So this post is going to be about the latest CD from IOSYS, the 'ANIME HOUSE PROJECT'. That was released just over a week ago now, and priced at a reasonable 1905円. As ever, click 'Read More' full the full review.
If you're not familiar with IOSYS, they've been producing animations and music mainly for 東方 related items and apparently did the ending animation for the second ED of Penguin Musume Heart which I didn't really notice was IOSYS, but then the whole series did feel a little bit patchwork. IOSYS are also connected with 電波 Supergroup Albatrosicks. You can read more about them [Albatrosicks] here.
Anyway, IOSYS's latest endevour has been the 'Anime House Project' which is basically anime themes remixed into 'House classics'. Okay so they weren't dubbed as 'House Classics', but it felt like the right thing to add. So let's see the lineup:
01. “K-On!” ~ Don’t say “lazy” / Arm (IOSYS) feat. Anporin
02. “Tales of Phantasia” ~ Yume wa Owaranai ~Kobore Ochiru Toki no Shizuku~ / Tetsushi (Red Hot house) feat. Anporin
03. “Shin Seiki Evangelion” ~ Zankoku na Tenshi no These / Sound Holic feat. A~Ya
04. “Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann” ~ Sorairo Days / Dr. Arm (Albatrosicks) feat. miko+Resurrection (Albatrosicks)
05. “Sousei no Aquarion” ~ Sousei no Aquarion / Boido (IOSYS) feat. ichigo (Kishida Kyoudan & The Akeboshi Rockets)
06. “Fushigi no Umi no Nadia” ~ Blue Water / fishtone (TTB Studio) feat. Beat Mario (Cool & Create)
07. “Mahou Shoujou Lyrical Nanoha A’s” ~ Eternal Blaze / Arm (IOSYS) feat. Asana (IOSYS)
08. “Digimon Adventure” ~ Butter-Fly / AVSS feat. nyanyannya (Team. Nekokan)
09. “One Piece” ~ Believe / Redalice (Alice’s Emotion) feat. Ayumi Nomiya
10. “Dragon Quest” ~ Yume o Shinjete / D.watt (IOSYS) feat. witch (Sound Cyclone)
11. “Air” ~ Tori no Uta / Arm (IOSYS) feat. Rekka Katakiri
12. “Shoujo Kakumei Utena” ~ -Rondo- revolution / D.watt (IOSYS) feat. Yuuko Meguro
thanks to dancemania-ex.com for saving me time of having to type the tracklist :P
I'm not much of a house fan. I pick up the 'HOUSE NATION' series of CDs, but I would never go much further than that. So remixes of famous anime tunes sits well with me and I don't mind giving it a listen.
Before I go much further, beware; if you've ever listened to an anime remix CD, prepare for the same tracks to come up again. As you can see, we've got the compulsory Tori no Uta mix, a nanoha remix, Sousei no Aquarion mix and so on. So watch out for the same old hats coming up again and again.
I have some serious doubts about the CD being house. Like I said, I'm not a house expert, but I know when I am and am not hearing house, and a lot of tracks on this CD could be summed up as 'Ambigious electro'. 「Dont Say Lazy」 is far too fast for house, and despite most tracks hovering at about 130BPM, many shift into technopop (Sorairo Days) or just really plain electromixes.
But with all credit to IOSYS on this one, it doesn't sound cheaply made, it just seems like they've really beaten around the bush as far as house goes. Some of them are most definitley house though, I found the Dragon Quest ED 「Yume o Shinjete」 to be a really good midnight blend of Jpop and House without going into Technopop territory.
Okay, so at times it's a bit random and not as house-y as it could be, and unless you like dropping slow tracks (I wouldn't recommend it for the pacing of many of the tracks) it's not really good for mixing, but it isn't all that bad. If you want to wind down after some more frantic music, this CD really isn't a bad way to do it. Just watch out for a few odd tracks that might ruin your peace.
Overall, I'd give this about a 7/10. Doesn't really do what it says on the tin, but the production quality isn't bad at all and it's enjoyable. If you click the image of the album art above, you'll be directed to the official CD website, where you can listen to previews and make your mind up from there.
Favorite tracks:
「Sorairo Days」 by Dr. Arm feat. miko+Resurrection (From Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann).
「Yume o Shinjete」 by D.Watt feat. Witch (From Dragon Quest)
Tomorrow I'll be playing and hopefully previewing a demo of a game featured in the most recent calendar. But what will it be?! You'll have to find out tomorrow!
This is worth it for the few ARM tracks and the Dragon Quest track as you said.
But yeah this isn't exactly house music, with all due respect to IOSYS.