Category Archives: Perfume Reviews

[SINGLE REVIEW] 未来のミュージアム (Mirai no Museum)

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14968_10200536976406522_1718871827_nAfter a successful overseas tour in the main Asian countries that officially brought Perfume’s music outside Japan, more than an eyebrow lifted when the girls announced a collaboration with the popular cartoon character Doraemon for their next single under the Universal Music Japan label. Why? Because even though Doraemon is huge in Japan and known in many countries around the world, the fans were expecting something a bit different and more “open” than a song mainly aimed at japanese children after all the overseas success and the good expectations for a World Tour 2nd: It’s like taking two steps back after one forward.

But songs are the only thing that matter, and we know how Perfume can transform everything into magic and erase any little initial doubt. Will it be the same for Mirai no Museum?

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[A-SIDE] Mirai no Museum

As we all know, the A-side of this single has been appositely written for the new upcoming Doraemon movie, and it can be briefly described with a single word: Perfect.

It’s adorable, cute and everything that a Doraemon song needs to be. The singing of the girls is melodic and clear, with a smart use of the back vocals that emphasizes the cute arrangement and mood of the track. It’s the perfect Doraemon song… which is a good thing, but also the real problem of this A-side at the same time.

Indeed, this song perfectly nails the Doraemon concept but totally fails on the Perfume sound side: Personally, I couldn’t listen to it more than 4 or 5 times, for the simple fact that it’s just not appealing for someone who discovered and love Perfume for their techno-pop and various sound. It’s not even catchy because there’s no melody that gets stuck in your mind, maybe a 5 or 6 years old child can find it, but not someone who still has the Spending all my Time or Hurly Burly synths stuck in his brain. Not to talk about the lyrics, which are basically identical besides a couple of almost unnoticeable differences and, of course, the always present lazy and totally uninspired Nakata bridge: poor guy can’t do a decent bridge since Spring of Life.

Mirai no Museum perfectly achieves the goal of tie-in song, but fails on satisfying the Perfume fandom. It’s a song that could have been understandable as B-side, but putting it as A-side it’s been pretty much a risky move, not for the sales (that will surely be high as usual) but for the Perfume fandom itself, and I can hardly imagine a Perfume fan looping a song that’s been created exclusively for Doraemon fans.

Forgettable.

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[B-SIDE] Daijobanai

Everyone waited for this B-side for a long time, mainly expecting the savior of this single, the one that could have finally gave a bit of Perfume sound to a release that’s been created for Doraemon fans only, apparently. Everyone was expecting an heavy and/or electronic track… so is Daijobanai the song the fans wanted? Yes and no.

This song is electronic music for sure, better than the forgettable A-side and… it’s fast! The beat is fast, the melody is fast, the singing is fast (and heavily processed), and the sense of velocity and almost confusion is enhanced by the now usual glitchy voice effect we’ve heard on Nee, Laser Beam and other mixes: It’s hard not to get excited in front all of this… until you realize this is a Kyary Pamyu Pamyu song.

I know a lot of people, including you, hate this statement, but let’s be honest and face it: Imagine this song sang by Kyary and try not to think about her. Actually, it’s not even the first time we see something like this, and I’m starting to seriously wonder if Nakata is suffering from some sort of confusion crisis or something. Even the little things that may remember Perfume make this song a repetitive deja-vù, like the usual Nocchi back vocals at the end of every chorus phrase and the already mentioned glitchy voice effect. Not to talk about the little “WUB” effects, typical of the dubstep music, that everyone in the world is copying: Simply out of place.

Daijobanai is a funny song, but extremely short and, above all, it doesn’t represent Perfume in any way, either you care or not. But you’ll have fun with this song, and at least it’s still better than Mirai no Museum; If that’s enough for you, then you’ve found your savior.

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Art Direction

Don’t worry, I won’t spit blood on the art direction. Disliking something created by Yusuke Tanaka is basically impossible, and his works prove it: Indeed, the art direction for Mirai no Museum is very good, even though not the best we’ve seen in the Perfume career. The PV is funny and entertaining, and technically well done, even though the black and white filter following the monochromatic trend of the Spring of Life and Spending all my Time PVs can be tiring after a little while. The various references to the old PVs of their last two singles are also very nice and funny, and make wonder if they’re connected in any way, leaving space to curious theories. A huge thumbs up goes to the outfits of the girls as well, looking original even if inspired from the Doraemon movie concept, and absolutely beautiful: It’s hard to ignore the girls’ beauty in those dresses, that expose their beauty and sexiness the way we love it.

