Wednesday 28 December 2011

C81: ALBATROSICKS, ForestPireo, Zero-Shaft, InnocentKey +++

Don't be fooled by the low volume of C81 updates on 電波の世界, it's not about the lack of quality albums coming out, oh not at all. It's all about us being a bit busy and quite frankly, lazy! Still, here are a few must-get albums which are poised to be released during the eighty-first edition of the world's finest otaku event. As usual, some of these CDs can be ordered from stores like とらのあな for a slight premium... while quantities last!

Before we go on, here are the other albums we covered:






Just like this summer's Comiket, ARM contributed less to the mainline IOSYS album in order to focus on the latest ALBATROSICKS album! 『rebirth era』 is the eight album, but it only has three new songs out of six tracks. That's still a better tally than say, 『MERGE THE STRAWBERRY』 but just a heads up as the other three are remixes. At least it feels a bit more focused with upbeat melodies present on most tracks. It's good to hear some new miko songs, as she hasn't been all that active lately.

In a related note, RUSTY GEARS does have a C81 single 「平和バカ二代」 with three new tracks, so that's another way to get your miko fix.



All samples available on website

Forest Pireo may have started pumping out Touhou arrange albums two years after IOSYS did, but that won't stop them from catching up in terms of number of releases! Case in point, they have two new albums for Comiket 81. Although both are excellent, one of these two will be of greater interest to this readership. 『Girl's Festa! 01』 will be their 18th release and even though it's an all-original album, it's still very much in line with their previous efforts.

What's different is that it's packed with cute and powerful songs from well-known composers such as さつき が てんこもり, 未来派, かたほとり and our boy かめりあ. On the mic we have lovely ladies such as めらみぽっぷ, 桃箱, ななひら and kana. Highlights include 「ただいま参上! 電波シスター☆」 from y0c1e and みぃしゃ as well as the explosive cocktail 「ご先祖様は君を見守っている!」 from 未来派 with an explosive ななひら+kana duet! Frankly all songs stand out on this amazing compilation.

If you can't get enough of Touhou arranges, that's ForestPireo's bread & butter so don't worry. 『妹紅 ~mokou the best~』 is a bit more serious in tone (jacket art is a dead giveaway) but still has its share of silly tunes from さつき が てんこもり, y0c1e, ななひら, kana and others. It'd be awesome to see ForestPireo go for an all-denpa album, but until then they include a serviceable amount of them on each of their albums, so it's worth supporting them!




Zero-Shaft is quickly becoming a force to reckon with, releasing quality idol/moe/denpa albums one event after the other. Just a couple months ago, they released 『 まほロリっ!』 to great acclaim, but they're back with a cross album that includes element from their ロリっ! spinoff with their mainline THEiDOLST@GE series.

ZeroShuffle』 features 14 tracks performed by 19 singers and created by 12 composers! There's an equal mix idol/moe so it's like getting 2 albums for the price of 1. Whatta deal! Especially when you're talking vocalists such as ゆきまめ, ななひら, なゆ, 愛空アキハ and way, WAY more. Highly recommended.



All samples on website

Innocent Key is ココ's home circle so that's reason enough to include them on our bi-annual comiket preview. But more and more these days, they've focused on quality denpa songs over boring regular arranges. 『東方スクール』 was the turning point, and now we're getting a denpa hotpot to warm ourselves up for the coming winter.

東方闇鍋』 is chock-full of tasty ココ tracks, deliciously arranged by the likes of yohine and 溝口ゆうま. Other key collaborators include デッドボールP, D.watt, Nimo, めらみぽっぷ, 大瀬良あい and many more. This album is a lot darker than March's school rumble, but still knee-deep in twisted melodies and tongue-in-cheek writing. Highlights include 「Magical Shooting Star!」 and frankly, anything involving ココ's megami koe.





Here's something that'll blow your mind, yet it wasn't completely unexpected. ARM and BeatMario have collaborated in the past, but 『スペシャル俺たち!!!!』 is the apex of those partnerships. Manly, hot-blooded, intrepid... beefcake? (wtf thesaurus.com) All of these synonyms apply. There isn't much to say, we'll let the sampler do the talking. Out of the 10 tracks, 6 are tunes composed by ARM and the other 4 are drama, likely with BGM. This one seems like it could become 2011's best-kept secret!




Looks like おでんぱ☆スタジオ are in a guest vocalist mood! After inviting とろ美 to sing with them this summer, 井上みゆ was invited to participate on their sixth single 『ろりーたプラネット★ミ』. Who's it gonna be next time? This is another dream collaboration to be sure, but their other new song 「なめこのうた」 is nothing to scoff at! The odenpa girls are climbing up the ranks and getting noticed all over the world while composers ひろてー and BB.Lemonade are constantly invited by other circles. Looking forward to a third album in 2012!




Last but certainly not least is the new 天然ジェミニ album 『東方Little Bloom』! We've been fans since their first album, but one of their best moves was to sign up explosive arranger かめりあ for 3 tracks out of 8, including the fantastic PV seen below. He's really a good match for this unit, it's good to see him take on a bigger role. Otherwise, expect more of the same, which is exactly what we're looking for anyway. Some denpa, some high-tension pop, some rock, some eurobeat... actually that's kinda new!


C81: 20th IOSYS album 『東方エレクトリック電波少女』




Another Comiket, another IOSYS album! Believe it or not, 『東方エレクトリック電波少女』 is actually their 20th full album! It's been a wild ride since 2006's 『東方風櫻宴』 but along with his close friends 夕野ヨシミ and D.watt, ARM has been laying down the absolute craziest Touhou arranges for the past 5 years.

