Necomimi☆スペースノイド worldwide online album release!

(PayPal issues solved!! The album is now available!!)

Japanese doujin and indie music can be frustratingly difficult to track down outside of Japan... but worldwide denpa listeners rejoice! Necomimi☆スペースノイド (Necomimi☆Spacenoid) has decided to share their amazing first album, "Omnibus" with the whole world via Bandcamp!

Necomimi☆スペースノイド has a unique sound which is enchanting while also slightly off kilter. Combine that with cute vocals and engaging lyrics, and you can an album I couldn't help but loop again and again. You will find a variety of inspiration from different sources on this album, from 80s pop music to sci-fi stories. The lyrics vary from sad to silly to mixed up German/Russian/English, all of which are highly enjoyable. (Although not included on the album, gamers will also want to check out their cover of Pollyanna (I Believe in You) from Earthbound / Mother!)

Originally, their vocalist was none other than one of my favorite idols, 森永まみ. Sadly she left the group before I got to know them very well, though I had liked what I heard and stored their name in my memory banks. Much to my surprise, at M3 2012 fall, I stumbled onto the announcement of their album release - with 2 new vocalists - just before the event, without much time to promote them here on Denpa no Sekai. I have a feeling many denpa fans out there might have overlooked this album due to the lack of promotion, so I am extremely happy it's available for all to download now. After purchasing the album, any doubts I had about replacing Mamipyon were forgotten - the dual vocals are a perfect match for the music, and the arrangements improved since what I had heard of the previous versions.

(Live video from when 森永まみ was their vocalist)

(Another shot of previous members)

Unlike what we are used to with most denpa groups, necomimi☆スペースノイド has a full band with 6 members: ちょこ (Choko) and ましろ (Mashiro) on vocals, 高開 洋 (Takakai Hiroshi) on keyboard, 武井 慎也 (Takei Shinya) on guitar, 斎藤 ぴよんこ (Saitou Pyonko) on synthesizer and chorus, and mastermind 飛鋭78式改 (Hiei Nanahachi Shiki Kai) on talkbox, vocal, chorus, programming, and song writing. I talked to Hiei on twitter, and he is always very happy to receive any feedback from anyone in any country, so he was eager to release the album via Bandcamp when I suggested the idea to him. He didn't get much response to the M3 release, so if you like it, feel free to let him know!

However, he's not the first member of the band I had contact with: at the last 電キュン (Denkyun) event after party, a very sweet and cutely-voiced girl sat next to me and we began to chat. After I mentioned I liked Mamipyon and necomimi☆スペースノイド, she got very surprised - because she was ちょこ, one of the vocalists!! She has an amazingly cute voice, on top of a genuine interest and passion for denpa music. Definitely a singer to keep your eyes on. Besides necomimi☆スペースノイド, she has two active projects: One is her anison cover band, "DEM P@roject", which as you might have guessed from the name, focuses on denpa and moe anime music. Follow their twitter for the latest info, or you can you follow ちょこ on twitter or check her blog too! latest info. I saw them live on 5/3, and it was a blast! The set list included favorites new and old, and anime and game music too. Their next live is coming on on 6/9 at 代々木labo! More info coming soon!

And although we already posted it on twitter, don't forget, she also participated  in an album at M3: 「勝手に主題歌歌ってみたvol.1」, which features new completely original opening songs for existing anime. Her track, which can be heard on the website, or embedded below, is a positively rockin yet denpa, cute yet wild, unforgettable number that makes you want to get start head banging.



Hopefully, necomimi☆スペースノイド will start a trend of international online releases, so if you like what you hear, please support them... and not just them, but any artists you like, let them know people out there in this wide world think they're flippin awesome!!

So to summarize,

download the album already!!!

....Thank you!

M3-2013春: ポヤッチオ 『プチリズム六』 feat. SHAKING PINK, とろ美 +more

Master Katahotori's world famous プチリズム series keeps on giving, with the release of a sixth volume this April 29th 2013. Introducing 『プチリズム六』 and its 10 wonderful imouto-style original songs!

