C84: beatlogic 「シュミックトリガ2 -Psychocrush A-POP!!-」

We all know Miku is out to rule the world (Project DIVA F hits North America later this month), but this time she will use denpa to seduce and conquer! After a splendid first compilation and an award-winning solo album from circle owner cello, beatlogic returns with yet another brainwashing winner!

The masses have demanded a followup to "シュミックトリガ！" almost immediately after the first one came out and this is exactly what we got with 「シュミックトリガ2-Psychocrush A-POP!!-」, right down to 70% returning composers. さつき が てんこもり, MAX VEGETABLE and デッドボールP are out, but were replaced with らいふ, ピノキオP and... おでんぱ☆スタジオ!

電波、受信チュウ... / かめりあ ちょまって！ / おでんぱ☆スタジオ クリーム少女の末路 / 盛るP それともおやつ？(結月ゆかり・蒼姫ラピスver.) / azuma 總毛立ちＣＨＵ♡身まかりＣＨＵ♡ / ふなむし ウーパーとルーパー / Phasma アキバ☆二次元→ゲットだぜ！ / cello ぽちっと☆ランダム / メルセンヌ・シスターズ with ぶっちぎりP こどものしくみ / ピノキオP せかいのいろをぬりかえて / らいふ

かめりあ opens the party with a sharp yet trippy number that hits with a huge breakdown. Odenpa's contribution is immediately recognizable, their signature sound unmistakable. You could say the same about 盛るP of course, although extreme cacophony is his signature. Will this song be featured on the next MilliRobo.beta?

azuma's contribution will also be featured on SEGA's 2014 Project 575 Vita game, although this is a special version using 結月ゆかり and 蒼姫ラピス just for beatlogic's compilation. ふなむし has a unique soft and spacey sound and I can't wait to hear the full version because it seems to be full of surprises. Phasma follows adequately with a slower electronica tune laced with pico pico elements in the background.

My man cello cranks the BPM right back up with his Akiba-themed symphony. I really can't stress enough how much his solo album belong in every denpa fan's collection, but this is another great example of his creativity and attention to detail. Believe it or not, this guy started doing hardstyle touhou arranges on the side. Hopefully this wasn't just a one-off because I'd totally buy a full album!

ぶっちぎりP had one of the most memorable songs on the previous compilation and this one is a great successor (check out the full length PV). This may be ピノキオP's first beatlogic track, but he is certainly not new to the scene! The veteran will also be on SEGA's vita title but for now his new song 「こどものしくみ」 is exclusive to this compilation.

Finally, you might remember らいふ　for his delightful 「DENPA for JAPAN」 song composed shortly after the Tohoku tragedy, but this new one is a lot happier and a perfect finish to a perfect compilation. Albums like this show all too well that the original virtual diva still is far from done playing with our minds. All hail our Miku overlord!

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/

Exclusive かたほとり Interview (ポヤッチオ / プチリズム / SHAKING PINK)

Many people are familiar with the splendid プチリズム series as well as the new doujin supergroup SHAKING PINK, but what about the man behind the scenes? かたほとり has been composing all kinds of silly sweet songs since 2008, including a surprising number of vocaloid hits. But in recent years there's been a gradual shift to cute female vocals and that's where doujin circle ポヤッチオ is headed these days. We got a hold of busy かたほとり and managed to squeeze out some interesting answers out of him.

If you are new to the "Katahotori Sound", please enjoy this medley video!

- When did you start composing music? Please share your learning experience.

It all started with some electronic organ classes back in elementary school. Then when I became a high school student, I was immediately attracted to PC and video game music. I would attempt to play my favourite songs and learn composition structure along the way, eventually leading to my own original compositions. Other than this rudimentary musical education, I taught myself everything else over the years.

- What elements of moe, denpa and vocaloid songs attracted you as opposed to other genres?

It's unlikely that moe songs, denpa songs and the like could have become popular in just any generation - there are surprisingly many new cutting-edge expressions and manners of speech being used now. When I hear them I get excited... I believe this is the charm that defines moe and denpa music.

- The "Katahotori Sound" is very distinct, with uptempo songs and heavy slapping bass.
Your latest song 「女の子の美学」 is a great example of this style. Where does this influence come from?

These elements, especially the heavy slapping bass, come from a techno sound variation of video game music. This is a genre that heavily influenced me as I was growing up and composing my own music. In particular, I like to refer to Namco and SEGA soundtracks of the 80s and 90s, especially those from composers such as 林克洋 (HAYASHI Katsuhiro) and of course 細江慎治 (HOSOE Shinji). For instance, here are two particularly inspiring soundtracks:

Metal Hawk (NAMCO, 1988)

Galaxy Force (SEGA, 1988)

- How does your creative approach vary when composing original songs versus arranging touhou material?

There are countless people making endless Touhou arrangements from the same source material. I try to think in a way that redefines the image of the original songs as much as I can so that I don't come up with the same stuff. In that sense, it feels like an original, but it's quite relaxing to just be able to compose without thinking about anything too hard.

- The プチリズム series is five volumes strong, did you ever expect this success?

When I started getting into the doujin scene, I quickly realized that most denpa and moe songs came from either Touhou arrange albums or commercial releases (game or anime OPs). In fact there were very few all-original doujin albums focusing exclusively on said genres. I thought to myself "where there's a will, there's a way" and came up with a concept to try and tackle this niche market. Thus プチリズム was born. At first, I didn't think it would turn out to be such a long-running series, but I'm definitely glad we kept going and reached out to so many people.

- Congratulations on getting ななひら, ココ and 桃箱 to join ポヤッチオ.

Nanahira-san, Momobako-san and Koko-san participated in Poyacchio's CDs from the start, but on paper Poyacchio was my group until the end. When the three of them became members, they already understood what sort of group we were -- if their fans bought Poyacchio's CDs and were able to listen to their songs, then I believe that they could feel at ease.

- SHAKING PINK is an amazing doujin supergroup. How did it all come together?

In one way or another, all three members of SHAKING PINK have been associated with ポヤッチオ since the very beginning. We started talking about this project in early 2012 and released the first single in August 2012. All three girls have instantly recognizable voices yet I feel they come together perfectly. They also happen to have very strong individualistic personalities, which helps in creating a unique experience for listeners and fans. Our belief is that 「SHAKING PINK have suddenly invaded us!」 and we'll keep working under this motto.

- Impressively, there's already a CD and live appearance after half a year of existence.
Can you give us a small preview of things to come?

Performing a live concert right after releasing the CD was great timing, we were very happy to receive an invitation from the organizers. The SHAKING PINK girls greatly enjoyed this first live performance, so I'm pretty confident you will see them on stage again. As for future endeavours, there will definitely be more albums as well as collaborations with other circles. Maybe some commercial activities, who knows!

- What is the story behind the lyrics to your mysterious song 「DENPA NO SEKAI」?

「DENPA NO SEKAI」 is a Touhou arrange song that has a theme of living in an imaginary world above the network. As you have guessed, the title was chosen after I became aware of the always pleasant "Denpa no Sekai" website, heh!

- What are some of your hobbies outside of creating music?

I still enjoy watching anime and playing video games, that hasn't changed. However these days, composing songs and managing doujin activities is really taking up most of my free time! I wish could squeeze in a couple more hobbies, but my priority is music.

- What do the names かたほとり and ポヤッチオ mean?

I took the name "Katahotori" from part of the name of a writer I liked a long time ago but it doesn't really have any deep meaning. "Poyacchio" comes from a fortune telling game in an old arcade I used to go to as a kid. The name comes from the result screen's "good luck nickname." In Japan, there is also a popular game called "doki doki poyacchio," and as I recall I have memory of taking it from that same root as that. There is no direct correlation between our "poyacchio" and "doki doki poyacchio"!

- Thank you for your time and we will keep on supporting your efforts in the future.

Not at all, the pleasure's all mine. Poyacchio is going to try a few new things from here on.

Basically I just want to make some fun music. Thank you for your support!

Poyacchio Representative - Katahotori

Buy or Die! Second さつきがてんこもり major album 「人畜無害」

Rejoice, for today marks the release of Lord Tenkomori's second major album! Indeed 「人畜無害」 is now available for purchase in Japan and internationally through cdjapan.co.jp for a measly 2476 yen... buy or die! Absolutely no compromise this time. You're either with us, or against us... and we'll STOMP THE ENEMY!

Joking, of course. But be a pal and buy a copy. You'll not only get the following 15 tracks (including a nifty MOSAIC.WAV remix), the first-press edition also includes a DVD with 6 fantastic videos!

