C79: IOSYS, ALBATROSICKS, DystopiaGround, Siestail +more!

We've already covered a bunch of hot C79 tickets but with the event happening in a few days, it's high time to finish our shopping list suggestions. Also worth noting: doujincore.com is organizing a group import until December 28th! New this time: it covers Days 2 and 3. If you want any of the following items and can't make it to Comiket in person, then that's your BEST option! Trust us, it feels good (man) to give these underground doujin artists your hard-earned dough. They truly deserve it too! As a reminder, here's what we already covered:

• ave;new projecto「ぱるちゅの☆おやCHU」
• IOSYS vs. Hardcore TANO*C「メガピアDJバトラーズ」
• doubleeleven Upper Cut 「Do you like Upper Cut?? 2!!」
• Katahotori Presents 「プチリズムCHU」
• ちぃむdmp☆ 「電波っぽい」

Now here are some more MUST-BUY items!!!

First up is a MONSTER of a Touhou Denpa record! And that's not even just our words, IOSYS themselves have dubbed their 16th album "NO DENPA NO LIFE". Strong words from one of the world's most notorious doujin circle!  Hot manly tears trickled down my cheeks when I first laid eyes upon this motto and the beautiful nurse trio which is sure to serve as the album's cover art. But that's not all: Queen とろ美 herself is singing the opening track「ロマンチック早苗ラブ」! Here's the PV and crossfade MP3.

Perhaps the greatest feature of 「東方云符不普」 (Touhou Unfufufu) is that it benefits from a strong theme. This isn't just a bunch of random songs, there's a focus on 電波系 in each and every song. Surely even regular IOSYS fans will appreciate this conscious effort, regardless of their views on denpa. Add yet another strong ingredient to this winning recipe: hardcore DJ uno (a.k.a RoughSketch) is contributing more and more songs these days! This is sure to win over a bunch of new fans... way to go IOSYS!

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Still with IOSYS, we now have a second Albatrosicks tribute album! 「MERGE THE STRAWBERRY!」 features five tracks taken from all five of their official albums. There's a little bit of something for everyone this time around. For instance, the first track 「ミコリザ4世」 is a strong eurobeat flavoured remix courtesy of DJ Command. As an aside, this is the same dude who came up with the unbelievable 「アニメユーロベスト～School Edition～」 which is chock-full of pumped up anime theme songs performed by ななひら and ボク, among others! Tracks 3 and 4 slow things down, but REDALiCE made sure to end the mini-album on a high note!

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nao's post-fripSide unit DystopiaGround is going to release a fourth album at C79! Simply titled 「#004」, it will feature an opening track by none other than ARM from IOSYS! There's also a rocking track by Demetori, a slow X-mas tune from 5pb president 志倉千代丸 and an upbeat little from 新井健史 (Araken), who is frequently in charge of her denpa songs (including her latest eroge song). Another strong DG release, nao fans don't miss up! All four songs can be sampled on the homepage.

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Another Comiket, another badass album by C.H.S. head-honcho t+pazolite and his eternal vocal companion リズナ. Together at Comiket 78, they came up with the unique「Honey I Scream!」; too hard for denpa purists, too weird for JCore snobs... but absolutely PERFECT for crossover fans. t+pazolite is not afraid to tread uncharted waters and give us his absolute best material each and every time he releases something. 「RESetup;」 follows in that direction and offers 10 fantastic Touhou arrange songs, three of which include vocals from Lady Rizuna.

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Speaking of Rizuna, she was once heavily associated to doujin circle Siestail, especially under her previous pseudonym 鈴木ななこ. These days she almost exclusively sings for t+pazolite, but that certainly hasn't stopped Siestail from releasing new albums! Their latest effort 「魔法のリップサービス」 (Magic Lip Service) is a concrete example of resilience shown by circle owner すぺらんかー (Spelunker). Since the late nineties, the circle went through a couple of mutations and featured tons of different vocalists and graphic artists, but he keeps trucking on. In 2010 alone, he has released ELEVEN albums on his label Siestail, quite impressive. The last one of the year is pretty damn cute and should please Touhou fans looking for something sweet.

