Perfume new single “SPICE” tracklist and covers out! Plus, more info about their JPN album!

Hello everyone! I’m super excited today because some of the most important news I’ve been waiting for are out!

Perfume’s new single “SPICE” is going to be released in November 02, here’s the gorgeous promo image for it:

Isn’t it amazing? And colorful? And stylish? And omg A~chan looks so sexy! As do Yuka and Nocchi, of course. My favorite outfit is Kashi’s (as usual) but all of them look absolutely stunning!

The tracklist for both editions is:

1. SPICE

2. GLITTER

3. SPICE (Instrumental)

4. GLITTER (Instrumental)

And the limited edition comes with a DVD with the PV for Glitter! Also, first press bonus is an amazing poster (I still don’t know what the poster is going to look like, but if it’s anything like the promo pic then I love it already!)

Here are the covers for the regular edition:

Oh my. Kashi why are you so sexy gurl? I just love everything about her, the hair is lovely, the pose, she’s just exuding confidence and sex appeal! Nocchi looks adorable, and they found a way to make her very awkward onigiri hairstyle look cute xD I’m loving her belt (but I like Kashi’s more. Ok I’ll shut up about my Kashiyuka love now) And A~chan. Wow. No words, really. Her hair is absolutely perfect and her outfit is realistically the only one I’d wear in real life. I also love her expression and just guh… this is amazing ;_;

And here’s the limited edition cover:

Hold me, I might faint right now. When I saw this picture it was incorrectly labeled as regular edition, and I freaked out so much! I thought I would have to order a regular edition of the single as well because HOW COULD I POSSIBLY LIVE WITHOUT THIS AMAZINGNESS IN MY COLLECTION? *faints* This picture is ridiculously lovely. Kashiyuka is the most perfect human being to have ever walked on the Earth, and Nocchi looks a bit awkward, but isn’t it cute anyway? A~chan looks so slender, and her clothes are so pretty *__* And the light coming through the circle thingy, isn’t it amazing? I love everything about this picture, the movement, the outfits, the make up. I especially love Kashiyuka. Damn it. A~chan is supposed to be my favorite but I’m more and more drawn to Kashi every day <3 I’m a closet Kashian lol

As if this wasn’t enough, some news about their JPN album, being released in November 30 also surfaced:

Apparently, there are 13 tracks in the album, and even though we don’t have the complete list yet, we know that it’s going to include Fushizen na Girl, Natural ni Koishite, Voice, Nee, Laser Beam and Kasuka na Kaori. I really really hope that they don’t include Spice/Glitter in it, because then the number of new songs would be disappointingly low, and I want plenty of new songs…

Besides what’s the point of releasing a single so close to the album if the songs are going to be in the album anyway? Wouldn’t that be like shooting yourself on the foot? I’m glad there are no B-sides, because really, I want album tracks. Perfume’s album tracks have never disappointed me so I’m super excited this time as well. The album is really long overdue though, 2 and a half years have passed since Triangle after all, and I can’t say I’m happy about it, because thanks to that (and the double A-sides…) we have almost no room for new stuff, but I’ll keep the faith!

Maybe next year they can actually come up with a better release schedule tbh. But eh, I’m digressing. What I was going to tell you guys is that the DVD tracklist for the limited edition of “JPN” is out and here it is:

1. Spice PV

2. Natural ni Koishite PV

3. Laser Beam Full Version PV

4. Kasuka na Kaori PV

5. Kasuka na Kaori PV TV Version

6. Fushizen na Girl / Natural ni Koishite TV Spot

7. Voice TV Spot

8. Nee TV spot

9. Laser Beam TV Spot

10. Spice TV Spot

Hmm… Yay for the Spice PV <3 I love owning their PVs in physical copies so I’m thrilled that they’ve included Natural ni Koishite here, but omg so many TV Spots! It looks like they were just trying to cram stuff in the DVD so that people wouldn’t complain, but I seriously doubt many people care about CMs…

On the other hand, there’s fishy stuff: Spice PV included but the song not being part of the CD? It’s making people suspect that Spice/Glitter are going to be part of the album (especially because in the dance contest that’s going on right now they state that Glitter is included in JPN…) and I really really am wishing with all my might that this isn’t the case. I don’t have money as is,especially not to be spending it in a compilation CD when I already own all of the singles :/  Let’s wait and see.

Another fishy tidbit is the appearance of a full Laser Beam PV. If you remember, when the single was released they said they couldn’t film the whole thing because of the earthquake, which is why they included jacket photoshoot footage to make up for the short PV, however, here’s a full version! Did they go and re record the missing scenes? Is it just going to be more dance scenes? What happened with the guy and his briefcase (we knew the girls got it because it can be seen in the KnK video but how did that happen? Will they elaborate on it?)

And then there’s Kasuka na Kaori, not only once, but twice For the least popular Perfume song ever with the western fanbase, I can already hear the whining from a kilometer away. I for one absolutely adore the song, I think it’s gorgeous and that most of the people who say it’s just random Jpop haven’t really taken the time to thoroughly listen to it, there are amazing and subtle electronic elements in it, and all without taking away from its ethereal, dream like lovey atmosphere.

