Meet PERFUME, our official Japanese Electro-pop group!!

[_Jersey Girl]

It was only a local dance contest, so the music is a cover and thus won't be listed in the main page, but for some super nostalgia from our favorite Japanese electro-pop group's absolute earliest days, here you go. They were most likely only 11 at the time.

• J-Phone Dance Battle--Entry #24 (Perfume!)

Shut UP. They're adorable!

[_Dr. Shades]

For someone who loves Perfume, this must be like the Dylan Basement Tapes.

I don't know what the "Dylan Basement Tapes" are, but I can tell from the context that the answer is a definite "yes."

By the way, what happened to Yuka Kawashima? Is she the Pete Best of Perfume?

Not exactly. Somewhere between (I believe) six months to a year after Perfume's formation she voluntarily departed it in order to focus on her studies. She later joined a group called "Risky," but I don't think it went anywhere since there isn't a Wikipedia entry for it. Sometime later she embarked on a solo career and actually gained a measure of local fame. She's actually a fairly talented singer; here's a sample:

https://youtu.be/7b0pkxgRRHo?t=50

She'll perform at small venues from time to time even today. Rumor has it, though, that she hates being asked how she feels about her voluntary decision to leave Perfume, since that's the one question literally everyone literally always asks her.

Shut UP. They're adorable!

You want adorable, do you? Well, we're in luck: Here's a second video of them back in the Kawayuka, a.k.a. pre-Nocchi days. I'd seen this one before, but didn't pay close enough attention to notice that that's indeed Kawayuka and not Nocchi. WARNING:
Adorbs overload ahead:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sh8QrXx9WM

[_Dr. Shades]

[_Dr. Shades]

Billboard.com interviewed Perfume again, this time touching on their upcoming Coachella performances in front of 126,000 people each, the difference between their Japanese and their American fans, shopping in the United States, and several other topics. Take a look:

J-Pop Queens Perfume Talk Playing Coachella, Which American Pizza Is 'Shocking'

[_Dr. Shades]

If you're reading this, then we must face the fact that your computer's desktop wallpaper needs to be updated. And what better wallpaper is there than one that depicts the lovely members of Perfume?

Fortunately for you, I was tipped off to the fact that there's a site that hosts, and displays, no less than 112 such wallpapers! Many are reworked in the Animé style, if you're into that.

Enjoy:

Perfume Wall[paper]s

[_Dr. Shades]

[_Dr. Shades]

Some helpful soul uploaded a video of a rockin' medley of Perfume songs, performed by Perfume themselves at their Yoyogi National Gymnasium concert in (I believe) 2009. The video starts with the "What is Disco" video, so if you're already familiar with that then you might want to skip ahead.

The pumpin' bass and the phat beats don't begin until 09:26, so I recommend skipping to that part of the video:

• Fist Pumpin' PERFUME

Remember, skip ahead to 09:26!

[_Dr. Shades]

Dear Perfumaniacs,

Perfume just completed their first tour stop of their North American, uh, tour. They performed in the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.

So, needless to day, many hundreds of our fellow Perfume fans in New York and thereabouts are in an utterly euphoric mood. The Facebooksphere is abuzz.

They'll be performing in Toronto, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, San Jose, Los Angeles, and at Coachella twice before wrapping it up. Cool, eh?

[_Jersey Girl]

That's really cool! Though I'm just catching this Sunday morning so I suppose technically the first concert was needless yesterday by now.

[_Dr. Shades]

One enterprising fan captured over 46 minutes' worth of highlights from the show. It's clearly not a professional production, so the quality isn't exactly optimal, but it'll give you an idea of what a small-scale Perfume concert is like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng2aaPi3tpg