Parker's Pick: Cornelius - Point (2001)
Keigo Oyamada (yes, another Japanese artist, I like their music) is an experimental ex-pop band member who adopted the name Cornelius after the monkey in the movie Planet of the Apes. His album, Fantasma, which many consider to be his magnum opus, was recently reissued, and a few bonus tracks were added. This got me listening to him again, and it made me realize that Point would be a wonderful album to share with you all.
A big part of what makes this album stand out for me is how the sounds are arranged. The songs are mostly composed of layered rock instrumentation, samples, and vocals from Oyamada. There are also plenty of electronic instruments on this album. There is prominent use of a drum machine, and a robotic vocalist even makes an appearance. It is important to listen to this album with good headphones or speakers to get the full experience. This album has its high and low points, but overall it has some very relaxing tracks. It's a great album for driving or just lounging around in late summer.
Favorite tracks: Drop, Bird Watching At Inner Forest, Nowhere
 Keigo Oyamada (yes, another Japanese artist, I like their music) is an experimental ex-pop ...){kind=link}
I listened to this album a couple times and each time I came to the conclusion that it's a nice one to have in the background but it never really made me stop what I was doing and really really listen to it. I loved the drums (were they really drum machines?) and I agree the sounds are arranged super well. Parts of the album made me want to skip around, I guess I felt like some tracks weren't that engaging.
ReplyDeleteOverall, it's one of those instrumental albums that would be nice to listen to while studying or reading.
I really don't have a lot to say about this album. It's a lovely, crisp, mostly instrumental album. Everything sounds very nice on this album while also including enough unique features (like chirping birds) to make it stand out somewhat.
ReplyDeleteI think that it's important to point out that this album really is at its best when its trying to create warm and easy to listen to music. My least favorite parts are I Hate Hate and the later screeching note of Nowhere. These kind of break my immersion in the album and it is uncomfortably jarring.
Those are literally my only criticisms. This album is pretty wonderful and puts me in a relaxed mood. I actually think I'll come back to this album a lot.
Sorry I am so late in writing this, I just kept thinking "one more listen and I'll think of something to say", but it never really happened for me. I didn't dislike anything about this album really, I just can't point to much that caught my attention or stood out as unique. This is usually the type of music i listen to while studying, but even trying it in that setting I didn't really dig the mood it set. I did really like the water and bird sounds, but other than that I don't have much to say and probably won't be listening to this one again :\
ReplyDeleteI listened to this album multiple times but every time I tried listening to it, I just sort of let it play in the background. It didn't really hold my attention very well. Not to say it's a bad album by any means I did like it, but I just really couldn't think of too much to say about it. I think it might be because the album is so diverse that I feel like it doesn't really hone in on a central idea and it was hard for me to stay focused. The album seems more like a collection of ideas rather than a full fleshed out project.
ReplyDeleteI did like the occasional nature sounds though. Those were dope.