Introduction from verycd:
Jay Chou’s latest 2008 magic masterpiece “Capricorn” — the ultimate showdown between magician and clown. Jay Chou makes his grand entrance in a stylish “smoky clown makeup.” Pre-orders start 9/24. 12 designs of the “Capricorn desk calendar” welcome 2009. The “Capricorn Cube” and more await fans’ challenge.
Having recently been diving deeper and deeper into magic, Jay Chou already predicted that his new album would have something to do with magic. On October 9 he’ll release his ninth solo album, “Capricorn”! A Capricorn himself, Jay Chou conjures a new constellation in the starry sky out of notes and creativity — “Capricorn,” a mysterious sign that leaves astrologers baffled: sometimes it’s shaped like the knight on a playing card, sometimes it turns into the joker on a joker card, shifting form and musical style. The pre-order poster design for the new album uses the concept of playing cards to present the ultimate showdown between magician and clown!
As soon as this poster, designed around the Jack of Spades playing card, was revealed, it struck everyone as quite fun. It symbolizes the infinite possibilities in Jay Chou’s music: sometimes, like a magician, he strives for perfection in his own music and gives off an air of mystery, and sometimes his songwriting is wildly imaginative, as playful and witty as a clown. And “playing cards” as the design theme is exactly the card magic Jay Chou is proudest of and best at lately. As for the magician-and-clown design, he said: “In movies it’s always magician versus magician. This time the poster’s theme is magician versus clown — very cool!” In fact, the new album will include a song written specifically about “magic” and another written specifically about “the clown,” and the lyrics of the two even reveal a lively back-and-forth between magician and clown. The pre-order poster already expresses that sense of a head-to-head duel.
Fans have been waiting eagerly for Jay Chou’s one-album-a-year release, and even in the downturn, record store channels remain full of confidence in his new album, gearing up to welcome the pre-order campaign starting September 24. For the pre-order gifts, the label has thoughtfully rolled out two: a Rubik’s Cube and a 2009 desk calendar. Major record store channels give away the “Capricorn Cube”; 7-Eleven convenience stores give away the “Capricorn desk calendar.” Of the six faces of the “Capricorn Cube,” four feature photos of Jay Chou and two feature totem designs. The funny part is that it was originally going to be a single full face pieced together from a photo of Jay Chou’s face in a 3x3 grid, but because they worried that everyone’s Rubik’s Cube skills might not be up to it and Jay Chou’s face would end up scattered across all sides, each face’s 3x3 grid was made using nine copies of the same photo.
Rubik’s Cubes have become quite popular among students lately — many students play with them on the MRT and buses, drawing everyone’s attention, which shows the cube is on a rising trend. And although Jay Chou’s magic skills have grown a lot recently, when it comes to the Rubik’s Cube he still has room to improve. Playing with the “Capricorn Cube,” he said: “This can train everyone’s IQ and reflexes. You think you can get it to the same side really fast…” And as he talked, he realized he couldn’t turn it back to the same face, so he promptly added: “Turns out it’s impossible — at times like this you just have to quickly swap in another one.” He hurriedly asked a staff member to bring a new Rubik’s Cube. He said: “‘The Capricorn Cube’ has four faces that are me. Maybe we could even hold a ‘Capricorn Cube’ speed-solving contest next — that should be a lot of fun!”
On the other gift, the “Capricorn desk calendar,” you can see the 12 photos Jay Chou shot for this pre-order design, the whole thing giving off a gorgeous yet retro vibe! Dressed as a magician and a clown, he got completely carried away playing. For the magician portion, all sorts of magic props were brought in — steel rings, doves, a magic wand, coins… even a large human-sized box made an appearance. Jay Chou was like a master magician: with every object under the play of his nimble hands, every transformation was easy as pie! And to become the clown, Jay Chou truly made a grand entrance, putting on a fashion-forward version of “smoky clown makeup.” His mother, watching from the side and finding it amusing, couldn’t resist coming over during a break in the shoot to take a photo with her clown-faced son. Jay Chou mischievously put on a terrifying grimace, and his mother obligingly played along with a look of utter shock, delighted in the fright.
The new album’s title, “Capricorn,” represents a constellation of music and magic. “Capricorn” carries meaning on several levels: besides the fact that Jay Chou is a Capricorn to begin with, he works magic to make his music endlessly variable. Along with one song built around the theme of “magic,” the rest of the album’s content is extremely rich, with such a variety of styles it’s dazzling! And these brand-new “masterpieces” that go beyond moving — every one of them is a brilliant “masterpiece” of his! It also lets people who love Jay Chou’s music reclassify their own star sign. The “Capricorn” album coming out October 9 will be released in two packaging versions: a “Cool Tin Box Edition” and a “Collector’s Paper Box Edition.” The “Cool Tin Box Edition” comes with a bonus Knight card sticker (usable on cards the size of an EasyCard, etc.), giving fans different collector’s options.
Album tracklist:
01. Dragon Knight 02. Give Me the Time of One Song 03. Snake Dance 04. Sea of Flowers 05. Mr. Magic 06. Where’s the Promised Happiness 07. Orchid Pavilion 08. Wandering Poet 09. Time Machine 10. Uncle Joker 11. Rice Fragrance
Online purchase link: Jay Chou: Capricorn (CD) - Joyo Amazon (¥38)
Friends who don’t like scratching up their CDs can also download it via emule: Jay Chou - “Capricorn” Mainland Official Version 320K[MP3!] download link (95.4MB) Jay Chou - “Capricorn” (Capricorn) Taiwan Pre-order Edition + Bonus MV[FLAC] download link (380.5MB) Jay Chou - “Capricorn” Mainland Official Version[APE] download link (287.7MB)