Catch the haruamania with 『ハルアマパラダイス』 and 『haru * ama * nia』

はる*あま*にゃ (haru-ama-nya) is a recent unit / circle which officially started in April 2012 when they released their debut CD 『haru * ama * nia』. They followed it up in April 2013 with 『ハルアマパラダイス』. Probably the best way to describe their music is "cute high-energy pop", maybe even a bit like the Hi-NRG genre of the 80s but with a bit more tempo, variety and definitely some 萌え電波 in there (in fact they remind me a lot of unMOMENT). Both albums are currently available on DIVERSE DIRECT which has worldwide shipping for a reasonable fee, so if you like what you hear, you know what to do!

Even though はる*あま*にゃ is about a year old, their core members go way back. As of now, haru*nya and あまね are providing dual female vocals and paraoka (麹町音源) completely produced their latest album. In fact paraoka and haru*nya have been making music together since 2006! Check out 33 of their tracks in 52 minutes. As for あまね, yes that is absolutely the same girl which has provided fantastic vocals for COOL&CREATE since 2004, alongside the always-hyperactive ビートまりお.

download crossfade MP3

Their April 2012 debut CD 『haru * ama * nia』 opens with 「御洋服革命」, a roaring anthem from ビートまりお which sounds pretty much exactly how you'd expect one of his songs to sound. You can't fault this guy for consistency! The lyrics and overall theme make it clear right off the bat that this is going to be a fun record. 「Sun! Sun! Sun! シャイン!」 continues the theme with a fun-in-the-sun variation. It is composed by 狐夢想(狐夢想屋), the same guy who came up with 「ぎみぎみ☆もあもあ」 on 2012's 『プチリズムＧｏ！』 , one of last year's best denpa songs which made it to our "Honourable Mentions"! It is an absolute rager of a track, with fast piano, rolling percussions and some kind of ultra-distorted lead instrument that definitely stands out. The girls' voices are a perfect match to this summer roadtrip theme song! (tested by yours truly)

With 「約束」, composer naotyu-(studio7) slows things down a bit and comes up with a great melodic piece that highlights their ability to sing sweet songs. Actually it gets pretty powerful overall and you have to love the stylish sound. 「ki-zu-na」 sounds straight-up 80s synthpop with tons of attitude. It was also composed by 狐夢想(狐夢想屋) who demonstrates his wide range of skills. As the title would indicate, track 5 「スイーツホリック」 is on the funky side with lots of jumpy bass, light-hearted piano lines and an unexpectedly violent finish from yamajet.

狐夢想(狐夢想屋)　returns for the third time with 「オシャレセラピー」, a confusing track which throws all kinds of tempos at its bewildered listeners. This guy sure loves to crank up the distortion on anything he does! The synth in particular is very colored, sounding almost like a harpsichord but I'm not sure that's the best comparison. It really does sound unique! This sixth track also ends with some surprisingly fast parts and is just a joy to listen to.

ARM (IOSYS) makes a surprise appearance with 「輝け乙女たち!」 which might remind you of his work on 2010's 「燃えろ！東方ブラスバンド」. This one's a little more "epic" (in the proper sense of the word) and sounds more like a full orchestra than a brass band. Finally 「トリックスター」 is full-on technopop from paraoka(麹町音源) with a nostalgia-inducing sonority despite futuristic overtones. Honestly it reminds me of old NAMCO and SEGA arcade game soundtracks with the heavy slapping bass and reverbed drums. The girls really give it their best shot and intertwine their beautiful vocals throughout the song.

download crossfade MP3

The theme for April 2013's CD was haru*nya+あまね+paraoka=ハルアマパラダイス and... that's exactly what happened! If you enjoyed the last track from the first CD, then you'll love this whole CD. Not that the genres are all technopop (far from it) but there's strong stylistic cohesion between all five songs. Opening track 「ハイ・ファイ・レイ」 is extremely vigorous and features compelling singalong moments. The guitar, drums and keyboard arrangement is nothing short of sublime, I particularly enjoy the parts where the ride cymbal is clearly audible. Track #2 「カステラ」 feels like soft picopop, just some easy-going music with good rhythm and catchy phrases.

「スゴイ・エナジー」 definitely stands out from the rest and would be a great PV candidate if they ever decide to go that way. Honestly, this sounds like something 中田ヤスタカ would compose for Perfume and I totally mean that as a compliment. This is definitely skilled electropop with all kinds of influences from the past 30 years. It's just a shoe-in for the girls, their voices sound appropriately mature here and I would just love to see some choreographed dancing! 「ブリーズ・スピナー」 feels a bit like an extension to the opening track with a slower tempo, but the same gorgeous instrumental arrangement. Great drums once again! This brings us to 「スローコースター」 which closes the album with class. By the way... noticed how all track titles are written in katakana?

It's too bad the second album has only 5 tracks as opposed to 8 for the debut album, because I could definitely stand to listen to some more of this wonderful unit! At this point we can only hope for a third album in April 2014, but I sure hope they'll surprise us with something else in-between. Highly recommended, talented artists and memorable songs for fans of electronic Japanese music.

Under the scope: Otaku Supernova 白石なごむ

I'm chargin mah denpa songs!!!!

