You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'capsule' category.
Sorry, had a bit of a problem with this review, had to repost it. I have scans this time though, so yay!
Tracklisting
1. runway
2. More! More! More!
3. the Time is Now
4. JUMPER
5. Phantom
6. gateway
7. Pleasure ground
8. the mutations of life
9. e.d.i.t.
10. Adventure
More! More! More! is capsule’s 11th studio album. It was released on the 19th of November, 2008.
The album opens with runway, an introductory track using a rising synth and a computerised voice, followed by a synth arrangement that uses quite a few random sounds. It’s actually not too bad for an intro, but it is rather pointless.
We now come to the first full track many of us heard from this album, More! More! More!, which has gotten a makeover compared to the first track. A new drum sound opesn the song, followed by the main synth of the song, followed quickly by Toshiko singing the title of the song. The synth, this time around, has a much more ethereal, echoing quality to it, but Toshiko still sounds the same, bad pronounciation (MWAH! MWAH! MWAH!) and all. Of course, you can’t blame her, it’s her accent. The song has a few more synth additions here and there, with an entirely new section of synth being added halfway through that features more distorted voices and a much livelier synth arrangement. By the end, it’s back to normal, with some deeper synth instead of the ethereal echo. Frankly, this version is a HUGE improvement over the demo version.
However, the Time is Now, the b-side from the JUMPER analogue single, is still as bad as ever. The opening synth does nothing for the song, as does the heavy continuation, and the female rapping stock vocals just make it even worse. The synth in the second half is a bit better with the addition of the higher pitched note, but I’ll still pass on it.
YES! NAKATA, I FUCKING LOVE YOU!!! JUMPER is back to its old self, as we all enjoyed it in the PV. This version has a slower, lower pitched sound, which I feel is largely superior to the faster, higher sound in the Analogue version. The song is one of their less aggressive music-based songs, and it also only features one repeated vocal section to it, but the song is constantly changing speed and pitch, and it’s always giving you something new to listen to as it passes each section. When it gets to 1:53 through the song, it starts picking up largely over the slow, ethereal introduction and lone synth arrangement, mainly thanks to Toshiko’s faster, livelier vocals. It’s the only seven minute song I can listen to from capsule on a loop and still love after a dozen repeats and more. Especially this version.
We now come to the first new full track, Phantom. I expected something spooky when it came to this song, but the opening is a simple bouncing synth followed by the usual thumping arrangement, and it has a rather heavy sound to it. It has a sound that hints that something darker is here, but when the male distorted 
vocals come in, it takes an even lighter tone with the high-pitched synth. The beeping synth in the background sort of makes me think of aliens, but it fits well with the song. The second half of the song has some bad random choices, but they only help make the song more interesting. I like this song a lot more than I thought I would from the preview.
gateway is dominated by the creepy, silent music of a hollywood horror movie, followed by a rough buzzing synth line. That’s about it, but it leads perfectly into the next track.
Pleasure ground sees Toshiko acting as the vocalist again, and the sweeping, almost string-like synth has a sinister sound to it, but when Toshiko starts singing, she’s at a very high pitch, and she’s hitting some rather high notes compared to what she usually does. The ethereal synth mixed with the edgier rough synth we hear a lot has an interesting sound to it, but when the actual arrangement comes in, it has a real dancable sound to it, and Toshiko’s voice is perfect. It isn’t distorted to hell, which is good. The bridge has a calmer sound to it in comparison, but the chorus is definitely the highlight of the song once again, as it takes the different parts of the songs and strings them together perfectly. The song carries a hint of More! More! More!’s sound with it, which I thought was a nice addition. For the first “normal” song on the album, I found it to be one of the best tracks on the album.
the mutations of life carries a much lower sound, with a simple thumping synth placed over some mellower beeps. Toshiko’s voice is alright, but there’s a higher-pitched synth following her tone that sort of makes her voice more annoying than it should be. The song picks up at the second half, with the usual speed change and vocal tone rise. It’s sort of dull, but it’s not too bad.
e.d.i.t. is the only song on the album to really carry a dance edge to it, with the normal rough synth placed over a much lighter synth line that gives the whole dance feel. The song is much more akin to FLASH BACK’s material than the other tracks on this album, with the stock vocals and all. It’s just a six minute continuation of the same synth with a few vocal interruptions. I wasn’t too happy with this track.
