Beatnation Records
beatnation Records
Overview
beatnation Records is the name of the in-house recording label of KONAMI's BEMANI music branch. It was created by dj TAKA in 2006 and it's focused on beatmania IIDX-related releases and events; it has regular BEMANI artists, both in-house ones and commissioned ones, as members.
The label was temporarily closed down in late 2010, though its name was still mentioned in live events; in early 2012, a note on the website mentioned that new artists would have been recruited throughout the SOUND VOLTEX FLOOR contests. This eventually happened at the JAEPO 2014 event; other than the label being revived, a new group was formed, called beatnation RHYZE, consisting of experienced artists who extensively participated in the SOUND VOLTEX FLOOR contests and as well as new artists that have been regularly appearing in other BEMANI games.
Members
In June 30th, 2006, beatnation Records started out with dj TAKA, DJ YOSHITAKA, L.E.D. and Tatsh. However, Tatsh, who was an in-house composer at the time, quickly left the label due to the same reasons behind his disappearance after beatmania IIDX 13 DistorteD. He would only return many years later in beatmania IIDX 18 Resort Anthem but only as a commissioned artist and not as part of the beatnation Records label.
Afterwards, in February 2007, Sota Fujimori, kors k and Ryu☆ joined; together with dj TAKA, DJ YOSHITAKA and L.E.D., the label group was officially finalized. It would accompany the period of time when the beatmania IIDX series had DJ YOSHITAKA as the head sound director, until the release of beatmania IIDX 18 Resort Anthem when beatnation records was put on hold.
beatnation Records' revival happened at JAEPO 2014 in February 15th, 2014, with 猫叉Master joining the group. As of now, the primary team consists of:
- dj TAKA
- DJ YOSHITAKA
- L.E.D.
- Sota Fujimori
- Ryu☆
- kors k
- 猫叉Master
The "new generation" beatnation record group was also announced on the same day. Its members were progressively revealed until May 28th, 2014, with each one of them being chosen by the first team's members as their successors:
- DJ TOTTO - Chosen by DJ YOSHITAKA and revealed on February 15th, 2014.
- Hommarju - Chosen by kors k and revealed on February 15th, 2014.
- P*Light - Chosen by Ryu☆ and revealed on February 15th, 2014.
- かめりあ - Chosen by Sota Fujimori and revealed on April 10th, 2014.
- OSTER project - Chosen by dj TAKA and revealed on April 10th, 2014.
- RoughSketch - Chosen by L.E.D. and revealed on April 10th, 2014.
- PHQUASE - Chosen by 猫叉Master and revealed on May 28th, 2014.
On the 7/30/2014 BEMANI Namahousou, the new group's name was revealed to be beatnation RHYZE. The main website has yet to be updated, though.
Features
Being a member of beatnation Records gives the following advantages to the artists, especially in the case of newly commissioned ones:
- Possibility to contribute indefinitely to all the BEMANI series.
- Possibility to appear in BEMANI-related live events.
- Possibility to appear always as a remixer in solo albums.
- Possibility to release albums under the beatnation Records label. This also simplifies very much the process for artists who want to put their KONAMI original tracks into their albums.
Releases
The following lists show all the products that were released under the beatnation Records label.
Game Soundtracks
- beatmania IIDX 13 DistorteD ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
- beatmania IIDX 14 GOLD ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
- CARDINAL GATE conclusion
- beatmania IIDX 15 DJ TROOPERS ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
- beatmania IIDX 16 EMPRESS ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
- beatmania IIDX CS Collection~GOLD,DJ TROOPERS,EMPRESS~
- beatmania IIDX -SUPER BEST BOX- vol.1 and beatmania IIDX -SUPER BEST BOX- vol.2
- beatmania IIDX 17 SIRIUS ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
- beatmania IIDX 21 SPADA ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK VOL.2
Albums
- cyber beatnation 1st conclusion
- milestone by dj TAKA
- 電人K by L.E.D.
- SYNTHESIZED by Sota Fujimori
- Rewind! by Keiichi Ueno
- milestone -Re Edition- by dj TAKA
- SYNTHESIZED -Re Edition- by Sota Fujimori
- starmine by Ryu☆
- SYNTHESIZED2 by Sota Fujimori
- Ways For Liberation by kors k
- cyber beatnation 2 -Hi Speed conclusion-
- beatnation RHYZE vs HARDCORE TANO*C
- SYNTHESIZED5 by Sota Fujimori
- 斬 -ZAN- by SOUND HOLIC
- follow slowly by 猫叉Master
Others
- beatnation Records' official T-Shirt
- beatnation summit's special goodies
- SELECTED TRAXX from milestone EP
- beatnation summit -beatmania IIDX premium Live- DVD
- puzzle MAYA TAKAMURA's Pieces
Trivia
- Other releases were mentioned in the website even if they weren't sold throughout the label, such as DJ Mass MAD Izm*'s first album I AM NOT A DJ and Arata Iiyoshi's first album FANTASCAPE - Act.1.
- cyber beatnation 2 -Hi Speed conclusion- is the only beatnation Records album released during the time period when the label was put on hold.
- Starting with the beatnation RHYZE vs HARDCORE TANO*C and beatmania IIDX 21 SPADA ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK VOL.2 albums, HARDCORE TANO*C's TANO*C STORE will sell all the future beatnation Records releases that heavily feature TANO*C members, with exclusive bonus items.
- kors k and Ryu☆ strangely do not appear in the beatnation Records artist list in the BEMANI Fan Site's artist page.
External Links
- beatnation Records Official Web Site - not updated since November 2010.