白石なごむ (SHIRAISHI Nagomu) is a cute up-and-coming idol singer with a bit of a denpa twist. Late last year, she got in touch with us over twitter to confess her love for the genre! This immediately put her into our "must check out" list, but she didn't have many songs at the time. Four months later, she has two game theme songs and a debut mini-album with five songs... guess it's time for another one of our "Under the scope" features!

We'll get to her songs in a moment, but first let's check out her profile. Turns out she's a HUGE "momoist" (religious follower of 桃井はるこ) and no doubt you'll see the influence in her vocal style. But more interestingly is that Miss Nagomu is (was?) in charge of the "love.exe★" events, where the Queen of Akiba is celebrated through dance, song and general drunken festiveness. The official site has a ton of awesome pictures and videos. But wait! These great events don't stop at Momoi adulation: Kotoko and 田村ゆかり are also popular choices. The site even has links to MOSAIC.WAV and ave;new projecto... that says a lot! A LOT.

Behind every successful singer lies a great producer, and Nagomu can count on きくお to write great melodies upon which she can lay her pretty voice. He has composed all of her seven songs so far, which explains the consistency and apposition between all of them. He seems to have nailed the perfect balance of 電波ソング and 萌えソング which enhances her unique style. Let's not forget he is also behind some of the best songs on 「プチリズムＣＨＵ」 where he was paired with kana and ひなうち. But the man is also highly versatile and can compose some dark stuff as well, if his first solo album 「夢の鐘」 is any indication. Take a moment to lookup his extensive worklist and you might be surprised at what you'll find there!

Paranoia Love 「ぱらのいあ☆らヴ」

SHIRAISHI Nagomu (白石なごむ)

Back to Nagomu, she released her debut mini-album in early February 2011. It contains the five following original songs, along with requisite karaoke versions (tracks 6-10). There are no official sites or samplers, but we managed to dig up a few videos. Like what you hear below? Then click the album cover and you can buy it directly from CDJapan!

1. ねこっねこ☆どり~みんぐ♪NIGHT
2. 独占☆モエQ!?恋ゴコロ!
3. ちらLOVE★ぱれっと~覗いちゃダメ!なの!~
4. ぴゅあえむEND♪~はぁはぁしてもイイですか・・~
5. 人畜N系パラノイド

Track #1「ねこっねこ☆どり~みんぐ♪NIGHT」is lovely, carefree, lighthearted... break out the thesaurus! The background music is catchy and groovy... and Nagomu really does sound like a cat! Great new song and a solid opening track for a debut album. Unfortunately this video ends quite abruptly, guess you'll have to buy the album to hear the rest!

「独占☆モエQ!?恋ゴコロ!」 is the second track on the CD, but it was also initially released in July 2010 on the compilation album 「TOgether SONGS Neo girls 2010」 which features a plethora of upcoming talent. For a debut song, it's certainly eccentric and borderline experimental. It could also draw in fans of technopop!

「イツドコ！？らぶ☆リンクdeゴーゴーゴー！！！」was her first commercial song, OP theme to TEATIME's 3D-online eroge 「らぶデス５５５！」. There's good driving bass and passionate vocals in this strong pop song. Just watch out for the pigeon gang rape scene!

Finally we have「オシエテスキシテ♥」which is the very latest song from the duo. This was composed as the opening theme song for Nintendo DS game Nanami’s Teach English DS: Aim to be a Toeic Test Master and since it isn't even out yet, there's no way they could have included it on the CD. It's a shame, because this song is dangerously denpa and we here at 電波の世界 are hopeful it's an indication of things to come from them. Perhaps they will pull a MOSAIC.WAV and start releasing albums with their "commercial" songs included. HAI HAI HAI HAI HAI HAI!!!!

Want more Nagomu? Here are some great live shots from the recent 『TogetherLIVE2011』 event, where she performed alongside 森永まみ, 桃杏める, キャンディーGO!GO! and even more ridiculously pretty idol singers. Things are definitely on an upswing for her career and we'll be covering her every move from now on!

t+pazolite feat. リズナ is a match made in heaven AND hell... LET'S ROCK!

Sweet & Sour, Salt & Pepper, Oil & Vinegar... sometimes opposites work so damn well together. Such is the case with t+pazolite and リズナ, the unlikely union between an outstanding hardcore producer and a veteran denpa vocalist. Doesn't matter whether their collaborations are rough or soft, they always find a way to make them stand out. But before we explore their team efforts, let's look at their individual profiles first.

リズナ is still a very fresh name in the world of denpa, having been around since late 2008 only. But there's a twist... before her current persona, she operated under two other nicknames in the past ten years. Who would have thought that such a cute and frail little voice belonged to a battle-hardened veteran? Between 1999 and 2005, she was known as 雨宮林檎 (AMAMIYA Ringo). Her old website is definitely in line with the HTML design of yore. In fact it's so old that it can only be accessed via the Wayback Machine, which even archived a bunch of her voice samples. Ever the otaku, she began her career by lending her voice to a ton of doujin and adult PC games such as 夢の少女～DreamGirl～ and Mission Field Intruder 3rd.

