capsela
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capsela

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The best kept secret in music

Press


"excerpt:"

...Last and by no means least are duo Capsela and their lo-fi guitars and keyboard composition 'A little company,' sweet with 60’s harmonies and gently timid to boot... - losingtoday.com


"album review from Spain"

{ translation from babelfish, original text follows}

What a delicious flavor of pop these guys make! Capsela is really a very pleasing discovery for me, songs just the way I like them.

First they have a girl, with a pretty voice, singing. Second, the melodies are effervescent, contagious. Third, the guitars are simple without greater use of effects, and full of toys that color the songs. And the lyrics are great also!

The truth is that bands like this are lacking in the world. They have published a self-titled EP already of 4 songs, which is soon to be included in an album of 15 songs called "You're Not Listening Me". I'm dying to listen to it. Listen to these MP3s and you'll hear why.

= = = = original text = = = =
Qué delicia de pop el que hacen estos chicos! Capsela es realmente un descubrimiento muy grato para mi, las canciones son justo como me gustan. Primero tienen una chica, con una voz lo suficiente melosa, cantando. Segundo las melodías son
efervescentes, contagiantes. Tercero las guitarras, simples sin mayor uso de efectos, y cuarto ese tecladito de juguete que llena de color las canciones. Y las letras están muy bien también! La verdad que bandas como esta están haciendo falta en el mundo.

Han publicado ya un EP epónimo de 4 canciones y luego este fue incluido en un álbum de 15 canciones llamado "You're Not Listening to Me". Me muero de ganas de escucharlo. Escuchen estos MP3 y entenderan por qué. - Mira El Péndulo, Blog MP3 de Twee


"ep review"

Capsela is a Rhode Island three-piece that would fit well alongside the more pastoral bands on the Kindercore or March Records roster. The nasally/classically dreadful vocals on this four song EP make an immediate impact, reaching a female indie-pop Jonathan Richman acme on "Kissing the Roses".
- Splendid e-Zine


"ep review"

You have a better idea, just do it yourself. That's apparently how Capsela was spawned. Paige Davis
wanted her friends to name their band Capsela, and they told her if she wanted a band called such, she should start one herself. And so, just like that, with a name for inspiration, she did. Now, seven years later, she's released a short but pleasurable EP of four songs of quiet, lo-fi pop music.

Although it's referred to as a band, I imagine Capsela is still just Davis. The primary instruments used here are a drum machine and a midi player, it seems, and yet Davis employs a host of sounds to fill out the songs just to the right extent. Anything less, and they would be sparse and boring, but more would overwhelm the quiet nature of these tunes. Instead, you get to focus on Davis' vocals, which are quite nice and mixed just so that it takes a few listens to understand the lyrics.

"Let's Go Dancing" starts off this EP with the most upbeat track. It might be hard to dance to, but it's bouncy
and light-hearted, and while it's the most obvious use of keyboards, they're not overwhelming as many similar pop bands tend to do. "Kissing the Roses" is my least favorite track, perhaps just because the vocals mix in too well with the music. It's a bit heavy on the bassy notes, but it has a nice, light beat throughout that keeps things moving and gives the song a pleasant feel. "Before Tonight" is a subdued tune that layers the vocals for probably their best effect on the EP. Quiet and with
something resembling a bossa nova beat, this one has a nice, melancholy feel to it. And "New Shoes" closes off
with a much softer and lovelier feel. The lyrics are soft and mellow, the accompaniment similarly mellow yet
smooth. I think this is one of my favorite songs here, perhaps just for the quiet and subtle moodiness here.
I like this EP more with every listen. At first, it felt somewhat contrived and incomplete, but details of these
songs come out with repeated listens. At just under nine minutes, listening more than once is easy. Yet I find myself waiting for new songs or longer efforts. While no longer feeling incomplete, this EP does leave me wanting. Still, it's a great effort, and I imagine more good things to come from Capsela. - Delusions of Adequacy


"feature: "Sonic Construction Playset""

For those of you not of the toy consuming generation of the 1980’s, Capsela was a construction toy in which the enterprising child was given all sorts of tubes, bulbs, motors, and mechanical apparatuses with which to construct all sorts of wondrous clear-plastic creations. We in Boston have our own local musical version in the band Capsela. Their sound is aurally analogous to the appearance of a cleverly made toy Capsela construction: underlying, interlaced mechanics surrounded and joined together by shiny and organic looking outsides. It’s easy to listen to the record and toss the band into the “electronic” category on first quick glance. Indeed, the band relies heavily on technology to create their sound; Capsela is only two members strong and every song on their latest record You’re Not Listening to Me features layer upon layer of ProTools-created instrumention in the form of drum machine, acoustic guitar, random acoustic percussion, and the venerable Casio keyboard among other ingredients. In the center of all this are the lovely and quietly intense yet timid vocals of Paige Davis, one half of Capsela.

