It’s the middle of summer, which means it’s time for Comiket 96! This event hasn’t been without some controversy, along with some upcoming changes to handle the 2020 Olympics, and the surprising absence of the MEGAREX label, which is holding its own separate event this weekend. But there’s still a ton of new music out there to be picked up, and highlighted below are just some of the releases that can be found that we’ll be picking up. There’s plenty more that can also be picked up at Diverse.direct, so be sure to pay them a visit since they offer international shipping! With that said, let’s dive in!
wavforme – Back To Summer 3
wavforme Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
Fans of 80’s Miami synth are going to love this latest release from wavforme. It’s a great summer throwback album that features Ujico, Nhato, and Relect just to name a few. Perfect for a late night city drive with the top down, or during a coastal drive with the top down.
Sana – Delight.37 – Sana 20th Anniversary solo Album
Sana Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
Sana has been a part of the Bemani music franchise since its early years, and her soulful vocals are on full display for her 20th anniversary album. It’s a Diverse exclusive but will still be available at the show. There’s plenty of artists contributing to this album too, Shoichi Hirata, Kors K, Kenichi Chiba, Dirty Androids, aran, and more!
Nanahira (ななひら) – ご”ーいん！ (Goin!)
Nanahira Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
Nanahira’s got a new solo album, which means we’re in for a high energy collaboration between her and Camellia (more from him shortly)! This 16 track album features a full length version of Papayapa Bass from Beatmania IIDX 24: Sinobuz, which was one of standout tracks from the style. There’s also plenty of meme content with tracks like ‘NANI THE ****!,’ and a remix of ‘senpai, notice me!’ by YUC’e.
Camellia (かめりあ) – Blackmagik Blazing
Camellia Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
We’re big fans of Camellia around here, so of course we’re going to grab their latest album. This is going to be a hard album from start to finish, akin to something like the ‘sudden shower’ or ‘diffraction’ albums. If the art on the album looks familiar, it’s because it’s by Temmie! Yes, Undertale’s Temmie, and you can see the full version over on her twitter.
t+pazolite – REALLY Don’t Waste Me!
t+pazolite Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
T+pazolite’s been doing some low key releases recently, so it’s great to see them releasing a full album for this Comiket. Featuring a lot of their signature Cutie Head Shaking sound, it features a couple of full versions of their music game entries, and features a collab with Cranky.
HARDCORE TANO*C – HARDCORE SYNDROME 13
HARDCORE TANO*C Twitter
Where you can get it: TANO*C Store
It wouldn’t be a doujin music event without an appearance by HARDCORE TANO*C. This is the latest entry in the mainline series of releases and features a lot of heavy hitters like REDALiCE, Laur, RoughSketch, DJ Myosuke, and Srav3R to name just a few.
HARDCORE TANO*C – Mystery Blend
HARDCORE TANO*C Twitter
Where you can get it: TANO*C Store
This is another HARDCORE TANO*C offshoot release, like Irregular Nation, or Satellite Queen that we’ve covered before. This release seems to be geared more toward a ‘variety release’ with a wide selection of genres on display, you’ve got Getty doing a Eurobeat track, aran’s got a house track, C-Show’s got some dancehall cooking, and Myosuke closes it out with Happy Curry Paradise.
DJ Genki – FUSION AXELL EP
Twitter: DJ Genki Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
This short EP from DJ Genki features five collaborative tracks with Kobaryo, C-Show, Massive New Krew, Paitan, and USAO. It follows the DJ Genki hard and happy style, but features different genres that Genki’s been known to perform in the past.
Compllege – In the Unusual Emotion
Taishi Twitter
Preview –
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
‘In The Usual Emotion’ is getting a follow-up album. We covered it in our last article about M3. This chill-out album from Compllege is a mellow flow throughout, with tracks from MK, Nhato, Tomohiko Togashi, and Taishi.
Chroma – Robot & Human
Chroma Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
This one was a bit of a late discovery, but is a cool chiptune/complextro/house album by Chroma that has a lot of interesting tracks. It also has adorable art by Monaka. Give the sample a shot, I think this is one of those albums that could easily slip under the radar.
unitone – Vista 6
unitone Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
Count on Unitone to bring the trance. This album is the latest of the Vista series, which has always been known to bring great uplifting trance out of various artists. This time around we’ve got Radianth, MAYA AKAI, Lawy, and Scarfaith just to name a few. If you’re a trance fan, this is definitely one to grab.
SKETCH UP! Rec. & Binzokomegane Girls Union – BLITZTAIL QOMPLEX
DJ Noriken Twitter
Preview –
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
Plenty of energy in this collab between SKETCH UP! Recordings and Binzokomegane Girls Union. It’s also the only album featuring an Edelritter track, so expect a lot of heavy bass. There’s also tracks by Relect, Yuta Imai, Hommarju, and DJ Shimamura. This is a definite pick-up for me.
ZPPTRAX x J-core CORE!! – 盃SAKAZUKI参
ZPPTRAX Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
SAKAZUKI! This is the latest ZPPTRAX and J-core CORE!! Collaboration, featuring some interesting artist mix-ups, you’ve got Tatsh vs PINK PONG, RoughSketch vs Hideo Suwa (yes from beatmania IIDX’s “Buffalo”), Maozon vs RAM, and Relect vs DJ Noriken.
Massive CircleZ – INNER CIRCLEZ
Massive CircleZ Twitter / JAVELIN Twitter / Tachibana Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
Massive New Krew goes back to psytrance with their latest release. Featuring Dustvoxx, Jerico, MK, and many others. It’s been a while since there’s been a dedicated psytrance release, and I haven’t heard anything out of Theta Complex since 2015, so I’m definitely interested in grabbing this one.