Starting in 2005, she switched her pseudonym to 鈴木ななこ (SUZUKI Nanako) and started her website Seven's Bell. She kept doing voice work for PC games, notably the first in FLAT's esteemed SHMUP series eXceed, as well as narration for Laudese's 「Aria - 永劫の音語り -」 story CD. She also appeared in a few more adult PC games, but significantly less so. More interestingly, she began doing moe voices (and her first songs) as Mango, in the "virtual idol" trio Triple Ice Cream, which led to her first denpa collaborations with t+pazolite. In May 2008 she released 「relish」, a best-of compilation album from her "Nanako" years that features 15 tracks of original denpa/moe material. It was released in very limited quantities at M3-21 and never reissued.

During that second era, she was also strongly associated to Silly Walker, certainly one of the oldest Touhou arrange circles out there (2000 to 2008). When Silly Walker stopped in 2008, their founder started another circle which you might be familiar with (Siestail), hence the continued relationship with リズナ (who mysteriously changed names at the same time). In fact, Siestail recently released a 2-disc compilation album 「ザ・ベストてゐ」 that features three re-recorded versions of old 鈴木ななこ songs, now released under her latest pseudonym (such as 「れらかむいろっく」). リズナ still has a strong link to Siestail nowadays, recently singing two decidedly denpa tracks on C77's superb 「かえるさん☆ダ・KERO！」.

Fun fact: she also sang a ton of songs for Mel Seeds, who recently contributed a track on the first album for the new denpa duo 天然ジェミニ (tenjemi)... it's a small world after all! For a (probably) complete list of her most recent work, head on over to her VGMDB listing. So for whatever reasons, she ditched many of her web radio and PC game activities to focus mainly on Touhou arrange songs and changed her artist name twice, which has caused a bit of confusion. However, her voice remains just as sweet and unmistakable; so as long as they get new songs, her fans certainly couldn't care less what she calls herself.

t+pazolite is a prolific composer/arranger/remixer who publishes music albums via his own circle C.H.S (Cutie & Headshaking Sounds). Born in 1985, he started being active while in his late teens (2004) and has released seven albums to this day, not to mention dozens of collaborations with other circles. In fact, he originally started as a member of HARDCORE TANO*C, but once again please refer to his VGMDB listing for complete details.

His style is mostly Hardcore as well as House, Trance and Techno, but he has admitted a strong affinity to denpa. In reality, this is most likely what sets his compositions apart, because they are very unpredictable and memorable (prime qualities of a denpa song). While he is certainly known for his Touhou arranges, he has also covered Klonoa and Espgaluda tracks. Lately he has teamed up with the notorious Sapporo Hardcore Channel (S.H.C) and formed the side-label CHSHC on which he releases the 「108 Sketches」 series (1, 2).

As previously mentioned, t+pazolite started collaborating with リズナ back when she used her second name. His denpa compositions usually feature her voice, but lately he has worked with Holic Service and ゆきまめ, contributing 「ふにふに秘密の補習授業」 to the phenomenal fourth entry in their "Energy Reimen" series. While he rarely writes lyrics, he certainly does not shy away from eyebrow-raising song titles such as "to Luv me I *** for u" and "f**king わんわん"... but things get far more explicit with "Kick ur love" which will be discussed in the HELL section. Despite his extreme hardcore personality, t+pazolite has a soft side which means he can appeal to both ends of the doujin crowd.

HEAVEN

Enough with the bios, time for music! Their second-ever collaboration also figures as one of their most popular ones. Touhou covers have legs and 「Unlimited Spark!」 is no different, still turning heads despite having been released in May 2006. It's also been remixed a few times, notably by Silver Forest. t+pazolite wrote interesting comments about each one of the songs on this album and even put it up for free download!

Triple Icecream is where t+pazolite and リズナ first hit it off denpa-style. TIC is a virtual idol unit that existed between 2006 and 2007, long enough to release a handful of singles and possibly a compilation album (details are scarce). It featured リズナ in the role of Mango, the affable rug rat. They released a bunch of songs, but two of them are of particular interest to this article. The first one is 「マンゴーのモンモンソング♪」 (lyrics), a true denpa powerhouse which came out in July 2007. Sugary hardcore and anguished loli screams make for a violent combination. But they actually started things off in December 2006 with 「Magical Sweet Christmas」, a moe x-mas song. They wrapped up the Icecream era with 「桃色信号DE ゴー☆」(also appeared on the RELISH CD) but unfortunately it is nowhere to be found on the internets.

「Gottamaze」 is a pretty sweet C.H.S album full of happy hardcore and fast-paced moe songs. It was released in December 2007 (Comiket 73) and featured 「Let's Fall In Love!」 (鈴木ななこ collaboration) as its opening track. It gets better: it also has a track by 小宮真央, who recently delivered a mind-blowing denpa performance on Holic Service's masterpiece 「エネルギー冷麺 お受験せんそ→☆」. Connections, connections! Get your connections!!!

The last t+pazolite feat. 鈴木ななこ song (before her second name change) came out on the album 「SCARLET EYES」 which was released in August 2008 (Comiket 74) and published by ALiCE'S EMOTiON. Being REDALiCE's label, this was more of a typical Touhou cover album so 「ねむれないよ。」 probably stuck out like a sore thumb to regular hardcore fans, but who knows? Maybe this bold move scored t+pazolite a couple new listeners.