1. うきうき☆ワンダーランド
   Vocal: SHAKING PINK　Lyrics/Composition: 狐夢想
   
   
2. 女子力☆乙女の超能力
   Vocal: とろ美　Lyrics/Composition: かたほとり
   
   
3. 恋するげつようび
   Vocal: ココ　Lyrics: 木片　Composition: y0c1e
   
   
4. ダメ！ダメ！
   Vocal: ゆきまめ＆なゆ　Lyrics/Composition: かたほとり
   
   
5. 我が身思春期なり！
   Vocal: 内緒妹　Lyrics: 後方一気　Composition: 乙P
   
   
6. お気の毒ですがすべて仕様です。
   Vocal: ひななた　Lyrics/Composition: オワタP
   
   
7. 清水もつカレーのうた
   Vocal: ななひら　Lyrics/Composition: きくお MIX: すみじゅん
   
   
8. らぶれでぃ？れでぃ！ ～オトモするですにゃ?(´ω｀*)～
   Vocal: めらみぽっぷ　Lyrics: 海兎　Composition: nana(sevencolors)
   
   
9. Power of Love
   Vocal: kana　Lyrics/Composition: muhmue
   
   
10. そうだね、うん。
    Vocal: 桃箱　Lyrics: kani　Composition: U-ji aka 霊長類P

As expected, we have been gifted with yet another star-studded lineup, with a couple of surprises as well! Most striking is Queen とろ美 lending her beautiful voice to 「女子力☆乙女の超能力」 which seems to tie-in with the cover art and also got its own PV! It's not entirely surprising to see her collaborate with other doujin circles, as we've seen her on IOSYS and おでんぱ☆スタジオ albums just recently. But it's still pretty damn big news and this is certainly a milestone for かたほとり as a composer! Also (as previously announced on 電波の世界) we are getting a new SHAKING PINK song as well as fantastic individual performances from ななひら, 桃箱 and ココ! This is a good time to plug friendly mossya's "Shei-pi mini mix" from earlier this year.

内緒妹 returns for the second time in a row, don't forget her previous song 「ぎみぎみ☆もあもあ」 was one of our 2012 "honourable mentions". We also have a very special bratty duet in ゆきまめ＆なゆ, two of my absolute personal favourites! ひななた takes on a sultry voice over an appropriately perky track from vocaloid superstar オワタP. めらみぽっぷ is also back after sitting out volume 5, sounding as lively as ever thanks to an upbeat composition from nana(sevencolors). This leaves us with pretty little thing kana teaming up with muhmue, whom you might remember from a recent ちぃむｄｍｐ☆ composition on their 4th album.

Well this is another no-brainer must-buy album... you know what to do! Gotta get 'em all!

Doujincore Import Info (deadline April 26th 7AM PST)
Title:	プチリズム六
Label:	ポヤッチオ (A19ab)
Price:	1000
Link:	http://orc2000.com/cd/petit6.html

M3-2013春: Highend Color 「ファンシー☆エレクトリカルパレード vol.1」

Even after five years of running 電波の世界, I'm still caught off-guard by explosive surprise reveals such as Highend Color's upcoming CD 「ファンシー☆エレクトリカルパレード vol.1」. It never fails, there's always at least one record which will completely blow me away both due to high-quality contents and unpredictable out-of-left-field factor. I'm not sure what's more impressive: the fact that Highend Color put together such an impressive set of songs for a debut denpa album, or the fact that they are ambitiously planning on releasing more like this in the future.

What makes this one so special? A quick glance at the tracklist will reveal some big names: IOSYS and ななひら will immediately catch your attention. Dig in a little deeper and you'll start to recognize some names which you might have seen before, such as あーたん and 彩 from 第二生徒会室 which released an amazing CD recently. Pumpkingdom has also been around for a while, but like many of the remaining names on the staff list, they aren't exactly known for producing denpa music. Here's the tracklist.

1. 電波の国の国歌斉唱～春の日差しがやる気を奪う～
   Lyrics and Music: 倉田くらね a.k.a ゴリラの王子様 Vocal: 電波ガールズ (柊優花、ありすん、ななひら)
   
   
2. パンク娘のパンチラパンLOVE
   Lyrics: 96(IOSYS) Music: void(IOSYS) Vocal: ちよこ(IOSYS)
   
   
3. ピンクフルサタデーナイト
   Lyrics and Music: ジョー鈴木(Banana Factory) Vocal: ななひら
   
   
4. 有明恋慕
   Lyrics: 久遠ゆん Music:EtherRyo Vocal: 久遠ゆん
   
   
5. 家主の鏡
   Lyrics and Music: mesa&boogie Vocal: ひと里
   
   
6. Lovely Girl
   Lyrics and Music:あーたん(第二生徒会室) Vocal:彩
   
   
7. ｼﾊﾞｯﾃ↑ｻﾗｯﾃ↓ｶﾝｷﾝｼﾁｬｳｿﾞ☆
   Lyrics and Music:わゆき(Pumpkingdom) Vocal:ありすん(Pumpkingdom)
   