【CD contents】

1. ウインク・トランジ・スター
2. ハッピーシンセサイザ-さつき が てんこもり's "redial call remix"-
3. 回線上のギャングスター
4. アストロとルーパー
5. ネトゲ廃人シュプレヒコール
6. 夏休みYummy
7. STOMP THE ENEMY
8. 人畜無害
9. チョコレートは人体に対してこんなにも危険!
10. お断りします
11. 男の娘メモラブル
12. お断りします-Denpa ga Tenkomo remix-
13. ネトゲ廃人シュプレヒコール(buff!buff! REMIX)
14. 男の娘メモラブル (He is Panda Girl!? REMIX)
15. いいえ、トムは妹に対して性的な興奮を覚えています

【DVD contents】

• 男の娘メモラブル
• ネトゲ廃人シュプレヒコール
• お断りします【PVのようなもの】
• アストロ トルーパー
• お断りします -Dempa ga Tenkomo remix-(MOSAIC.WAVリミックス)
• 人畜無害

Wow, these are some intense remixes from y0c1e and PandaBoY! But if high-tension vocaloid denpa is not 100% your thing, don't forget Satsuki also does real girls... no holds barred! You can still score a copy of 2011's masterpiece 「ニコ生モラルハザード」 for around 25USD. Stay tuned for an extra "bit" of coverage!

MOSAIC.WAV participating on two albums in May

MOSAIC.WAV are probably hard at work on their next release and summer shows as we speak, but that doesn't mean they can't have share their tremendous creativity and contribute songs to other people's albums. They've announced a couple of collaborations not long ago to tide us over until their next big thing comes out.


First we have something that was definitely unexpected. We don't recall MOSAIC.WAV and 清竜人 sharing the stage together or publicly mentioning any affinity for one another, but somehow our Akiba Heroes got a call from this 22-year-old singer/songwriter requesting a composition for his new album 『MUSIC』 slated to release May 9th 2012. Though he mostly sings over folksy music, he has had very interesting songs in the past. A rough sample for the upcoming single 「CAN YOU SPEAK JAPANESE」 (featuring Yui Horie!) also signals a potential shift towards a funny-poppy style, for this particular album anyway.

One more unexpected surprise? ave;new head honcho a.k.a.dRESS will also be composing the second track 「インモラリスト」! Should be a very interesting album indeed, preorder now or at least keep an eye out for this one.


The next one we've known for quite a while, but it's exciting nonetheless to see confirmation coming from MOSAIC.WAV's side. As the title indicates, 「お断りします -Dempa ga Tenkomo remix-」 will be a remix of Lord Satsuki's smashing Summer of 2010 Miku-hit 「お断りします」. This song was already released on the major album 『ニコ生モラルハザード』 in late 2011, performed by the lovely ゆづか姫, but this MOSAIC.WAV remix shall prove interesting nonetheless. Don't worry, we'll have some actual coverage of Satsuki's new all-初音ミク album 『人畜無害』 which comes out May 30th 2012, until then make sure you preorder it!

Free MP3 compilation 「ろりこんぴ²」 from 女児レコーズ

Back in November 2011, STUDIO1COURS had the great idea to release their Youkai Denpa compilation 「きゅん×２カーニバル 百萌夜行」 on the internet, absolutely free to download. If you're down with the concept of enjoying free music without a guilty conscience, then you'll love this new MP3 compilation 「ろりこんぴ²」 from 女児レコーズ.

Turns out circle owner airtoxin is no stranger to releasing free music through the 女児レコーズ website, this being the fifth album. However, 「ろりこんぴ²」 is clearly aiming to be a high-profile release as it features 21 tracks from various artists, each collaborating in their own way. There's an eclectic and impressive mix of bubblegum pop, electro, gabber, anison, glitch, breakcore and plenty more genres that just can't be put into words.

Perhaps most relevant to this blog's readership is the track 「Loli-Pop」 from tsundeRECords feat. がきコ. We've been big fans of がきコ since her high-tension song 「デートなう！」 on the C80 mini-album 「Sweet Blue」 (which also featured ななひら and our buddy keiji_haru). It's great to see her land some singing spots here and there and we certainly hope to hear even more in the future. As for tsundeRECords, we're expecting great things in 2012!

There's a little something for everyone here, but another highlight is the hardcore remix of the Milky Holmes OP from you (male version of U?). Clearly fans of the EXIT series would enjoy this remix, make sure to check out "For You Sounds" for many free albums. mononofrog_4sk & fazerock have a great contribution featuring 兎眠りおん and 初音ミク. DJ EVANGELION hits with a tragically short (just 1:16!) blastbeat outburst of happy hardcore for fans of t+pazolite and P*Light. Finally, it's pretty cool to see the mysterious Silvanian Families getting more exposure for his unique genre: moeclick.