Finally for the HEAVEN stuff, we have two リズナ tracks on 「Ultra Cute!?」 (December 2008), t+pazolite's ridiculously awesome moe-denpa Touhou cover album. Actually the second of those is (a possibly remixed version of) 「ねむれないよ。」, which had already been released four months ago on the previously described album. The new song 「Otenba so ⑨te!」 starts out quietly enough but watch out! This thing packs quite a punch!!! This was the first song for リズナ (under her new pseudonym) and you can already tell that she changed a few things. It seems she managed to tweak her vocals into sounding much more distinct and aggressive. There's also a pretty fast spoken part which was probably a first for her at the time.

Anyway that's it for the heavenly t+pazolite and 鈴木ななこ/リズナ songs. Next up, the evil stuff!

HELL

Since her latest name change, リズナ has mostly collaborated with Siestail (formerly Silly Walker) and her old pal 雪月 ありす (Mel Seeds). Her collaborations with t+pazolite haven't stopped but somehow took an interesting turn for the hardcore, despite her new name being attached to some of the silliest denpa out there.

What's that? You think I'm making up this EVIL shit? Skip to 1:50 and back the fuck up! Check out these fucking lyrics.

...you think so that? Oh shit!

don't show your face. (Fuck you!)
I don't need your all. (Fuck you!)
you say "hear my say"(Fuck you!)
I care. Stay away! (Fuck you!)
Too yucky for me (Fuck you!)
to see you again. (Fuck you!)
Go home cherry boy, (Fuck you!)
and cheer up your john.

Kiss my asshole motherfucker!

As well as being a bitching track, 「Kick ur Luv」 wins the Golden Palm of Best Engrish Lyrics Ever, Forever And More™ (of all time). Bar none. Check out the rest of this linguistic tour de force while you cheer up your john, asswipe. The rest of 「108 Sketches」 is just as vile musically, but you ain't gonna get lyrics like these anywhere else in the world. It just boggles the mind that this is all coming out from the mouth of sweet little リズナ !

「Ghostly Parapara Ship (Hardcore Edit)」 is another pretty good example of their renewed relationship. It's fast and abrasive, has a ton of bite but is still just weird enough to stand out from the rest. It came out in December 2009 on 「SPHERE CALIBER」, yet another high-profile release from ALiCE'S EMOTiON. But that wasn't the only version of that song to come out at C77...

「Unconnected」 was definitely one of the best albums to come out at C77, tous genres confondus. It's hardcore for the hardcore, sure, but it's also a Touhou cover album that doesn't sound like one at all. You can sort of tell the influence that lies beneath blastbeat-happy heavyweights such as 「nitrx」 and 「Dust, Mote.」, but you won't be overwhelmed by that déjà vu feeling you might get from other such albums.

This album includes THREE リズナ tracks, namely the title track 「unconnected」 as well as 「limited spark」 and 「Ghostly Parapara Ship (Horror struck Edit)」 (sampled above). The first two aren't on Youtube, so you'll have to check out this crossfade sampler instead (0:00 and 3:30 respectively). 「limited spark」 is a gloomy remix of their first success 「Unlimited Spark!」 and the "Horror Struck Edit" is the alluded second version of 「Ghostly Parapara Ship」, ironically even more hardcore than the first one, despite the title change).

ZUN's original touhou song 「明日ハレの日、ケの昨日」 certainly has seen its fair share of remixes, but t+pazolite and リズナ somehow managed to eliminate all signs of redundancy in their interpretation 「Hale in the 270°」. The song came out in March 2010 and appeared on 「Double Counterpoint」 from Alstroemeria Records, who were behind the whole "Bad Apple" craze. Another interesting fact about this label is that they seem to heavily favor English song and album titles. They also got denpa-avowed のみこ to sing a bunch of songs for them, that's cool too.

Finally (as of today), we have their most recent collaboration song 「Ecstatic Requiem」 which appeared on the still-hot 「108 Sketches 2」 (released May 2010). Like the first album, it only includes original tracks by t+pazolite and his buddy RoughSketch. Still no Youtube presence for this song, so you'll have to rely on the low-quality player above or this high-quality crossfade sampler to get the good stuff, which kicks in at 2:56. Not to say that the rest of the album is bad, oh no, don't get me wrong. This is gold, Jerry... GOLD. There's even a remix of 「Kick ur Luv」 at 5:07, with asshole-kissing lyrics that are just as inappropriate as ever.

LET'S ROCK

There you have it, motherfuckers. Oops, I guess I let their hell side get the better of me! The truth is that this duo can do no wrong, it's quite amazing how they can travel such a broad spectrum and still sound so relevant. In closing, perhaps you're more of a denpa-slash-リズナ fan who had no idea about her dark side (or her long-lasting career, for that matter!). Or perhaps you're a J-Core head who found out about this article while searching for a t+pazolite bio. Bottom-line is that no matter which camp you hail from, you should absolutely check out the other side of the fence.

Sources: VGMDB, dojin-music.

Under the Scope: Everyone, let's DATE COURSE get!

