Perfume's "Monochrome Effect" on American Dad

Perfume - Monochrome Effect on TV

Waaaaaaaay too fucking awesome for me not to pass this on to you guys. Wow, I guess that means WE R FROM TEH FUTURZ. What's next, Mandichan on American Idol performing an Under17 song?

Source: [perfume city]

田中ヤスタカ roundup: Capsule, Perfume, 鈴木亜美, MEG

I said I'd write more about NAKATA yasutaka and his solid-gold compositions, time to make good on that promise and actually get down to it, not to mention that a large number of his tracks are about to get released by the end of the year. Source for this information largely taken from Perfume City (and its splendid, troll-free forums).

First and foremost, capsule will finally release some new material this year, after a busy 2007 that saw them release three albums. Dated for November 19 2008 「More! More! More!」 will indeed probably give us more of the same audio crack that we are desperate for. A trippy PV for "Jumper" is already out and a short version of the album's titular song has been out there for quite a while actually. Initial impressions on this fan's end are extremely positive, but the currently available songs don't eclipse 2007's brilliant 「Sugarless GiRL」; stay tuned for a review once the album hits.

Of course, 中田さん is once again completely behind Perfume's third release of the year (fourth if you include the Game DVD). 「Dream Fighter」 is also slated to be released on November 19, hopefully the legion of Perfume superfans will have a thought for their producer and buy both capsule's full-length and Perfume's new single at the same time. Either way, it's clear which one will top the oricon charts. Surprisingly none of the two tracks have leaked yet, however Chaku-Uta will have the songs available for its けいたい users on October 29th... any moment now!



Fans of SUZUKI ami have been enjoyed the second coming of her career as she has now completely transitioned under 中田's authority. The eleven track full-length album 「Supreme Show」 will drop one week before capsule and Perfume, that's November 12 2008. Five of these tracks are already available through the two singles she released this summer. Considering the decent chartings obtained by 「ONE」 and 「can't stop the DISCO」, it only makes sense for this entire album to come to fruition. If it charts higher than 「DOLCE」 did (and it is expected to) then by inference, people will actually be buying this mostly because of NAKATA's work on rejuvenating the diva's career. Which is good stuff all-around for all three parties involved (the third is us!! the fans!!!)



Quick ending note about the lovely MEG. The relentless model-turned-singer released her third single of the year on September 17, a mere three months after dropping her fifth album in August. Sadly, the single fell off oricon charts after reaching #17 on week 39, but it has yet to fall out of her fan's hearts. It features two new songs: PRECIOUS, CANDY and an appropriate "end of summer" remix of PRECIOUS, which actually blows the original out of the water with its slick flamenco guitar picking and by-the-beach mood. Let's just hope the poor commercial performance doesn't break the camel's back, because what a terrible place this world would become without her beautiful voice...

CD検討: Perfume 「love the world」

A mere three months after the highly successful 「GAME」, Perfume drop new music with their 12th single 「love the world」. Given the short delay between both releases, you'll be forgiven for thinking these two new songs are nothing more than extra B-sides that didn't make the full-length cut. But in fact, even though the two new songs "love the world" and "edge" are very similar to what you would find on 「GAME」, they hold their own quite well and serve as the perfect companion to an already perfect record. There are four tracks in total, including an instrumental version of "love the world" and an extended remix of "edge". The cover gives off a retro/60's vibe which can be felt in the music. All of them are looking nothing short of hot (with Nocchi on top) so my chauvinistic side is hoping the next cover follows in line!

love the world: The opening track wastes no time introducing the poignant little jingle that will make a recurring appearance for the next 4:35 to come. In accordance with the song's name, this is a fairly cheerful track that may or may not entice you to actually love said world. I don't really dig forced child labor in India and the endlessly ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, so I'm gonna assume that they're singing about a fictitious, dream-like world. That much I have no problem with... good try though. Musically we're really close to GAME's "Plastic Smile", which I have really grown to love due to my girlfriend's abusive favorite-song-on-replay policy. Yet again, there are no surprises on here, high quality production values are all over the place and the song never drags on or becomes boring.

