Perfume’s ใตใใคใฎใใชใ / Fumetsu no Anata is a beautiful song, paired with a beautiful music video. Released on Valentineโs Day, Fumetsu no Anata is a fragrant love letter and, in my humble opinion, Perfume’s magnum opus:
Iโm not crying, you are! ๐ญ You can read more takes on that music video by clicking the link below:
Serendipitously co-aligningย with Perfume’s surprise drop marking this year’s Hallmark occasion,ย predictively almost; a massive J-Pop fan with a cool blog who makes J-Pop audio mashupsย created this sweet R&B throwback using Perfume “Chocolate Disco” (2007) and Destiny’s Child “Cater 2 U” (2005), and it works:
๐ผ SONG CREDITS “Chocolate Disco” Written by Yasutaka Nakata Produced by Yasutaka Nakata Performed by Perfume โ 2008 AMUSE Inc. | “Cater 2 U” Written by Beyoncรฉ Knowles, Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, Rodney Jerkins, Ric Rude, Robert Waller Produced by Rodney โDarkchildโ Jerkins & Ric Rude for Darkchild.com & Beyoncรฉ Knowles for Music World Productions, Inc. Performed by Destinyโs Child โ 2004 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Watch this mesmerizing music video if you like photography, architecture, geometry, juxtapositions, stop-motion animation, and/or just kick’n tunes in general:
Amazing editing work!
Filmmaker Pรกraic McGloughlinโs abstract music video serves as the perfect complement to the driving rhythm and headphone-worthy sounds of Wevalโs track Someday. The imagery and sounds reflect the fragility of our planet, and humanityโs desire to hold on.
“Last year Weval approached me with the idea of developing a music video for ‘Someday’. Upon listening to the track ,which I loved, I had ideas of what I thought would fit. We aimed at creating an abstract journey with a sense of ambiguity holding underlying core concepts […] super happy to put images behind their amazing sounds!”
Here is another crazy music video by Pรกraic McGloughlin:
Directed by BORIS SEEWALD borisseewald.de / Animation: MIWHA SEEWALD, BORIS SEEWALD, MINA SURI SEEWALD / Dancers: ALTHEA CORLETT, SIMONE SCHMIDT / Photography: GEORG SIMBENI / Produced by SEEWALD & HANNA / Label: REBECCA & NATHAN / ยฉ 2016 Seewald & Hanna UG, โ 2015 Ralf Hildenbeutel.
Fantastic music video for track by NosajThing and ChanceTheRapper, put together by Rhizomatiks and features dancers from Elevenplay. The video uses drones, 3D capture and performative dance to create a sense of alternating between digital and real worlds:
While CG effects are nothing new, the use of little drone cameras to capture the movements of the two dancers teetering on the edge of reality and illusion gives everything a very unique feel. Learn about the making of here >rhizomatiks/coldstares/<
Directed by Tokyo-based media artist, Daito Manabe, who I remember a few years ago was doing interesting things with electronic pulses and facial muscles moving in sync to music:
“How Soon Is Now?” was originally a B-side of the 1984 single “William, It Was Really Nothing”. “How Soon Is Now?” was featured on the compilation album Hatful of Hollow and on U.S., Canadian, Australian and Warner UK editions of the group’s second album Meat Is Murder released in 1985.
Interpol is a great band. Can’t believe this is my first mention of them on here. 2002’s ‘Turn On the Bright Lights’ was a good debut album, but it wasn’t until 2004’s ‘Antics’ that I became a fan. โEverything Is Wrongโ is from their new, fifth studio album โEl Pintorโ, you may wish to purchase here: http://smarturl.it/interpolelpintor
Liverpool trio All We Are just released the video for โKeep Me Alive,โ one of many fine tracks on their upcoming self-titled debut album, released on Domino/Double Six on 2nd February.
This short is an animated adaptation of a commencement speech given by George Saunders at Syracuse University, May 2013. It’s meant to serve as a promotional trailer for his book, ‘Congratulations, by the way: Some Thoughts on Kindness’, but it’s a wonderful teaser that adds a dimension of warmth to the authorโs enlightened words:
Produced By: Above Average // Adapted By: Tim Bierbaum // Video Created by Serious Lunch // Narration by George Saunders // Illustrated by Tim Bierbaum // Above Average Producer: Celeste Ballard // Music by Michael Camenti provided by The Music Bed
With his gentle wisdom and disarming warmth, Saunders manages to dissolve some of our most deeply engrained culturally conditioned cynicism into a soft and expansive awareness of the greatest gift one human being can give another โ those sacred exchanges that take place in a moment of time, often mundane and fleeting, but echo across a lifetime with inextinguishable luminosity.
โWhat I regret most in my life are failures of kindness.โ ~ George Saunders
โYou can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.”