It's a small interwebz, and an even smaller erogeworld after all. Earlier this year I was talking with I've Sound blog owner 愛撫 about a new fishtone (former I've member) OP tune. We both concluded that the song sucked balls and that this would be the end of that. Enter デートコース (Date Course) who actually had a decent song on the game's CD (抱きしめて欲しいよ, featured below), which I didn't bother checking out because of the totally lame fishtone OP. Shame on me, but no time like the present to catch up on past mistakes.

Although Date Course only officially started sometime in January 2009, the girls have at least a decade of experience combined. It's worth taking a look at the unique lineup behind this new band, namely: 民安ともえ the veteran, みるく the hypersexual strumpet and finally 加瀬愛奈, the regular girl who wants you to fly her "to the over the rainbow". No shit, hop in my Nissan and I'll take you there. OR WILL I?!?! They don't have a particularly explosive discography to this day, in fact this page will do a much better job at summarizing everything than I ever could. Some of their songs are pretty sappy, but the good ones are upbeat and borderline denpa. They seem to be closely related to (sponsored by?) game studio MoonStone and promotional agency Dwango (home to Akihabalove Records).

Together they make for a good balanced trio capable of producing fantastic (see above), average (see below) and mediocre stuff (see キラキラッ☆-twinkle star light- on the Princess Party album). The fact that 民安ともえ/Tami/Tammy/Tomoe/whatever you wanna call her is at the helm bodes well for Date Course's future. Here's a girl who's been working in the eroge industry for the past 5 years and shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. Certainly one of her most well-know album is 「TECHNORIDER TAMMY」 but right now I'm "looking" for 「アイドルKiss! 無敵ッス☆」, her latest split single with 織姫よぞら, whose deep booming voice always impressed me, considering how tiny she seems! (eyes excluded)

Here's a rather unique objective Date Course have set for themselves this year: they want to shake 10,000 hands. It's a bit ill-advised with the A(H1N1) scare we're going through recently, but it's still an clever promotional ploy. As it stands, they have accomplished a little over 80% of their goal. But with only two months to go before 2009 runs out, methinks they'll have to offer a little more than a handshake. Might I suggest みるく upping the ante with a more enticing incentive? Or... chances are they'll have something new for C77 and that will seal the deal. So let's keep an eye out for our new favourite maid trio!

Mandi noticed an interesting fact: the lyrics to both songs featured on this entry were penned by none other than Countess YOUNO, who usually writes for IOSYS and Albatrosicks. It's a nice coincidence, but I wouldn't come to the conclusion that IOSYS and Date Course are in cahoots just yet, as the dog-loving author actually does this for a living.

C76 / Under the Scope: New melo9 maxi-single 「めろめろ☆さま～ちゅ～ん」

Although this is the first time melo9 are being proper mentioned on this blog, eagle-eyed readers will have noticed their presence in the "Link Banner" section for the past couple of months. Indeed, yours truly became aware of the up-and-coming denpa/moe circle when they released their first full-length album back at May 2009's M3 event. Although rough around the edges (delightfully so), 「めろめろ☆きゅ〜と」 was a great indication of things to come. Check out some samples at their debut album's homepage. Now feel free to accuse me of total laziness, but this post will double as this month's "Under the Scope" feature, given the introductory nature of the following paragraphs (and the fact that I haven't done shit for an actual standalone article).

Unlike their contemporaries Holic Service and IOSYS, melo9 don't depend on the latest ZUN game to compose their songs. So far they've cranked out tunes that are more in line with UNDER17's cutest creations, with heavy emphasis on the cute side of things. But the debut album also showcased their rougher side with "Phantom", a song that is more akin to a SHMUP soundtrack than an eroge opener. So videogame influences are also heavily palpable, and to this writer's greatest pleasure, the circle also openly describes itself as denpa.

So who's melo9 anyway? This biography page would be a great starting point, but let's cover the basics. Two singers (Rizu and Mero) alternate between songs, with Mero taking on a slightly more affable role than Rizu, but this isn't cast in stone. Sometimes they'll also appear together on the same track. With the exception of the first album's opening song 「恋してチュ」, they seem to want to break free from the "Hai Hai Chu Chu" standards (not that there's anything wrong with that) and move into their own sort of territory. They also don't seem to use any sort of voice "enhancing" tricks here, we're getting exactly what the girls can deliver, which makes for a more one-on-one experience.

That biography page points out a number of composers and collaborators, but the man in charge appears to be ひろて～. He seems to be a particularly shy fellow, so he would probably make for a pretty bare-bones interviewee. He does mention Mr. Children as one of his favourite bands, however that doesn't exactly show up through his compositions. Speaking of which, melo9 are open for business in terms of game & anime OP/ED, but haven't been commissioned with official requests yet. Hopefully their presence at C76 will open some new doors for them. In an ironic twist, their booth is located right next to Holic Service's, so perhaps we'll see some collaborations between the two groups in the near future?

OTAKU BANZAI! ODENPA BANZAI!!!
Notice the mountain of unsold CDs. Self-deprecating humour is ALWAYS funny.

