MOSAIC.WAV cryptically announce their 2010 album

*Click for a much larger resolution image.

SHAM STUDIO just sent over a couple of emails. First, MOSAIC.WAV will be releasing a new single before September 2010 (probably C78), followed with a full-length album by the end of 2010 (probably C79). MOSAIC.WAV making new music is no surprise, but note how early they are promoting these two releases. Typically, they will announce their Comiket singles one or two weeks (if not days) before the fact. The gorgeous poster also leads to believe that we could be witnessing an "evolution" of MOSAIC.WAV, if you consider the total lack of chibi characters they are usually known for. Is that broken chain a metaphor? Sweet keytar-gunsword to say the least!

Secondly, although it has been mentioned before on this very blog, SHAM STUDIO have finally made their English section public by linking it right on their front page. It's been a while since I translated these three pages, so unfortunately they don't cover any of their 2009 releases and activities. Will there be more English-language sections in the future? Stay tuned!

Birdtune's latest album hits the sweet spot

Birdtune's most recent Touhou Arrange album 「すいーつぱれっと」 was supposed to come out for C77, but manufacturing problems pushed its release date all the way to Reitaisei 7, which happened on March 14th 2010. Speaking of which, here are two pages of totally badass Touhou cosplay pictures from Moe Passion. Between C77 and 例大祭7, nothing changed on the album's tracklist, but Birdtune did revamp their album's page and put up a promotional video as well as a 12-minute long crossfade sampler.

Although the opening track demoed above is pretty good, the highlight would have to be the absolutely devastating Studio皐ｘななひら duo and their song 「想い！ハーフ＆ハーフ」 (1:45 mark on the sampler). Now Satsuki-sama you should be familiar with, but don't miss out on nanahira any longer. She's building an impressive pedigree on NicoNico and recently delivered some killer performances on a couple of C77 albums. More on her later!

Enjoy Mirin Furukawa's fantasy today!

古川未鈴 (FURUKAWA Mirin, not to be confused with Birdtune's みりん☆) is one of the many DearStage girls who is much more than just a pretty face. The self-confessed game nerd (who proudly wears a Game Boy Color as an accessory) can also sing and dance, as demonstrated in the above video. Don't forget that she is also 1/4 of DearStage's denpa unit でんぱ組, so she is one busy gal. Her latest single 「みりかる☆ファンタジー」 (2 tracks) comes out today, March 22nd 2010. 電波の世界 RULE #4-a: If an album has a star in its title, you know it's going to be good.

Although she released her first single 「リモコン・ディスコ」 in November 2009, this follow-up sounds like it's really going to define her style. The fantastic album cover certainly is a sight for sore eyes, so that bodes very well. Anybody else getting a Saori@Destiny vibe from that artwork? Sadly the single is not yet available on international webstores (Denpagumi was on CDJapan), but DearStage are looking into this as we speak. It helps that Piyo Rabbie recently performed in Brazil and are getting DearStage increased worldwide visibility.

By the way, the "DearStage all-stars" will be performing at the upcoming momoi/MOSAIC.WAV Shibuya O-EAST concert on May 3rd 2010. Does Mirin qualify as an all-star? She seems to have been with DearStage for long enough, and this would be a great opportunity to push the DenpaGumi brand to a new level. Let's hope she gets a shot!

Denpa no Sekai 2009 Sampler

Aaaaah 2009, year or the intergalactic denpa revolution. How I miss those simple days. But thanks to the power of the internets, the past is forevermore preserved in the form of tube-traveling bits and bytes which will transcend time and space, even as we return to the ashes from which we were born. Thus... I present to you the official Denpa no Sekai 2009 sampler!

Yes, I realize 720p HD is overkill for what is essentially a glorified mixtape, but that's just how I roll. Note that I purposely imposed a limit of one song per circle/singer. If you're a regular 'round these parts, you shouldn't be a stranger to any of those songs. Otherwise, if you're new to the genre or you're trying to "explain" it to one of 'em outsiders, then why not let the music work its magic?

Oh and we're not done with 2009, oh no we're not. While the above video was definitely NOT a top 10 chart, the following list certainly is. On 「電波ソング大賞」, Japanese internet users voted on the best denpa songs of the year and the tally came in on February 1st 2010. Of course these poll results are largely unscientific, but nearly 700 internet users can't be wrong (although over 9000 votes would be preferable).

1. 「Princess Party」 by IOSYS
   
2. 「だっこしてぎゅっ！～汝、隣の枕(よめ)を愛せ」 by 民安ともえ
3. 「ネガティブゼロ・パラダイス」 by 有栖川みや美
4. 「妄想網　Ж　Superluminal」 by MOSAIC.WAV
   
5. 「弟は白骨化していた」 by 本多真梨子
   
6. 「カメリア！ ～Dangerous Camellia Vacation～」 by IOSYS
   
7. 「おとこの娘のトビラ」 by MOSAIC.WAV
   
8. 「生意気☆いちごミルクDAYO！！」 by ave;new projecto
   
9. 「†メタウサ姫～黒ゆかり王国ミサ～†」 by ゆかり姫
10. 「fickle」 by KOTOKO
    

Pretty solid list! Although I can't pick favourites between my children, I'd say mine would look similar, minus the (*OPINION ALERT!*) needlessly metal ones. We end today's entry with the last ARM/momiji collaboration song of 2009, 「えぐりて☆」 from the C77 album "ROKKENJIMA in LOVE". Don't let ARM's quirky composition and Momiji's totally cute voice fool you, this song might as well be the spiritual successor to the Dokuro-chan OP.