However, I'm starting to understand long-time Perfume fans when they say they prefer the older stuff. Not that I'm on their side, but the girls' role might as well have been diminished to showroom mannequins. They don't sing at all anymore, they merely push harmonious sounds out of their tiny mouths while they prance around in a faux-popping fashion. The vocalizer plugin does all of their work while Nakata-san serves up his greatest compositions to date unto the unsuspecting masses. One quick comparative listen to "Sweet Donuts" and even momoi-produced "アキハバラブ" reveals that the girls used to have to sing their way into their fans' heart. This is apparently no longer necessary given the new style, but I'd still like to see them turn off the cruise control someday...

edge: Whereas "love the world" was purely written Perfume-style, "edge" is... ちょっとちがう, a little different. It doesn't sound anything like a Perfume song, but rather a capsule one. This is 中田ヤスタカ having fun 2 da maxxx obviously, but I'm not sure how well the die-hard fans will receive this. Personally I'm quite pleased given how much I love capsule, so I welcome the crossover initiative with open arms. But what exactly makes "edge" capsule-sounding? It opens with an arcane groove pattern tucked under a laser-cut precise drum pattern. Appropriately this time, the girls sing in a darker tone, bathing this tune in a gloomy aura that you just can't shake off. Definitely not the lollipop stuff they were singing about 3-4 years ago. I appreciate the change but I'd still really like to see some new songs performed in the key of yon.

edge ~extended remix~: Why yes, I am reviewing a remixed song, thanks for noticing. This one (probably the intended cut) adds a whole 2 minutes to the watered-down version for a whopping total of 8:41 minutes. The girls don't start "singing" until about 1 minute in, due to the long intro. The rest of the song is actually very similar, except for elongated passages and an even darker mood due to some sullen chanting and morose homophony that mirror the vocal patterns.

I'm completely sold to Perfume, so I'm not gonna say "this isn't bad" or anything like that. 「love the world」 rules. Hard. If you enjoyed 「GAME」 there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't get this なかま single. Japan seems to think so as well; with an astonishing 80K+ units sold in the first week, this single is on par with the full-length album's 315K copies so far. There is just no stopping this Oricon-raping Perfume train!

CD検討: Perfume 「GAME」

Because of the very nature I decided to give this blog, I've limited myself with my reporting duties. I think I can count on my two hands the number of artists that I can effectively cover without leaving the realm of denpa/akiba-pop. Not that I can't do whatever the heck I please with this blog, but there are already a number of sites where one can obtain information about general Japanese music and the interweb is certainly filled to the brink with Utada Hikaru fansites. Which is why I've decided to concentrate on denpa, not to mention that the genre drives me nuts, in a good way. Enter Perfume and their most recent release, "GAME". Mostly because of their earliest singles, the trio has been closely associated to akiba-kei, despite being produced by one of the most influencial shibuya-kei artists of the past 10 years, more on that later. Additionally, the band was backed by Haruko Momoi in 2005 when she produced AKIHABALOVE (アキハバラブ) both in single and DVD form. So I guess it's safe to say that they somewhat fit the bill and that I can report about them without fear of unleashing the fury of my numerous readers.

But the last thing I want to do today is come up with the history of Perfume as a band, I'll leave that to the excellent PPN wiki. Suffice to say that before the multiple GAME-related singles started to come out from late 2006 on, they were a relatively unknown trio. When "Polyrhythm" came out in late 2007, that's when things really picked up for Perfume. It helps that the song was (appropriately) chosen as a theme for recycling by the NHK, Japan's largest public TV network. However, it was also then that they really started coming into their own, after a compilation of cute but certainly not time-proven singles that went by the name of "Perfume ～Complete Best～". As I will demonstrate throughout my review, Perfume went from drab, generic JPop to complex, mature electronica that remains unpretentious, a rare quality in the genre.

