Looks like Perfume will be going back to basics with their newest single, slated for a 4/14 release. It has confirmed to be entitled ｢ナチュラルに恋して｣ or Natural ni Koishite, which is a new CM song for NATURAL BEAUTY BASIC. The CM will go on-air 3/10, so keep your eye’s peeled!

What do you guys think about this fresh, non-techno look?

[Edit] Before it gets deleted, check out a preview of the CM on YouTube with A~chan’s version and Nocchi’s version.

All the CMs have been released, and just in case you haven’t seen any of them, you can view them right on NATURAL BEAUTY BASIC’s website. It contains each of the girls individual shots and one together all in one video! What do you guys think?

As they rightfully are allowed to do, since the songs were illegally uploaded onto the iTunes Store for international customers to purchase around January. One could tell it was obviously illegal since it was uploaded under the label “Tukuma Japan Communications”, as opposed to Perfume’s official label Tokuma Japan Communications, and various song titles were purposely misspelled.

Today, their staff put up a notice on Perfume’s official site, stating:

Recently, between late January ~ early February, some songs from Perfume’s GAME album and Indies era songs were illegally available on iTunes under unauthorized distribution.

After the incident, information was disclosed to Apple iTunes to initiate an investigation. Ultimately, we have confirmed that an overseas record label has uploaded the music without permission. Although the music has been already removed, Tokuma Japan Communications and Amuse Inc. will collaborate to prepare appropriate legal actions.

In addition, in regards to the iTunes Store content purchased on iTunes, to acquire a refund from the iTunes Store, you may contact the iTunes Store via their customer service page e-mail form below.
http://www.apple.com/jp/support/itunes/contact.html
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, and we ask for your continual support of Perfume.

It’s good to see that the illegal uploads were taking down, especially since people were paying for it and the profits were not going where it was supposed to. However, it also goes to show how much fans want Perfume’s music to be openly distributed–not just in Japan but all over the world. capsule’s music is already on iTunes, albeit on a different record label, but hopefully Perfume’s music will be available on some kind of legal download site for the world to listen soon.

Well sort of, but any reference to Perfume is groundbreaking! Perfume’s 4th indies single Monochrome Effect played in the background of a scene in the FOX American cartoon American Dad (from the creators of Family Guy), where the music was referred to as “Japanese funk” that “everyone loves it in the future”. Hilarious!

You can view the video clip here (hopefully it stays up long enough):

Perfume – Monochrome Effect on TV
Uploaded by eNVee569.

Thanks to our forum members for finding this, and eNVee for uploading the video!
Is this awesome or what?

At #16 we have Kashiyuka,

At #9 we have A~chan,

And right after, we have #8 as Nocchi!

You can view the complete countdown here

via YouTube

Perfume’s youngest is now 21 years old! Congratulations, A~chan!

If you have a Twitter, listen up!

We’re going to trend #HappyBdayAchan at 9 AM JST (GMT +9) all at once for an hour.

What is a trend? On the side of your twitter page, a list of Trending Topics can be found, which are keywords a mass of people use during a certain time frame.

How does it work? When a sudden large number of users tweet the same catch phrase, a trend will start.

Please note:

- Only put the tag in once per tweet. Repetitive tag inputs filter through Twitter as SPAM, and the tag will NOT trend.

– However, do not simply tweet the tag. That aslo counts as SPAM.

- More users, not more tweets. We need strength in number of people; not only one person will make a topic trend.

Good Tweet:

- “Congratulations! #HappyBdayAChan”

Bad Tweet:

- “#HappyBdayAChan#HappyBdayAChan#HappyBdayAChan”

- “#HappyBdayAChan”

Get it? If you have more questions, leave a comment. Thank’s for reading all of this! Let’s all ban together for her birthday!

Also, don’t forget to follow Perfume_City on Twitter for live updates!

Once hosted on Amuse’s server has now switched over to their own web server: http://www.perfume-web.jp/

Probably because of the recent server downtime Amuse experienced, a flurry of Perfume fans gave them beef about their lack of Perfume for the several days it occurred, but now it should not be happening again.

Several changes include a brand new layout, from the previous starry night/matrix black to clean-cut white (and no more cheesy flash intro). The “REPORT BLOG” is changed to “MANAGER BLOG”. Their PTA fanclub also got a makeover, but of course only members can see the changes.