小池雅也 news trio, coming your way!

小池雅也 (KOIKE masaya) hasn't been involved with MOSAIC.WAV too much recently, but don't let that fool you. Big Brother's been a busy beaver (tongue-twister GET!) these past few months, but he's usually fighting from the sidelines so it's a little hard to keep tabs on him. It doesn't help that he barely ever says anything news-worthy on his blog and that the 4-EVER website hasn't been updated in nearly 3 years. Regardless, aniki fans have three new reasons to be excited these days, so let's dive right in.

「 トロピカルKISS」 is yet another eroge full of boring everyday situations, but the interesting part here is that Koike wrote both the OP and ED themes, as well as provided BGM for the entire game. As you can tell from the Youtube preview, it is cheerful and definitely heavy on the steel drums, which fits the whole tropical theme. Now despite the game being TwinkleSoft's first effort, it was billed as a high-quality game when it came out in September 20009 and it certainly looks the part. In fact, for Lantis to distribute the single, you can be sure that big promotional monies are being thrown around for this title (so expect a sequel).

So who's singing the opening song? That would be でんぱ組, a brand-spanking new unit made up of four lovely DearStage girls. You read that name right, denpagumi (loosely denpa group). They are 100% unabashedly going for the 1-2 punch with this name, which is either refreshing or daft, depending on your opinion. Official Denpa no Sekai position: I am loving every fucking second of it, and it would be a crime against humanity if the denpagumi girls don't get a shot at a full-length album.

Which brings us to the ending theme 「Star☆tin'」, which was not only also composed by Koike, but performed by his new protégée 月宮うさぎ (TSUKIMIYA Usagi (yes, usagi as in rabbit)). Together they form ULTRA-PRISM, which they describe as 2.5D POP, but there's definitely a lot of denpa (their description, not just mine!), cheery picopico as well as typical Idol stuff thrown in for good measure. The fact that Usagi is a former Happy! Style member, yet such a hardcore otaku adds a nice touch of silliness to the whole thing. The following video will give you an idea of what the new unit is shooting for.

There's a good chance these songs might remind you of UNDER17, that's because ULTRA-PRISM is meant to be a "reboot" for old chap Koike. Their debut mini-album "Inspiration" was actually released at C75, but hasn't seen much exposure outside of a couple great articles on MOEYO! and GETCHU. Honestly, if it wasn't for the split CD with denpagumi, I probably wouldn't be talking about ULTRA-PRISM right now, and that would be a damn shame! Look forward to more ULTRA-PRISM coverage in the near future... *hint* Usagi is a bit of an anglophile.



Finally, GWAVE recently announced a new U single featuring two songs, the OP and ED themes to FrontWing's upcoming fourth entry in their 「魔界天使ジブリ－ル」 eroge series. No samples so far, but U has been in charge of all previous theme songs, so you can get a pretty good idea of what these should sound like based on prior art (Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3). Although U will be at the helm, as she usually is, Koike will provide guitar solos to these tracks, as he usually does. The release date is April 23rd 2010, but FrontWing will most likely release the opening video well before that. Stay tuned for more LA LA LA LA LA LA LAs!

Introducing MEGA DENPA HA HA's 100-songs endeavour

So much denpa to write about, so little time these days! My sincerest apologies. However, Yokohama-based @n-Guilla Sounds and their intense project メガ電波ww (Mega Denpa Ha Ha!) is something that definitely deserves your attention. Between October 2009 and July 2010, the new circle/group/label will be releasing one 10-song album per month, for a total of 100 songs in 10 months! They are currently standing at Volume 5, with number 6 due out on March 15 2010.

As you can tell from the series' name, we are dealing with 100 denpa songs. But let's make one thing clear, these are all アニソン (anime song) remixes, unfortunately no original songs. Looking at Volume 1, you can see they went as far back as 1979 for their source material (doraemon). But from then on, any era is game. Volume 2 has Lucky Star, Volume 3 has MOSAIC.WAV (and appropriately bears the subtitle Otagei Compilation), Volume 4 has 8bit and gabber remixes and Volume 5 has a... hard rock remix of KOTOKO's splendid 「七転八起☆至上主義！」. All of them have different covers and subtitles that loosely represent the ensemble of songs on each particular volume.

I say unfortunately no original songs, because these remixes are pretty damn good, even the slow piano ones, and you have to wonder what kind of intense musical destruction these guys (@n-Guilla Sounds) could come up with if they started writing their own tunes. Not to mention they really seem to get what denpa is supposed to mean. In an interview with AllAbout, they define the subgenre as music which "creates an unforgettable impact the moment you hear it". Of course, it's up to personal interpretation whether or not all of their remixes pack the same punch, but in terms of project scope, they certainly hit the spot.