Time for some new penguin music and this one is something pretty interesting; Penguins Project, a pop music producer from Tokyo, Japan. Featured here are two of their releases; the full album "Penguin's Dream" and it's main single "Chocolate Train". Genre of these would be completely electronic, cutesy pop music featuring Vocaloid super-star Hatsune Miku.

Now, unless you are either a fan of Japanese pop culture or a geek who follows robotics and AI development, you likely just asked 'What the heck is Vocaloid? Well, you know how almost any musical instrument can be simulated via synthesis? For example, that's how we can have string sections on TAGAP soundtracks – Petja has virtual instruments that use combination of synthesis and sampling to simulate the said instruments. Now, Vocaloid does the same to the singer; basically you give the program the notation and the lyrics and voilà – you have yourself full vocals!

If you're thinking 'this is nuts', think again. You've likely heard of the cultural impact of Japanese pop Idols, right? The thing is, there are also virtual Idols; completely artificial pop super-stars, powered by Vocaloids and represented on stage as full-blown holograms. No, this is not a cyberpunk story but the actual world we live in.

But back to Penguins Project, who utilizes the most famous of the Vocaloids, Hatsune Miku. And I have to say, when I first heard the album, I was superbly positively surprised. This was the first Vocaloid act I actually listened to and it sounds way more natural than I expected. Heck, thanks to the excessive use of Autotune in modern pop, I'd argue Hatsune Miku sounds more natural than some mainstream pop artists. If you like Japanese electronic music and J-Pop, this might be just for you.

Penguins Project's sound is sort of semi-retro; it strongly reminds me of SNES and Sega Megadrive/Genesis soundtracks, only with more modern soundcape. Hatsune Miku fits the music perfectly, as even at the moments when the synthetic nature of her voice becomes obvious, it blends perfectly with the cheekily electronic vibe of it all.

So, yes, I'd totally recommend it. The album wasn't released physically as far as I know, but you can purchase it digitally through CD Baby. Heck, for once even the album being all digital is more than fitting!