C80: ユウノウミ, beatlogic & 天然ジェミニ have かめりあ in common

Although some of his songs were briefly mentioned in the past, consider this article a proper introduction to the work of かめりあ (aka cametek). He seems to have been active for a couple of years, with two 初音ミク albums self-produced within the past 10 months. The first one 『ハニージンジャーエール』 came out in late 2010, while 『TRIPPERS』 was released recently in May 2011. Sampling both albums as well as his nicovideo and soundcloud accounts should convince you of his various skills: drum and bass, dubstep, techno, trance, 8bit and even eurobeat!

But of course... this guy can also do denpa songs! He's pretty tight with our good buddy さつきがてんこもり, in fact they're collaborating on the debut major album 『ニコ生モラルハザード』 (more on that after C80). Earlier this year, the pair also tag-teamed the song 「恋色マジカルフライト」 on ForestPireo's 『Party Poche』. Finally, he's had multiple tracks on most of the fine CDs from Guunone Sounds. Now as luck would have it, cametek is featured on four Comiket 80 albums that we were already planning to cover and since his contributions are such standout tracks, he definitely earned today's spotlight!

First off, we have the ridiculously awesome 『シュミックトリガ！ -New wave of A-POP-』 from the brand new circle beatlogic. What a great way to kick it into high gear right out of the gate! Tons of big cannons shooting loosely on this one, just check out this tracklist!

1. 寝ル娘は育つ / MAX VEGETABLE
2. 続々☆熱中症っ！ / ボークP(azuma)
3. 夏休みYummy / さつき が てんこもり
4. 48 / デッドボールP
5. ソーサラー98 ～ The end of the known story / ぶっちぎりP
6. MoFmOf Days! / かめりあ
7. 通称！デンパリ娘 / cello
8. 恋人サンディは明後日笑う / 盛るP
9. マスシス / ふなむし
10. HOME MADE HERO / Phasma

That's right, Satsuki's on here, DeadballP too. And even if the other names aren't as familiar to you (yet), just give them a shot! This is a surprisingly high-quality 初音ミク/電波ソング/A-POP compilation that honestly feels long overdue, unless you count 『HeartsNative』 by MOSAIC.WAV. Difference here is that this is still within the doujin realm and some of these songs are batshit insane! The ぶっちぎりP and cello tracks in particular... man!

Next up is 『俺のチルノがこんなに天才なわけがない』 from ユウノウミ, also known as 夕野ヨシミ, aka the in-house IOSYS lyrical mistress (of doom). This is her fifth Touhou arrange album and much like the previous ones, there's a good mix of bonkers and softer songs (if you're into that). We're big fans of 未来派 and he's been on this series since the second album, so it's always good to get our fix. But the big news here is the fabulous opening track 「恋のパーフェクト微分方程式」 composed by かめりあ and performed by 山本椛 (momiji). It sounds like something ARM would come up with and that's probably the biggest compliment for an up-and-coming denpa composer these days. There's also a bit of eurobeat flavour which makes this track even more interesting.

天然ジェミニ is yet another IOSYS offshoot but we've covered them countless times in the past, so you know they're good! This time, they have two brand new albums for C80 and guess what? かめりあ is on both of them! Actually, he has two contributions on the "primary" release 『東方オールナイト幻想郷』 including opening track duties once again. He did work with them on 『東方マジカル☆コミカル』 so that explains his presence. Another repeat composer is Irus who brings in a harder edge, but he once worked with ななひら so he gets our eternal support! What sets 『東方多目的多世界』 apart is that it's a 神波千尋-only album. Part of what makes 天然ジェミニ special is the constant exchange between the two girls and their frequent guests, yet this actually works better than you'd expect. Once again there's a good mix of denpa, rock, jazz and pop, so there's absolutely no reason fans of the duo would pass up this solo effort!

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This concludes today's spotlight on かめりあ! These tracks are pretty impressive and definitely catchy, so we'll be keeping an eye on his future endeavours. We do have one more big article lined up before C80 hits this weekend so stay tuned! Remember to check out our Twitter feed @denpanosekai for the absolute bleeding edge news reports!