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The Verdict.

Mirai no Museum is a mediocre single and a weak release under every aspect (except for the art direction), from the children-ish A-side, to the upbeat and funny but badly recycled B-side. You’ll find yourself at the end of the barely six minutes of music asking yourself if this seven months waiting was worth it or not.

Sure, this single will sell a lot like every Perfume release, and Doraemon is a true national icon in Japan, so the success is basically sure, but the weakness behind these songs is just not ignorable and makes wonder what direction our girls will take in the future. And this can’t be justified with the “Variety of Perfume sound” excuse: Variety is creating something new for an artists (example: Spice), not recycling something from someone else because it’s easier and comfortable for a producer that is clearly lazy and doesn’t even want to put his effort in making songs for a group that has been with him for 10 years.

I don’t blame the girls for all of this: They’re doing their job greatly as usual, and I just love them too much even though I dislike this single. I blame it on Yasutaka Nakata, who should definitely start to put more effort in Perfume music at least as he does with her Fashion Monster friend, and start being less cold and more humble, because someone out there is doing way better than him in this moment.

If you don’t care about all of this, then you may enjoy this single until a better Perfume release will come out, but I don’t know how many of you will ignore the biggest fail of this single, which is the clear absence of the Perfume sound.

A real disappointment.

Vote 5.5/10

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Join the discussion and leave your impressions about Mirai no Museum (or bash me for this negative review) down here in the comments! ;)

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GO PERFUME!!!

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[REVIEW] Perfume Global Compilation: Love the World

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Since the label shift at the beginning of this year, right in the middle of the successful JPN Tour, the career of Perfume definitely got a huge change of direction in a new and more open way of spreading their music, thanks mainly to the support of a global label like Universal Music. And while the girls are packing stuff to start their first Asia Tour, their new compilation album called Perfume Global Compilation: Love the World (clear reference to their successful 2008 single) is hitting stores in Japan as in many other asian countries, the ones that will be marked by their first overseas tour as well as globally on iTunes. And it’s kind of funny how the label publishing this album is Tokuma Japan Communications, their first major label that brought them so high in their own beloved country, yet never created a true chance to get our girls known globally and in touch with their ever growing international fanbase.
This release can be considered their very first album mainly intended for the international audience and, in all honesty, it couldn’t have been planned better: Sixteen songs from their Complete Best to the JPN era, taken and served to all the fans of the Techno pop unit for excellence.

The album starts with the immortal and classic Polyrythm, probably the song that caught most of the ears between the overseas fans (and not), a track that gets stuck in your mind thanks to the catchy singing of the girls and the particular structure that differentiates itself from any other composition of their discography, and still owns the spot of best opener as it was in the successful GAME album.

After Polyrythm we then have Edge (Triangle mix), which is definitely the darker, heavier and also longest song from Perfume’s discography: In this track all the techno side of their sound is exposed at the maximum and blasted in the ears of the listener that just can’t ignore the dramatic atmosphere that this song summons, and the fact that this unmissable track is being selected as the second song just after Polyrythm clearly shows how, whoever decided the tracklist, wanted to create a sort of contrast with the previous track demonstrating how the Perfume sound can be various and not just a simple copy of itself in every song: Definitely a good choice for the composition of this album, that can now fluently start and bring the listener along the sixteen tracks in the blink of an eye.

Along the way we can find all the tracks that a new comer of the Perfume world needs to listen: From the upbeat and highly danceable Electro World, the romantic and happy Seventh Heaven, to the masterpiece Secret Secret and the newest sound of FAKE IT, Laser Beam and GLITTER, this album covers all the aspects and evolutions of the Perfume career and sound in a almost chronological order setlist that ends with the Perfume anthem for excellence: Dream Fighter. The never give up song, powered by the energetic and unstoppable rythm and the melodic singing of the girls, with simple yet deep lyrics clear as the japanese winter sky:

“We keep on moving filled with strength 
And every tear that falls is a treasure
Even if the cruel reality will hit us
We’ll still be able to keep on moving, Dream Fighter”

That’s the sense, the soul of Perfume briefed in one single track. The power of giving back happiness and hope even in the worst of moments where the light seems extinguished, and the conviction of not giving up and loving the world with a smile on our faces despite the many bad things that can happen along our roads. A feeling that the new listener already got used to during the length of this compilation, ending up with the de facto song of this philosophy: A start / stop journey hard to forget.