It was posited before in these pages that Paige Davis seemed the type to have a lot of pets and to use excessive amounts of emoticons in her electronic communications. In reality, her email messages contain no little smiley faces, and her animal companionship is limited to one cat who appreciates the press nonetheless. Despite her lack of emoticons, Davis is a highly personable sort, quick to smile and share a story. While this transfers over immediately in her lyrical content, her singing personality is somewhat an oddity, every word delivered in an even-tempered manner that can challenge some listeners, even tricking a few into thinking she cares not about what she sings. Nothing could be further from the truth after multiple listens; Davis’ songs are little stories such as tales of love past and future, everyday life, and even Johnny Damon. Davis is not just the “singer” of Capsela; she’s the principle writer, rhythm guitar player, synthesist, and drum-machine programmer. Davis’ appearance is a human embodiment of her vocals: she’s an intelligent sounding young woman who is ready to chat on almost any subject. Immediately easy to communicate with, she’s like the girl in school who was smart, pretty, and friendly. While most of her vocal performance retains a calm, gently detached demeanor, Paige Davis is clearly one of Us. She works in downtown Boston, cares (deeply) about the Sox, and concerns herself with the success of her group, to the point of the occasional frustration with the workings of the music business.. She deals with difficult sound-people, carries a guitar case, and wears a big green coat. Able to express herself quite easily, Paige Davis is clearly With It and she’s perfectly willing to share with the class. As the voice of Capsela, she receives most of the attention, and despite some slight stage-fright, she’s an able and talented performer.

Paige Davis of Capsela is not the strip-teasing, home remodeling specialist of the television world, and her partner also presents inaccurate internet search results. The other half of Capsela is Jay Harlow. This Jay Harlow is not the world renowned seafood chef, but instead is the person who handles Capsela’s lead guitar, percussion, glockenspiel, slide guitar, and some backing vocals. Harlow is the main man in terms of the production standpoint of Capsela, which is no minor position. He also serves as the lead guitarist, percussionist, slide-guitarist, ukele man, and master of the ubiquitous glockenspiel. Harlow’s stamp sits on every Capsela song, whether it is the ghostly backing vocals in “The Final Out” or the stringy Loony Tunes of the lead guitar track on “In Trouble with the Law.” Harlow plays to Capsela’s sound perfectly, throwing in the odd lick here, punctuating verses with a riff there, and generally sweetening the tone over Davis’ rhythm work.

Harlow, who bears a resemblance to a scruffy Peter Krause, used to play in a band called the Hurricanes (nee “the Astropops”) back in college where he and Davis met. While he’s encountered some of the obvious challenges in the switch from “normal” rock band to the abnormal setup that is Capsela’s process, the two Capselians musically meld together so well, it’s hard to find the seam in Capsela’s sound where one meets the other. Harlow obviously has many responsibilities as half of Capsela, and somewhere amidst this busy workload he finds time to go to graduate school – in Raleigh, North Carolina.

A move a few miles away, a new job, a new relationship, any of these will usually cause the death knell to ring for the local band. How then, does Capsela continue to function while with over seven-hundred miles between the only two members of the group? Davis and Harlow have little regard for the classic band dynamic – the agreement that the members of any given musical group wil - New England Performer


"album review"

The toy Capsela was aimed at the kids who were more advanced than LEGO, yet not mechanical enough for Erector sets. The series of interconnecting bulbs, wheels, and motors produced creations that appeared machinelike yet strangely organic. Funnily enough, the band Capsela sounds machinelike yet strangely organic. You're Not Listening to Me sounds micro, like the music was produced by microscopic instruments in a microscopic studio then magnified one hundred times to be shown on a projection screen. Tiny music enlarged for natural listening, Capsela is a curious lot. There are no immediate sensory moments where the listener says "Holy Jeez, this rocks," it's rather the feeling brought on like slow-working prescription drugs where the effects are felt not upon swallowing the capsule, yet rather after a period of time. Still trying to digest the fact that those odd-sounding people are singing about baseball? Too bad. Here's the next song with something new to figure out. The Capsela machine keeps building itself and reconnecting and interconnecting until the observer can't surmise what the original piece was.

CapseIa is mainly the work of the syncopated Jay Harlow ad the multi-tracked Page Davis. Their gentle brand of machine-pop is a unique one; you're not liable to have heard anything exactly like this, yet you can generally tell where they're going with everything. It sounds like organic instruments have been melded with electronic, plastic sensibilities. Actual percussion, actual, non-looped guitar and some plain weird noises make out You're Not Listening to Me, guided on by Page Davis (not tho one from television, though). This Paige Davis disperses her intelligent yet mostly poignant lyrics with a calm, soft delivery where one gets the impression she probably has a lot of pets and uses lots of smiley-faced emoticons in her electronic communication. Capsela is a pleasant trip through an electronic garden full of bulbous, clear plastic machine creations, with none of the sharp edges of LEGO nor the cold metal of the Erector set. Build on. - New England Performer


"ep review"

What can we say, this band is just great. Sort of a cross between Magnetic Fields and The Wizard of Oz. - bakedbean.net


Discography

2004: you're not listening to me [album, self-rel]
2002: city of sin [single, self-rel]
2002: dreaming up the perfect pop [compilation, planting seeds]
2001: christmas underground [compilation, bumblebear]
2001: capsela [ep, self-rel]

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

capsela began with 2 tape recorders, a guitar, and a keyboard in Providence, RI, in early 1996. Since, the shifting ensemble has played sporadically—but prolifically—in New England, notably: The 2005 NEMO Showcase; TT The Bear's Place; The Middle East; The Kendall Cafe; Club Passim; The Met Cafe; The Kells; the Block Island Music Festival; and the Somerville Theatre. capsela has also toured in the Northwest and the Southeast, and has fans as far reaching as Germany, Australia, Spain, and Indonesia.

capsela has also been featured on successful compilations on Bumblebear and Planting Seeds Records alongside artists such as the Essex Green and Call and Response; and previously self-released a well-received self-titled e.p., as well as a 2-song single.

After spending the bulk of 2004 recording their self-released l.p. “you’re not listening to me,” (mastered by Jeff Lipton of Peerless Mastering), and taking some time off for other ventures, capsela is looking to promote their new record and have some fun playing to live audiences again. We hope to do so with you.