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The book “Ableton LiveではじめるDTM” will be published by BNN. Written by yuichi NAGAO—an artist who also teaches music production at Bigakko—it serves as an introductory guide to making music with Ableton Live. Hercelot contributed as a guest writer, providing an advanced chapter at the end of the book comparing different synthesizers.

Maltine Records, which has led Japan’s underground internet music scene since 2005 and fostered countless artists, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, a 20-track compilation album featuring many of its past artists has been produced. All tracks are collaborations, and Hercelot teamed up with Avec Avec to create “Chowder.” Built on a slow-tempo beat and choir harmonies, the track is warm and shimmering, with a gentle glow beneath its cozy atmosphere.

"暴力的にカワイイ” is a party that began in 2017 in Shibuya, Tokyo. Its regular members include Yunomi, Tomggg, KOTONOHOUSE, YUC’e, nor, TORIENA, and Hercelot. It has grown steadily, drawing 6,000 people this year at an outdoor venue in Odaiba. For the first time, a compilation album of 12 new tracks was released. Hercelot collaborated with Tomggg and yuigot on “CONTRAILS!!!”, a bossa-nova drum’n’bass piece layered with Tomggg’s melodies, yuigot’s synth bass and mallets, and Hercelot’s drums and robot vocals—a bright track reminiscent of triple contrails brushed across the summer sky.

TORAIZ Chordcat is a new music production gear released by AlphaTheta, known for the Pioneer DJ brand. It features intuitive chord progression support and the ability to create complete tracks with drums and effects in a single unit. A talk session with the developers and musicians took place at the Rock oN Company music store in Shibuya, Tokyo, and was streamed live as well as held on-site. Hercelot reported on the gear from a user’s perspective.

A new 3-track summer EP has been released. Portable Muumuu features a vintage speech synthesizer singing busily to the theme of "a summer resort imagined by a robot". Cody’s Magic Pan layers steelpan and dub guitar crawling over a sweltering guiro rhythm. Parade of Stilllife reworks the earlier track "smallest stilllife" into a tighter collage house piece with a dance beat. All three tracks combine CR-78 machine beats with acoustic percussion, creating electronic music that captures the intense heat of summer.