The time is here, and the world is waiting for A-chan, Kashiyuka and Nocchi… There has never been a better moment to become a Perfume fan.

 

Additional infos:

The Perfume Global Compilation: Love the World comes in two different editions, Regular and Limited. The LE comes with a bonus DVD containing the brand new FAKE IT PV with relative Making-of, and the Polyrythm – Historical Live Act -, a collage of all the best and unforgettable Polyrythm performances gathered together. Nice extras that justifies the slightly higher price of this edition. The compilation also comes with two new mixes for Chocolate Disco (2012 mix) and MY COLOR (Love the World mix): both of them are pretty good and nice, but nothing that will become memorable or even replace the original tracks. The graphics follows the concept and the graphics of the Perfume Global Website, which is a good and legit idea, even though the covers could have been better (a shiny effect would have been perfect). For more details on the packaging, feel fre to watch the unboxing of this compilation just down below.

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Perfume Global Compilation: Love the World

Limited Edition (CD + DVD)
Regular Edition

RELEASE DATE – 2012.09.12
ORICON WEEKLY CHART RANKING: #1

[CD]

1.Polyrhythm
2.edge (Triangle mix)
3.love the world
4.Electro World
5.Chocolate Disco (2012-Mix)
6.SEVENTH HEAVEN
7.GAME
8.Secret secret
9.NIGHT FLIGHT
10.Baby cruising Love
11.Butterfly
12.FAKE IT
13.Laser Beam
14.GLITTER
15.MY COLOR (LTW-Mix)
16.Dream Fighter
[DVD - Limited Edition only]
1.FAKE IT -Video Clip-
2.FAKE IT -Video Clip Making-
3.Polyrhythm -Historical Live Act Version-

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[REVIEW] ｢Spending all my Time｣ Single

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It’s been one of the longest waitings for the Perfume fans this time, and while the previews of the two B-sides of this singles pretty much tranquilized the supporters of our favorite girls with fresh and upbeat sounds, the full version of the controversial A-side aired on Perfume LOCKS! stunned everyone with an unusual sound for Perfume’s music, with a clear western influence to catch the ears of the global audience awaiting for the three girls to take their next step towards overseas countries. Lots of doubts and questions about this single were in the air, but now that Spending all my Time is here we’re ready to analyze every single second of it.

Will the second Perfume single under the Universal Music label convince the fans? Let’s find it out together!

[A-Side] Spending all my Time

“It doesn’t sound like a Perfume song”, “There’s no personality”: These were the first comments about the song that divided the Perfume fandom between those who appreciate this unusual style for the girls and those who just can’t stand the westernized sound and the general repetetiveness of the track, realizing how the girls and Nakata can do way better than this.

But it doesn’t matter on which side you are (or were), the first time you listen to Spending all my Time the surprise effect (positive or negative) is always predominant. A catchy and simple melody with a very western and common synth going on from the beginning to the end, with the girls singing the same lyrics over and over: that’s it. It points everything on the catchy factor for those who want to enjoy and accept it, while the skeptical will need their good dose of time to make it grow on them. But that’s when you think you already know the song that all the details going in the background will finally reach your ears and convince you that there’s still that Nakata touch in this song, and there’s also some Perfume style too. All the particulars of this song, fully appreciable with the great instrumental included in the single, and the voluntarily repetitive structure (which is different from boring) will make you understand that yes, our favorite J-pop group and producer can do way better than this, but it’s still an enjoyable and appreciable song. It’s an experiment like already happened many times during the girls’ career, but also a signal that Perfume is looking at the world with a simple song that hides a deeper meaning and personality. And for those who are afraid of a permanent change of style, just take this as a  trap for the overseas audience… an experiment, indeed.


Point

This is probably the most awaited song of the entire single since it’s been revealed in one of the many Kirin commercials featuring Perfume, and we can say without a doubt that it’s worth every single second of hype, because this song is just beautiful.

With a drum n bass instrumental that reminds the old Shibuya-kei Capsule of Nexus 2060, this track is musically rich and worth listening a million times just for the pleasure of finding new details in each session. The vibe is sweet and happy and it summons a dreaming atmosphere, also thanks to the gentle and delicate singing of the girls that sounds sweeter than ever, enriched by a smart use of particular instruments like the beautiful harp during the chorus and the mandolin in the bridge that leads to the ending part of the song: Sugar for your ears.

We can say without a doubt that everything about this song is plain perfect: It’s a new sound for Perfume that exposes their cute and sweet side more than ever, focusing on their pleasant voices and leaving all the rest to one of the best Nakata instrumentals to date: Masterpiece.

