Where is the LOVE for Perfume?

xp what about Tokimeki Lights?

idk i feel like it's telling that "tokimeki lights" is part of the second half's run of singles-i-already-enjoyed-before-the-album-came-out on cosmic explorer

future pop and cosmic explorer were both fairly uninspired. they have their moments but it felt like nakata largely ran out of interesting things to do with the edm sound palette after level3

nakata's really been on a roll lately though, the single he produced for ado for the latest one piece movie is great, & pretty distinct from his usual productions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FliVTcX8bQ

it's such a rock song but i'm not sure any of the "guitars" are even real

I hope we can agree the one about “tiny baby jumping up, eyes open naaaniiii” is the absolute worst Perfume song.

hahaha no argument here

some of EDM era CAPSULE songs might be even worse tho. truly dire. glad nakata finally grew out of this thing.

even tho it didn't seem to help with her fading status, the last KPP was quite good as well.

nakata's back, baby!

Capsule only got bad when Nakata would bounce in English-language vocal tracks from sound banks or wherever he got them from. Although yes about 30% of most of their albums consist of generic EDM run-throughs, more dull than terrible though.

listened to plasma like five times in a row today nbd

I had accepted that - excluding GAME and Triangle - Perfume were a singles/track-by-track group for me. Even the Cosmic Explorer and Future Pop eras have some of my favorites ('Toumei Ningen,' 'Ijiwaru na Hello,' 'FUSION,' 'Chorairin,' 'Tenku'). I really liked the minimalist and sleek feel of the Future Pop tour, which really let the choreography shine.

To be honest, 'Nananananairo' and 'Challenger' are where I really started to get nervous...haha. Anyways, I absolutely love PLASMA! It really works as an album.

album of the year for me at this point

Listening to the album properly today, Android & (アンドロイド&) is very much my jam… but it appears I have been sleeping, it was a track on the Polygon Wave EP last year!

Full-length review tomorrow.

My full review, as part of the weekly Burning Ambulance newsletter (subscribe! it's free!):

The new Perfume album, Plasma, came out last week, and I’ve been listening to it a lot. I’ve been a fan for more than a decade at this point; seeing them live at Hammerstein Ballroom in 2014 was one of the most fun concert experiences of my life. Their last two albums — 2016’s Cosmic Explorer and 2018’s Future Pop — were just OK, though. So I kind of expected more of the same this time: cybernetic pop tunes produced as always by Yasutaka Nakata, with the three women’s voices blended into a pleasant, slightly uncanny valley-ish ensemble sound, chirpy at times and vaguely melancholy at other times.

And yeah, vocally, A-Chan, Nocchi and Kashiyuka sound much like they always have. But Nakata has delivered some of the best music of his career on this album. It begins, as Perfume albums often do, with a short intro. This one is also the title track, and it has an almost Perturbator-esque feel, with drums that punch hard and synths that wheel in the sky like cybernetic vultures. You would be forgiven for thinking they were about to make a turn toward industrial, or at least EDM. But the first actual song, “Time Warp,” is ultra-chirpy electro J-pop of a type they’ve done many times before, one of several moments that made me say to myself, Yes, this is what a Perfume song sounds like.

There’s another left turn coming fast, though. “Polygon Wave,” a pre-album single, sounds like Daft Punk-esque filter disco. More accurately, it sounds like “Music Sounds Better With You,” the one-off 1998 single by Thomas Bangalter’s side project Stardust. “Spinning World” is another highlight, a cool track set to a hip-hop/funk rhythm. This recent TV performance showcases the impeccable, posthuman choreography that’s been a Perfume trademark forever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pFIkLEXINU

The most striking track on Plasma, though, is “Drive’n the Rain.” At 6:17, it’s one of their longest songs (only the stomping techno anthems “Party Maker” from Level3 and “Edge” from Triangle, at 7:22 and 8:43(!) respectively, are longer), but what really sets it apart is its mood. It’s not a dancefloor banger; it’s an uptempo but still internally chilled-out mood piece that begins with the sound of rain and is constructed to sound like silky jazz-funk or ’80s “city pop.” It’s so slick and smooth, with what sounds like live funk bass and some ultra-AC keyboard soloing in the second half, that I wouldn’t have been at all surprised to hear Michael McDonald crooning on the choruses. I’ll come right out and say it: Plasma is the best Perfume album in a decade, and maybe their best album-as-album ever. Their records are usually somewhat bafflingly sequenced, full of jarring transitions; this one works from beginning to end. There’s not a bad track here. Give it a chance.

the "spinning world" choreography is wild

sidechain compression suck is doing my head in

Generally the use of compression seems more restrained than the last few albums.

Enjoyable album. I liked the branching out into new styles and sounds on "Spinning World", "Flow", and "Drive'n the Rain", which are my three favorite tracks. the flute in the chorus of "Drive'n the Rain" is subtle and awesome!

at this point i think this is likely second only to game in their discography. there are higher highs elsewhere but across-the-board as an album this one's so good

Listening to Spinning World as Enter the Sphere came up on shuffle today and decided to stick on a playlist. Spinning World is a) great and b) the bouncy synths/beat remind me of the music from Spring Yard Zone in the original Sonic which, btw, is a compliment.

Just seen they are playing for the first time in 10 years in London (and I can’t make it ;_;)

https://www.perfume-web.jp/news/detail.php?id=3920

Happening 2 months after I move overseas! I am destined never to see them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJA-W3G_BV8

oh shit, they are still absolutely bringing it
my favourite Nakata production in a long time, too.

moon moon moon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUiA1nhqXe0

b-side is fantastic

Always love the Nakata instrumental mixes too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu0iF6WJIKU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7h2MoRfujQ

Been really enjoying these. Enjoyable performance of Love Cloud here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udX4H-1Cals

just gave Cosmic Explorer a listen, was scared off by its reputation (I'm not a huge fan but I like 'em fine) and think it's actually quite good? I mean this is a pop band, what do you expect? plus it has an incredible cover. I mean they all do but I really like this one.

It’s solid and I like the intro along with some of the tracks - I guess just less flashy and arresting than LEVEL 3, GAME or even Future Pop.