Overall, I’m excited, very very excited. This news have totally brightened my really depressing week, and I’m hoping for the best. It might be because I’m a mindless fan or maybe because I really adore everything about the group, but they’ve never disappointed me, and I’m hoping to keep that up.

The Morning Musume Popularity Conundrum

I stumbled upon a blog discussing why they didn’t like the Golden Era of MM, and in the comments somebody asked why was it that MM isn’t on TV as much as they used to before. I tried to reply, and then it got ridiculously long, so I figured I’d blog about it instead (BTW, this is all MY OPINION, you’re free to disagree)

So why did MM stop getting as much promotion and TV time as it did before. I will probably say harsh things but I swear I don’t mean it in a bad way, just thought I’d state that as a disclaimer.

The first and most obvious reason why they don’t appear on TV is because they’re not popular anymore. Sure, they have a core fanbase and they sell well enough, but they aren’t appealing to the mainstream media almost at all. You could argue that some of them do modeling work and some of them have gotten roles in TV dramas or whatever, but that is just being in denial, they just don’t have that mainstream favor anymore.

Which leads to the second reason: Most people in Japan have moved on to different things. I agree that the current MM is a completely different animal than the one in the Golden Era, but that was the one people knew and fell in love with. When people started watching their favorites graduate, they simply stopped caring, precisely because the whole group changed as well in time. Before they had average girls next door who were interesting, outgoing and eager for screentime, which obviously made for good television (as any reality show producer would tell you) they sang silly fun songs about love and bounced around happily. The current MM is NOTHING like that, now they are a group of polished performers singing dramatic techno influenced pop songs about heart break or women or whatever. And on TV they just don’t have the same spark.

Takahashi Ai is super shy, and she’s never one to stand out off stage, Niigaki Risa got quieter and quieter as years passed, Reina’s yankeeness washed away, Aika is bland, Eri was weird and hilarious but only when she had warmed up before, JunLin were amazing, but they weren’t given much chance to show it, and then there’s Sayu who’s the only one that can stand out in this way.

They are certainly superior than the former members (not the original girls, but the ones from 4th gen which was the ultimate golden generation) on stage, but off of it they just can’t play the idol part anymore, because none of them (except for Sayu and now Zukki) has that outspoken personality that is larger than life and makes for good TV.

There’s also something else that is very important to understand this, I think the idol label doesn’t do MM any favors and they probably should just ditch it. An idol as a concept in the japanese popular mentality is someone who embodies an ideal of youth and pureness (kiyoku tadashiku utsukushiku are the ideals they are based on after all) and for them talent has become a secondary trait. They just have to be cute, sweet, appealing and do interesting things on TV.

Japanese people as a general rule aren’t looking for idols to be amazing singers or performers, they turn to real artists for that, as idols just make emphasis on their youth (which is greatly valued by the japanese) and all the traits that come with it. MM can’t play in this field anymore, however, they seem to have realized this and are trying to make up for it by bringing in amazing girls who are potentially very interesting in 9th gen. But really, when you analyze the stagnant era of MM you’ll realize what I’m talking about: All of them were very good performers (well, except Koharu and Aika, but they weren’t bad either) delivering heart felt performances and being very polished at everything they did, but where was the outrageous personality? where were the silly antics? the meaningless basking in one’s youth and indulging in it that chracterizes an idol? All those things were gone, they were artists, not idols. You could compare them much more easily with Amuro Namie or SNSD than with Momoiro Clover or Idoling!!!

If UFA is trying to make MM go back to their roots and become full time idols again, especially now that they seem to be trying to ride on the idol wave, they are going to start rotating graduations a lot more, like it was back in the day, this is with the purpose of not keeping the group static and also changing the group’s dynamics so that there will arise interesting conflicts and such between them. They seem to have realized that their “artist” phase wasn’t very productive. Their fanbase is loyal, so they also got dormant and started releasing cookie cutter stuff, they didn’t need to impress anyone because fans would buy it anyway, they didn’t care about lack of exposure because their business was self sustainable.

But seeing small groups like MomoClo break through (in a way ofc) and AKB selling literally millions woke them up and made them realize that they could be doing things better, which I think led to their re thinking of the idol model.

I think UFA has done great this year, they are changing things up with MM and all of their other groups as well, and maybe with time they can find the right girls again (it isn’t that difficult, really) to make MM silly and fresh like it was before to earn the mainstream media’s attention. The quality of their music will probably nosedive, of course, because unfortunately idol-y music, which is the one that sells best isn’t as complex or deep. But that’s what it would probably take for them.

Granted, I haven’t said that this is the only good way to handle things, and they could also go the other way and keep doing their thing their way until their loyal wotas finally get completely bored and move on or pass the torch to new fans, without the help from the media. This is not an invalid choice, and it certainly works for a lot of acts in Japan. I really wish H!P fans would stop complaining so much about how little they sell, how they aren’t number one or how they don’t have the same recognition they had back then. Everything has changed. The only thing that has stayed is the Morning Musume name, and even though some girls were present in the golden era, the feel of the group is different as well.

UFA will take both paths into consideration and decide which one they think it’s more convenient. As a fan of many many acts whose releases don’t even chart in Oricon, I’d say enjoy what you like, and don’t bother much with what the media says.