Not sure whether there was a hard stop to the breezy Shibuya-kei that the duo capsule had been recording in the early 2000s and then they went into full techno. Most likely, it was a gradual transition judging from what I'm hearing from this song of theirs "happy life generator".
Until now, the most recent capsule article on KKP had been about their 2008 song "more more more" which was definitely more into the harder synths and stuff. Meanwhile, "happy life generator", a track from capsule's February 2005 5th album "NEXUS-2060", seems to have grafted a little techno while maintaining that Shibuya-kei happy-go-lucky feeling. As usual, Toshiko Koshijima（こしじまとしこ）applies her sweet and breathy vocals to her partner Yasutaka Nakata's（中田ヤスタカ）lyrics, melody and arrangements. There is an English translation for "happy life generator" at this site as the song goes on to describe a person going on with life as best as they can without the significant other. At least, there is still the peanut butter.
As for "NEXUS-2060", it peaked at No. 59 on Oricon.
It is starting to get warmer and I needed to Shinuya-Kei to cool me down and this hit the spot. This is a good reminder that PIZZICATO FIVE in no way have a monopoly over the Shinuya-Kei genre and so I should explore the genre more.
ReplyDeleteOh, by no means does P5 have a monopoly on Shibuya-kei. Plenty of other interesting groups and artists out there such as capsule, Flipper's Guitar, and Kahimi Karie.
Delete