   
8. 運命的ローリングダーリン～プラトニック編～
   Lyrics and Music:DJコミカル(Highend Color) Vocal:星名優子
   
   
9. 再生回数↑マジage↑でざいあ☆
   Lyrics and Music: S.Y.U(Banana Factory) Vocal: 柊優花
   
   
10. Welcome to the Dempaland
    Lyrics and Music:わゆき(Pumpkingdom) Vocals:ありすん、もえか、逢初夏乃、うる

So what made the good folks from Highend Color (倉田くらね, DJコミカル) and Banana Factory (ジョー鈴木, S.Y.U) decide to go all-out with a full original denpa album? Who knows, but I sure ain't complaining! The variety of genre is unbelievable. I don't think "enka-denpa" has been done before, but after hearing 「有明恋慕」 I would definitely be interested in a full album from EtherRyo and 久遠ゆん! With their contribution 「家主の鏡」, mesa&boogie feat.ひと里 are in charge of the "metal-denpa" but prepare for a surprise! The two Pumpkingdom songs 「Welcome to the Dempaland」 and 「ｼﾊﾞｯﾃ↑ｻﾗｯﾃ↓ｶﾝｷﾝｼﾁｬｳｿﾞ☆」 are extremely catchy and remind me of doubleeleven UpperCut with their high-tension sing-alongs.

Banana Factory member ジョー鈴木 composed an excellent track in 「ピンクフルサタデーナイト」 which Princess ななひら graced with majestic vocals. When the sampler kicks into high-gear at 3:30, you can tell this is a match made in heaven. His buddy S.Y.U has by far the sweetest track of the album with 「再生回数↑マジage↑でざいあ☆」 which shines thanks to high production values and a stellar performanced by 柊優花. DJコミカル feat.星名優子 surprise with a masterful track that sounds like it's from a big-budget anime OP.

This brings us to the two opening tracks. void (IOSYS) is well-known around these parts and brings with him ちよこ who has been extremely denpa-proficient as of late. Obviously 「パンク娘のパンチラパンLOVE」 will be a selling point for this album thanks to razor-sharp guitars, fast-paced riffs and of course beautiful female vocals. Finally, opening track 「電波の国の国歌斉唱〜春の日差しがやる気を奪う〜」 feels like nothing short of a patriotic masterpiece from creator 倉田くらね a.k.a.ゴリラの王子様, as the denpa girls 柊優花, ありすん and ななひら welcome us to Denpa Land.

Frankly, this is a must-buy for all denpa fans. At 1000円 for 10 tracks, it's an absolute steal. Congratulations to all involved staff! This monumental album will be talked about for years, mark my words.

Doujincore Import Info (deadline April 26th 7AM PST)
Title:	ファンシー☆エレクトリカルパレード vol.1
Label:	Highend Color (A24a)
Price:	1000
Link:	http://highend-color.com/fancy-ep.html

M3-2013春: KuKuDoDo feat. 初音ミク full album 「oldwave and rare」

I woke up this morning to a pleasant email from KuKuDoDo, asking me to check out the Birdtune website for full details on his upcoming 初音ミク album 「oldwave and rare」, coming out April 27th 2013 at THE VOC@LOiD 超 M@STER２４! In his own words, the album contains "rare, early and unreleased" tracks from both Birdtune and Holic Service circles; remixed, remastered and lovingly rearranged with catchy 初音ミク vocals on top.

Long-time fans will immediately recognize what's what. For instance, "大好き！バイバイ。" is originally from 2008, but was also on the 2009 みりん☆ album 「ピコピコ電波予報」. The new remixed version has a different pitch and is perhaps heavier on the percussions. On the other hand, opening track "健康ランド" sounds about the same as the late 2010 original, which is hardly an issue considering this song made it to our annual sampler for that year. Those who own 「～VOC@LOID Songs & Legacy Modules～」　and watched the "making of" video know just how much effort KuKuDoDo put into composing this song!

