The Mad Capsule Markets
| The Mad Capsule Markets | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Yokohama, Japan |
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| Years active | 1985–2006 |
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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 and punk rock.
In 1985, while in high school, vocalist and songwriter Hiroshi Kyono and guitarist Minoru Kojima formed the punk band Berrie. One year later, the duo were joined by bassist Takeshi Ueda and drummer "Seto", at which point the quartet began performing at concerts and entering 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!!! album.) Their popularity in the Japanese underground music scene steadily grew and in 1990 this success earned them a place as the opening act for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. However, within months of the performance, drummer "Seto" left the band, and was replaced by Tokyo resident Motokatsu Miyagami. 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 novel Neuromancer.
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, 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. The following year, The Mad Capsule Markets signed to major record label Victor Entertainment 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 wrote 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.
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