P*Light vs Massive New Krew – Resonance
P*Light Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
Resonance combines the heavy sound of Massive New Krew with the happy sounds of P*Light for an interesting versus album. This also features a new Harmony’s collab track as well. Feel so Alive, and Juvenile Story are both solid tracks, and the P*Light remix of ‘Ever Free’ caps off this genre-mixing album.
USAO – Kicks For Liberation 7
USAO Twitter (NSFW Content on occasion)
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
New USAO! If you’re familiar with USAO, you know a Kicks For Liberation album is a big deal. This album starts off with the high energy ‘Try again’ and features a couple of other tracks from lesser known compilations, like ‘Gaizin’ which was on a very limited HARDCORE TANO*C release. This 2-disc album covers a wide variety of genres and gives listeners a true sense of USAO’s range as an artist.
r0y & siromaru – Beyond the Horizon
siromaru Twitter / r0y Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
Siromaru’s been in the scene for quite a while now, but new releases are few and far between these days. This collab album with r0y is full of different genres, from techno to big-beat, hard-style to drum n bass, this is definitely an ‘all over the place’ type of album, and I mean that in the best way possible.
Loquartz – Styley! 3
Loquartz Twitter
Where you can get it: https://diverse.direct/loquartz/lqaz-0008/
This vocal album features a very summer dance vibe, with tracks by KO3, EmoCo., Tanchiky, Colate to name a few, along with vocalists like Kanae Asaba, Mikanzil, and MuMenkyo. Also included is an instrumental disc as a bonus!
[email protected] Records – COMPLE:X 2.0
[email protected] Records Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
We’ve talked about [email protected] in pretty much every one of these types of articles, and they’re back with a new complextro release. It’s only eight tracks, but if the crossfade is anything to go by, this should be a killer album from start to finish.
Yukacco – Alkaizm
Yukacco Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
Vocalist Yukacco has got a ‘best of’ album coming out this weekend, and it’s two discs with 26 tracks. This features a wide range of genres with contributing artists DJ Genki and DJ Noriken. There’s also a few guest appearances from moimoi and C-Show.
FÄRGRIK – Fragile
ALSTROEMERIA RECORDS Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
The FÄRGRIK project has been an experimental outlet for Masayoshi Minoshima and his sound really diverges from his usual styles on these releases, making them a must listen. Ayame contributes on vocals for this short, three track EP.
ALSTROEMERIA RECORDS – OVERRIDE DANCEHALL
ALSTROEMERIA RECORDS Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
Masayoshi Minoshima rarely misses on these Dancehall albums, and Override is no exception. If you want quality dance music with great vocals, then this is a great series to pick up on.
ALSTROEMERIA RECORDS – “PODIUM” EPISODE 1 -IN THE MIX-
ALSTROEMERIA RECORDS Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
This can be considered a ‘greatest hits’ of the Dancehall compilation albums. It features some of the best tracks from the series including Gusty Baseline from Camellia, Limbo by Nhato, and Fireworks with vocals by Ayame.
Akihabara Heavy Industry – AHI COMPILATION 11
Akihabara Heavy Industry Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
Looking for a good minimalist techno album that makes for a great work soundtrack? Akibahara Heavy Industry has that covered with AHI COMPILATION 11. We’re definitely feeling that deep-house/minimal techno vibe that this album is throwing out there. Featuring Nhato, DJ SHUFFLEMASTER, and HIROSHI WATANABE, this is one that shouldn’t be missed.
MEGAREX – SPD GAR 2
Lapix Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
2018 and 2019 seem to have introduced a renaissance in ‘garage’ style music. Lapix and label Megarex are a driving force in reviving this genre and SPD GAR 2 continues where the original album left off. It’s odd that the label isn’t a part of Comiket this year, but thankfully the album is still accessible via the link below.
MEGAREX – Funky Gabber
Lapix Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
Disco and Gabber, two genres we didn’t think could mash up, but somehow, this all works, and it works well. This isn’t exactly a Comiket release as it became available mid-July, but we still felt like it should be highlighted.
MEGAREX – Necromance
Lapix Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
Another mid-July release. This one celebrates DJ Poyoshi’s 20th anniversary and has a number of Megarex regulars on board including Lapix, Mameyudoufu, and YUKIYANAGI.
MEGAREX – EUROBEAT Re:BIBLE
Lapix Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
Check it out, Megarex is taking on Eurobeat, and they got Y&Co. on board. Ok that’s a good start, but then you get Blacklolita, PSYQUI, Cranky, and Tsubusare BOZZ? Yeah this release sounds wild, and you shouldn’t miss it.
MEGAREX – FUTURE EVANGELIX
Lapix Twitter
Where you can get it: Diverse Direct
Another Megarex release, Future Evangelix is a follow-up album to Techcore Evangelix released at M3 in April. This features a lot of Megarex regulars, like PSYQUI, Zekk, Srav3R, and Mameyodoufu just to name a few. It also comes with a second, megamixed disc.
DJ WILDPARTY – SUPER KAWAII SWINDLE EP
DJ WILDPARTY Twitter
Where you can get it: Event only
Shot Bass Records are a rarity these days, and unfortunately, this one is only available on the show floor. So if you’ve got a contact in Japan that’s going, make sure to hit them up. This EP features 5 tracks along with a remix by Templine who we featured in our M3 article.