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| Standard edition artwork for the album. |
Today I'm going to try something new. I've posted about music on this blog before, but I haven't done a review. Since I want to make this blog a mixture of different things, I thought doing a review of a new album would be pretty cool. It's going to be a pretty short review since I don't feel like ranting about an album, but yeah!
So, this is Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. If you have Tumblr then you've probably seen this video. Her first single 'PONPONPON' reached almost 27 million hits on YouTube. It's a mixture of cute, weird and a catchy melody. Her album, 'Pamyu Pamyu Revolution' was released May 23rd and reached #1 in the US iTunes Electronic chart and #1 in the Oricon charts in Japan. It was highly anticipated by a lot of people (including myself) and a live performance event on YouTube was held as a kind of 'release party' for the album. So, on with the review.
Track 1: Pamyupamyu Revolution
This is an intro track to the whole album. It really sets the mood of what to expect from the rest of the songs. It makes you feel as if you've been dropped into a toybox that's in the middle of a carnival. It's so childish but at the same time so happy and jolly; you can't help but think, "Wow, this is cute." I've also read somewhere that in the whole Harajuku and Lolita fashion scene there's been a carnival style induced into the genre, which Kyary has obviously picked up on and used in this album.
Track 2: Tsukema Tsukeru
This is probably one of my favourite songs on the whole album! It's really happy and jolly and has a real J-pop feel to it. The chorus of the song's incredibly catchy and is guaranteed to be in your head for days. The video for the song's also amazing, check it out.
Track 3: PONPONPON
As I explained before, PONPONPON was her first single! It's immensely cute and catchy and has an amazing synth in it that I love. The lyrics to the song are pretty simple as well. I don't know any Japanese but I've learnt all of the lyrics just from listening to it quite a lot. The beat in the song's really catchy and flows along with Kyary's cute vocals really well.
Track 4: Minna no Uta
This is probably the most childish song on the album. It features a bassline that's pretty funky and will be in your head for a while. This is probably my least favourite as it can get a bit repetitive after a while, but it's quite cute. The instruments and sounds used also follow quite a 'toybox' theme as well.
Track 5: Kyary An-An
Literally my favourite song that Kyary has ever done. It's bursting with fun, energy and life and will make you want to jump up and down. It features one of the most catchy tunes I've ever heard in my life, and the drums are wonderful. The song could be slightly compared to elevator music, but with more 'kawaii'.
Track 6: Candy Candy
This song also features 'toybox/musicbox' effects which link in with the rest of the album. The tempo in the chorus is quite poppy and is a very dance-y song! This was also one of Kyary's singles and has a music video here!
Track 7: Drinker
The one word I'd used to describe this song is 'swanky'. It's like funky motel music (also reminiscent of elevator music). This is a more grown-up melody and is less J-pop than the rest of the album. The song really stands out strongly as one of the more confident songs on the album.
Track 8: Onedari 44°C
This song begins with drums that sound quite similar to Kyary An-An. A really carnival feeling synth then kicks in and so does Kyary's cute voice! This song's very catchy and sounds like a song that'd be performed in some Japanese anime about broadway shows.
Track 9: Suki Sugite Kiresou
This song really reminds me of the Japanese group 'Perfume' which is also managed by Yasutaka Nakata, so it's quite easy to compare the two. It's a very chirpy song and keeps the happy vibe of the album moving along well. This song could quite easily be thrown in the pile of generic J-pop, but I think it has a slight edge above the rest.
Track 10: Giri Giri Safe
This song leaked on Tumblr and was the first song of the album I heard. It's once again very cutesy and the beginning features quite a typical and oriental japanese tune, but it then quickly moves into Kyary's adorable vocals again. For some reason this song makes me think of picnics (not quite sure why) but it also follows the carnival theme.
Track 11: Oyasumi
This is the slowest song on the whole album but is still very interesting. This track is more minimal than the rest and doesn't feature nearly as much synth as the other tracks, but still stands out and has a nice, calm feeling to it. This one really sounds like it's from a carnival.
Track 12: Chan Chaka Chan Chan
This is the 'goodbye' song of the album, and is very, very happy! Most songs that finish of an album tend to end on a low note, but not this one. The album features Kyary saying, "See you, see you, see you again!" which is a much happier way to end an album, I'd say, and also gives the clue that there's going to be a second album! This song also features a few cute instrumental bits of the others songs on the album, so I'd class this song as a kind of conclusion for the rest of the album.
Overall, this album is an extremely happy album, with literally no bad vibes. The album keeps you up from start to end, with no dips in the middle. It's full of amazing synths, jazzy melodies and cute vocals that'll make you want to listen to more of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's music. I'm probably a bit bias since I'm literally in love with this girl, but I believe that her music's definitely going to change the way music works, especially in the Japanese music industry. I'd recommend this album to anybody who's looking for fun, happy and ultra cute music and people that just want to have fun and forget anything bad!
I don't really like music reviews myself, but I hope this was helpful to at least a few people! Leave me a comment telling me how this was since it was my first time doing this kind of thing.
See you soon :-)
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