Several elements can be listed to explain the appeal behind Perfume as a band. The girls are cute, the songs are catchy and there is a huge 萌え aura surrounding everything they come out with. But for myself and other musical elite know-it-alls, the mere presence of 中田ヤスタカ (Nakata Yasutaka) at the helm more than justifies the entrance fee for this wild ride. I don't mean to bash anyone here, but if it wasn't for that man, I wouldn't even be writing this review today. It seems that in North America, "artists" get the majority of the credit for their songs, but if the pandering masses knew but a figment of what goes on behind the scenes, they would scream their deception through boycotts, as they should. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the slimy music industry is fucked. But at least, the Japanese seem honest about admitting that bands like Perfume are but a front for real artists to express their creativity. Not that I want to take away any of the credit that the Perfume girls do deserve... but have you seen them live? That's right, they lip-synch most of the time due to their elaborate dances, but when they don't... yeah. Thank Jeebus for that studio magic. One quick word about the cover: I love it! Whether they are holding oversized glowsticks or are giving their own twisted homage to Star Wars, I don't know. But I can't help but be reminded of Travis Touchdown from No More Heroes, who would definitely be a huge Perfume fan if he was for real. Let's RIP into those songs!!!

1. ポリリズム

As I've said before, this is the one song that gave Perfume their first taste of househould success, and it's not hard to see why. Instantly, the impressive production values hit your senses: everything happens for a reason here. Don't be fooled by the slow start, the song is only building up momentum as it quickly steps up the pace. On the other hand, if you can't get past that song then don't press on, as most of the album revolves around the same elements that made "Polyrhythm" a success in the first place. Do yourself a favor and check out the PV.

2. plastic smile

This one is a bit more energetic and happy-sounding than "Polyrhythm", but is still very much in line with the opening track. Far from being filler material, "plastic smile" possesses multiple hooks but will not surprise you as the structure is fairly simple and is reused until the very end. This is perhaps one of the weaker songs of this album, but it is not a dud and as you will read, they may just have kept the best ones for the end.

3. GAME

You can call me crazy, but this song greatly reminds me of The Cardigan's "My Favorite Game", not just in name, but musically as well. In fact, I could draw many parallels between "GAME" and "Gran Turismo" (the album, not the game!) not the least of which is that both albums marked a significant shift in style for both bands. But back to the matter at hand, I love how "GAME" starts with a phat bass line (as much as I hate the term, it's appropriate here) over caustic percussion and later on, a guitar screaming its head off as if choked to death. In the middle of this orchestrated confusion, the girls take turn singing until the crushing chorus is introduced. There is no clear direction in this song, only the feeling that despite being in the dark surrounded by evil bloodthirsty creatures, things are gonna work out just fine. After all, this is just a game we're playing, right? Love the song.

4. Baby cruising Love

Compared to the three previous tracks, this one opens much less busily, with some clear singing over a relaxing piano line. But it isn't long before that heavy "GAME" bass rears its awesome head again, transforming what would normally be a lousy ballad into an above-average electro song with plenty of heart and some real drums to boot. The chorus itself is a powerful head-bobbing magnet but like most songs so far, there aren't any surprising moments, just a whole lot of fantastic parts elegantly glued together.

5. チョコレイト・ディスコ

Old-time Perfume fans will surely appreciate this one the most! It does sound as though "Chocolate Disco" would belong more on the previous "Complete Best" than on "GAME", but with the new heavy and uncompromising style that was adopted, it fits in quite snugly. Again, the deep booming bass accounts for a huge chunk of the difference, but the snappy cadence is also quite noticeable.

6. マカロニ

I said there were no duds, right? Guess this one is as close as it gets, though. "Macaroni" has very little going for it and if it wasn't for the pouncing drums, it would be a real bore. Even the girls sound a bit drowsy when doing what they do best. But hey! For the first time so far, some creative liberties were taken towards the end of this song, as a number of dissonant sounds are thrown left and right in an attempt to wake up the listener.

