Shuffle And Repeat

Single Review
Perfume – One Room Disco

One Room Disco is Perfume’s 9th major single, and 14th overall. It was released on March 25, 2009, and reached #1 on the oricon weekly charts. It sold a total of 99,825 copies, and charted for 7 weeks.

tracklist:
1. One Room Disco
2. 23:30
3. One Room Disco -Original Instrumental-
4. 23:30 -Original Instrumental-

Since I got a little tired of Dream Fighter after a few months, I was glad Perfume released One Room Disco. Although I wasn’t blown away by this track, the group lived up to my expectations. I really wanted them to go back to the style they used to do during the GAME era, and happily, that’s sort of what I got. Not really excactly what I wanted, but what I got was fine. This song is like a mixture of some other Perfume tracks actually. It’s like Dream Fighter with the heavy synths, mixed in with Chocolate Disco’s “disco,disco” lines, and pinched with the poppiness of love the world. Looking at these similarities, we basically don’t really get something from Perfume with a new look, but I don’t really mind. Although, The group really has to bring us something new soon, because I am starting to get tired with their releases sometimes. But anyways, I really like One Room Disco. It’s a really great song. ^^

The lounge-y 23:30 comes next, which I think was quite of a step-up from Dream Fighter’s Negai. The girls’ voices sounded so calm, which really relaxes the listener. But to be honest, I’m craving for something more upbeat from them as a B-side, like, let’s say, SEVENTH HEAVEN. But either way, this song sounds good, and it’s quite a nice addition to the single.

Favorite Track:
ONE ROOM DISCO

shuffle rating!
A

GAME is Perfume’s 1st major album, and 2nd overall. It was released on April 16,2008 and reached #1 in the oricon charts. It sold more than 386,920 copies in Japan, making it the 23rd best-selling album of 2008.

Album Review
Perfume – GAME

tracklist:
1. Polyrhythm
2. plastic smile
3. GAME
4. Baby cruising Love
5. Chocolate Disco
6. Macaroni
7. Ceramic Girl
8. Take me Take me
9. Secret Secret
10. Butterfly
11. Twinkle Snow Powdery Snow
12. Puppy love

I originally planned to review GAME around November but now, I’m reviewing it, almost a year after it’s release!! XD wow.

The album opens with Polyrhythm, the song that has brought the group to their success in the jpop world. I think that it was a really nice choice to open the album with this song because it’s a catchy song, and it really gets you in the mood for listening to the full album. Another great thing about it is that it never gets old, and even though it’s INSANELY repetitive, it never bores the listener. It’s always fresh, and it’s really amusing.

Right after the hype in the previous track, we now have plastic smile, the first new track from the album. I have to say that was quite disappointed with this track at first because it didn’t have all the good qualities their previous releases had but still, it’s a really good song. It’s quite catchy, and the “ah,ahhs” that runs all over the song was really really cute. What I liked the most about this song is he beepy synth during the chorus because it goes well with the “plastic smile..” phrases the girls are singing.

FS@$)%^$W)E$E(!!! OH DEAR LORD. Possibly Perfume’s most aggressive songs before EDGE, is GAME. In fact, it’s the most aggressive for me because of the hardcore-ness it brings! Being the title track of the album, I was expecting a lot from it, and man, I GOT MORE THAN WHAT I EXPECTED!  I get a sort-of die hard type of song that’s really really cool. I love the “PLAY THE GAAAME” lines they sing in the chorus because it’s really really catchy. The synth the song has goes effing great with the guitars, and the girls’ voices. The strong beats and dark look helped the song to sound more aggressive and yes, I LIKE IT! It’s an AWESOME song, and you guys should definitely TRY IT OUT.

I don’t know what the producers/the group were thinking but, placing Baby cruising Love with GAME was a bit weird. I mean, Baby cruising love is this slow, laid-back song, and GAME is this loud song. Putting it together was a bit misleading since the power stops when it reached this song. Anyway, Baby cruising love is another great song by the group. It has the most relaxed feeling out of all the tracks with it’s slow atmosphere, and the piano. It actually is my next favorite song after Polyrhythm from all the 3 singles  because of the said relaxed feeling. In all, It’s yet another great Perfume song.

Chocolate Disco is very true to it’s title. It sounds disco-ey, and it’s very up-beat. It runs with a disco beat, and playful synth that makes all the disco-like things possible. An extreme fact about this  is that 2 simple words –CHOCOLATE, DISCO — MAKES ALL THE CATCHINESS POSSIBLE. It’s very simple, and repetitive but boy, Simplicity NEVER sounded this GREAT. To describe it in one word, Chocolate Disco is DISCO-Tastic!