Which brings us to the actual news portion of this post. Their second release, a maxi-single this time, is set to come out on August 15th for the low low price of 300円 (it's a CD-R after all). Regardless, it contains 2 new songs, a remix from the first album, a "radio track" and uhmmm... 2 sheep-counting tracks from both singers?!? Hilarious. You can (and should) check out a 1:40-long crossfade sampler from the first three tracks to get a decent idea of what they're shooting for. Can't help but be reminded of UNDER17, although an actual electric guitar instead of pure synthpop would improve their sound tenfold. I can imagine them being pretty lonely at booth SA-24b, so make sure you drop by for a visit if you can!

Under the Scope: In-depth KuKuDoDo feat. Gumi profile

Welcome to the second edition of Under The Scope, where we take a closer look at the career of various Japanese denpa artists. This is different from our other features such as interviews and reviews, since the focus here is more on exploring the artist's discography and overall path of progression. You folks are in for a rare treat today: "KuKuDoDo feat. Gumi" is a brand-spanking new sound unit that formed just over a year ago to this day. They have already started to build an impressive discography in these past 12 months, not to mention their biggest release is going to come out at Comiket 76. Without further ado, let's Osaka Denpa Get!!!

KuKuDoDo feat. Gumi is a brand new Osaka-based, denpa-oriented duo whose first activities trace back to early 2008. As the name suggests, KuKuDoDo (male) is the producer and Gumi (female) is the main vocal act. They operate together under the Holic Service doujin circle (think of it as a multi-purpose D.I.Y. label). But to further complicate matters, they are also closely related to the Birdtune doujin circle (to be discussed in a further issue of Under the Scope) who released their first EP, as they are also based in Osaka. KuKuDoDo composes a number of songs for Birdtune, but Gumi herself is mostly exclusive to Holic Service activities. Of course, "Gumi" itself could just be a second pseudonym for any singer from any other circle. Why they decided to make things so complex is anyone's guess, but let's just play along, shall we?

As previously mentioned, KuKuDoDo's music is unequivocally denpa at its barest denominator, a fact that the duo is proud to endorse. Of course, the genre is merely a loose descriptor for a mish-mash of cute/moe JPop, chiptune, high-energy dance tunes and whacked-out compositions, but so far they fit under the umbrella just fine. Furthermore, some of their songs are a bit more "normal", sounding more like I've Sound's earlier gritty trance than cartoony. So it's fair to say that while denpa is at the core of their creativity, they're willing to explore connected avenues. Although they haven't composed any proper eroge or anime theme songs yet, they are offering their services and are looking for staff as we speak.

Not unlike their peers in IOSYS (with whom KuKuDoDo collaborated by way of Birdtune), Shanghai Alice's popular Touhou STG series plays a huge part in their musical inspiration and by proxy, their marketing ability. But you shouldn't let that stop you from giving them a chance if you've gotten sick of constant Touhou rehashes, as the influence here is certainly palpable but not overwhelming by any means. The fact remains that ZUN provides amazing blueprints for budding artists to build off from and propel themselves into a solo career, which is the step where KuKuDoDo feat. Gumi are at right now. Additionally, some of their earlier songs also made use of Hatsune Miku's charming voice, but the original musical arrangements far outshined the virtual diva's waning appeal.

But KuKuDoDo's influences extend far from the insular confines of Japan. In fact, this guy is a full-blown fan of England's legendary synthpop years, citing bands such as Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and KajaGooGoo as primary sources of inspiration. Who knows, maybe his artist name is a direct reference to KajaGooGoo? At any rate, KuKuDoDo wanted music to play a big part in his life a number of years ago, citing that as a child, he wrote "I want to be a roller disco DJ" on a 短冊 (Tanzaku), those long pieces of paper that people use to write down their wishes at a 七夕 (Tanabata) festival. He was "dormant" for a number of years, but took it upon himself to realize his wish from 2000 on, when he began experimenting with Cubase and other DAW tools. Very little is known about Gumi herself, unfortunately. Holic Service also have a PR lady, Ponza, who's in charge of events, marketing and so on.

Let's move into discography territory. So far, KuKuDoDo feat. Gumi have released exactly 22 songs spread across 9 CD releases, including 2 singles and 2 mini-albums. They first made a name for themselves by releasing some online videos of anime theme song remixes, but their first original song didn't even feature Gumi on vocals but rather Hatsune Miku. This was on the 「れいんep.」, their first single which came out in April 2008 and also featured three other original tracks, including the unique 「コイノカイロ」, which was renamed 「恋の回路」 later on. Holic Service wasn't even formed then, so Birdtune handled the distribution of this first single.

The summer of 2008 passed by and presumably the first single did well, as KuKuDoDo and crew didn't waste a single second away. They created their own music circle Holic Service to take control of their upcoming releases. The first self-published effort came out in October 2008, in the form of their second single 「HANABI」. Right off the bat, KuKuDoDo wears his Brit-pop influence on his sleeve with the wild opening track 「stjarna」, an hyperactive denpa remix of an otherwise quiet Depeche Mode instrumental piano tune written by founding member David L. Gore. The title track itself is a pretty dark composition, but 「マジカル☆蛙たん」 grabbed the attention of denpa fans worldwide with its textbook execution and addicting patterns.