So far so good, but things get really interesting with "Oh! Sick more sit down". From what this fan can tell, it seems to be a heavily remixed version of "もうパソコンしかいらない人の歌" from Birdtune's 2011 revival album 「東方ピコピコ祭り」. You also have "hallucination attack" tracks like "FARAWAY" which illustrate KuKuDoDo's love for UK New Wave. "雨のプリズム" is another 初音ミク-to-みりん☆-to-初音ミク double conversion which you may have heard before. It was also released as "四文字熟語でレッスンなんです!" (performed by 小宮真央, ゆきまめ and Gumi) on 2009's 「エネルギー冷麺　お受験せんそ→☆」 A.K.A. still-the-best-damn-fucking-touhou-denpa-album-ever-made.

Just so no one jumps to conclusions, this is not the solo album KuKuDoDo promised last year. The latest update is that the man is hard at work on various projects outside of doujin for the moment being. I also assume he expended considerable energy putting together the latest nanano album as well as this new 初音ミク album. Still, he is prototyping various experimental elements as we speak but he is definitely on a "my own pace" schedule. On a related subject, did you know that 中原みりん is back to writing lyrics for KuKuDoDo? Everything is right with the world again!

Doujincore Import Info (deadline April 26th 7AM PST)
Title:	oldwave and rare
Label:	ばーどちゅーん (A35ab)
Price:	1500
Link:	http://birdtune.jp/tokusetu/oar/

M3-2013春: First nanano original album 「ナナノ☆マジカル」

2012 was a great year for Birdtune, thanks to two amazing Touhou arrange albums that established nanano as a force to be reckoned with. More than just a cute voice, this girl put on her producer hat and completely supervised the release of 「東方惑星探検隊！」 which also did a great job of featuring her various vocal ranges. A year later, she's preparing for the biggest moment of her life: her debut album 「ナナノ☆マジカル」 will be released April 29th 2013 with eight original songs!

Not only will this be a fantastic album for fans to enjoy (considering the splendid crossfade preview), it also marks a return to source of sorts for Birdtune. As revealed by KuKuDoDo himself (although plain to see) Birdtune initially focused on original albums while Holic Service would handle all Touhou arranges. In fact, Birdtune hasn't released original albums since 「アタラセカイ」 in May 2010, so 「ナナノ☆マジカル」 was long overdue in more ways than one! Of course we're all expecting KuKuDoDo's solo album sometime this year as well!

But back to the subject at hand. nanano is about to take us on a magical girl trip and all fans of 萌え and 電波 music are invited! All eight tracks sound great, good pacing and high tempo. I daresay that "僕達おんなのこ★" even reminds me of Queen モモーイ and her own transformation anthem "WONDER MOMO-I"! Whoever this mysterious はる composer is, he sure loves wacky, aggressive and unique synth-pop! Also worth noting that Holic Service's own Gumi pitches in on lyrics, great teamwork!

This has the makings of a memorable denpa album, so I highly suggest putting it on your M3 shopping list!

Update 04/23/2013: I managed to get a little more information about this "mysterious composer" はる. KuKuDoDo told me that while not officially a member of BirdTune, he felt はる was the "best man for the job", so you can tell he trusts him immensely. Turns out he also operates under "NATE a.k.a DJ loup-garou" and you can follow him on twitter as well as check out his soundcloud uploads. What blows my mind right now is that even though nanano's debut CD is mostly full-on denpa songs, his other creations revolve around hardcore, trance and gabber! I often said there's huge crossover potential between denpa and hardcore, this is just one more example! This is a truly talented individual and I really look forward to hearing more from はる!

Doujincore Import Info (deadline April 26th 7AM PST)
Title:	ナナノ☆マジカル
Label:	ばーどちゅーん (A35ab)
Price:	1500
Link:	http://birdtune.jp/tokusetu/nananomagical/

Twitter Cluster: Best of March 2013

Remember our Twitter Cluster series? Yeah... we completely forgot about it too. Can't believe it's been over a year since the last installment. We'll give this another spin, but of course the best way to stay informed is to just follow us on Twitter!

---

March 1st 2013

• ave;new feat.佐倉紗織 brings us 『My Little Glory』, the OP for 学☆王 -THE ROYAL SEVEN STARS- ＋METEOR for PSP!
• doubleeleven Upper Cut announced their first solo live! deuc/deUC on stage 2013 "DEUCHOLIC" on 5/18 at 渋谷Star Lounge!
• New book 「ボカロP生活」 featuring interviews with きくお and さつき が てんこもり +more! Info, CDJapan

March 2nd 2013

• "Love Me Love La Bride!!" is the OP for ラブらブライド, with music by void of IOSYS fame and vocals are 青葉りんご!

