The Mad Capsule Markets (originally known as The Mad Capsule Market's and Berrie) were a Japanese band that formed in 1985 and were active until 2006. The band became known for their experimental style, which melded various kinds of

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

and punk rock.

Biography

Berrie (1985–1990)

In 1985, while in high school, vocalist and songwriter Hiroshi Kyono and guitarist

Minoru Kojima Minoru Kojima (born 11 October 1968) was the original guitarist for Japanese experimental punk band The Mad Capsule Markets. He is also known as Scene or Shin Murohime, which is apparently a conglomeration of characters from the names of different ...

formed the

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band Berrie. One year later, the duo were joined by bassist

Takeshi Ueda is the bassist, programmer, additional vocalist and songwriter for The Mad Capsule Markets.Battle of the Bands competitions. The band recorded a three-song demo tape entitled ''Poison Revolution'', which they distributed themselves. (Two of these three songs were later re-released on the ''

Speak!!! ''Speak!!!!'' is the third album from The Mad Capsule Markets. The album was recorded in England. Two songs were featured from the original Berrie recording. The album displayed a more experimental and darker side to their music, evident in the c ...

'' album.) Their popularity in the Japanese

underground music Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, mainstream popular music culture. Underground music is intimately tied to popular music culture as a whole, so there are important tensions within underground ...

scene steadily grew and in 1990 this success earned them a place as the opening act for the

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...

. However, within months of the performance, drummer "Seto" left the band, and was replaced by

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

resident

Motokatsu Miyagami is the drummer for the Japanese band The Mad Capsule Markets. Motokatsu replaced former Berrie drummer Seto on the band's first release, "Government Wall". He also plays in a side-project called Rally, with members of GLAY and Thee Michelle Gun ...

. In April 1990, Berrie changed its name to The Mad Capsule Market's, purportedly a term for distributors of Betaphenethylamine, a fictional drug from the

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and c ...

novel ''

Neuromancer ''Neuromancer'' is a 1984 science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer William Gibson. Considered one of the earliest and best-known works in the cyberpunk genre, it is the only novel to win the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and ...

''.
taken from The Crazy Pill Bazaars website, URL last accessed 3-15-07

Early years (1990–1996)

In August 1990, the new band released their first single, "Government Wall", a re-recording of the Berrie song. In October, they released their debut album, '' Humanity (The Mad Capsule Markets album), Humanity'', which also featured a number of Berrie songs and retained their punk sound. After the album's release, original guitarist Minoru Kojima left the band, and was replaced by former roadie

Ai Ishigaki Ai Ishigaki (also known as 'ISHIG∀KI' born 25 December 1970) was the guitarist for The Mad Capsule Markets from 1990 to 1996. He got the job as support guitarist after being a roadie for MCM in the Berrie days. Ishigaki debuted on their Thrash-P ...

. The following year, The Mad Capsule Markets signed to major record label

Victor Entertainment , also known as in Japan, is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Ente ...

and recorded their second album, '' P.O.P''. A faster and harder album than their first, it was heavily censored, provoking outrage from the band members. Their earlier lyrical content, with the lyrics, written mostly by bassist Takeshi Ueda, had Marxist/working-class influences, with lyrical themes becoming more and more political with later releases. From 1990 their sound was mainly punk influenced but quickly began to incorporate different influences in their music by the likes of Killing Joke, Aburadako, The Stalin and

Yellow Magic Orchestra Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO for short) is a Japanese electronic music band formed in Tokyo in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono (bass, keyboards, vocals), Yukihiro Takahashi (drums, lead vocals) and Ryuichi Sakamoto (keyboards, vocals). The group is cons ...

. From 1992 onwards the band began to experiment with their sound, introducing various sampling machines and New Wave sounds. In 1992 they recorded the EP '' Capsule Soup'' and their third album '' Speak!!!!''. In 1993, their fourth album '' Mix-ism'' leaned more towards

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

, and in 1994 their fifth album '' Park'' demonstrated a slower and more melodic style. This was also the first album to be released overseas (in the United States, although almost two years after its Japanese release). Recorded and produced in the USA, their 1996 album '' 4 Plugs'' saw a musical shift towards heavy metal. Although the band retained its style of rock with electronic influences, the music was darker and heavier. Vocalist Kyono also altered his singing style and began rapping in English occasionally. This marked the beginning of the major stylistic change that would be demonstrated on subsequent recordings. Takashi Fujita joined the band as an additional live guitarist for the subsequent tour. Later that year, the band released The Mad Capsule Market's, a

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

compilation containing re-recorded songs from their career up to that point. Following its release, guitarist Ai Ishigaki left the band. Instead of recruiting an official replacement guitarist, the band opted to continue as a trio, with guitar being performed by support guitarist " TORUxxx".

