my sanctuary

mbmelodies: It’s tempting to excuse the relatively lukewarm...

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:39:04 +0700

It’s tempting to excuse the relatively lukewarm “Mirai No Museum” because of its commercial obligations. This, maximalist-pop-trio Perfume’s newest single, serves as the theme song for the upcoming Doraemon film which seems to involve some sort of “future museum” (which is what you get when you translate the title). After a string of songs in 2012 that saw the group and producer Yasutaka Nakata continuing to flex their J-Pop brilliance (“Point” and “Hurly Burly” are about as strong a one-two punch I’ve heard in a while), “Mirai No Museum” sounds like a lazy stroll through a museum, bouncy but never really taking any risks save for an occasional Nakata touch lurking in the back. The chorus is something you’d expect from an idol-pop group, not a trio behind killer hooks. It SOUNDS like something made to play harmlessly behind the opening-credit sequence for a movie focused on a robot-cat. I guess we should forgive this single, just because it has commercial interests at heart.

Nope, that’s a cop out, because plenty of other J-Pop artists have taken commercial obligations and created great music out of it. It’s one of the unavoidable aspects of Japan’s pop scene, that many singles are commissioned with commercial use in mind…but that doesn’t mean the music has to be middling. Kaela Kimura’s “Wonder Volt” serves as the theme song for the Japanese version of Frankenweenie, but she used the prompt to create a song that manages to fit the Tim-Burton-made vibe of the film while still sounding daring. Yasutaka Nakata, especially, is good at working within limitations – Kyary Pamyu Pamyu’s “Fashion Monster” was greenlit for a clothing store, but that song stands as one of her best singles yet and her strongest lyrical display. Heck, Perfume have been the masters of delivering great music born out of marketing requests since they got big in 2007. So let’s not excuse “Mirai No Museum” – it’s just sorta lackluster.

Originally from the blog

The song is more like 古臭い邦楽のミュージアム a.k.a “Furukusai Hougaku no Museum” (Museum of Outdated J-pop).

And just in case, can anyone give me a better title than this?

nevver: Great Britain Ooh I love dem Brits

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 08:43:40 +0700

nevver:

Great Britain

Ooh I love dem Brits

curryuku: Breaking news: Perfume reacting to US President...

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 20:25:56 +0700

curryuku:

Breaking news: Perfume reacting to US President Obama’s victory!

spits

OH YEH! OBAMA-SAMA!!!

DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU DESU

evilangel579: makin my way down rural japan walkin fast shiba...

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 10:52:48 +0700

evilangel579:

makin my way down rural japan

walkin fast

shiba inus pass

and im home bound

geez i want to have this daikon kid preserved in vinegar and displayed in my guest room

Dream Away With Me Tonight: I am proud to be Vietnamese. I like my pho and my eggrolls.

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 22:17:42 +0700

Dream Away With Me Tonight: I am proud to be Vietnamese. I like my pho and my eggrolls.:

susanteepwns:

I HATE how certain people want to be from another ethnicity than their own. KOREABOOS.

There is one at my school who would rather be Korean than Vietnamese, which is her race. She is influenced by Kpop and all the “cute” stuff that goes along with Kpop. She thinks she can sing and dance, so she…

haha moar power to you! I’m Vietnamese and I love my culture and my people. And I love foreign cultures too - but never to the point of becoming a kimchi/sushi/friedchicken wannabe.

People who think they can learn everything about Korea (and Korean Culture) through kpop/kdramas are no different then those who think they know everything about japan by watching anime

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 21:55:30 +0700

seouldreams14:

I do wish that both words “Koreanophile” and “Koreaboo” get widespread in a short span of time, because it’s unfair to solely judge overly obsessive fanboys/fangirls by simply pointing at the Japanophiles and weeaboos.

And FYI, I love Korean music, Japanese music and Western music, but put your so-called K-pop, J-pop or American Top 40 outside my door or you’ll taste my bitter suicidal bashing. You have been warned.

kyarypamyupamyu: A message from the real Yarky

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 19:58:45 +0700

kyarypamyupamyu:

A message from the real Yarky

kanchiwa JAP no parfum des

Fri, 11 May 2012 23:19:08 +0700

kanchiwa JAP no parfum des

This is how you should do the proper SPRING UP SPEED UP.

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:34:15 +0700

This is how you should do the proper SPRING UP SPEED UP.

Damn this is too precious to hate. Mah friends call it the...

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:38:37 +0700

Damn this is too precious to hate. Mah friends call it the shopping strut.

そう! SPRING OF LIFE

it’s ear licking good sea-of-ether: capsule - Step on...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:47:00 +0700

it’s ear licking good

sea-of-ether:

capsule - Step on the floor

From their new album out March 7th