Thankfully, Adventure sounds a lot like the better tracks on this album. It has the usual thumping synths, but it features a higher sound that’s actually rather akin to a panpipe, or a similar instrument. It mixes really well, and I like the distinct sound it gives the song. Toshiko’s singing in her distorted voice again, and while I feel it could be a bit higher, it’s not too bad. The higher extended notes can be a bit grating, and there are some distorted vocals from another person (a man this time), but they aren’t really the bad kind that can detract from the song. The second half is definitely more enjoyable, when the song speeds up and takes a pitch change. It’s another six minute song, but it’s one of my favorites on the album.
Album Score
A+
Favorite Tracks
1. JUMPER
2. More! More! More!
3. Pleasure ground
4. Adventure
5. Phantom
Now, THIS is how capsule should be! This album features Toshiko a lot more than the previous albums, which is the way it should be, and they took a much larger synth focus to give to the album this time. There were only two real disappointing tracks, and the while the intro was rather pointless, the second interlude actually brought something to the album by giving Pleasure ground a much longer introduction. This was just a perfect album, a lot better than I expected! Extra points won for using the PV version of JUMPER.
Tracklisting
1. JUMPER
2. the Time is Now
JUMPER is capsule’s tenth overall 12″ analog single, and their 17th overall single. The PV for the title track is significant due to being their first since the PV for “Sugarless GiRL” a year and a half before. The PV version also plays at a lower key with a shorter introduction. It was released on the 5th of November, 2008.
The single version of JUMPER opens with the segment of JUMPER that originally came after the first vocal segment, with a much more raw sound. The odd voices are still there though, but I’m not sure how much I like this part. The aggressive guitar-like synth is still there, and still sounds great here. I’ve edited this review due to changing views a few times now, but I must admit, the faster speed works well with this song, so I don’t really think it detracts from it at all. It may take some getting used to if you’ve been listening to the PV version for ages like I have (obivously it took me a while), but it’s definitely on equal footing with the PV version. I mean, there are barely any changes as it is. I still prefer the PV opening though.
the Time is Now comes in next, and all it manages to do is make this single fail on a much higher level. The opening, with its ripping sounds and 8-bit backing track just sounds annoying, and doesn’t work in making me want to listen to the song, and neither does the louder riff after it. And then more stock vocals come in, and they’re rapping. RAPPING. And it sounds absolutely horrible, especially against the song itself. The chorus vocals are pretty bad too. A few segments of the arrangement sound alright, mainly the higher-pitched parts, but the rapping and vocals just make this song a pain to listen to.
Single Score
B+
Favorite Track
JUMPER
Okay, so there’s really nothing bad about the a-side. The PV version sounds a bit better with its slower tempo, but the single version is definitely as good. It may just take some getting used to if you’ve listened to the slower version a lot. The b-side, however, kills the single. The rapping just sounds really out of place, and the stock vocals are just horrible with the synth in the first place.
Tracklisting
1. construction
2. FLASH BACK
3. Eternity
4. You are the reason
5. Love Me
6. I’m Feeling You
7. MUSiXXX
8. Get Down
9. Electric light Moon light
FLASH BACK is capsule’s tenth overall album, and continues the new style of music that Sugarless GiRL introduced. It also continues the useage of stock vocals. It debuted at #1 on the iTunes Japan storewide album chart, and reached #20 on the Oricon charts. It was released on the 5th of December, 2007.
construction opens the album with a rising, skipping synth line with a robotic voice speaking incoherently, before bringing in an 8-bit styled synth. It’s a rather limited, repetitive introduction, so there’s nothing special here.
However, it does lead straight into FLASH BACK. I’ll be totally honest, the electric guitar-styled opening and the following synths are just one huge headache. When it lowers the volume a bit, it has an interesting, heavy sound to it that pretty much tops anything on Sugarless GiRL in its nature. It has no vocals whatsoever, and despite there being a few interesting changes to the synth at certain intervals, it just tends to drag on WAY too much because of the lack of vocals.
Eternity is a gift from heaven after that failure that was the title track. It opens with a sparkling synth, before we finally hear Toshiko singing. Her voice is once again distorted to suit the once again 8-bit reminiscent synth. What’s odd about this song is that it has the words “flash back” in it. Shouldn’t the title track have those? Anyway, this song tends to repeat on itself. A lot. It features the same vocal segment from Toshiko looped over the whole four minutes and six seconds, with almost no musical changes. It’s a fun song to listen to, and I’m glad they put a quieter song after FLASH BACK, because it saved me from going deaf.
You are the reason is next, and I’ll admit, the stock vocals used to open this song remind me of Lumi, the vocalist from the Genki Rockets… But as if her voice wasn’t provided by thirty different women. (Over exaggerating there folks.) Anyway, the stock vocals sound nice, but the rising synth that joins them quickly is once again, ear splittingly bad. The lower, more club-influenced sound that comes in after the first vocal segment is over sounds great though, so it’s not a total loss. The vocals actually suit this song really well throughout, apart from the opening segment that appears again throughout the song. It doesn’t fit AS well, but it still sounds nice against the synth, if not as good as it could. There aren’t much changes again, but I’m amazed that there’s actually a song without Toshiko that has vocals that I genuinely like.
This next song isn’t as good. Love Me opens with the worst stock vocals that try to sound sexy in a hoarse way, but they sound even worse against the horrible opening synths, that stick throughout the whole introduction. As it usually is with capsule songs though, the segment following the introduction sounds a lot better, and I rather like the main arrangement of the song. I still hate the stock vocals, so they really kill the song. The song takes an arrangement change halfway through, which is good, because it breaks the song up a bit, and it doesn’t sound too bad. When the voice starts looping with the title and the question “Do you love me?”, I just start hating how much they ruin the song. Without them, this song would be great. Maybe with some Toshiko vocals, it’d be even better, but unfortunately Eternity is the only song with her so far.
I still enjoy the smooth club vibe that I’m Feeling You has, and Toshiko coming in to give us more vocals makes the song even better after what we’ve heard so far. I really don’t have much to say on this song that I didn’t say in the review for “MUSiXXX / I’m Feeling You”, so go check that out if you want to know what I thought of the song in depth. But it is one of the good songs on the album. There are a few vocal niggles though.
Again, I also still rather enjoy the grittier sound of MUSiXXX, despite being somewhat turned off by the few vocal niggles given by the robotic voice and some of Toshiko’s lines in the song. It has an interesting overall arrangement, and while it’s not my absolute favorite song, it is a good one. Again, check the review of “MUSiXXX / I’m Feeling You” for my full write-up on it, cause my opinion really hasn’t changed.
Get Down opens with a quick, bouncing synth line that quickly builds up on itself, before coming in with a mixture of different vocalilsts singing at the same time, and I can distinctly hear Toshiko buried under all those stock vocals. She’s a lot more audible in the verses, though, which is good, and this isn’t another song that relies heavily on its arrangement. It still follows its original arrangement throughout the song, and there’s just something too annoying about the many vocals played over each other. It’s not horrible, but it could be better.
Electric light Moon light closes FLASH BACK, and it opens in a very interesting manner. It opens in a very laid back, upbeat manner, and sounds quite different from every other song on the album, taking on a dreamy feel with the sparkling synths that play over the song. Toshiko’s providing vocals this time, and her voice compliments this song well, with it being distorted in just the right manner to fit the song. It’s a shorter song, clocking in at 3:43, making it the shortest proper track on the album, so the repetitive nature doesn’t hamper its sound as much.
Album Score
B
Favorite Tracks
1. Eternity
2. I’m Feeling You
3. You are the reason
4. Electric light Moon light
5. Get Down
While this album isn’t brilliant, it’s definitely a large improvement over Sugarless GiRL (the album). None of the songs manage to overthrow Sugarless GiRL (the song) as capsule’s best, but as a whole, they manage to make the album into a decent listen. Despite the amount of hate it tends to get, I’d recommend listening to it at least once if you’re a fan of Nakata’s other J-Tek works, including his other capsule works.
Tracklisting
1. MUSiXXX
2. I’m Feeling You
“MUSiXXX / I’m Feeling You” is capsule’s 9th 12″ Analog single (I’m not reviewing the 8th one, which is a remix EP) and 16th overall single. It is the only single in the FLASH BACK era, and once again, all the songs appear on the album. It was released on the 7th of November 2007.
MUSiXXX starts with a very heavy, gritty synth arrangement with a few drum sounds thrown in with it. There are a few alterations and distortions thrown into the mix as it gets closer to the one minute mark, before a deep robotic voice starts talking. The synth let’s up somewhat at this point, but the song has a very space-y feel to it. And I don’t mean in the way that I use that term with Aira and Perfume, this is the more gritty side of that sound. This is where the difference in Nakata’s works comes out, because none of his other acts have ever really done a song like this. The song consists of very few actual lyrics once again, with the only real lyrics are “Music!” being shouted, and “M! U! S! I!” being repeated over and over until the x’s are finally added. Toshiko’s actually reciting these lines, which is nice to hear, but it’s a real music-based song, as the title should tell you. I actually don’t mind the arrangement, so it’s actually a decent listen.
I’m Feeling You has a much smoother sound to it as it opens, with a beeping synth line placed over a more stable line, with clapping in the background. Toshiko actually sings this time around, which is nice, but her voice is heavily filtered. This song has more of a club feeling to it than an all-out techno one like MUSiXXX did. Sometimes I can swear she’s singing in French, but then you hear the definite Japanese words, so it’s all very confusing because of the distortions. The chorus, when she finally shouts “I’m feeling you” can be a bit loud, considering the beginning was quite a bit lower, though. I like the laid back sound this song has, and it’s nice to hear another fully vocalised track from Toshiko on the single, but this is certainly no Sugarless GiRL.
Single Score
A
Favorite Track
Both
This was actually a pretty good single. I’ve heard terrible things about the FLASH BACK era, but this single has me thinking twice. We’ll see how the album holds up when I get around to reviewing it, but so far it sounds like it could at least be somewhat decent with this single.
Tracklisting
1. Welcome to my world
2. Starry sky
3. REALiTy
4. Sugarless GiRL
5. Catch my breath
6. Spider
7. MUZiC
8. Melting Point
9. Sound of Silence
10. Secret Paradise
11. Star Sniper (iTunes Bonus Track)
Sugarless GiRL is capsule’s eighth overall album, and the first to ditch their pop sound and focus on a more electronic, club style of music. Remixes of the title track have been used in the finale for LIAR GAME, which Nakata produced the entire score for. It reached #25 on the Oricon charts, and was released on the 21st of February, 2007.
Welcome to my world opens this album, in a very… Introductory way. Literally, it’s a 0:14 introduction. It contains one of the lines from Starry sky, with a single extra line added and sung by the same stock audio voice, before leading instantly into…
Starry sky. Having just written a review for this song a few minutes ago, I haven’t had much of an opportunity to change my mind. It’s an interesting departure from capsule’s old trademark sound, and Toshiko’s voice works fabulously in the short sections that feature it. It does get a bit long winded at 5:37 minutes long, though.
Again, I just reviewed REALiTy, so I can’t change my mind. It’s an interesting 80’s dance-style song, but it could do with some more vocals instead of focusing on the arrangement and the English male singer. That guy just makes it sound even more 80s. It’s a similar length to Starry sky, but it’s a lot more… Boring. That didn’t make much sense, but it’s true.
Sugarless GiRL is up next, and let me just say if I could sex this song up, I’d screw the condom and do it on the sidewalk. Kidding aside, I still love the pop-influenced sound this song has, and Toshiko’s deep voice enhances the overall sound of it. It does tend to be a bit heavier than most of Nakata’s similar productions, but I just feel that it helps set the song apart. I have to say it again, Toshiko just sounds fantastic here. This is one of my loop songs, if you couldn’t tell. A great choice for a title track; A bad choice for a b-side. I love the usage of the guitar in it, too.
Next up, we have Catch my breath, and it reverts to a club-influenced sound, with some eventual audio distortions thrown in. We get some more stock vocals this time, but they fit the song pretty well. The male distorted voice that comes in is a bit annoying, and the higher-pitched vocalist that comes in to sing along with it isn’t helping. I can’t even tell if it’s Toshiko or not, but it probably isn’t. I love the arrangement this song has, and apart from the distorted vocals, I think it comes off very well. It’s not too long either, clocking in at 3:49 minutes long. It’s semi-vocal light, too.
Now we have… Well, I wouldn’t call it pop-influenced, but it’s similar to a mix between Sugarless GiRL and Starry Sky. Spider uses a heavier synth sound, but it’s at a similar speed as Sugarless GiRL, if not a bit slower. I like the airy sound the synth has, and thankfully Toshiko’s back to fill in the role for vocals. She sounds great here, too, and she hasn’t got any (or many, at least) vocal distortions. The guitar solo after the first chorus fits the song surprisingly well, for the sound that it has. I can’t see why people keep calling this song dark, but I can kind of see where they’re coming from. However, it sounds like it’s all over the place in its genres. But since it’s not all over the place in its sound, it’s still good. The different styles, synth arrangements and the vocals all blend well together, too. It’s a bit short at 3:40, but at least it doesn’t drag on, I guess.
MUZiC starts off similarly to how Spider did, before going into a looping line that sounds almost 8-bit. A clapping synth line eventually comes in, and I suppose the added vocals are trying to make it sound sexy or something. The random synth sounds that beep at you throughout the beginning of the song can get rather annoying, and that short change in arrangement sounds pretty interesting, but by short, I mean two-second, so it’s not interesting for long. The only vocals to speak of are distorted to hell, so you can’t even dream of making out what’s been said. Probably the most boring song on the album.
Next is Melting point, a 1:22 long interlude, and this surprised the hell out of me, because it’s played entirely on a piano. No added effects, no distortions: Just a natural piano. And for a piano on a club/techno album, it actually sounds fantastic. But it’s an interlude, so not much can be expected.
And now Sound of Silence shocks you straight back into the techno fare. It starts off similar to how Spider did, with a similar airy synth sound, and the stock vocals that sing over the very beginning fit the arrangement rather well. The stock vocals return during the chorus, and this time sing a bit more than they did before, but the lines she sing seem to come in a second too late and screw it up. When the different distorted voices come in soon after this chorus, it sounds like a hot mess. And not a good hot mess. The arrangement is quite nice, and the higher register of the stock vocals compared to the other stocks used throughout the album makes for a nice change, but the hot mess nature of the sounds just make the song a waste of time.
Secret Paradise closes the album for the people who brought a physical copy. We have a sound similar to Starry sky this time around when it opens, but it still sounds relatively interesting. When Toshiko comes in singing, the song takes a turn for the worst. Unfortunately, the way she’s singing is a turn-off, too. When it gets to a steady section, she sounds a lot better, but the arrangement is just annoying by this point. I’m sure the opening of this song’s review, plus a similar mention in a few others, made you notice the flaw throughout the album that I’ve been saving. Figured out what it is yet? Well, you’ll know soon, only one song left now.
Star Sniper is a special little tidbit for you iTunes purchasers, but it starts off in a rather disappointing manner. The arrangement that we eventually get sounds somewhat all over the place… And is this stock voice French? The song’s all over the place, and the quiet whispering vocal lines that appear randomly throughout the song just aren’t helping. It’s a rather disappointing bonus track.
Album Score
C
Favorite Tracks
1. Sugarless GiRL
2. Spider
3. Catch my breath
Have you seen the big flaw? The problem with this album is, a lot of the tracks end up sounding far too similar to each other for their own good, and the lack of a consistent vocalist makes this album sound more like a compilation than an actual offering. I can barely tell it’s capsule, apart from Toshiko’s sparse appearances. A few of these tracks on their own may have sounded sub-par, but apart from Sugarless GiRL (This song saved this album from absolute mediocrity) and Spider, it all sounds a bit too thrown together to have any real effect. Catch my breath has its interesting moments, but otherwise, it’s just not that good an album.
(NOTE: Don’t forget to look here to vote for the future post~)
Tracklisting
1. Starry sky
2. Reality
3. Sugarless GiRL
Starry sky is capsule’s 14th OVERALL (error, hahah) single, and seventh 12″ analog single, and the only single in the Sugarless GiRL era. All three songs are found on the Sugarless GiRL era, with the title song appearing as the second b-side. It was released on the 13th of December, 2006.
Starry sky opens with a weird record scratching sound, before leading into a thumping bass line with some deep synth placed over it. It eventually starts focusing on a louder synth line, before leading into a small vocal section and going into what I call a “break down” phase. It’s nothing like Nakata’s other produced bands, but it definitely has a nice sound to it, and it’s a nice change. It’s a vocal light song, but what’s there is interesting enough. Toshiko really only has about four lines in this song, which are repeated throughout, but her voice compliments this song perfectly. It’s, once again, completely different from anyone he’s produced, as she has a much deeper voice that suits this type of music perfectly. The synth line (that reminds me oddly of an electric guitar, so let’s call it that) that comes in after the vocal lines is great, too. It kind of drags on, clocking in at 5:37, and since it’s vocal light, that’s not really a good thing. It’s a great song, though.
Next up is REALiTY, and it once again comes in with a more aggressive synth line, but it’s not like it was in Starry sky. We have a guy singing this time, with an echoing distorted voice, so it’s kind of hard to make out what he’s saying. A lot, if not all of it, is in English, too. It’s kind of hard to describe how this song sounds, but it definitely has sort of an 80’s synth dance song feel to it. It seems to follow one method for the whole 4:42, so again, it tends to drag out on itself. Not as good, definitely sounds more like a b-side.
But here’s where I draw the line. Sugarless GiRL should NOT be a b-side. Opinions aside, this song is a lot closer to his other produced acts, and it’s also my personal favorite from both the single and the album. It has a much lighter, more pop-influenced arrangement, and Toshiko is actually the main freaking vocalist this time, which just makes it so much better. Despite being a song you’d expect Perfume to be singing, Toshiko’s deeper register actually sounds a lot more preferrable with this kind of song, and she works well with the distortions and vocal enhancements. I absolutely LOVE the bridge in this song, too. It speeds the song up a bit, and the vocal line has a much catchier sound to it. It also leads perfectly into the chorus, which is good. The “La la la”’s at the halfway point of the song, strangely enough, aren’t mind-numbingly annoying for some reason. It’s basically the chorus with “La” replacing every word, apart from the “Sugarless Girl” line at the end. Anyway, after this, it tends to sound exactly the same as the first half of the song, but I don’t care. It’s too damn catchy for me to care.
Single Score
A-
Favorite Track
Sugarless GiRL
Despite me personally hating this single for putting the best song on the album the single comes from as a b-side, this is a nice departure from capsule’s old sound, and it definitely marks the stage that Nakata started gaining more attention as a producer. Not the least since it was around this time that he started producing more Techno acts. Anyway, I’d ignore this single since the three tracks are on the album, but they ARE nice tracks.
So, I just thought I’d make a post announcing a sudden featuring urge I had. So here it is~
Hahah, yes, I know, blog followers who circulate the little gathering the bloggers have here will know that I’m not the first to recently feature capsule, the two-person J-Tek unit made up of Koshijima Toshiko and one Yasutaka Nakata, the mastermind behind J-Tek bands and artists such as Perfume, MEG, Ami Suzuki and a bunch of other unknowns you’ve never even heard a hint of in the industry.
Well, they’ve had one hell of a career, and are only now becoming more well known since the newfound success that Perfume had acquired, and the backlash from said fame that mr. Nakata felt. And, I’ve mentioned them a few times here, and I’m a huge fan, so I thought it was pretty stupid of me to refer to them so much and never feature them. So, here they are, and I’ll be starting with their analog single, “JUMPER”, followed by their upcoming album, “More! More! More!”.
And just to whore out my YouTube channel, here’s my upload of their PV for JUMPER.
So, enjoy, and look out for the reviews~
( Sorry for stealing, Goody. xD;; )
Recent Comments