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How to prepare Toromi... the Toromi way! Denpa Queen とろ美 is cooking up a new album for Comiket 79! Very little information has been shared so far, here's what we know: 7 tracks total, two of them by ARM (!), one of them is considered bonus (?)... and this crazy cool illustration may or may not be the cover art. Talk about a multi-talented artist! Oh but track #3 「センセイ布告 」 was definitely released back in March 2010 on a self-titled single. Pretty sure that song was for an eroge ED, but no matter, one less hunk of plastic to hunt down! If you haven't read our 2-part Toromi feature/interview... WHY?!? Go read them now! Part 1 is a photo journal from a visit to Ryohoji and part 2 is an exclusive interview, with video! By the way, Ryohoji is releasing a second CD; although it doesn't feature new songs, it does include a lot of voice work by とろ弁天!

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Finally, here are a couple of quick-picks:

• Halozy are releasing TWO new albums for C79: 「Halozy Remixes vol.1」 (MP3) is obviously a remix album, while 「Cosmic Armonica」 (MP3) features brand new songs. Both have tracks with ななひら! That's all you need to know!!!
• I've Sound will release a live DVD from their Summer 2010 SHORT CIRCUIT III concert in Tokyo.
• No full-length album from MOSAIC.WAV (??!?) but they do have a fourth うじゅ CD!
• SHOT MUSIC has a BAD ASS CD featuring 13 eroge hits remixed hardcore-style. 「SUPER SHOT3 -美少女ゲームリミックスコレクション‐」 has work from DJ SHIMAMURA, REDALiCE, DJ SHARPNEL (and more) as well as vocals from 民安★ROCK, YURIA, 榊原ゆい and more!

Check out the Denpa Watchlist on the right column for last-minute additions! Last post of the year for us!! Happy new year and/or see ya at Comiket!!! FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!!!!!!!

C79: ちぃむdmp☆ and かたほとり take MOE to the MAX

Just take a quick look at the Denpa Watchlist to your right and suffice to say, this seventy-ninth edition of Comiket will be one for the ages. There is a sheer amount of mind-blowing original material coming out, including two of the HOTTEST moe~denpa albums to be released in recent memory (ever?). What's more, both 「プチリズムCHU」 (from Katahotori) and 「電波っぽいのっ！」 (from ちぃむdmp☆) share some of the same staff members, such as さつきがてんこもり and かたほとり on the producer front and of course both 桃箱 and 愛原圭織, the two girls from ちぃむdmp☆ appearing on both their own album and contributing one track to the other. Pure hotness overload, so let's break it down!

We've been covering 桃箱 (momobako) and 愛原圭織 (kaorin) as best as we could, ever since they started uploading covers to nicovideo under the "歌ってみた" tag. However, the two singers have only recently united their efforts on an official basis, giving birth to the latest denpa unit ちぃむdmp☆ (team denpa☆). What's more, this upcoming debut album will not be featuring their splendid covers which you can already download for free... instead, it will be TWELVE ORIGINAL SONGS! Start the below player to hear a full album sampler, or download it directly and make love, not war.

Is this high-quality denpa or what? Watch out for the third track, which is particularly violent and may leave you with a bigger nosebleed than getting a puck in the face. Our boy Satsuki composed the highly energetic fifth tune, which kicks in at the 1:50 mark. If you particularly enjoy the Xmas track (11), then you're in luck! The girls have graciously uploaded the full MP3 as a gift to all of their fans. Finally, you can also print this Comiket flyer and put it up on your walls!

Get ready for a mega meltdown courtesy of Katahotori and his loli-loving friends. His C79 compilation album 「プチリズムCHU」assembles a plethora of top billing doujin singers such as the aforementioned ちぃむdmp☆, kana, ココ and Nimo, but also the delectable ななひら who appears in two songs. On the backend, かたほとり himself came up with four songs, while さつき が てんこもり, きくお and まぞっぷ each provided two efforts. That's right, another TEN TRACKS of PURE 萌えソング bliss. Here's a sampler:

If this promo video doesn't load for you, then make sure to download the MP3 from nicosound instead. Again, how good is this eh??? Because of the staff crossover and the related themes, it's almost impossible to get only one of these two albums. You absolutely have to buy both!

C79: Cat-punching doubleeleven UpperCut set for round 2

Well, do you?

doubleeleven Upper Cut are about to change the game with their upcoming next-level denpa maneuver. How? Of course you would ask that question, hater. STOP HATING. And start playing this fatherfucking crossfade sample below (or download it), taken from the new compilation CD 「Do you like Upper Cut?? 2!!」. See how they don't mess around with punctuation?? That's SMART!! Here's the track list; 7-12 are karaoke versions.

1. White Purity ～純白純真恋模様～
2. Virgin Scarlet ～真紅の恋愛魔術師～
3. Dawn to Azure ～決戦の夜明け、群青の空～
4. shoot the bullet, silver bullet ～裏切りの鈍色銃弾～
5. Yellow Sensation ～秋深し 黄色く染まる 修学旅行生（トラベラー）～
6. Ring My Golden Bell ～聖夜に響け 黄金の鐘の音～

Let's back the fuck up. Like foxes on a henhouse, they stealthily released their debut album back in May 2010. As hard as I jocked them, the merciless slaughter was so abrupt that nobody noticed the ravage. But this writer, THIS writer right here, he still pumps those sick jams on a daily basis. The first volume had "LOVE" as a theme, with song titles such as "Love Infinity", "Love Messenger" and "Love Climax". Joan Jett said it best, Love is Pain, so get ready for a world of HURT if you haven't heard the first album yet... WAKE UP!

For the second album, they're gonna mix things up with an avant-garde concept: COLOURS. That's right. Let your perverted imagination run wild with tracks such as "White Purity", "Virgin Scarlet", "Yellow Sensation" and my favourite, "Ring My Golden Bell". As a reminder, these are eroge opening songs. If you still don't get it, hide your kids, hide your wife and hide your husband then check out Softhouse-Seal, the game studio which ordered all of these fantastic tunes.

To wrap things up, how about this nice 1-hour long radio show they just uploaded? It focuses specifically on the second volume (breaking it down song-by-song) along with all kinds of hilarious digressions. Finally, they managed to woo/trick 民安ともえ into inviting them to perform at her birthday show, where they will cover some of the long-standing moe diva's songs, presumably the more denpa ones. Already looking forward to the third volume in mid-2011, so don't let us down deUC!

C79: IOSYS and TANO*C set to battle on disc, paper and stage

IOSYS vs HARDCORE TANO*C... FIGHT!!!

Something gigantic this way comes! On December 29th 2010, IOSYS and HARDCORE TANO*C will be locked in the ultimate DJ battle of the year. There has been a growing number of  intra-circle collaborations in the underground doujin scene for the past couple years, but this one takes the crown. A grand total of 26 artists will be collaborating: mangaka, illustrators, DJs, VJs, singers, graphics designers and so on. This isn't just a CD, just a manga book or just a split live set... it's all THREE at once! Let's start with the music.

1. kz vs RoughSketch vs A～YA / Let Your Decks Be Played
2. ono☆ken vs DJ ARM / THE BIG BERG
3. REDALiCE vs Thanatos vs DJ 豚鼻博士 vs t+pazolite vs 野宮あゆみ / believe my soul
4. t+pazolite vs DJ ARM / Rise Up 2 the Higher
5. Thanatos vs DJ 豚鼻博士 / Ascension
6. P*Light vs D.watt vs Nana Takahashi / A Night Before Revolution
7. DJ 豚鼻博士 vs DJ 一戸建 / SUPER KIMOI
8. RoughSketch vs Morrigan / DISTORTED WAVES
9. DJ ARM vs DJ TECHNORCH / Beat to the Catastrophe
10. REDALiCE vs DJ ARM vs 三澤秋 / Monomachia

All involved DJs will participate in one way or another to the 10 tracks present on disc. Four of them (presumably 1, 3, 6, 10) will also feature vocals. As you can see, DJ ARM is present on 40% of the tracks, so this disc is very relevant to 電波の世界 readers. You shouldn't have to ask "why", but the official MegaPeer website describes him as an "incredibly proficient denpa song creator" so there you go. Of course, REDALiCE is the second biggest attraction on this list (or first depending on your background) and then the other DJs are far, faaaar from being nobodies. There is no crossfade sampler to this day, but the soundtrack is  described as "club music" and songs are said to match the manga characters' personality.

