Patrick × ♥UFUFU♥
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Mizca was pretty obscure before she became, well, Mizca. Chrissy gave some info about her prior career, if you could call it that, so check out her review.
From what I understand though, Mizca always wished she was Ayu, musically and image-wise. She even re-used her discarded hat from the Rock’n’Roll Circus album cover on ♥UFUFU♥. Bless Mizca’s robotic heart!
All I know is that ♥UFUFU♥ put her on the map, as far as J-pop fans on the internet were concerned, and in 2010, there weren’t many of us left.
When Chrissy mentioned this was her random pick for the month, I was giddy and thought she was just teasing me.
Let the gushing begin!
The Good
When Mizca is good, she’s GOOD!
Let’s run down the track list and start with “キラキラ★”, the para para anthem of 2010 we all didn’t know we needed. One of the singles from the album, “キラキラ★” gives you a general idea of what’s up next: cheaply produced pal@pop guilty pleasure goodness. Although the sex appeal is toned down from the awesome “ROBOTICS”, which I’ll talk about later, “キラキラ★” doesn’t overdo it like “ダメよ♥ ～ALBUM VER.～”.
“ROBOTICS” is definitely the climax of ♥UFUFU♥ though. As the lead single, “ROBOTICS” projected Mizca into her 15 minutes of e-fame and made us all want more of the gyrating, holographic, overproduced robot we knew little about. The vocals are lazy and uninspired, making the track even more appealing for some reason. I guess it exudes the whole “zero fucks given” attitude before it was trendy.
Another favorite of mine is definitely “Chu!”. Again, those emotionless vocals! They just add something to heavily produced electronica tracks that would flop hard in other genres. The coldness of it all gives off a unique atmosphere. It speaks to me and my black, icy heart.
Mini shout out to “Jump”. It may not be the strongest on the album, but it’s an interesting track. If anything, the “ほら元気出してJump” hook is enough to make it memorable and stand out from others on the album.
The Bad
Honestly, I couldn’t stand “ダメよ♥ ～ALBUM VER.～” when it was released as a single and the album version did nothing for it. My main issue is that Mizca’s vocal are annoyingly high pitched, to the point that I feel like I should re-tag the artist as Alvin and the Chipmunks, pretending they had a surreal electro-J-pop phase back in the 60s. At least the PV was cute!
The Tragic
“たっくんが好きなの･･･ Mizca feat. ALLaNHiLLZ”, although technically a bonus track if I remember correctly (whatever the hell that means these days), is amazing, but so sad at the same time. The vocaloid-rapper combination isn’t one you hear often and probably for a good reason. I can’t help but love it though. The track has always been Mizca’s “look guy’s, I’m hip and cool” attempt at reaching a bigger audience. Who that audience might be, I have no idea.
×××
The fact that I needed to listen to ♥UFUFU♥ once to refresh my love for it and write this review should say something good about the album.
If you like robo-pop a la Perfume, MEG, or any of Yasutaka Nakata’s many projects, then check out Mizca’s work. The album is solid and pal@pop is definitely the poor man’s Nakata. I mean, if you thought rehashing Ayu’s HAL tracks years late and digging through her kaisha dumpster for photoshoot props was going to help Mizca save some cash and afford someone with a big name...