We’ll miss the funky old site, but the new one is easier to read and more professional-looking. Please support Perfume with their new website!

Source: natalie.mu

Photos of the ‘10 March issue of 「PS ( ピーエス )」, a women’s hairstyle magazine, has arisen on the internet showcasing our favorite girls in never-before-seen hairstyles! Kashiyuka with wavy hair? Nocchi with a do-up? A~chan with braids? Why, yes please! (Pictures under the cut)

What do you guys think?

Missed out on some things this past year? Here’s Perfume’s year 2009 in a fairly extended nutshell:

01 January:

- [02] Welcome to Chelsea Hotel drama pilot airs

- [16] Perfume 20-Year-Old’s Challenge〜Dream Fighter〜 NHK Documentary airs

02 February:

- [15] A~chan turns 20-years old; all the girls have “become of age”

03 March:

- [19] Begin MC regulars for MUSIC JAPAN

- [25] OneRoom Disco 9th Major Single Released

- [28] Perfume’s Kininaruko-chan Season Finale

04 April:

- [11] Perfume’s Chandelier House variety show begins airing

- [22] Perfume BUDOUKaaaaaaaaaaN!!!!! Live DVD Released

- [29] New ESKIMO pino CM airs, feat. Perfume’s NIGHT FLIGHT; pino airlines Mileage Campaign begins

05 May:

- [09-10] DISCO! DISCO! DISCO! 2Days Live @ Yoyogi Olympic Stadium

06 June:

- [11] Nocchi’s Friday boyfriend scandal w/STRAIGHTENER lead vocalist begins circulation

- [~17] Kashiyuka’s Friday scandal w/fashion photographer begins circulation

- [22] Yahoo! News runs sensationalized news claiming A~chan’s depression

07 July:

- [08] ⊿ (Triangle) 3rd Album Released

08 August:

- [07] Triangle 2009 Tour Begins

09 September:

- [20] Nocchi turns 21-years-old

- [25] Perfume in Happy of Kininaru Chandelier House DVD Variety TV Box Set Released

10 October:

[29-30] Final Leg of 2009 Tour @ Yokohama Arena

11 November:

(A bunch of concerts and events)

12 December:

- [17] Perfume Livefolio Released

- [23] Kashiyuka turns 21-years-old

- [31] Performs at 60th Kouhaku UtaGassen; 2nd year in appearance

Although there were plenty of other performances, TV appearances, and events that occurred, I only mentioned the ones I think were memorable and made an impact in the Perfume community. A bit less active music production-wise compared to 2008, but the number of live events/performances nearly doubled, as well as juicy scandals in print–a rite of passage signaling Perfume’s celebrity status perhaps.

With a new year comes a clean slate for Perfume. Can you believe the girls celebrate their 10th anniversary in the business in 2010? Let’s hope for only the best this year!

In third place…

.

.

.

.. with 73 votes ..

…

edge (⊿-Mix)

In second place…

.

.

.

.. with 94 votes ..

…

NIGHT FLIGHT

And in first place, the best Perfume song of 2009 is…

(drumroll)

.

.

.

.

.

.. with 114 votes ..

…

……

OneRoom Disco

Thanks to everyone who participated in the poll! Here are the complete results of each song:

OneRoom Disco = 114 (24%)
NIGHT FLIGHT = 94 (20%)
edge (⊿-Mix) = 73 (15%)
The best thing = 68 (14%)
I still love u = 59 (13%)
23:30 = 18 (4%)
Kiss and Music = 16 (4%)
Zero Gravity = 14 (3%)
Negai (Album-mix) = 11 (2%)
Take off = 3 (0.6%)
Speed of Sound = 2 (0.4%)

What do you think? Did the results surprise you? As the sole new single Perfume released in 2009, I think OneRoom Disco was a worthy choice for the #1 spot this year; it didn’t top Oricon for nothing after all. The highly stylistic and catchy NIGHT FLIGHT is also a good candidate in the top 3, and personally my favorite track in the Triangle album. The original edge already made the  love the world single seem like a double a-side and broke a zenith of records when it released in 2008, as yet the edge (⊿-Mix) just added on as one of Yasutaka’s best and most badass creations for Perfume to date.

I’ll wrap up 2009 in the next blog post. Sit tight and stay tuned!