7. セラミックガール

"Ceramic Girl, It's brand new world!" It's funny how songs always sound tons better when they're placed after a monotonous one. Kinda like how average papers get scored higher after correcting a terrible one. I guess only teachers will get that one. But average is not a bad thing here, considering the overall quality of the record. Furthermore, "Ceramic Girl" introduces some of the fastest lyrical delivery so far. While nothing compared to what Mi~ko and KOTOKO can accomplish, it does have a invigorating effect that can't be ignored. I also like how the beat can sometimes go wild in this one, without disturbing the flow.

8. Take me Take me

THIS SONG IS PEDOBEAR APPROVED. Sorry but I couldn't help myself. Maybe they had something entirely different in mind when writing these lyrics, such as being taken to the movies or the amusement park. But a trio of fresh-on-the-market ladies singing "take me tonight" to legions of underaged girls and obsessed otakus just screams wrong to me. Not to mention the beat is highly suggestive in itself, yet of course it has nothing on the grand-daddy of them all, Ravel's Boléro. Still, Madonna and Britney Spears would be proud of their international influence, but then again so should 中田ヤスタカ. Despite the trashy vibes one can get from the lyrics, the song remains highly enjoyable with its minimalistic orientation and soothing attributes.

9. シークレットシークレット

Holy shit, if "Take me, Take me" was soothing, then "Secret Secret" is downright spellbinding. This one takes all the positive elements from the eight previous tracks and brings them together in a graceful manner. There is absolutely nothing bad to say about this song. Perfect beat, perfect execution, perfect delivery. What did I say about saving the best for last?

10. Butterfly

So are you done listening to "Secret Secret" in a loop? Great, 'cuz here comes your next favourite Perfume song. In terms of creativity, this one takes the cake. It opens to the sound of the Amazonian jungle, complete with tribal percussion and an arpeggio that sounds like it was taken out of a... well you know those fantastic dreams of flying that come up every once in a while? Don't lie, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Well this song would be the perfect soundtrack to such dreams. And if you really don't dream about flying, then you will after listening to this. The harmonious arrangement that Yasutaka-san came up with will work wonders next time I can't fall asleep and I say this with the utmost respect. There's a difference between soporific and hypnotic, and "Butterfly" doesn't induce the latter. Sadly this one doesn't have a PV, which is odd considering how good a video this would make.

11. Twinkle Snow Powdery Snow

Just to remind you that you're still listening to the akiba-kei Perfume, not the Amazonian goddesses from "Butterfly", they threw together this song that, again, draws from the best elements that everyone has to offer. This one is delivered allegro, no effing around with unconventional techniques or anything crazy. In the end, it comes out sounding like a lounge version of an original song, except this is the original song as well. Very clever!

12. Puppy love

As the last song of such a beautiful record, "Puppy love" has a lot going for it. It delivers admirably but even if it hadn't, I would still be satisfied given what I have experienced going through this album. It's almost a bonus that the song doesn't suck, as "last songs" are wont to do. If you've had your share of electronica by now, then never fear as this one opens with carefully palm-muted acoustic guitar over some real drum and bass. It quickly works itself into a relaxed tempo that is just the perfect send-off.

Two recurring factors instantly come to mind for this conclusion: one - Perfume will never be known for giving deep meaning to their lyrics. This is simply feelgood music, much like comfort food and watching hockey are simple pleasures of life that can turn your shitty day around. Two - 中田ヤスタカ is a fucking musical GENIUS. Could you imagine if he started collaborating with MOSAIC.WAV? The best part is that you can enjoy tons more of his musical prowess by listening to capsule (his original band) and really, any artist from his "contemode" label. However, if you want to enjoy cute voices over complex electronica arrangements, capsule may be a little too rough around the edges for you, making Perfume's 「GAME」 the top contender in this category.