Let's catch up with さつきがてんこもり and his latest songs

Although we've covered most of Satsuki's recent collaborations and contributions, it's been about ten months since we introduced him and his original creations that put him on the doujin map. Rest assured he has been very proficient, the fault lies squarely on this writer for lack of diligence. A couple days ago, Satsuki announced some breaking news: he will be doing the ending theme to the Fall 2010 anime series 「俺の妹がこんなに可愛いわけがない」 (shortened to 俺妹 or even oreimou).

Earlier this summer, anime studio aniplex launched a Willy Wonka-esque online contest to award one lucky aspiring composer with the ending theme duty. Not surprisingly, the nicovideo crowd responded en masse with over 1000 videos submitted in a month's time. Sensing that this series could use a straight-up denpa song to wrap up every show with pizazz, Tenkomori enlisted the aid of his friend nanahira and submitted the following video.

It seems many of the other composers used Hatsune Miku (or even no vocals) in their submissions. Perhaps the inclusion of actual female vocals turned the tables in Satsuki's favour, but there's no denying his skills. Clearly, his songs are destined for prime time television, but hopefully they will retain his signature buzz-bass and denpa overtones. It would appear the anime studio also chose a budding artist for the opening theme, awarding it to ｱﾘｽ☆ｸﾗﾗ who only uploaded about a dozen cover tracks. A little bird told us nanahira won't be singing the ED theme (which is unfortunate) but hopefully this exposure will be beneficial to her as well.

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Just before the oreimou theme, Satsuki uploaded his "big summer hit" 「お断りします」 on June 7th 2010. The original version featured Hatsune Miku but it was soon picked up by multiple singers. To put things in perspective, the song has been listened to at least 1 million times. Satsuki's original upload got about 200k views, but Run's take has over 800k clicks so far! The version featured here is from ななひら, because she is just awesome and deserves every bit of coverage from us.

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More recently (August 30th), this little ditty made its way onto the intertubes. Satsuki Studio remixed the popular song ミツバチ for "momobako", who may or may not work for game studio Arc System Works (Guilty Gear, Castle of Shikigami). If you look at the uploaded videos and recent blog entries, you'll notice she provides interesting PV commentary for many of their latest games. There's already another denpa song which is also worth checking out; should we be expecting a mini-album for C79? Hai hai!!

Oh, the 萌え... it burns!!! Check out this insane Dance x Mixer video which ups the moe to unprecedented heights.

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Satsuki has many more uploads for you to check out (including this fabulous Kitchen Idol remix) but we'll close today's update with his first international collaboration. Back in March, he was looking for somebody to draw some artwork for one of his upcoming songs. Our own intrepid twitter reporter mandichan stepped up to the plate and the rest is history. Next time your feet hurt, you might wanna consult this song for quick healing.

Stay tuned for another Studio皐 article sooner or later!

「Darkness Silence」 is Holic Service's next album

Holic Service had been hinting at their next major project for quite some time. The veil was lifted this past weekend as they unveiled a new banner containing basic information about KuKuDoDo's latest work. However, it has nothing to do with the world-renowned "Energy Reimen" Touhou-denpa series. 「Darkness Silence」 seems to focus exclusively on Hatsune Miku and will probably feature some serious new wave stuff if the cover is anything to go by.

Don't rule out Gumi's participation on vocals, kind of like how MOSAIC.WAV integrated the original Vocaloid starlet with mi~ko late last year. Remember that some of KuKuDoDo's very first songs originally featured Miku, then were re-recorded with Gumi; we might just see that scenario repeat itself in time. The only other tangible information we have at this point is the release date of June 20th 2010, as well as two simultaneous launch events: "とら祭り2010" in Tokyo and "DEAR MASTER!" in Osaka.

Upcoming MOSAIC.WAV concert is a 初音ミク Who's Who

MOSAIC.WAV just sent a communiqué revealing which special guests will perform at their upcoming concert 【We Live Heartsnative!!～ミクとMOSAIC.WAVと仲間たち～】 on February 20th 2010. Of course, mi~ko and kayapi will be flanked by expert Hatsune Miku manipulator 大串友紀 and their usual live band which consists of Big Brother 小池雅也 on guitar, クマキヒロノブ on bass and cat enthusiast 岩田ガンタ康彦 on drums.