Speaking of which, the CD will come enclosed in a massive B5-sized 150-pages manga book, with full color cover + flaps. The book will also feature cameos from such DJs as USAO, DJ Noriken, DJ-Technetium and crazy motherfucker kenta-v.ez., among others. Interestingly enough, IOSYS seem to portray the "good guys" (light blue) while HARDCORE TANO*C are clearly going to be the "bad guys" (aggressive red), especially when you look at the masked REDALiCE and t+pazolite as an evil clown. No matter who wins it in the end, this is sure to be one hell of a hot-blooded tale!

Finally, those of us lucky enough to be in Tokyo on January 8th 2010 can attend a MEGAPEER live event featuring all of the involved musicians. Namely, DJs from ALiCE'S EMOTiON, IOSYS, WAVE, onoken, Alstroemeria Records and many more circles will be tearing shit up all day long. This is most likely where the VJs will get their time to shine as well. There is actually very little info about this concert other than it starts at 2PM and tickets are available now through Lawson (code 70888). All of the latest details can be found at megapeer.net. See ya there!!!

Japan Firsthand: Ryohoji & Toromi Part 2 - Interviews

Here's the second and final part of our "Ryohoji & Toromi" article. Make sure to check out Part 1 if you haven't already seen it, lots of pictures! This time, we have an exclusive interview with Toromi herself, along with a surprise video message! Ryohoji head priest NAKAZATO Nichikou is also present after the jump, so make sure to read on!


Interview With Toromi

Toromi: I'm here in Nishi-Hachiouji, together with Mandi! Yoroshiku onegaisimasu-. Toro written in hiragana, Mi written "beauty", makes Toromi!

DnS: Up until now you've worked on singing, manga, cosplay, as a seiyuu, and many other things. Are there any new challenges you'd like to try?"

Toromi: Ehh--?! Something I haven't tried yet... Ummmm... Well.... I wonder... I can't think of anything off the top of my head.

DnS: Sorry, it's hard to think about it on the spot, isn't it!

Toromi: Saying I want to go to America would be the obvious thing to say, wouldn't it? Something more original would be more interesting... Well, I guess I'd like to go to America and do a live concert~!

ACT: New unit featuring Ayu, Coda and t+pazolite

A thousand apologies to our readers who rely on our round-ups to pad out their doujin shopping lists... we made a monumental omission on our M3-2010 fall coverage! ACT is a new moe~dical sound unit with strong hardcore undertones, featuring nurse あゆ (IOSYS) and physician coda (COOL&CREATE) on vocals, as well as doctor t+pazolite (C.H.S) composing the music! This all-star trio released its first mini-album 「A+C+T」 on October 31st 2010, with the three following tracks sampled in this crossfade demo.

1. Do love me!
2. Key to lustiness
3. 5分でわかるこれまでのACT

Since "topazo" composed all of these original tracks, this album comes highly recommended to his fans; especially if you're more into his リズナ collaborations as these new songs very similar. あゆ is no stranger to moe/denpa songs, having released an album of her own just a year ago. Coda is an interesting third pillar, as he provides male vocals. This is quite the rarity in this genre, but both vocalists complement each other very well.

All three tracks are worth listening to, but the third one really shows off t+pazolite's hardcore background. The BPM in 「5分でわかるこれまでのACT」 is relentless and heavily distorted guitars are frequently used. He even provides a few screams throughout this fantastic 5-minute odyssey. 「Do love me!」is a great choice for an anthemic opener, while 「Key to lustiness」 feels exotic and funky. Overall this is a fantastic offering from these three veterans, let's hope they can stitch up a full-length album in 2011!

Exclusive interview with さつきがてんこもり (Studio皐)

さつきがてんこもり (Satsuki ga Tenkomori, from Studio皐) is a favourite here at 電波の世界. His first breakthrough hit was the "denpa hammer" song, which earned him permanent coverage on this site. From then on, he collaborated with ななひら, Birdtune, 天然ジェミニ and many, many more. His most recent claim-to-fame: he has contributed an ending song to 「俺の妹がこんなに可愛いわけがない」 (ore no imouto)! It features the lovely vocals of veteran seiyuu 田村ゆかり.

Satsuki was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule and answer nine of our questions. Since he's not exactly proficient in English, he answered one of them... with a song! (interview conducted October 2010).

- First of all, congratulations for winning the contest. How did you react when you learned the news?

I'm glad that I could support one of the hottest anime shows this season!