But in order to tease their fans, they only put the short version of that song on the second single, paving the way to their first mini-album, which came out... on the same fucking day. This was a bit of a questionable move, but maybe what they really intended is to have 「HANABI」 acting as a sampler to 「ぐみれいんぼっ！」. The seven-track mini-album paints a better picture of the unit as a whole, to be sure. It opens with a remixed version of 「恋の回路」 that clearly indicates both KuKuDoDo and Gumi gained quite a bit of skill in their respective departments. 「Dancing Vanpire」 [sic, bitch] is an enjoyable trance-ish song that, as previously mentioned, recalls this writer of some of KOTOKO's better earliest songs. Then the album closes with 「マジカル☆蛙たん」 and 「大好きバイバイ」, two light-hearted denpa songs that most certainly turned up the heat at their recent concerts.

Comiket 75 saw the limited release of 「エネルギー冷麺」, a Touhou-oriented single that didn't feature any original KuKuDoDo compositions, but rather 3 covers of recent ZUN songs. They also threw on a 10-minute crossfade sampler of their previous compositions but more interestingly, a 4-minute long audio segment of their (presumably first) live appearance. It doesn't sound half-bad, and it's pretty awesome to hear the crowd reacting so well. But much like with the second single, this release mostly served to make way to their second mini-album, which didn't come out on the same day, this time.

Rather, 「エネルギー冷麺　てんこ盛り」 was released in time for the March 2009 例大祭, the wildly popular Touhou festival. This time around it's exclusively a ZUN cover album, but a full-on denpa one for what it's worth. The interesting part about it is that it features quite a few collaborations. They're not going to be listed here, because the official Holic Service page does a great job of listing all of the various performers, arrangers and original compositions from which the covers originate. Oh and short sample versions of all songs. 奥村りお provides a splendid performance on 「カッパイズム≠Nitorism」, especially considering that this is only her second recorded song. But the real star here is still Gumi, especially on the hilarious 「O.T.オタクは彼氏なのか?」 whose lyrics talk about the life of an Otaku, going to Akihabara, becoming an Hikikomori, all to the tune of the ridiculously catchy 「U.N.オーエンは彼女なのか？」.

This brings us to the current writing time of this in-depth article: July 2009. KuKuDoDo feat. Gumi have recently announced a brand new album for Comiket 76, and it already shows a lot of promise. This one will be completely written around 「東方星蓮船 ～ Undefined Fantastic Object」, the 12th Touhou shooting game which incidentally also comes out at Comiket 76. Interesting that they'd already have enough source material to write a cover album, but there is a demo out there after all and presumably plenty of original songs to go with it (as well as ZUN's official description of the songs). Now although the whole thing is orchestrated by KuKuDoDo, there are three arrangers and EIGHT vocalists who are enlisted, including the fantastic 井上みゆ (INOUE Miyu) of LoveBullets and ave;new fame!!! This is quite the prize catch for the duo, but considering their previous releases, all of the 10 tracks should prove quite interesting. This is being heavily promoted as a pure 電波ソング album, so keep an eye out on this one, denpa fans!!!

In conclusion, KuKuDoDo feat. Gumi and Holic Service should definitely be moved to high priority on every denpa fan's radar. While they certainly benefit from denpa's increasingly huge wave of popularity created by MOSAIC.WAV, SHORT CIRCUIT and of course IOSYS, they do stand quite tall on their own, with some memorable arrangements that will require permanent brain storage if you give them enough exposure (aka they'll stick in your head). Of note: the duo is particularly active on niconico, having released some absolutely insane videos recently (you're not supposed to know that's them, 電波の世界 exclusive info!).

Under the Scope: In-depth とろ美 profile

Welcome to the first edition of Under the Scope! We'll try our best to pick one denpa-related artist every month and dig up as much dirt share as much information as possible. The title of this column references the fact that denpa artists are but a microcosm of the grand universe of JPop, hence the scope part. We begin with "Mortar Beauty" とろ美, surely one of the most mysterious artists out there, even to her Japanese fans.

とろ美 (Toromi, real name unknown), was born in Tokyo at an unspecified point in time. Her professional career as a voice actress dates back to 2002 and includes many different jobs such as game narration, anime performances and even writing comic books, however this article will focus on her activities as a musician. But for the sake of perspective, it is necessary to take a closer look at her breakthrough performance.

He first listed role is that of Mii, one of the many characters in Petit Ferret's extremely popular yet ultimately one trick pony ぽぽたん (Popotan) adult PC game, which spawned the nauseating Caramelldansen internet meme. Both the opening and ending themes were written and performed by UNDER17 and Toromi clearly developed an affinity with the soaring duo, as she was chosen to perform the insert song 「みいタンの魔法でポン!」, which was penned by Momoi and composed by Koike-aniki. The game was later ported to PS2 but unfortunately for Toromi, Momoi took over the role of Mii in the anime series. Every other voice actor was replaced, so there was no speculation that their relation had turned sour. Besides, Toromi had already found herself a new occupation: she would also become a singer.

