A really nice little album. I first heard this on BBC Radio One's Rob Da Bank show and was deciding whether to buy it when I saw a review in the San Francisco Guardian, and it was mentioned by an artiste in the UK music man NME, so it's creating a buzz. Cornelius's real name is Keigo Oyamada ... Read review
Advantages: Cool, arty, relaxing, rocks in places Disadvantages: Lacking in cohesion, quirky
A really nice little album. I first heard this on BBC Radio One's Rob Da Bank show and was deciding whether to buy it when I saw a review in the San Francisco Guardian, and it was mentioned by an artiste in the UK music man NME, so it's creating a buzz. Cornelius's real name is Keigo Oyamada and he's Japanese, so think minimalist, arty and clever. He makes atmospheric but quirky music that's somewhere between ambient, dance, pop and jazz. It opens ... ...there onwards he mixes experimental sounds some nice melody that's got a crystal clear sound.
The downside is the album lacks any real backbone or even a handle to hang it all on but if you can live with that, it's very enjoyable. Synths figure highly as do guitars, played cleverly and in a jazz style but it also rocks in places: "Gum" pounds along. The vocals are there for sound alone: "Gum" has the lyrics "A A Ma ... more
A really nice little album. I first heard this on BBC Radio One's Rob Da Bank show and was deciding whether to buy it when I saw a review in the San Francisco Guardian, and it was mentioned by an artiste in the UK music man NME, so it's creating a buzz. Cornelius's real name is Keigo Oyamada and he's Japanese, so think minimalist, arty and clever. He makes atmospheric but quirky music that's somewhere between ambient, dance, pop and jazz. It opens with an ambient tune that never does much but from there onwards he mixes experimental sounds some nice melody that's got a crystal clear sound. The downside is the album lacks any real backbone or even a handle to hang it all on but if you can live with that, it's very enjoyable. Synths figure highly as do guitars, played cleverly and in a jazz style but it also rocks in places: "Gum" pounds along. The vocals are there for sound alone: "Gum" has the lyrics "A A Ma I A I Su Ma De Ma Te / Ana Kara Naka Nai Hako Sake" which may or may not be Japanese words; other lyrics look like haiku poems. If you can, listen to "Fit song" and "Gum" on line - they show the range you can expect. I really enjoy listening to it.
Japanese avant-pop maverick Keigo Oyamada has the kind of restless creative imagination that has been the hallmark of many of pop music's damaged geniuses (Syd Barrett, Brian Wilson). Oyamada's whimsical, often woozy output as Cornelius strays far from the typical path of retro-flavored pop. On his third outing, SENSUOUS, he favors an exploratory approach that privileges repetition, texture, and production nuance over songwriting craft. Cornelius's fractured, pointillist pop--while not necessarily instantly hummable--literally bristles with tonal color and lush, intricate arrangements. More focused and thematically cohesive than it's predecessor, POINT, Oyamada chooses to deploy a limited sound palette, leaving most of the detail in the subtle interplay of the respective elements. On "Fit Song," a clipped funk guitar weaves intricate passages around the negative space created by a drummer's loping, skittering rhythms. Vocal elements are used sparingly, as fleeting utterances or percussion-like bass notes--as on the driving rocker "Gum." Overall the album favors warm vintage electric piano tones over its guitar-based equivalents. Bright buzzy synths, windchimes, and keyboards give the album a weightless, light jazz quality; but this is about as far from that universe as it is from most other modern-day pop. SENSUOUS is a carefully crafted, yet bold experiment in future sounds.
Album Reviews
Spin (p.84) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "With a calm krautrock singularity of purpose, Oyamada fuses a bristling spectrum of textures and rhythms..."
Titles on disc 1
1.
Sensuous
2.
Fit Song
3.
Breezin'
4.
Toner
5.
Wataridori
6.
Gum
7.
Scum
8.
Omstart
9.
Beep It
10.
Like A Rolling Stone
11.
Music
12.
Sleep Warm
Ciao
Listed on Ciao since
11/02/2007
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