Akihabara and the "Big site" (a comic market place) are filled with posters of "oreimo" now :D


- After such a major milestone in your career, will you still write doujin music for Comiket and Nicovideo?

While I will pursue activities in the major scene from now on, I will keep contributing to doujin music and uploading songs to nicovideo.



- The signature Satsuki sound is deep groovy bass that cuts through like a chainsaw, with hyperactive drums that knock you out like a strong coffee. What are some of your influences?

Thank you for the description :D
I do focus on getting bass and drums to stand out in my songs. I am influenced by various artists such as MOSAIC.WAV, imoutoid, Yasutaka Nakata and more...



- How is creating songs for Hatsune Miku different from working real singers?

Since the default settings are not really good, Miku takes just as much trouble as a human being after all. Every good girl needs dedication!

- Just before you upload your newest creation to Nicovideo, how would you describe your feelings?

Whenever I upload my videos, I feel a bit nervous. It kind of sucks when there is little feedback too.


- Which software and hardware do you use to create your songs?

I use windows XP and tools such as SONAR and Reason. As for hardware, Roland's SC-88 pro.




- What songs do you play live?

Mainly my own music, but I also remix music from my friends. I play with a "no-hold-barred" style!


- You once told me that one of your English teachers didn't like you. What's the story?

Instead of going to school, I stayed home and played MMORPGs all day long. I did my best to avoid that teacher! This new song describes the experience...

- Despite this, do you think you will one day write a song with full English lyrics?

That's a possibility! But because I'm really bad, I will have to wait until web translation machines have evolved to the next level... XD

C79: Let's start with an ave;new project-o update-o

Since ave;new projecto was the first denpa unit to announce its winter comiket goods, it's only fair to start our C79 coverage with them! On the other hand, much of the following information was already diligently covered by mandi on our twitter account, so nothing new here for some of you (fine) folks.

It appears all complaints directed towards ave;new's Momoe Paruchu figure (originally set for release in August 2010) were valid. ave;new acknowledged the situation and delayed its release to late 2010. Lucky for them, this coincides with the bi-annual Comiket event which is where they stand to make the most sales. Even if you're not a veteran collector, it's easy to see that the quality was much improved. Click the following links for high-resolution images: LIGHT version (regular release, Feb 2011), DARK version (C79 exclusive). Amiami is still taking reservations, but they haven't updated their images.

The 12cm POP-designed figurine comes with the new CD 「ぱるちゅの☆おやCHU」 but it doesn't seem like that album includes any new songs unfortunately. There are two remixed versions of older songs and that's about it, unless they're hinting at new material with the "and more..." heart-shaped cookie, but odds are this means a Momoe Paruchu drama track. But if you want new ave;new projecto music, then check out this next youtube video.

This is their one of their latest denpa song 「超越↑↑恋してナイしょ☆メア！！」 which combines 佐倉紗織 and 井上みゆ for maximum kawaii destruction. It was composed by doreCHU of course, and is the OP theme song to the game 『俺の彼女はヒトでなし』 which comes out December 24th 2010. In related news, ave;new will also handle the ending theme. Although it is not a denpa song, it does feature 白沢理恵 who frequently appears on projecto tunes, so fans should look out for that one as well.

And while we're talking about her, she also took care of two more denpa songs recently. The first one is 「イチャイチャ☆りちゅある！！」, a duet with Sakura Saori which came out this summer and will most definitely appear on A La Mode 3. The second one is quite unique, because 「ご機嫌ロマンス☆ラズベリィみさいる！！」 is used as the theme song to the manga 『絶対不発アトミックガール』 which got itself a free four-part reading on Youtube, complete with BGM!

BE VERY VERY RASPVERRY, YOU MAGGOTS!!!!!

Japan Firsthand: Ryohoji & Toromi Part 1 - Photo Journal

Hey DnS readers, Mandi here. As you may or may not know, I've been working "behind the scenes" here for a while, but this is my first article in what will hopefully be a series of firsthand reports and interviews from Japan [ed: many more coming!]. This time my travels brought me to the much talked about "Moe Temple" Ryohoji (了法寺). As reported here before, the cute and creative multi-talented Toromi (とろ美) is the one who adds the moe element in her music, art, and performances. Keep reading for a photo journal of my trip, and in my next article I'll post my first hand interview with Toromi herself, including video!