, “Should’ve Known Better.”
SPE193 – [3:52] Bang! Ready to Go (Disko Warp remix) / Tipsy & Tipsy
SPE194 – [5:37] Should’ve Known Better (The Factory Team Speed remix) / Speedmaster
Utattemita J-Pop Speed
Release Date: 7/4/12
Price: 1905 yen
This has 11 songs in common with the original Utattemita J-Pop, so I’m thinking it’s less likely that they’ll be straight repeats. In fact, “Return to Myself” was originally done by Sumijun, but here’s it’s listed as a Beat Charger production.
Edit: Apparently it was just a typo, as AKBK’s official site still lists “Return to Myself” as a Sumijun production.
Utattemita Anison Speed
Release Date: 7/4/12
Price: 1905 yen
Final list has been released, and it’s still not clear if we’ll be getting new arrangements. “Discotheque,” one of my favorite AKBK productions, does get a resing by Shihori, but the listed artists and arrangers are same as before for everything else. There are even 3 repeats from the regular Utattemita Anison. I’m even more worried that this will be nothing but repeats yet again.
Saifam Speed – May 2012
Artist: Various Artists
Another random set of Speed songs. “Turning Japanese” turned out pretty well, but “Not Afraid” lacks the rapid-fire rapping of CJ Crew’s “Lose Yourself” and ends up sounding a bit slow. “Iron Man” appears to be a slightly reworked version of the SAI1416 track released 4 years ago.
SPE190 – [4:41] Turning Japanese (The Factory Speed mix) / Speedmaster
SPE191 – [5:15] Not Afraid (The Factory Speed mix) / MC Boy
SPE192 – [5:12] Iron Man (The Factory Speedo mix) / Speedogang
And I forgot to mention it last month, but Saifam also did a Zippers cover of the Captain Jack song, “People Like to Party.”
DAN19057 – [4:15] People Like to Party (The Factory Team remix) / Zippers
Utattemita Anison Speed
Release Date: 7/4/12
Price: 1905 yen
Okay, now I’m convinced that Akiba Koubou have to rearrange these tracks. “Tiger & Dragon,” for example, was originally 136 BPM on Geki Atsu! Drama Euro Kizuna Hen, so there’s no way they can just transplant it as is. Pleeaaaasseee don’t disappoint me again, AKBK.
Utattemita Anison Speed
Release Date: 7/4/12
Price: 1905 yen
Early list is out, and so far it’s all songs that have previously been covered by Akiba Koubou. If this ends up the same as J-Mach!! I’ll be extremely disappointed. I’m convinced that they’ll have to actually rearrange these, though, because many of the songs already appeared on the original Utattemita Anison, and there’s no way they’d just reuse the same arrangements again, right? Right?!
J-Mach!! -Hi-Speed Dance Mix-
Release Date: 5/23/12
Price: 1905 yen
Wow, I can’t believe how disappointing this is. My greatest fear was that Akiba Koubou would go the cheap route and just increase the tempo of the songs and call it a day. However, what they did was somehow much worse: nothing. That’s right, they didn’t bother to rearrange the songs at all, much less change the tempos. Pretty much all of the tracks are at or near their original BPMs, with most of the album ranging from 160-165 BPM. The final 7 tracks range from around 170-190, but those are all at their original BPMs as well. I would have been more forgiving if it had been marketed as a eurobeat album, but it just doesn’t work as a Speed album because it doesn’t feel very fast as a whole. The mixing isn’t particularly memorable, either, with some transitions that are downright jarring. The fact that it’s 100% repeats just makes things that much worse. That said, Team KY’s “Run ‘n’ Gun” is amazing. I wish I had just found a way to buy the single instead of this. :/
In addition to the CD version, J-Mach!! is also available digitally on iTunes Japan. Keep in mind that the digital version is also mixed.
Utattemita Anison Speed
Release Date: 7/4/12
Price: 1905 yen
The other new Utattemita release will feature high-speed versions of J-Pop classics. Unfortunately, AKBK’s similarly themed J-Mach!! -Hi-Speed Dance Mix- is almost certain to become a source of tracks for this release. Please prove me wrong, EMI.
Utattemita Anison Speed
Release Date: 7/4/12
Price: 1905 yen
Dancemania Speed…lives? This July will see the continuation of the Utattemita series with two new Akiba Koubou-produced CDs. This one will feature high-speed versions of Anison themes. You may remember that AKBK have their own Speed release coming up, J-Mach!! -Hi-Speed Dance Mix-, but that release has very few anime songs so I’m hopeful that EMI will commission lots of new remixes for this.
The first two Utattamita releases from EMI weren’t branded as Dancemania releases, but I’m hoping they retroactively add them and these two new releases to the series. It’d just be nice to say there’s a new Dancemania Speed release after 5 years.
Saifam Speed – April 2012
Artist: Various Artists
April’s selection of Speed tracks brings us a pair of 80s movie theme hits as well as a cover of 2 Unlimited’s last single.
SPE186 – [4:41] Surfin’ USA (The Factory Team Speedo mix) / Speedmaster
SPE187 – [3:43] Footloose (The Factory Team Speed mix) / Thomas
SPE188 – [4:34] Jump for Joy (Alternative Planet remix) / Speedmaster
SPE188 – [4:23] Jump for Joy (Alternative Planet hard mix) / Speedmaster
SPE189 – [5:00] Holding Out for a Hero (Factory Speed mix) / Speedogang
J-Mach!! -Hi-Speed Dance Mix-
Release Date: 5/23/12
Price: 1905 yen
New series from Akiba Koubou featuring high-speed (160+ BPM) remixes of J-Pop songs. All of the songs announced so far have previously been done by AKBK. Hopefully they’ll actually remix them instead of just increasing the tempo.
DanceMaster | 
06 28th, 2012| 
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