Although a heroic effort at turning NRG into an acronym was the first thing I noticed here, Japanese label Masamune’s Neologism Raving Generator might actually be one of the most important freeform albums of the year. It’s also another one that should have decent appeal across the whole scene.

Most encouraging is the sight of some new artists stepping up with some very high quality production – Nizikawa’s Ebrietas might be the track that finds the firmest middle ground between uplifting melodies and the more aggressive stuff. The majority of the tracks have most in common with the sound of the UK scene, though there’s a definite J-Core influence to some of the melodies that comes out especially in a couple of polysha’s collab tracks, Omniverse especially.

Sanaas’ PALLADION sounds like a really impressive uplifting track, while Hyphen’s Meaningless C.O.D.E. is one of his strongest for a while, at least to my ears. Unsurprisingly it’s Morita Yuuhei’s Redemption Song that’s my early favourite – the moment I heard the preview I started running through set ideas. I shall definitely be using that one.

Neologism Raving Generator was released at last weekend’s M3, but it’ll likely follow the lead of Psychic Formers and eventually be available online.

update: The CD is now available via Diverse Direct and the Tano*C Store. I’d recommend the former – just after placing an order I noticed the ‘For Oversea’ section with an unusually clear guide in English. Postage abroad seems pretty steep if you’re only ordering a single CD, mind, so it might be a thought to add a couple more to the basket.