This new album has a lot in common with all of their previous 2011 albums (17th, 18th and 19th) both in name and contents. There's a much greater emphasis on silly denpa songs and overall party vibe. They must have figured there're enough circles doing "serious" shit, so they started focusing on fun stuff. Plus, ARM is always refered to as Lord of Denpa whenever he does collaborations with Tano*C and others, so he might as well capitalize on that reputation.

Some of the highlights include the one-and-only ココ as a guest vocalist on 「心奮い立つびしゃびしゃ門天のテーマ」 and uno showing off some mad denpa skills on 「多々良小傘のたたら屋敷」. There's also a typically trademark void song 「kiss me no panty」 which is the closest thing to a Princess Party theme song sequel we'll get. Even minami, who's usually known for his guitar skills, joins the electro-denpa party with 「ミラクルみこたんエクセレントでしょ」. There are a couple of requisite rock/varia/etc tracks which may not be for everyone, but they were composed tongue-in-cheek so they belong on this compilation.

Which track was selected for the traditional album PV? Of course it was an ARM track, but surprisingly it features his own vocals! Not only that, but he channeled his inner child to perform on the epically heroic 「勇者わんわん」!


Tuesday 13 December 2011

C81: 『プチリズムふぉお///』 4D 萌え song album from ポヤッチオ


What's hotter than 2D love? 4D love of course, a scientific fact かたほとり and his chibi-loli-moe-loving friends quickly realized and acted upon. Or maybe their past three プチリズム albums did very well with fans of the genre and they just decided to go with a fourth volume. Just maybe. After all, the first album was also re-issued for M3-2011秋, which says a lot about the serie's rising popularity. In case you have no idea what the hype is all about, check out this crossfade video for 『プチリズムふぉお///』.


Track Title Vocals Composer
01 異星人と恋愛 めらみぽっぷ きくお
02 ナナプラス+ ななひら 狐夢想
03 そうだ、ピクニックに行こう 愛原圭織 かたほとり
04 とっとこPARADE 桃箱 すみじゅん
05 えくすとりーむ・もふもふ ココ ちょむP
06 恥ずかし乙女と恋のユメ なゆ しの
07 青春ただいま進行中! ゆきまめ かたほとり
08 くまくんはコットンで出来ている kana さつき が てんこもり
09 メイドの星からランデブー Nimo かたほとり
10 Cookin'CookieS ななひら れれれP

As you can tell from the tracklist, many recurring artists are back on board, which is excellent news for fans of the series. Something that did seem to have changed is the overall BPM. One could argue that the previous compilation was a bit more laid-back, focusing on the melodies and moe themes. The C81 album however kicks in really strong with a powerful track from good guy きくお, who better damn get back together with 白石なごむ for a 2012 album.

The second track follows the same rhythm but has an interesting backstory. Composer 狐夢想 originally came up with the song 「ナナプラス+」 in May 2011 as a 春歌ナナ (ななひら UTAU) niconico upload. Well, this time we'll be getting the real deal! How often does this happen? It's as if Fujita Saki started singing a bunch of Hatsune Miku songs.

You can sample the remaining tracks for yourself, but suffice to say we're in for a hell of a ride. As far as we're concerned, this is one of the highest quality moe lineups ever assembled. From top billing ココ, ななひら to our pet favourites なゆ and ゆきまめ, everyone's here! Make sure you let these boys & girls know how much you appreciate their lovely compositions and beautiful voices... BUY THIS ALBUM!

Sunday 11 December 2011

Twitter Cluster: Best of November 2011

Other than a really awesome "Best Album" from MOSAIC.WAV and lots & lots of Dark Souls being played worldwide, not much happened in November 2011. That's OK, artists need to recover from the post-M3 slump and focus on their pre-Comiket frenzy. Which, by the way, we plan on covering as best as we can! Check out the "Denpa Watchlist" for upcoming releases and of course, follow us on twitter @denpanosekai!



November 1st 2011
  • Check out the grand and gorgeous sushi-styled box for the limited edition of 「ねぇきいて? 宇宙を救うのは、きっとお寿司…ではなく、でんぱ組.inc!」. Also details on the special items included: CD, DVD, deargirl book, photo holder, pen light, hand towel, and pin badge!

November 5th 2011
  • Official PV for new MOSAIC.WAV song 「eclipse 」 Seems like mi~ko and kayapi are going for a more mature sound?!?

November 11th 2011
  • New 大野まりな (Ohno Maria) album commemorating 25 years in the business! 12/21/11 release for 「まりなりなぁV3!~precious stories~」. Her last CD 「まりなりなぁ」 was back in 2005! Wow! Total 14 tracks, several repeat songs, but we are happy for anything we can get after so long!

November 13th 2011

Saturday 3 December 2011

The Unboxening: 「AKIBA-POP√RECOLLECTION」 Limited Edition from MOSAIC.WAV


Last time MOSAIC.WAV sent me something, it was the "Extravagantly Extra-Equipped" limited edition of their most recent album 「吟遊Planet☆AKIBA-POP」. I had a video camera back then so I had a little fun and cooked up an unboxening video, where I shocked some of you with my thick Canadian accent. Now the other day I just received the limited edition of their "Best Album" 「AKIBA-POP√RECOLLECTION」 but I didn't have access to a video camera today, so stills will have to do. Check out what's included! (click any picture for full size)