Broadcasts
DDRadio Episode 2: The JQ (Japanese Question)
When I’m hitting shuffle in my music library, i always stop when I get a Super Eurobeat compilation I haven’t listened to yet. You can BORROW almost all of them on archive btw. Hearing SEB Vol. 74 and a recent record haul from Japan inspired me to just nerd out on some various electronic tunes I like from Japan, ranging from mainstream Avex hits, to some J-trance remixes of video game music. Avex records, a major music label conglomerate in Japan, recently pressed a bunch of their “hits” on vinyl, a couple titles a just had to have, but many more I had not heard but had to have anyway. Shipping is gnarly, though. Luckily, my old tumblr buddy Lauren has the Asian importing tricks set up and we both shared an order to save on shipping. In this ep, we listen to those first. If you don’t know, Avex is the label that bought the Super Eurobeat brand in the early 90s and made extremely successful in Japan, causing the Italian-produced music massively influential on Japanese pop culture in the 90s. I am unapologetically a Super Eurobeat superfan. It’s the longest running electronic music compilation series in existence, by a lot. The early years of the series feature an incredible production/mixing style. I wanted to highlight a few gems from SEB Vol. 74 on this ep. I also came across a J-Core/J-Trance compilation put out by Exit Tunes (owned by Pony Canyon) in my collection. Can’t remember where I got it. The comp translates to “Famitrance” and it’s all remixes of video game music. I say this multiple times in the episode, but I’ll say it again: something supernatural in the Japanese man’s mind awakens when he is tasked with making a remix of a Final Fantasy song. They’ll crush it EVERYTIME. Some truly profound bangers on that comp. And to fill the 2hrs, I pulled out an old classic Final Fantasy remix comp I’ve had in my collection since the very beginnings of my obsession with hardcore. Atomic Ray, released by Alice’s Emotion in Japan, still has some of the most glimmering, candy coated masterpieces I’ve ever heard. And it came out in 2006!!!!!! It’s old now! But nothing new sounds anything as good as some of the songs on it. Hope you had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!