Various - J-Core Masterz Vol.3

"J-Core Masterz" is a global compilation of indie electronica ranging from breakcore to speedcore, and while the title makes it seem otherwise, it is very far from the definitive compilation of "J-Core", which for all intents and purposes is just Japanese Hard Dance music.

Off the bat, it is very obvious what audience this CD is targeting: The "Otaku", or anime nerd scene, and as a result, this may only appeal to those who are avid anime watchers. Me not being one, I feel a bit out of place listening to this, and I think a lot of other people will also feel the same way listening to this compilation. On top of this, most of these tracks come off as extremely amateur and repetitive, most notably DJ Clonepa's incredibly uninspired and boring track "Potatomoe2008", which also is shockingly next to an incredible M-Project track (Ultimate Destruction), a high driven dance track with intense energy. This actually is the only quality track I found on this compilation.

RoughSketch, one of my favorite Japanese artists, has a track on here that can only be seen as a joke, since it is just a gabba track with two MC's screaming "Indian Noodle Shop" over and over again. Very cute, but the novelty wears off very quickly, and even more so knowing that RoughSketch does have some very quality releases.

T2Kazuya, a very young and talented producer from the USA, also appears on here, with vocalist Emma, which try as she might, is a very subpar singer, especially when singing in a foreign language. The production, while admirable, comes off as very amateurish, especially with the guitar samples, which actually sound off beat at points.

M2dy's track "Keyboard Crash Dandy" is an embarrassing rehash of his incredibly overrated track "Speedcore Dandy", which is all the more reason to question why this artist is so popular in the first place. The same fast triggering kicks and samples gets very tiring, and my ears can only take so much of it.

DJ Aura Qualic, a very reputable trance artist in Japan, makes an appearance on this compilation, with an extremely trite pseudo-hardcore track, which clearly shows how uncomfortable he is with the genre. Fantastic artist, but I believe he should be concentrating on making beautiful trance music instead, something he is great at.

Overall, this release is very hard to recommend, as it only appeals to anime fans and only has one quality dance track. This really brings to question what exactly M-Project is trying to do with this series. Vol.4 will be coming out soon, so I can only hope for more direction and a more matured sound. Time will tell.

This CD is misguidingly titled - there is nothing particularly masterful about this release save for the handful of tracks that were actually composed by Japanese artists. The rest of the tracks seemed to have been done by bored American teenagers with FL Studio in their misguided attempt at composing "J-core" and sent them to M-Project on a whim. This CD is just very messy to listen to and features samples used questionably, vocalists who cannot sing in a target language without making it incomprehensible and internet memes past the age they were funny.

Overall, you're better off spending your money on a more well produced series such as the Bastard Pop Terrorist CDs.