What's this about

Capsula's one man front (Yosi Shamay) has brought new air to the recently established Ajana records introducing new proposals to the world of down tempo and ‘Synthesis to Reality' stands true to the hype. The contents include dubby beats, Hindu vibes spread thinly and good doze of acoustic chords with artifices molded to present day production standards. Touching on organic melodies with synthetic textures that however aural and dispersed feel completely purposeful. Time stretching screeches and scratches with disorienting voice samples from the likes of Allan Watts, Terrence McKenna, David Icke and Art Bell, complement the pace sometimes filling out empty spaces without being too forced. A down tempo mixture that moves with deep beats when it needs to, chilling down enough when it must.

Per-song break-down

01. Mulholand Dub
Mulholland Dub is filled with voice samples transporting us somewhere near a casting-room for the next Al Pacino movie. Thankfully the bass is dubby and we all woke up from the right side of the bed. The nearly constant break-beat a-la trip hop unwillingly never ends, but keeps the attention span lingering until the end.

02. Retro Inversion *
If there is one sample I can completely digest is this little girl’s talking to us about changing perceptions and consciousness, dissolving well to conjured spasm of deep dub breaks. Psychedelia is spread sparsely with liquid notes dripping down from the speakers. The retro inversion refers to the main theme, aged like a black and white picture with a sepia fade by the borders. In the center this sounds as fresh as the newest version of Logic blended tastefully enough.

03. Don't Wake Up *
The harps/guitars erupt with the effects boiling down beneath. Contrary to the name I would not classify this as sleeping material, it is not even ambient. The myriad elements of different melodies scattered throughout unfold harmoniously without any interruptions or samples to ruin the vibe. *

04. Gates of Heaven *
We shift the gear down to a chilling pace while new ideas start cropping up. Once again the organic touches have a strange spice that I could only refer to as oriental. That is what the folks in the west called all things coming from Asia, India all the way to Japan because they did not understood the cultural differences well enough to create divisions… and I’m afraid I don’t know any better here. One thing is for sure, it’s a gorgeous little string number acting like the backbone of the track, nursing the slippery-sloppy effects to fruition. It liquefies by the end allowing enough breathing room between the beats to really… space out… ‘Mediate’ whatever the kids are calling it these days.

05. The Chemists Choice
The chemist choice is a rather spacey doze of arpeggios that slide from the stereo effects. The synth moves well enough to keep things vibrant extending for a bit too long after 8 minutes, without any important changes in the main vibe. The long voice samples meant to create some awe or inspiration, deviate attention from the main subject… the music.

06. Inorganic Creatures (Laugh Of the Goblin) *
My goodness the synthesis job of turning a cheeky little laugh into a chain of effects through nearly six minutes of transformations makes the Goblin worth listening. Like is customary by now strings rule supreme. Having sized only single tracks in the past we could guess Capsula had interesting proposals, but it wasn’t enough to frame down his personal style. At this point his flair becomes clearer.

07. I Know that I Know *
I know that the samples make my head spin just trying to ponder what exactly does their meaning intent. Going back to the music, not much deviation from the usual arrangement of strings, not forgetting that squeamish lead scratching and sliding in between the organic notes indelibly.

08. Human Mentality
We take a detour to Japanese landscapes, changing the track’s structure a bit from what was becoming the norm with a cute little surprise. Close your eyes for a second embracing those strange birdy squeaks and imagine the Geishas timidly smiling at you through their hand-held folding fan, decked out in their kimonos and silly little wooden sandals. Did I mention that stashed away god knows where, there are 20 thousand hits of blue Sandoz LSD? Maybe Japan? Pack your bags! –I’ll meet you in the airport.

09. Second Attention *
This one brings enough interaction to keep a hoard of kids suffering from attention deficit disorder busy for at least… 8 minutes (about the same time than a double hit of Ritalin). The content bridges a bunch of influences we found scattered in previous tracks and wouldn’t be surprised if they were the same notes here and there. Overall is fine piece with the Capsula trademark branded all over… and that is a good thing folks.

10. Ride the Wave
Ride the wave and the subsequent hidden track I see as part of the same chapter and personally I think I they would have worked better as a whole than two different parts. They call it artistic freedom though and Capsula has gained the right to do whatever he wants. We are talking about a spacey episode, beat less in composition without a trace of harmony including the wind gushes and effects… doing their thing…

11. Hidden Track
The hidden goodie picks off from the whirl-wind with some dawn-inspired acoustic guitar and voice bits that like most samples in this album simply fade into unconsciousness. More than transmitting literal meaning, they simply hang in there as yet another sonic artifact to convey the mood. I’ll save the spiel and simply advice to… ride the wave.

All and All

Many people have referred to this album as ‘mature' and I don't really get it. Of course the music is well done… But how is it mature? Has the sound been aged at least twelve months in French Oak barrels? Is it intended for people twenty-five and over? This is a first taste of his work not counting the small number of tracks lying around in compilations, barely hinting a different style. It lacks the subtleness of Dakini Records and technically is not diverse enough to be up there with Aleph Zero, mainly because he is trying to get something out there in between, not compromising the sound on old formulas. There is an interesting path being drawn for the chill-heads ravaging through releases in search of new fusions with original ideas. If you were fond of Capsula's work from the beginning “Synthesis of Reality” works in a very fluid way to deliver a ‘smile to life' attitude, and a classy house-warming appeal with tripper friendly undertones. Can't ask for much else these days…

* Favourites