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
A week ago, you may have heard or seen the buzz people were making over Kim Kardashian‘s nude photo-shoot for Paper magazine. Some said it was empowering for women and mothers everywhere, others said she was the butt of a previous racial joke and whatever empowerment was there had been Photoshop manipulated, while others didn’t really care but wished the media would stop celebrating talentless people in society. Whatever your stance, let’s not forgot that the real mark of integrity for any female role model/empowering figure, has little to do with flaunting ass — spit it, Aisha:
Chicago hip-hop artist VicMensa caught my attention with his progressive lyrics and vibrant low-fi music video, uploaded yesterday for all us unsuspecting music lovers. What I do suspect is that Vic Mensa is one up and comer to keep an eye on, he’s gonna take off.
The song featuresย British singer ElizaDoolittle on the hook, another talented young artist who is best know in NZ for her single “Big When I Was Little.” She doesn’t feature in the video. Instead, director Nem Perez casts Mensa’s friends as glitches in a digital world where life isn’t all it seems. I like it — the visuals certainly match the vibe, so turn down that throwback and get with the new shit:
Directed by CANADA; Trying To Be Cool is one of the most ambitious music videos I’ve seen in a long time — it certainly helps that the song sounds great too!
We’ve all tried to exude coolness around someone we liked at some point in our lives:
Would you believe that this performance video was shot live! Though there were cuts between two separate film crews, the music video took place in real-time from start to finish, alternating between cameras. The giant countdown clock visible in the background of many of the shots was used as a practical device for the two crews, telling them how long they had to film their scene while the other prepared to capture the next — Extremely smooth:
I’m going to do that thing I try avoiding when I blog and mix things into one post — I’m reminded of Death Cab For Cutie’s “You Are A Tourist,” which was directed by Tim Nackashi who also directed another favourite of mine, Neon Indian’s “Polish Girl.” This one-take-performance-video isn’t exactly a new concept, but when it is pulled off well the results are undeniably engaging.
It’s sort of music’s equivalent of theย Wilhelm Scream. A specific arrangement of notes performed (mostly at the same speed and duration) in a bunch of different songs that the makers of this video have dubbed, “The Lick.”
These aren’t laser beam dreams, but shapes made from illuminated string! How awesome is that! (I have an urge to play ‘Tempest X’ now)
On their quest for creating classic computer effects without the computer, Dark Matters continues the analogue feel from the “Matter” video.
The new Kenton Slash Demon video, Deamon is the take on analogue wireframes in the same naive universe. An abstract space opera about loadscreens based on Strings and nails.
Cool song. The way Kazu moves makes me want to get up and swayย with the dust. The Blonde Redheadtrio comprises ofย Kazuย Makino and twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace. If you liked that then you’ll probablyย love their new album, released late last year.
Iโve put off posting this sweet fucking video for far too long. Personally, I wouldnโt go as far as to call it โNSFWโ, but rather, “Truckers Delight” isย a mature, acquired guilty pleasure …and Iโm jizzing in my pants just talking about it ๐ ENJOY: WARNING NSFW
Multiple viewings will make those doubts and fears of yours go away –ย Press Replay Now!
Think Spielberg’s Duel + Russ Meyer’s Faster Pussycat Kill Kill! and Marc Dorcel’s wildest fantasies, warped into an 8-bit Sega era style graphic.
SY3 (pronounced โsighโ) is a new project from LA-based Chinese-American artists Kelly Guan, Alex Ho, and Phil Cho. The trio started working on music together in 2023 after connecting over a shared love of Hong Kong New Wave cinema, Cantonese pop songs, r&b, and melody-driven dance music.
ANREALAGE AUTUMN/WINTER 2026-27 COLLECTION Designer: Kunihiko Morinaga / Show Direction: Shige Kaneko / Stylist: TEPPEI / Makeup: UDA (mekashi project) / Hair: Kiyoko Odo / Nail: Hiro / Global Press: PR Consulting / Production: Eyesight / Casting Director: The frame / Invisible LED Wall + LED Product: LED TOKYO / LED Look System Development: MPLUSPLUS / Print: Kyocera Document Solutions Inc. / Coordinator: Hiromi Otsuka / Collaboration: GHOST IN THE SHELL / ๆปๆฎปๆฉๅ้ย
A little self-promotion, because I’ve always loved fashion and the future: I wrote a short-story that includes a section about a character wearing a jacket laced with technology:
Art imitating art imitating art, or just a neat idea shared by multiple dreamers? I don’t recieve a royalty, but should you wish to own a copy: https://a.co/d/00pPbK4p
Perfume, iconic for blending electronic-dance music with precise choreography, high-tech live performances, and futuristic fashion, has a documentary set for release May 15.
It centres on the groupโs last live arena performance before their public announcement to take a โcryosleepโ hiatus from it all, at a defining crossroads in their career:
Perfume announced in an official statement last September 2025 that in 2026, they would take a temporary break to concentrate on their personal lives:
The center of all Perfume activities lies in our live shows.
We have given out everything to share that time and place together and resonate with you. Every show, we went up on stage thinking this might be the last time the miracle happened and ignited our hearts.
Time spent with you means the world to us.
โMarking our shining legacy in historyโ. This has always been one of Perfumeโs dreams.
To capture this moment that we can proudly call a โshining legacyโ, we have decided to put Perfume to cryosleep starting 2026.
No matter what shape or form, as the three of us, we will forever be Perfume. To spend many more years together, to become better and more sophisticated Perfume, to face new challenges, we have decided to pause our milestone.
We have continued to improve and polish ourselves every day for the past 25 years so we are always ready to go as Perfume and this break will be the time that we, for the first time, will face our lives as individuals to find the new us. We have never experienced a time like this, nor have we never even thought about something like this so we will probably start with rehab. LOL But the three of us all agreed that we are ready to face that challenge.
Many beautiful landscapes we created together will continue to push us forward and if we ever feel down, weโre sure that they will keep shining upon us. We appreciate every one of you who has supported us thus far, from the bottom of our hearts.
Since we came this far without taking a break as Perfume, we hope you support our decision to give ourselves little break time. Please continue to lend us your support as we chase our new dreams.
We are doing all this just to come back as โnew Perfume.โ We all want to be more powerful than ever so we would be delighted if you could kindly look forward to that day when we meet again.
Rest is a healthy and good thing to want, and having a documentary to bookend a long and successful career is a neat thing for the fans.
Ending this post with “Spring of Life” (2012) seems appropriate.
Ginger Root is the indie music project of singer-songwriter and instrumentalist Cameron Lew, who describes the sound of Ginger Root as “aggressive elevator soul.” I feel it. I took a deep dive into this cat’s YouTube page and holy wow, his creative output has been phenomenal from the jump. Dylan Hovis on bass and Matt Carney on drums join Cameron Lew when performing live, making appearances in videos as well.
SHINBANGUMIreleased on 13 September 2024, and coinciding with the release of each single was a narrative-driven music video, conceived as a serialised story.
Presented in a classic CRT television 4:3 aspect ratio and washed in VHS fuzz, SHINBANGUMI follows the exploits of a young music supervisor in 1987 Shลwa era Japan, being fired, going independent to start his own TV companyโGinger Root Productionsโand gaining popularity, while his former employerโJubanTVโtries to thwart his rising success.
It is very entertaining, funny, and cool.
I am un/fashionably late to the Ginger Root party, but here is SHINBANGUMI lovingly compiled into a single short film, freely presented for our listening and viewing pleasure:
Neat, huh? Great casting! It has since been picked up by Adult Swim, and aired on Toonami. My next opinion may sound like shade and/or high-praise, but it’s really an observation: Ginger Root’s SHINBANGUMI is better than Gorillaz’s “The Mountain, The Moon Cave and The Sad God.” I said it. Scope. Effort. Execution. Entertainment. Many hands make light work special. I love seeing people as characters give a performance.
A few prelude segments missing from the movie above:
Had fun discovering these, one video at a time. Can see his interest in aesthetic was present in the early stages of Ginger Root. Personal favs: “Weather” & “Mahjong Room”
The world of Gorillaz has been brought to life in an 8-minute animated film, an homage to the aesthetic of animated features from the 1960s, the golden era of 2D animation.
“If particular visuals couldnโt be achieved in that era, then we didnโt do them. We processed our digital pencil work to mimic photocopy degradation. We scanned real paintings at high resolution and finished the details digitally. It was about capturing the tactile quality that only real materials give you.”
[…]
“In a time of AI overload, this is our love letter to craftsmanship. Weโre chasing the feel of pencil on paper. Paint on board. And all the imperfections that come with it.”
-Max Taylor
And to think, we could have had a full-length Gorillaz animated film in 2023 had Netflix not cancelled it.
Throwback to 2018 where The Line studio handled animations for Gorillaz music video “Humility” featuring Jack Black:
This short tidbit of information might trip some fans:
Currently on a free Vercel server, MTVRewind is a passion project operating on the edge of capacity; a guerilla archival project built by the developer Flex (@flexasaurusrex), this fan-made โtime machineโ has resurrected the channelโs original spirit.
MTVRewind is a staggering database of 33,931 music videos spanning six decades (1970sโ2020s), presented without the glossy sheen of modern streaming services — enjoy:
The manifesto on the splash screen is a direct indictment of the modern web:
No ads. No algorithm. No login. Just pure random discovery.
LIT-B carries the same eccentric DNA as DITB does, but with more focus on a specific kind of content. The lateral pivot of where I spend my time is healthy for me, and is refreshing my goals. Wherever you are in the World, remember to have fun, and take care of yourself. Let’s make 2026 a special kind of year ๐ชโ๏ธ
Also, for archival purposes of course: ditb.bandcamp.com
I wrote a flash piece for a flash, pop culture journal dedicated to film, TV, music videos, celebritism, and moving image media on the things we like to watch — please check them out and follow!
In The Mood publish triannually, so watch for their themed submission windows, should you have something fun and interesting to pitch/share (Gabrielle & Sennah, thanx)
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