The first guest performer to appear on stage will be cosMo＠暴走P, otherwise known as one half of cosMoDRIVER. At the risk of rehashing what is probably common knowledge, his most popular composition so far would be the frivolous "Disappearance of Hatsune Miku". However, one would be remiss not to pay some heed to his earlier creations such as the balls-to-the-wall 「初音ミクの暴走」, one of his first songs but certainly not the least. Another fan favourite would be 「電脳スキル」, which got a chiptune remix from K-> of VORC Records fame. What's more, cosMo has begun contributing tracks to the EXIT TRANCE powerhouse since March 2009, most recently on the Vocalolegend album released on January 21 2010. So he certainly has a great source of audio material ready for his first major concert, but like any good Japanese artist, the guy also possesses some intense illustration skills.

Totally fucked up performance by デッドボールP @ ミクFES2009

Second on stage will be デッドボール (Deadball), which operates under the 5/4 TAKEPOD circle. Now they've only been releasing Hatsune Miku songs since early 2008, but we're talking an impressive 30+ creations in about two year's time! There's a very interesting reason behind this otherwise unexplainable surge of creativity: circle head honcho 槇タケポン worked at Nihon Falcom for two years between 2005 and 2007! Falcom are known for some of the best videogame soundtracks out there, so it's only reasonable to think that the experience he gained there helped him develop such a productive drive.



Deadball's flagship series is their Dead Ball Project compilation albums, of which there are three volumes. (1, 2, 3) After publicly releasing his first Miku song in March 2008, Takepon was approached by EXIT TUNES and this led to his first major album, which is still one of the highest ranking EXIT products on Oricon. The album also came with its very own (ridiculously hard) SHMUP game! He was also involved in SEGA's Hatsune Miku arcade/PSP game and managed to sneak a few chiptunes on the fabulous ピコ萌え！ series. Even more recently, Deadball collaborated with IOSYS (who hasn't? MOSAIC.WAV, that's who) in the form of an 8bit-flavoured track on 2-dimension's latest vocal album, 「parade」, sung by MIKO. Certainly a rising star to keep your eyes on!

Famitsu is once again heavily promoting the upcoming concert, as they should. There's no word yet on whether or not they'll be freely broadcasting the event online as they did the first one, especially since this one is substantially premium-priced at 6000円. But perhaps they'll make a sneak announcement at the last minute, so keep checking back for further details.

** first picture taken from Dengeki Moeoh

MOSAIC.WAV 「LIVE @ 秋葉原UDX」 youtube medley

So I did get up in time to watch the show, but my live stream recording plan wasn't quite up to snuff. I managed to snag decent footage from the last four songs and pretty much all of the encore. The sound quality is pretty good but the video itself, well... it's not like we're in any position to complain. Thanks to Famitsu and Enterbrain for making this possible... although I fully expect one of these two entities to request this video to go down! Save it while you can, but I could always upload the 100MB AVI file somewhere if you ask nicely. Here's what the actual setlist looked like.

1.みんなみくみくにしてあげる♪
2.電気の恋人
3.***にできたかな
4.server error
5.HATSUNEtive
6.天真爛漫にゅばばばばーん
7.妄想網 Ж Superluminal
8.We Love Akiba-Pop !!

MOSAIC.WAV 「Heartsnative」 live web broadcast

October 21st 2009 has come and gone and brought 「Heartsnative」 with it, the wonderful new MOSAIC.WAV×鶴田加茂×初音ミク crossover album. It actually ranked in seventh on the daily oricon charts, which is no small feat! Impressions should follow shortly but until then, you can check out samples from each song on the rather awesome official website. You should also look at this informative blog entry from mi~ko herself, which accurately details the limited edition's "dress-up" feature.

But here comes the big news, especially for international fans! On Saturday October 24th 2009, Famitsu will stream the MOSAIC.WAV live concert at "entamatsu" (Enterbrain Festival), straight from Akihabara. The show starts at 7PM Japan time (with a test feed going live at 6:40PM), which means 3AM West coast, 6AM East coast and 12PM for our lucky French friends. Use this time converter for your own region.

This is sort of problematic for me; not so much the time, just that I'll be on the road that morning. So here's my request, dear readers: can someone please rip/grab the stream and upload it to youtube? I'm counting on you guys, although I'm not even sure how I would go about it, myself. It seems something like Orbit Downloader could do the job. There's a slight chance that (parts of) the video will go up on the EnterbrainTV youtube channel, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it. Preload the UG Live java applet prior to the show (Java and Flash/WMP are required) to be on the safe side.

Update 10/25/09: Everything's under control.