March 3rd 2013

• New MOSAIC.WAV theme song for PSP game 「雀聖学園クロノ★マジック」

March 4th 2013

• Akiba Ranger season 2 OP announced: 「アキバレンジャー シーズン痛！」. 桃井はるこ and 山形ユキオ return, along with classic tokusatsu vocal MoJo!

March 8th 2013

• New IOSYS album 「Stellar Nursery」 out 2013.03.31, produced by Uno (RoughSketch)
• Brand new 「民安★ROCK Remixプロジェクト」 samples from Shot Music! Sounds like a must-buy album!

March 9th 2013

• Interesting! Keep an eye on 「PUNK IT! TOUHOU! -IOSYS HITS PUNK COVERS-」 by IOSYS out 2013.3.31
• Today's Tune: 【初音ミク】eLekSoNicRusHeRRRRRR!!! by cello. Beat goes on!!!

March 14th 2013

• でんぱ組.inc's new "single" has a whopping NINE versions! でんでんぱっしょん c/w ORANGE RIUM or 先生！次はバトルの時間です。 and 少女アンドロイドA!

March 18th 2013

• Ever wanted to know all the songs Funta / U have contributed to? Check out this impressive list! Great research!
• Vocaloid fans might wanna take a look at ハロー！いろは feat. 猫村いろは. Denpa-ish tracks 4 and 5 in particular. On sale 3/29.

March 21st 2013

• Our friend @moss_me just released MOElectronicDempaMix13! Keep 'em coming bro!
• Another crazy cool mix from @moss_me! This one's for the nana, koko and momo lovers! shay-pee-mee!!
• Today's Tune: 愛原圭織 「ＧＯ　ＭＹ　ＷＡＹ！」 (composer: Clean Tears)
• OK @emamouse it's been three months since your last song "☆ラーメンスター★"! We demand more!!!

March 22nd 2013

• Wow! Ask and you shall receive! A new @emamouse masterpiece appears! 「大好きお江戸ベイビー」 Thank you!
• New game from our friends at M2: Ahoge Chanbara! Out March 2013.

March 24th 2013

• Tons of new 「民安★ROCK Remixプロジェクト」 demos from @noriken, @uno_roughsketch and @m1dy! Another killer @shotmusic album!
• Today's Demo: 「サカレサマー (IOSYS @uno_roughsketch Remix)」 from "民安★ROCK Remix Project"
• 「PUNK IT! TOUHOU! -IOSYS HITS PUNK COVERS-」 comes out March 31st and has 8 blazing tracks w/ guitar by void!

March 31st 2013

• Lots of great remixes came out today (A-Remix Nation 6.5 + 7) courtesy of For You Sounds. Free download!
• Today's Tune: 高槻やよい - キラメキラリ（Yayoi Birthday Remix)【Long ver. A-remix Nation 7】 by @Uhardcore
• ARM fans put this on your calendar 「すぺしゃアニ研Vol.1 feat. 福原香織 and ARM」 out this coming M3

M3-2013春: doubleeleven UpperCut/undercurrent 『DEUCHOLIC』

With about three weeks to go until M3-31春, the winter drought is almost behind us! In a surprisingly importer-friendly move, eroge OP masters doubleeleven UpperCut provided information about their upcoming CD sometime back in February 2013. Their official website also got a brand new look and now features a complete discography section. The big news they were teasing is actually twofold.

First they will release a best-of CD 『DEUCHOLIC』 on April 29th 2013, featuring 22 tracks from both doubleeleven undercurrent and UpperCut. This is a great occasion for new fans to jump in with the best they've got. But for those of us who already own all deUC albums, this is still a good deal in case you're not familiar with their other unit "deuc" (no caps!). I'm pleased to report that 「Love Survival ～愛の軍事演習～」 will be included, this may just be my favourite song from them. Comparing their oldest and newest stuff is interesting, they evolved quite a bit in just 4 years.

The other news means a little more to their Japanese fans, but we're going to report it anyway! doubleeleven (both UpperCut and undercurrent) will be performing full sets at their first one-man live concert on May 18th 2013. Guests include the lovely 藤原鞠菜, d@isy tune and 西沢はぐみ. Sounds like a hell of a party... the rest of us will have to imagine being there, but that's 100% denpa-style! Actually, I'll try to make it up to worldwide deUC fans soon... stay tuned!

Doujincore Import Info (deadline April 26th 7AM PST)
Title:	DEUCHOLIC
Label:	doubleeleven (A13a)
Price:	2500
Link:	http://uppercut.doubleeleven.net/deucholic/index.html