Stylistic change and international recognition (1997–2005)

Perhaps boosted by the change in guitarist, The Mad Capsule Markets' sound became heavier still. In 1997 they released their second international album and eighth overall, '' Digidogheadlock''. A strong progression from ''4 Plugs'', electronica came to the forefront and the music had a great deal in common with industrial metal. Also in 1997, the band performed at the American music festival South by Southwest as part of the

Japan Nite Japan Nite is an annual music event in North America which began in 1996, featuring Japanese rock, pop, and alternative music artists. Originally centered around South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, the event expanded in later years to include mu ...

event. In 1999 the band released their most internationally recognized album to date. '' Osc-Dis (Oscillator in Distortion)'' was a more

poppy A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, '' Papaver somniferum'', is the source of the narcotic drug o ...

or melodic take on the sound of ''Digidogheadlock''. It was released worldwide in 2001, driven by the hugely popular single "Pulse", which featured on the video game '' Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3''. The song and the album became the group's most well known outside Japan. At this time the band also introduced their robotic "

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

s" the White Crusher and Black Cyborn. The Mad Capsule Markets' tenth album, ''010'', was released in 2001 and demonstrated all the styles that they had explored previously, with a stronger emphasis on electronica. This produced a record which sounded more diverse than those before it. In 2002 the band also released a live album entitled '' 020120'', after the date of the performance. In 2004 the band produced their most recent studio album, '' Cistm Konfliqt...'' (pronounced "System Conflict"). The album was a return to the heaviness of ''Digidogheadlock'', but this heaviness was filtered through the electronic experimentation of the previous two albums, maintaining a strong link with

digital hardcore Digital hardcore is a fusion genre that combines hardcore punk with electronic dance music genres such as breakbeat, techno, and drum and bass while also drawing on heavy metal and noise music. It typically features fast tempos and aggressi ...

. The UK release of ''Cistm Konfliqt...'' in 2005 saw the band's popularity there grow, with rock magazine ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' inviting them to play numerous concerts. Japanese

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

fighter

Takanori Gomi is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist who gained international fame in Pride Fighting Championships. Later in his career, Gomi also competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Gomi is the only Pride FC Lightweight Champion in th ...

uses the track "Scary" for his entrance theme. In 2005, The Mad Capsule Markets broke from longtime record label Victor/Invitation and signed to Sony Music Japan. They released two greatest hits compilations of songs spanning their entire career, these were entitled ''1990–1996'' and ''1997–2004''. On 5 April the band announced that they were taking an 'extended break' from making music under the Mad Capsule Markets' name and instead work on separate projects. They posted this on the official Japanese site: "Thank you so much for big support for us. This time, after our discuss with 3 guys from the band, we decide to take an break as the band. We can't decide when we can re-start again as the band, at this point. Each from the band plans to work as artist/projects, please keep supporting us from now on. thank you."

Band members

Final lineup

* Hiroshi Kyono –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

(1985–2006) *

Takeshi Ueda is the bassist, programmer, additional vocalist and songwriter for The Mad Capsule Markets.bass, programming, backing vocals (1985–2006) *

– drums/

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

(1990–2006)

Former members

*Seto – drums (1985–1990) *

aka "Shin Murohime" –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

(1985–1991; live support 2004–2005) *

– guitar, backing vocals (1991–1996)

Support members

* Takashi Fujita – guitar, backing vocals (1995–1996) * TORUxxx – guitar, backing vocals (1997–2004) * K-A-Z – guitar, backing vocals (2004–2005)

Discography

*'' Humanity (The Mad Capsule Markets album), Humanity'' (1990) *'' P.O.P'' (1991) *'' Speak!!!!'' (1992) *'' Mix-ism'' (1994) *'' Park'' (1994) *'' 4 Plugs'' (1996) *'' Digidogheadlock'' (1997) *'' Osc-Dis'' (1999) *''

010 010 may refer to: * 10 (number) * 8 (number) in octal numeral notation * Motorola 68010, a microprocessor released by Motorola in 1982 * 010, the telephone area code of Beijing * 010, the Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the R ...

'' (2001) *'' Cistm Konfliqt...'' (2004)

References

External links

The Crazy Pill Bazaars fansite
* The Mad Capsule Marketsat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

The Mad Capsule Markets
at

ARTISTdirect ARTISTdirect is an American online digital media entertainment company. Overview Founded in 1994, it owns several websites, including artistdirect.com and artistdirectinterviews.com. These websites are a group of affiliate websites offering mul ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mad Capsule Markets Sony Music Entertainment Japan artists Japanese punk rock groups Japanese electronic music groups Japanese alternative metal musical groups Digital hardcore music groups Industrial metal musical groups Hardcore techno music groups Musical groups established in 1990 Musical quartets Musical groups from Kanagawa Prefecture Electropunk musical groups