She kept composing songs, including a few more for the Popotan series, but those all ended up on compilation or bonus discs. Her first release eventually came out at the Summer 2006 Comiket (C70), in the form of an eponymous 2-song single CD on which Toromi assumed all composition duties. It presumably sold very well, since she hit the following C71 with not one, but two mini-albums. The first one was 「たちつてとろ美ちゃん Ver1.2」 which featured four songs, again all self-composed and performed. Much more interestingly, she also offered a split mini-album with none other than 井上みゆ (INOUE Miyu). The surprising part was how evenly the pair split the duties: Miyu sang Toromi's lyrics and vice-versa, but better yet they sing together on two of the four tracks! Here's a sampler MP3. Unfortunately, this CD 「みゅ～とろん」 has become very rare (until a recent repress) and also marked the last time they worked together, on disc at least.

Toromi wasted no time in 2007 and hit the Spring edition of M3 with yet another mini-album, this time entirely composed by the talented ピクセルビー (Pixelbee). Given the occasion, they decided to name this effort 「トロピクセル」 (ToroPixel). It was hailed as a "dream combination" and certainly gave the hard-working Toromi a significant popularity boost amongst the insatiable moe/denpa-hungry scene. But M3 releases are sometimes considered "previews" of greater things to come, so Toromi stepped up her game for C72 (Summer 2007). 「T:DRIVE」 was released to much acclaim and remains to this day her most popular work, if only because its sales were in part fueled by the fact that this compilation contained some exclusive C:DRIVE theme songs (hence the title), so eroge fans were sure to snap this one up. Pixelbee was still behind the scenes, but she also enlisted the help of many other musicians. One of them was ロドリゲスのぶ who composed 「恋するメディスン３錠半」, an image song that's arguably one of the better-known Toromi tracks out there.

The success of T:DRIVE would be hard to follow-up, not only in terms of song quality, but quantity. 「PROTOROTYPE」 was distributed in low numbers at C73 since it only contained three short songs. Along with an original new track, it featured two themes used in MeroMeroCute and C:DRIVE games, so it probably sold alright with the two games' respective fans. Truth be told however, 「T:DRIVE」 was still selling like hot cakes at C73 and thanks to it, she started multiplying radio and internet TV roles as well as played a number of concerts that year.

Thus began 2008 for Toromi. Some of her first appearances looked painfully awkward, but she quickly loosened up and started assuming the role of a sidekick on the popular "MATT the MAD WORLD" Akihabara TV program on Stickam, a position which she still occupies to this day. But let's focus on the music. The aforementioned Caramelldansen "internet phenomenon" was in full swing and since Toromi was sorta related to it (being that it originates from a game in which she played a major part) and that Spring M3 was around the corner, what better idea than put out a single based around this popular new "dance"? Marketing strategies aside, 「とろ★ウマ」 contained three new songs and not one, but TWO versions of Caramelldansen, both composed by her longtime friend あいかわらずな. Surely the album must have sold well, but in retrospect it was a pretty tacky move. Or is this thing still popular?

The あいかわらずな and とろ美 pair reunited for Comiket 74 (Summer 2008) for what can be considered Toromi's first full-length album. Indeed, the nine songs on 「トロヅクシ」 totalize 33 minutes of intense denpa/moe songs, sometimes with obvious punk rock influences to boot! The highlight is probably "Baby Star Hunter", which is heavy on the "picopico". There is also somewhat of a ballad on there in the form of 「コミルカラフ」. An interesting fact is that hardcore Toromi fans perform their ヲタ芸 (otagei) dance regardless of which song she plays, something that she is in favor of (!) unlike some other idols who shall remain nameless.


December 2008's Comiket 75 marked the release of the most recent Toromi album to date, since she opted to skip out of the May 2009 M3 event. 「エトロジィ」 is another album that's on the longer side of things, with 6 tracks included for good measure. There are no gimmick tracks like the previous mini-album, except maybe for the dubiously-named 「レンアイコンセント」 which can be read either as "Love Consent" or "Love-making electrical outlet" which takes its full meaning when you consider the type of illustrations she usually draws for her albums. Oh Toromi-chan, please never change. There is a very nice sampler video on Niconico, but you can also check out individual trials on the official website. You'll quickly notice that this album is a bit more laid back than previous efforts, perhaps this is a hint of things to come.

Which all brings up to current events. Although she "skipped" the latest M3 in terms of new music, all signs point to a new mini-album for C76, but this probably won't be announced until July. She was still at M3 in some capacity, as two of her older songs were included on C:DRIVE's 『Memorial Song Collection 2006-2009』 compilation (also featuring MOSAIC.WAV). Plus she was there in person to sell her previous albums and greet her fans. Recently she performed at the DENPA SONG NIGHT event, which tells you a lot about her style and fans. She's also cosplayed and performed as Hatsune Miku a few times. Clearly the best way to stay on top of all things Toromi is to consult her diary on a daily basis. Yup, that was certainly two creepy things to say in one sentence. We aim to please!

PUNK. AS. FUCK.

Hopefully this article helped shed some light on an otherwise very mysterious artist that even denpa fans have barely ever heard of, it at all. In time, her previous albums should get reviewed on this blog, but either way you'll definitely be reading more about her on this blog in the near future...

Sources: Wikipedia JPN, Toromi, Dojin-music