Representative Songs: "The Micro Disneycal World Tou," "Star Fruits Surf Rider," "Chapter 8- Seashore and Horiz"
Biography
Japanese pop-noise savant Cornelius was born Keigo Oyamada in 1969; a self-taught guitarist inspired early on by Kiss and Black Sabbath, his musical alias was later chosen as an homage to the Planet of the Apes film series. A product of the same Shibuya-kei bubblegum scene that also gave rise to Pizzicato Five, Cornelius debuted in 1993 with the EP Holydays in the Sun, the first release from his own Trattoria label. He became a national teen idol in the wake of the release of 1994's full-length The First Question Award and a year later he issued the album 69/96, followed in 1996 by the remix LP 96/69. Released in 1997, Fantasma was his creative and commercial breakthrough, a kaleidoscopic, genre-hopping joy ride through contemporary musical history that became Cornelius' first American release when it was reissued by Matador a year later. Another pair of remix collections, CM and FM, followed in 1999. 2002's Point took Cornelius's sound in a more streamlined yet abstract direction that was echoed by 2006's Sensuous. The album was released in the U.S. in spring 2007. Sensurround, which featured Sensuous' videos and B-sides, arrived in fall 2008. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Oyamada's first claim to fame was as a member of the pop duo Flipper's Guitar, one of the key groups of the Tokyo Shibuya-kei scene. Following the disbandment of Flipper's Guitar in 1991, Oyamada donned the "Cornelius" moniker and embarked on a successful solo career.
The music of Cornelius could be described as experimental and exploratory, and often incorporates dissonant elements alongside more familiar harmonically "pleasing" sounds. This tension, plus his practice of bringing in sounds and samples from mass culture, pure electronic tones, and sounds from nature (such as on his Point album), lead him to being sometimes categorized as an "acquired taste."
Cornelius, moers festival 2007
He chose his pseudonym in tribute to the character of the same name from the movie Planet of the Apes. He commissioned a song, about himself, on Momus' 1999 album Stars Forever.
Oyamada married fellow musician and collaborator Takako Minekawa in 2000 and they have one child, Milo, named after the son of Cornelius in Planet of the Apes. He is a second cousin of Joi Ito.
In 2006 and 2007 respectively, the song "The Micro Disneycal World Tour" from the "Fantasma" album, was used for Nick Parks' "Creature Comforts" and Sky television's "See, Surf, Speak" advertisements in the UK.
Cornelius appeared on the TV show Yo Gabba Gabba! performing a version of his song "Count Five or Six" as a way to teach kids how to count (at least up to six). This can be seen on the episode titled "Share".
Cornelius rocks — Jaime Holguin from the Associated Press explores the allure of Japan's Keigo Oyamada. A May 2007 Associated Press/asap written and video piece about Cornelius.
Cornelius at Shepherd Bush Empire - Dominic Haley from Spoonfed Media writes about the intrigue of the unexpected in Cornelius' music.