Next is Macaroni, the slowest song in the album. It starts with a drum-like beat, entered by some synth, and the “ma-ma-ma-macaroni” phrase. I don’t really have much to say about this song except that it’s catchy, and awesome. The slow tempo and jazzy elements take the song to the relaxing zone, and the blending of the girls’ voices helps too. It’s definitely a great song, and is one of the best from the group too, actually.

After a slow song, you’ll wake up again with Ceramic Girl, the funniest song in the album. I don’t know why but everytime I listen to it, I laugh at the “ceramic girl” lines because it sounds like SALAMI girl, Selly said in his review Despite the funny pronunciation, it’s a very catchy song. The vocoded voice that says ceramic girl at the background really added the fun in the song because it was quite interesting. My favorite part of the song would have to be the chorus because of the said “funny-salami” reason. The fast pace of the song added the coolness in the song because it mostly brings the life in the song. Anyway, It’s another amazing Perfume song.

I always find Take me Take me to be quite a dull song. All the group says is “take me take me, take me tonight”, and I can’t stand it for over 5 minutes. I mean, it has that chill feeling in the song, which is quite good, and the “take me take me” chorus lines was catchy but, it’s a bit too much. It gets on my nerves as it gets longer, and It makes me hate the song more. Oh come on. When I saw the booklet of the album, I nearly laughed when I saw this. Anyway, you guys can listen to it too. You might last longer than me.

The album’s main promo track is Secret Secret, and it’s another #Q$*T*#$84 AMAAAZING song! It has that up-beat, techno/dance feeling that just gets me whenever I listen to it. The verses were so great, and the chorus was very very catchy. Out of all the 12 songs here, Secret Secret in the one that has the most different sound in it because of the more refined synth than the other tracks. I also loved how the piano enter everytime a verse comes, then strong synth follows. It stuns me everytime I hear it. I also loved the energy in the song because it makes me want to join them sing too. Overall, it’s THE BEST Perfume song for me, and yes, it beats Polyrhythm. That should explain how cool this song is.

The synth, playful synth of Butterfly reminds me a lot of FREE FREE by Ami Suzuki because both sounds the same, except this one flows smoother. This song isn’t one of the standout tracks from the album but, I can say that it’s one interesting song. The repeated “Butterfly..” words sound so cool whenever they join the girls’ voices, and the strong, bumpy beat really makes me move my head with it’s catchiness. As I have said, it’s not outstanding or anything but, it is worth the listen.

When I first listened to fan service -sweet-, I liked Chocolate Disco more than Twinkle Snow Powdery Snow but now, I love this song, a lot more than how I loved Chocolate Disco. The lalalalala’s they sing are quite catchy. In fact, the whole song for me, sound so catchy. The synth scattered around the song gives it a very nice, up-beat sound that preserves the song from being boring. In all, for the hundredth time, another great perfume song!

Puppy love easily gets my pick for being the catchiest song on the album. It follows the footsteps of Macaroni in terms of it’s percussion, only this time, it’s better. The drums sound so great with the acoustic guitar and synth in this song. I also loved how the “old, and traditional” elements blended well with the song. To be honest, I didn’t like Puppy love before but, after listening to it fully, I’m glad to say that it has become one of my favorite Perfume songs. I loved the fact that it uses guitars in the background because it qives the song a unique look. In all,  again, It’s definitely a great song, and is definitely one of the best Perfume songs!

For me, GAME is the best album of 2008. Almost all of the songs in this Synth-packed album doesn’t disappoint me, and all of them has their own style of how to impress. It’s the best J-tek album for me, and even capsule’s more more more and Ami Suzuki’s Supreme Show can’t beat it. DEFINITELY AN AMAZING DEBUT ALBUM.

oh, and why didn’t they put SEVENTH HEAVEN here?

Favorite Tracks:
Secret Secret, Puppy love, GAME, Polyrhythm, Twinkle Snow Powdery Snow, Baby cruising Love, Chocolate Disco, Ceramic Girl, and Macaroni.

shuffle rating!
A+

Single Review
Perfume – Dream Fighter

Dream Fighter is Perfume’s 8th major single and 13th overall. It was released on November 19, 2008 and reached #2 in the oricon charts. It has so far sold 104,599 copies, and charted for 10 weeks. It is the 80th best-selling single of 2008.

tracklist:
1. Dream Fighter
2. Negai
3. Dream Fighter -Original Instrumental-
4. Negai -Original Instrumental-

After numerous releases of catchy, and fun music, I imagined Dream Fighter to be one of those releases. I got so excited in listening to it since love the world totally blew me away but, after listening to the radio rip it had a few weeks before the PV release, I hated it. I didn’t know what to think about it since I thought it was a total step-down, and was expecting for a greater, and more techno-poppish song. Instead, I got a less-pop flavored treat (kinda like sugarfree candies), and a song relying on the girls’ cute voices. But not to worry though, after times of listening, I fell in love with it. Right now, I think it’s a hundred times better than love the world, and it nearly has a 150 full plays on my song counter. The chorus is so catchy and the sort of ad-libbing part near the end sounded like heaven. Actually, the main thing that changed my opinion about this song was the PV. I thought the black and yellow bubble theme it had looked extremely cool, and their dances were much better than their previous ones (except Polyrhythm. Polyrhythm has the BEST steps). Anyway, The song can either be so good, or too bad for other listeners because in my opinion, Dream Fighter can best be appreciated when you listen to it carefully. In all, it sounds good and definitely is a recommend but, because of the hate thing I had with it earlier, a point will be deducted, of course.

