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J-Pop Spotlight: Perfume

» Showcasing the future with music

Jerrison Oracion
Senior Columnist

 

he future is now, and technology has

evolved just how Perfume predicted
it would in the past two decades. Last
year, the group celebrated their fifteenth
anniversary by releasing their best of
album, P3 Cubed, which includes the
fifteenth anniversary song, “Saisei,” also
know as “Regeneration.” The music video
for this song reflects on the group so far
and shows footage from many of the music
videos from their hit singles.

You probably know Perfume for their
electronic voices and use of technology in
their performances, and you might have
heard one of their famous hit singles,
“Polyrhythm,” in Cars 2 during a scene
where Lighting McQueen and Mater go to
a party in Tokyo. So, how did a group from
a music school in Hiroshima become one
of the most internationally famed groups
right now?

Perfume is a three-member group
consisting of Yuka Kashino (Nicknamed
Kashiyuka), Ayano Omoto (Nicknamed
Nocchi)—and my favourite member in
the group—Ayaka Nishiwaki (Nicknamed
a-chan). I like a-chan because she is a very
fun member and she sounds so cutesy.
The group began in 2000 during the

Bugs Bunny 1s a terrible
role model for children

member's first year and inaugural year

of Actors School Hiroshima, and they
produced indie singles while they were
studying. When the members graduated
from the school in 2003, they did street
performances in the Tokyo neighbourhood
of Akihabara—where many female idol
groups would have their early start before
going mainstream.

During that time, they would meet
their producer Yasutaka Nakata—a
member of the electronic group Capsule
and producer of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, a
female kawaii artist who is famous for the
song, “Pon Pon Pon.” Perfume released
their first hit single in 2005: “Linear Motor
Girl.” This is when they began developing
their sound. Nakata producing Perfume’s
songs caused them to have a very electronic
sound that is listenable. And, while the use
of autotune in their early music might be
distracting, it is used properly and is less
noticeable in their recent music.

The group started gain traction with
their hit 2007 single, “Chocolate Disco,”
which is electronic music mixed with disco.
When “Polyrhythm’” was released after that,
it was used fora PSA commercial about
recycling on Japan’s public broadcasting
network (NHK). After that, all of Japan
would know the group. What makes the
song interesting is that it was composed

» An analysis of ‘Looney Tunes’ craziness

James Wetmore
Contributor

 

ooney Tunes was one of my childhood

delights. Every Saturday morning,
after a hard week of learning four letter
words and one plus one, I sat down in
front of the living room TV and enjoyed
watching Bugs Bunny be a smartass to
every character and Daffy Duck spit
whenever he spoke. Looking back on the
beloved cartoon though, you start to notice
a trend of needless fighting and bickering.
Each character is always trying to find a
way to wind another character up to the
point of them cracking: bursting with
unhinged anger at a fan favourite character.
We always cheered for the aggressor as
children, never thinking of how they
always seemed to stir up the trouble... and
picked on people for simply minding their
business.

One instance of this is Pepé Le Pew,
the foul-smelling skunk who aggressively
pursues an unnamed female black cat,
mistakenly believing her to be another
skunk. The guy goes full absolute bonkers,
obviously unable to understand any of
her disinterested social cues. He borders
on sexual assault at times, grabbing her

and kissing her on the face wherever he
can, while she tries as hard as she can
to struggle away from him. The scene
draws parallels to the whole “nice guy”
trope—guys thinking they’re entitled to
something from females for being nice (or
for no reason at all). It's clear that the black
cat wants nothing to do with Pepé, but
nothing will stop him from trying as hard
as he can to win her over with his unending
charm and unbearable stench.

Another fan favourite that dabbles
in bad guy territory is none other than
Bugs Bunny. He can’t avoid conflict—no
matter where, and no matter who. He
literally murdered someone for coughing
during an orchestra in one of the cartoons!
For a flagship character, youd think they
would’ve made him a little less hot headed,
but instead he tries as hard as he can to
annoy Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, and so on.
I can understand him being a trickster and
playing jokes on all the other characters,
but sometimes he can go a fad too far. You
even feel bad for Elmer sometimes: all the
guy wants is some food, and Bugs is just
tormenting and making fun of him! I love
Bugs just as much as the next person, but
the guy has got a couple of loose screws.

Lastly, the absolute train wreck that is

with a polyrhythmic
structure: a
combination of

two very different
rhythms in one song.
As the group made
more hit singles like,
“Baby Cruising Love,”
“Hey,” and, “Fake It,”
they started to get a
lot of international
fans.

In 2012, Perfume
moved to their
current record label,
Universal Music, which allowed them to
be more accessible to international fans.
This includes their music being available
worldwide on iTunes, opening an English
site and fan club, and doing world tours.
With technology being more advanced, the
group’s music videos and choreography (by
Mikiko and occasionally Keyakizaka46’s
choreographer Takahiro) become more
advanced. Their use of technology allowed
them to be involved in various tech
demonstrations at conventions. One of the
group’s notable international fans is OK
Go. They made an appearance in Perfume’s
music video “Pick Me Up” as mannequins
ina store. Perfume paid back the favor by
appearing as crew members in the music

the relationship between Tweety Bird and
Sylvester. These guys have been at each
other's throats for decades, only stopping
when both of their livelihoods are in
danger. You'd think that they'd eventually
settle their differences... but nope. Sylvester
wants that bird for dinner, every night,
every day, 365 days a year. Tweety’s simply
trying to mind his own business while
Sylvester is being a bully—knocking the
bird around in his cage and putting him

in dangerous situations to trick him into
fleeing right into Sylvester’s hungry hands.
Luckily, Tweety always outsmarts the feline,
but never without rubbing in how close he
was—egging Sylvester on to keep trying.
Can Sylvester not find another bird to

 

 

¢ An analysis of ‘Looney Tunes’ craziness
e The Starseed Oracle’ deck review

e Four times cartoon shows anticipated
the future

..and more

Promotional image of Perfume via RockinOn.com

video of OK Go’s song, “I Won't Let You
Down.”

Because Mikiko, Perfume’s
choreographer, will be involved in the 2020
Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, there
is a possible chance that the group will
perform in the ceremonies related to it.
Perfume’s vision of the future has gotten
everyone excited about technology and
like in the music video of “Future Pop,”
the group is at it again—predicting and
changing the future once more.

Favourite Perfume Songs
* “Polyrhythm”

* “Chocolate Disco”

+ “Baby Cruising Love”

* “Magic of Love”

* “Let Me Know”

Illustration by Athena Little

eat? Why must he have a vendetta against
Tweety? It’s not fair for the little guy.

It’s not hard to see how this could
rub off onto the young kids watching the
show through its many years on television,
seeing how it offers the impression that
it’s okay to pick on the smaller guy, make
fun of someone's intelligence, or just go
absolutely mad and hold a grudge (against
a bird) for decades. Looney Tunes was a
massive cornerstone of my childhood, but
there’s no denying that it had some rough
patches that, looking back on, don’t sit
right with where we are as a society today.
However, it is still an amazing show that set
the groundwork for animation and helped
create cartoons as we know them today.