Hurly Burly

After two particular songs like Spending all my Time and Point that pleased your ears, we all need to jump and go wild, and here comes the killer Hurly Burly. It’s the classic, upbeat and energetic Perfume sound that we all know and love, but what makes the difference here is the killer synth and melody that just won’t leave your head and the powerful beat that will make your body move automatically and go out of control. The song is slightly longer than usual, but it never gets excessively repetitive, while the structure is the same intro-verse-chorus-lazynakatabridge-final chorus, so really nothing new under the sun. But really, who cares about analisys when this song alone could move an entire disco? It’s catchy, it gets stuck in your head, it makes you dance and want to Hurly Burly Party all night with your friends: It’s a song that could conquer the global audience, even more than the A-side itself.

Final comments

Spending all my Time is one of the most various, fresh and simply best singles in the recent history of Perfume. It has melody, it’s various, sometimes unpredictable, and simply rich of particulars that you’ll love to discover from time to time. It explores new sounds without leaving the basic personality of Perfume, and it’s rich of good music created by one of the best japanese producer and singed by the sweetest and talented girls you will find in the J-pop scene (and not only). It’s a great start for the newcomers and a surprisingly fresh single for the old fans. But in the end it just doesn’t matter who you are: you will loop this single and dance to it countless times.

 

 

GO PERFUME!!!

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[REVIEW] ｢Spring of Life｣ single

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Here we are reviewing Spring of Life, first Perfume single and release of this hot 2012, a year that brought many changes in the Perfume world, from the shift to Universal Music to the announcement of future overseas activities that started with the recent worldwide release of JPN on iTunes, representing a new great start and goal for our girls: the Overseas success.

Announced just a month ago, Spring of Life is the 15th Perfume major single and the first under their new international label, and it brings back some good old Perfume sound made of happiness, cuteness and delicious technopop vibe. Is it worth the waiting? Let’s find out!

[A-side] Spring of Life

The single obviously starts with the greatly anticipated A-side Spring of Life: Energetic, happy, and fast, Spring of Life varies its structure with slowly singed verses and explosive chorus, creating a nice contrast fortified by the excellent singing of the girls that perfectly fits the lyrics. The message of the songs is bittersweet and clear: Trapped in the unstoppable every-day routine we wait for something to come and save our lives from the dulness of the daily schedule, but the only way to make it through is to free our feelings and to let ourselves go.
But it’s just when you get used to the energetic vibe of the song that the bridge comes in, interrupting the happy vibe with a dark and techno-ish beat followed by an awesome solo made in Nakata that leads to the final chorus, now enriched by the fast and colorful melodies coming from the previous part of the song: It’s a perfect mix of voices and sounds that will make you jump on your chair like you didn’t in a long time.

Yes, Spring of Life is a song  that doesn’t disappoint and also represents the Perfume sound at its best: Happy, fast, energetic and various, this song adopts a new recipe but with a familiar vibe that doesn’t sound old at all. Definitely one of the best Perfume A-sides in a while.

[B-side] コミュニケーション / Communication

After an upbeat and energetic song what’s better than a calm and nice B-side to chill down the situation? Maybe something like 575 or 23:30 could be nice, but it wouldn’t match the concept of “Spring” really well, so what type of tune the girls and Nakata have inserted to couple with Spring of Life? Simple: a cute and catchy song.

Instrumentally, Communication is really nothing special: we have the same melody and beat that last for all the 4 minutes of the song, with a plain intro-verse-bridge-chorus structure that doesn’t add anything new to the Perfume sound or in general. Does this mean it’s a bad or weak song? Not at all. Even though it’s certainly nothing that can be comapred with their best b-sides, Communication is a terribly funny and catchy track thanks to the easy melody and the “viral” singing, and I can assure you’ll find yourself singing “Puru Puru Tsun Tsun” without even realizing it. It’s a song that grows up with time, and even if you’ll feel like it’s a sort of trip back to the Complete Best era or a lazy CM song, it will get stuck in your head in no time. Which is supposed to be a good thing… right?

Packaging and extras

The single goes on with the instrumental songs, and while Spring of Life is an amazing track that can be enjoyed even without the great singing of our girls, Communication is something you can easily fall asleep on.
As tradition, the DVD of the Limited Edition contains the Spring of Life PV which is definitely a nice and cool music video that we already had the chance to watch some days ago.

