Anamanaguchi Team Up With Digital Superstar Hatsune Miku on Japanese Version of ‘Miku,’ New Remix EP
Last summer, New York City's resident digital pop band Anamanaguchi—songwriters and guitarists Peter Berkman and Ary Warnaar, bassist James DeVito, and drummer Luke Silas—teamed up with Tokyo's virtual J-pop princess Hatsune Miku (who is, quite literally, a software program called Vocaloid) on "Miku," a twinkling electro-pop anthem about a musical avatar come to life.
Today (March 24) the group follows up their global pop crossover single with a shiny new remix EP: Miku S/S17
Comprised of seven remixes of the dance track, plus a blippy, blissed-out Japanese-language version of "Miku," the package features production by musicians Lazerdisk, Mino Mino, Carpainter (TREKKIE TRAX), LLLL (Zoom Lens, Maltine) and B3n Aqua (#FEELINGS), each producer putting their own eclectic electronic spin on the dazzling digital collaboration.
Meanwhile, Anamanaguchi was struck with inspiration while "working with" Miku, an experience which, as Berkman tells it, helped shape the direction of their upcoming album, USA.
"Working with Vocaloid in general, and Hatsune Miku in particular, it's become quite clear that these new technological possibilities present us with the present frontier of artistic expression," he said in a press release. "Text-to-speech is one thing, but text-to-image is another transformation entirely. The forthcoming Anamanaguchi album has been shaped by this premise on fundamental level, and we're very excited to share the results with everybody in the very near future."
See the remix EP's track list and stream the release below:
Miku S/S17
"Miku" (Japanese version)
"Miku" (NES version)
"Miku" (Famitracker version)
"Miku" (LLLL remix)
"Miku" (Carpainter remix)
"Miku" (Ben Aqua remix)
"Miku" (Mino Mino remix)
"Miku" (Lazerdisk remix)
Meet the Reigning Queens of J-Pop: