album of the week: 4.3

capsule

STEREO WORXXX

(2012)

why you'll love it: No lame party cliches or rapping, just dance music

why you'll hate it: pretty generic stuff for this group. No outstanding tracks

I don't think there is a single artist in my iTunes library as inconstant as capsule. In both style and quality, capsule has run the gamete of criticisms from "exciting next-generation electro-disco" to "embarrassingly derivative party anthems". The 2008 album, MORE! MORE! MORE!, struck at the right time, with aggressive fashion-pop and heavy drops before the world popularized the names Lady Gaga and Skrillex. The two albums leading up to and following MORE! MORE! MORE! have failed to capture that same magic. capsule takes big risks. That's usually something I enjoy; but their failures greatly outweigh the accomplishments. Albums usually have two or three absolutely killer tracks, lost in a sea of missed opportunities, hackneyed party cliches, terrible raps, and predictable beats and progressions.

STEREO WORXXX doesn't bring capsule back to electro-pop glory, but at least stops the bleeding. Yatsutaka Nakata wisely pulls back on a lot of gimmicks and themes for this album. No guest performers, no rave sirens. Even the face and voice of capsule, Toshiko Koshijima, has a more subtle presence than usual. Her contributions aren't catch phrases, and her voice is mostly background flavor, almost treated like another synth layered on to the mix.

The music itself is the real star here. I'm actually a little impressed by the way the tracks are put together. The first three songs connect in the strangest way. They don't fade or bridge. It's like Nakata just flips a switch and screams "I'm bored, next song NOW!" Extended versions of most of these songs exist, but I love the way they are cut for this album. All the songs are pretty solid. It seems more about the consistency and pace of a song this time than just building up to a big moment. That's a good change, because the songs on the last two albums were very formulaic. I do miss those great bug-out moments capsule has been known to do, but I don't want to hear any more until a less predictable method is comprised.

I'm pretty torn on this release. It's definitely one of the most focused and successful capsule albums in a long time. Just about everything that made me cringe or roll my eyes about them over the past few years has been cut. On the other hand, so much has been reduced, I'm not sure what kind of personality remains. At what point does this just become generic club-music? STEREO WORXXX is the kind of album I usually chastise an artist over for "playing it too safe" but capsule has had so many misses over the years, maybe I'm just happy to listen to a full release without guilt.