The package in general is good as always: the Covers look amazing and match the general concept of the single very well, and the Limited Edition includes an external sleeve exactly as Laser Beam. Last but not least, if you’re one of the lucky fans that pre ordered a first press edition, you’ll be happy to give to your room a very nice looking poster with the girls posing and showing their beauty as always. You won’t resist to expose this new single on your shelf.

Final Comments

Spring of Life is a good single that doesn’t disappoint. Happiness, energy, cuteness, variety: All the characteristics that made the Perfume sound so special and successful over the years can be found here, and while you’ll dance like a crazy on the colorful melodies of Spring of Life, you’ll love to sing the catchy and repetitive notes of Communication. Perfume, Nakata and Universal packed a single that doesn’t revolutionize anything, but gives strength and a boost to their next releases and projects: It’s the confirmation that the Perfume sound is still alive and stronger than ever, ready to conquer the overseas countries.

Be ready… there are a lot of things awaiting for Perfume and their fans!

GO PERFUME!!!

[Review] P.T.A. DVD vol.4

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P.T.A. DVD vol.4 cover

Another year has come, and another P.T.A. DVD has finally reached all the lucky members of the Official Perfume Fan Club once again. These special DVDs always please the most hardcore fans of our favorite girls with many exclusive videos such as making of and special movies gathered together from an entire year of P.T.A. videos taken straightly from the official Fan Club website, together with a better video resolution and a bit of video editing and funny effects to complete everything.

So how is the fourth release of this special gift to the fans? Well, simply amazing as always. The first thing we can notice is the change of graphics and style used for the cover; The first three DVDs had a pretty similar graphic and cute looking concept, while this new DVD adopts a more futuristic and amazing style that everyone will surely appreciate in their shelf of Perfume merchandise and items.

Leaving apart the external look, let’s talk about the content of this DVD. As we can notice from the menu, the movie starts as always with the P.T.A. TV documentary wich gives us a close look at all the recent acitivities of the girls such as PVs, Summer Festival backstages and CM makings; We know the girls had a lot of appearances and releases last year, so this part of the DVD is way longer and even more entertaning than usual, giving us some very funny and interesting moments like the making of the full version of the Laser Beam PV (Yes, the white bear is the star) and Kasukana Kaori. We also have the making of the Spice PV, a particular music video that divided the Perfume fans for his particularity, due mostly by the unusual absence of Kazuaki Seki: Even though, the girls still gave 100% and had fun as always even without the genius behind all their best Promotional Videos. The fun goes on with the photoshoot for their 4th album JPN, showing us some exclusive unpublished shoots and funny moments, with a Nocchi that doesn’t particulary like the “P” letter.

Perfume and their art director Kazuaki Seki.

After all these funny backstages we have the making of of the two Kirin CMs already seen on the web and some excerpts from the backstages of their summer festivals appearances (Rock in Japan, Summer Sonic, Monster Bash); Though, it would have been nice if they could have shown us some parts of the FAKE IT dance used as opener in their summer activities, choreography that the girls still keep really hidden (the only ones to have seen that are the lucky fans who had the chance to see them live). Anyway, a nice add for sure, but a better in dept looking at these shows would have been appreciated. Not to forget their glorious participation to the Cars 2 Premiere in Los Angeles, the Asia Song festival and their touching speech at the Hiroshima Flower Festival.

Once the long P.T.A. TV part is over, we got three special movies made appositely for the P.T.A. fanclub which are pretty nice and awesome to watch, all based on a funny and friendly competition between our three girls, seeing them trying to cook some food for St. Valentine’s day, wearing three (lucky) guys in a Harajuku clothes shop and playing Mario Kart on Wii (you’ll see who’s the best player, lol). These entertaining and nice movies will make happy all the fans with some good funny moments, showing the natural cuteness that will unavoidably make you fall in love with these super famous yet so down-to-earth girls.

Conclusion:

That said, the P.T.A. DVD vol.4 is an entertaining, funny and complete look at the last year of Perfume’s activities, giving us a closer look to their backstage life and all the work behind every single appearance, from the magazines, to the CMs and the PVs. It’s always nice to see the girls enjoying their work and their beautiful relationship with all the Perfume staff, and I guess this DVD can be considered as one of their best P.T.A. DVDs ever if you ask me. Definitely another excellent product to add to your Perfume collection: If you are one of the lucky overseas (or not) P.T.A. members, you’ll happily enjoy this for free. If you’re not… well, maybe it will be worth to check it out for a good price on the web. ;)