The same with Dream Fighter, I didn’t know what to think of Negai. I think the A-side is better than this track but, with no doubt, ths song is good. It’s a lot more laid-back compared to the first track but actually, that’s the main reason why I like it. It’s unusual to hear Perfume sing slow songs so, it makes this song a nice change. It uses more calm elements, and uses a lot more organic sounds. The girls’ voices shine all throughout the song, and the blending of their vocals sounds so beautiful. In all, another great Perfume offering, and is a recommend.

Favorite Track:
Dream Fighter

shuffle rating!
A-

Single Review
Perfume – Baby cruising Love / Macaroni

Baby cruising Love / Macaroni is Perfume’s 6th major single and 11th overall. It was released on January 16, 2008 and reached #3 in the oricon charts. It sold a total of 65,686 copies, and charted for 18 weeks.

tracklist:
1. Baby cruising Love
2. Macaroni
3. Baby cruising Love (Instrumental)
4. Macaroni (Instrumental)

I never really had a special, wow-ing interest in Baby cruising Love before, during the time when everyone was crazy about it but, just after listening to it before writing this review, my mind changed as I think of it as an awesome song! It’s slow, relaxing, and most of all, synthy! HAH! stupid me. It’s Nakata produced! what the hell was I thinking? …but, really. I don’t know if it’s just me but, i weirdly think Baby cruising Love was a lot more synthy than their other songs. Anyway, I now love this song! Perfume’s voice just make it sound so catchy and the atmosphere remains calm even though loud synths are all over the place! The piano at the background was my favorite part of this song because it blends well with everything and it gives me a somewhat “home sweet home” feel! again i tell you, it’s wonderful!!!

Running a lot slower in tempo is Macaroni, the most annoyingly catchy song Perfume has offered us. annoyingly catchy? what the hell again? Yes, annoyingly catchy, as it sometimes become very annoying, while somethimes catchy. Weird huh. Even though it’s annoying, i think macaroni rocks! it’s slow tempo makes it sound really relaxing, same with baby cruising love. The girls’ electro-voices were shining all throughout the song, which i think was awesome because of their great vocals. All in all, a great perfume song, and a good choice for a lead-in single!

Favorite Tracks:
Baby cruising Love and Macaroni

shuffle rating!
A

Single Review
Perfume – Polyrhythm

Polyrhythm is Perfumes 5th major single and 10th overall. It was released on September 21, 2007 and reached the 7th spot in the weekly charts. It charted for a whopping 42 weeks yet, it only sold a total of 68,626 copies.

tracklist:
1. Polyrhythm
2. SEVENTH HEAVEN
3. Polyrhythm -extra short edit-
4. Polyrhythm ~Original Instrumental~
5. SEVENTH HEAVEN ~Original Instrumental~

And now, I’m going to review my 2nd favorite Perfume song, Polyrhythm. First, I would like to waste some of your time again (I said “again” because I did the same thing with the Ninin Sankyaku review) to tell you a little story on how I got to know Perfume. Just about 2 months ago, some time in May, I’ve been browsing Lex’s Beyond the Sea and blackmager’s StereoLove. I was at Lex’s first when I saw a post about featuring Perfume. I read it and went to StereoLove next. When I was browsing through his page, I saw a reply to Lex’s post saying “THANKS A LOT LEX, THANKS A LOT! D:<”. After reading both posts, I said to myself, “What the hell are these guys talking about?”. I got soo curious and downloaded Perfume’s GAME album. After it was finished, I listened to them and you know what, I thought they were extremely average. Well, that was before, but, after listening to their Polyrhythm song and watching the PV for it in Youtube, I got so addicted to them. The reason for that addiction was the catchiness present in their songs… Just like the catchiness found here in Polyrhythm. Actually, there are billions of reasons why I like this song but, the 3 main reasons are… One : There are loads and loads and loads of synth present but, really, It sounds awesome. Two : the girls’ cute voices. I just can’t get enough of what their voices sound like. and three : The “Polyrhythm” word that they keep on repeating all over the song is so catchy!. I know many people like this song. Yes, I like it too but, why did I state above that it’s only my 2nd favorite song? Well… It’s because…

SEVENTH HEAVEN kicked me right in the head! … in a good way though. Yes. It’s the first time I thought that a b-side was better than an A-side. Actually, I give Polyrhythm a grade of 100% but, this song deserves something like 200%! You see, For me, Both songs were excellent. Both were great, and Both were catchy but, Polyrhythm kind of lost to SEVENTH HEAVEN by only a point… like a close fight. But, wait, I said both were catchy and everything but, why did I like this one better? Well, It’s because of the great Christmas-y feel they have and the constant piano sound found in the song. I looved the piano opening of this song. It really brings us the sound of “Heaven” XD. Overall, I think this song is really really good and should’ve been included in their GAME album. Oh, I also think a PV would be nice.

