Even sleeker and more stylized than Point, Sensuous lives up to its title, with intricate textures and lush atmospheres that are almost tangible, and melodies that evoke visions of lines stretching off into the horizon or tunneling into infinite spirals. However, this is also Keigo Oyamada's most thematic and conceptual Cornelius album, concentrating on just a few well-chosen elements -- wind chimes, delicate acoustic guitars, precise electric ones, fuzzy '80s synths, and layers of vocals -- and either elongating them to the point of no return or chopping them into pointillistic pieces. With all of its lines, loops, and fragments, at times Sensuous feels more like an ever-changing sonic painting than an album of individual songs, a concept brilliantly illustrated by the flowing paint on the album's cover. But no matter how abstractly Oyamada splashes these sounds from track to track, they always stay accessible, and the inherent tension in how he turns poppy sounds into high-concept compositions makes them even more fascinating. Songs like "Breezin'" -- which floats by on aptly airy synths and wind chimes -- and "Wataridori," an addictive exploration of call-and-response with rubbery basslines and loping guitars, take Point's forays into this approach to its logical yet loopy end. "Gum," the album's lone rocker, is honed to super-saturated essence; its chugging guitars sound like a motor turning over, punctuated by bashing drums and bits and pieces of vocal debris. And while repetition is one of Sensuous' major themes, Oyamada never applies it the quite the same way twice. "Beep It" is downright danceable, with a rolling synth bassline overlapped with slapped electric bass and cymbals that sound like they're being tossed down a bottomless pit; the robo-folk of "Omstart" and the title track give gentle acoustic sounds mechanical precision. Cornelius' wonderful sense of whimsy is a vital part of Sensuous as well, especially on "Toner," a witty piece for piano, keyboards, photocopier, and dot matrix printer, and the final track, "Sleep Warm," an interpretation of the standard that's part "When You Wish Upon a Star" and part HAL's version of "Daisy, Daisy" in 2001: A Space Odyssey. When the song fades out on the wind chimes that opened the album, Sensuous becomes one giant, dazzling loop, and quite likely, the finest expression of Cornelius' inimitable, playfully sophisticated musical language yet.
I originally did a post of videos for Cornelius's last album Sensuous here http://mog.com/fistula_spume/blog_post/45328. There's a new one out for the track "Omstart" and it's visually delicious. It has a valium-like effect on the brain but it's still great. There's this multi layered voice part in the song that reminds me of 10CC's "I'm Not In Love".
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Ok. I am so elated that there is a new Cornelius album out. I just found out about it yesterday. I went to YouTube to see if there were vids out there. Most of the album has a video. Check it out. These videos are off the visual charts. Way cool stuff. Can't wait to get off my music purchase wagon to get these. I was going to post all the videos but I think putting 8 videos on one post...
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Cornelius is striking the music world again with his syncopation and surrealist visuals.Fit Song is directed by Koichiro Tsujikawa.
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I originally did a post of videos for Cornelius's last album Sensuous here http://mog.com/fistula_spume/blog_post/45328. There's a new one out for the track "Omstart" and it's visually delicious. It has a valium-like effect on the brain but it's still great. There's this multi layered voice part in the song that reminds me of 10CC's "I'm Not In Love".
More >
Ok. I am so elated that there is a new Cornelius album out. I just found out about it yesterday. I went to YouTube to see if there were vids out there. Most of the album has a video. Check it out. These videos are off the visual charts. Way cool stuff. Can't wait to get off my music purchase wagon to get these. I was going to post all the videos but I think putting 8 videos on one post...
More >
The spacey, synthy sounds of Cornelius...i like it so far
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"Wataridori" by Cornelius was featured on MOG yesterday. It was the featured video in the MOGtv box (on the front page of MOG) and now it is featured on RCRD LBL, where you can get it as a legal, free download! Cornelius is a Japanese electronic music composer and according to RCRD LBL:Cornelius is one of the founders of Shubuya-kei, the alternative Tokyo rock movement that spawned some of ou...
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Cornelius is striking the music world again with his syncopation and surrealist visuals.Fit Song is directed by Koichiro Tsujikawa.
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The U.S. Tour starts Thursday and there is a free listening party in Los Angeles tonight 1/14 at Design Within Reach from 6-9pm.This is the last time The Cornelius Group will be performing The Sensuous Synchronized Show in the United States before moving on to a new presentation.Enjoy a clip of the performance of "Count Five Or Six" on the Nick Jr. tv show Yo Gabba Gabba.
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from the El Rey theatre in April 2007.
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This was such a great week for music in Seattle. Monday, I was invited to a celto-rocker show ("Enter the Haggis"), which is a genre I used to really be into ("Boiled in Lead" anyone?) but have fallen out of recently. I'd forgotten how fun that music can be. On Tuesday (my birthday), I went to see sometime Japanese trendsetter Cornelius in what he's calling the "Cornelius Group Sensuous Synch...
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--- - |- Photo by Ryan MuirYou can only have so much fun experiencing an album called Sensuous with just one of the five senses. Cornelius knows this, which is probably why he supplemented his 2007 offering with a dazzling multimedia live spectacle, the "Sensuous Synchronized Show". And soon, even folks back home will be able to take in the sights and sounds of Sensuous, thanks to the Sensurro...
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Sensuous |
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| 2 Fit Song |
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| 3 Breezin' |
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| 4 Toner |
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| 5 Wataridori |
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| 6 Gum |
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| 7 Scum |
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| 8 Omstart |
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| 9 Beep It |
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| 10 Like a Rolling Stone |
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| 11 Music |
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| 12 Sleep Warm |
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| 13 Fit Song [Multimedia Track] |
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 "Sensuous")
