Derrick Rossignol

Editor in Chief

Thank goodness “Gangnam Style” is over, right? Psy and his signature hit did teach the world two things, though: we as a people can only take so much of a dancing Korean man, and perhaps Asian entertainment is more than YouTube clips of people on strange and potentially very dangerous game shows.

It’s doubtful that another Asian artist will make as big of an American splash as Psy did, but do we really want that? That whole thing was kind of a drag. It was funny when it was just a random YouTube clip but was heavily worn out by the time Psy was performing on “American Idol.” It’s fantastic that other countries have their own pop culture because it presents the opportunity to step outside of the American comfort zone and see what the tastes of an entire nation are like.

It’s tough to get immersed in another country’s musical consciousness without actually observing their trends firsthand and seeing what people are listening to, so the best thing for an outsider to do could be to check the weekly charts for Japan on last.fm, a site that keeps track of every song its users listen to and uses that data to provide streaming radio, music recommendations and site-wide chart data. For the week ending on Oct. 27, 2013, the week’s most loved track in Japan was by Capsule, an electronic duo who have pumped out 14 albums since 2001.

Their latest is “CAPS LOCK,” which is part experimental video game music, part pop and part alternative indie music. Another perk of listening to foreign music is that the artists who produced it aren’t always exposed to the same influences as our countrymen, so they’re painting with a different set of colors and ending up with an unfamiliar kind of art.

That said, opening track is reminiscent to “Intro,” the first song from Alt-J’s 2012 album “An Awesome Wave,” in sound, structure and function. They’re both rightfully short, piano-led numbers that set up the rest of the album by giving a taste of what’s to come, not by being the median track of the rest of the record, but by creating a heightened sense of anticipation through its driving but brief time.

Then things get started with “CONTROL,” for which the duo released a music video. After a click-clacking keyboard beginning, a head-bobbing synth riff makes way for bassier sections and chopped-up vocals from Toshiko Koshijima, the singing half of the group.

Throughout the album, Koshijima’s voice, while fitting and pleasant, is little more than another rifle in producer Yasutaka Nakata’s arsenal. The mix is crisp, precise and clean, giving each electronic element room to breathe and contribute to the greater good.

Capsule has been characterized by change throughout their time, starting as a jazzier group part of the Japanese Shibuya-kei movement until they began incorporating more electronic influences into their work, coming to the point now to where they are almost exclusively an electronic group.

“DELETE” is a sweet dose of electronic dance music, incorporating house influences that admittedly leaves the song coming off the same as many other EDM tracks, but in the context of its parent album, it fits perfectly and provides nice variety in pacing.

Experimentation inevitably leads to bands trying strange things, so the vintage looped “ahh-OOO-gah” sound that runs through most of “12345678” is almost enough to drive you up the wall, but the rest of the building track comes in soon enough and buries it in the mix. One big beautiful crescendo is enough to make up for the misuse of sound effects, and after repeat listens, the “ahh-OOO-gah” is almost charming.

What’s wonderful about this record is that no two tracks are alike, but they congeal into one cohesive unit. Its relatively short 35-minute running time plays in the album’s favor; not because you don’t want it to go on any longer, but because this collection of tracks has perfect pacing and wouldn’t be necessary to go on any longer. “CAPS LOCK” is a record that leaves you wanting more, which is great because your new favorite Japanese electronic duo has 13 other albums you can dive into.

Grade: A-