Out of all the better things the producers (or whoever it may be…) could’ve done with this Polyrhythm, They chose to make an extra short edit of Polyrhythm. I don’t get why they still had to make this version because I think Polyrhythm sounds perfect already with it’s arrangement. For me, this version was just a let down. A remix or something could’ve been nicer.

Favorite Tracks:
Polyrhythm and SEVENTH HEAVEN

shuffle rating!
A+

Single Review
Perfume – love the world

love the world is Perfume’s 7th major single and 12th overall. It was released on July 9, 2008 and reached #1 in the oricon charts. It has sold a total of 135,117 copies, making it the 47th best-selling single of 2008.

tracklist:
1. love the world
2. edge
3. love the world -original instrumental-
4. edge -extended mix-

Probably one of Perfume’s best works, love the world, was pure happiness. It opens with a catchy tune, mixed well with synth for 7 seconds, immediately followed by the beats… accompanied by more synth, and finally comes to full blast, reaching the first verse, with of course, more SYNTH! To put it in short, It’s pure synth-madness! Well, I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. In fact, That’s the number one reason why I like Perfume. Their songs are full of synth, yet, their songs doesn’t seem so tiring to listen to. Anyway, I liked how the girls’ voices sound when mixed with the instruments in this song (As Always). It sounds so good that it makes me want to do a song just like it, Even though I can’t. In conclusion, This song sounds like a typical Perfume song, An excellent song. Everything about it is awesome. The instruments are very good, the girls’ voices were amazing as always and the PV perfectly fits the theme of the song.

If the A-side was so good, so good that it made me fall deeply in love with it, this song wasn’t the same as the previous track. This B-side, Edge, opens with a mysterious wind-blowing sound followed by the beats. It then reaches the verses and finally gets to the chorus after a minute. Now, let’s talk about why I didn’t like this song. First of all, It gets annoyingly irritating because of it’s repetitiveness. I know all of Perfume’s songs are repetitive but, this song for me, just crossed the line. Why? It’s annoying repetitiveness goes for six and a half minutes. It makes me want to press the “NEXT” button since it makes me feel almost like listening to 2 songs. Second, The girls’ cute voices didn’t fit this aggressive song. It just wasn’t a perfect match. Lastly, It made me feel bored and wasn’t that appealing to catch the listener’s attention.

Why? Why make it worse when it’s already Bad? Well, I’m asking that because of the very bad edge -extended mix-. I won’t review it longer anymore (I’ll put about 2 to 3 sentences about it) because it’s the same with the original version. Only made longer and more boring. Just a little piece of advice to people trying to do songs like “edge”, never make an extended mix version of it because it gets more annoying. Sorry Perfume.

Favorite Track:
love the world

shuffle rating!
A-

Single Review
Perfume – Fan Service [sweet]

Fan Service [sweet] is Perfume’s fourth single (9th overall). It was released February 14, 2007 and reached #31 in it’s first week with 3,990 copies sold. It sold a total of 9,214 copies and charted for 9 weeks. It is the first single that was released for the “GAME” album.

tracklist:
1. Chocolate Disco
2. Twinkle Snow Powdery Snow

Just like in other Perfume songs, Chocolate Disco was very infectious. The whole song is purely made up of electric-pop instruments, catchy melody and lyrics, an awesome arrangement and of course, who would forget the girls’ enhanced, charming voices. If you haven’t noticed, during the days when Perfume wasn’t famous (like in 2002), they sucked so much. Really. I mean, Yes, they have the talent. But, what do you think will this song sound like if all the effects of their voices was removed?… Now, moving on to the melody. Thanks to the fast-paced beats, techno elements and buzzing synth, the song’s melody was really really groovy! Of course, the title of the song was “Chocolate Disco” after all so, I won’t wonder why. Overall, Chocolate Disco was all-fun. It makes you smile everytime you hear it. (Just like this: ^_^)

Twinkle Snow Powdery Snow is a bit slower-paced than Chocolate Disco. I actually was disappointed by this song. I wasn’t completely blown away by it because I feel that something was missing in it. It really wasn’t their best work. I think that they could make better songs than this and that they could find a way to fix things up (REMIX anyone??). Nothing really special about it.

Favorite Track:
Chocolate Disco

shuffle rating!
A