Cornelius (musician)

This article is about the contemporary Japanese musician. For the historical German musician, see Peter Cornelius. For the contemporary Austrian musician, see Peter Cornelius (musician).

Cornelius
Background information
Birth name	Keigo Oyamada (小山田 圭吾)
Born	January 27, 1969 (1969-01-27)
Origin	Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan
Genres	Experimental music Indietronica Alternative rock Art rock Shibuya-kei
Occupations	Musician, Producer, Vocalist
Instruments	Guitar, Vocals, Multi-Instrumentalist
Labels	Warner Music Group, Everloving Records, Cherry Red, Trattoria Records(1992-2002), Matador Records(1998-2005)
Associated acts	Flipper's Guitar(1989-1991) Takako Minekawa Plastic Ono Band Ryuichi Sakamoto Yellow Magic Orchestra
Website	http://cornelius-sound.com

Cornelius (born Keigo Oyamada (小山田 圭吾, Oyamada Keigo) January 27, 1969 in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese recording artist and producer.

Career

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.

American music journalists often describe Cornelius's musical style as being similar to Beck Hansen's, whom he acknowledges as an influence along with The Beach Boys, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Primal Scream and the Brazilian band Kassin + 2, among others.

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, Mœrs 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.

His song Wataridori 2 is available for download via the Creative Commons CD

In 2005, the Spinto Band referenced him in their song "Japan Is An Island" on their album Nice And Nicely Done.

As of September 2006, he was no longer signed to Matador Records.

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. It had also been used several years earlier in an ironic NFL (US football) television commercial in the USA, which juxtaposed the song's relaxing qualities with video clips showing rapid, aggressive football playmaking.

In 2010 he contributed the song "Katayanagi Twins Battle Song" to the film Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Discography

Albums

• The First Question Award (1994)
• 69/96 (1995)
• Fantasma (1997)
• Point (2001)
• Sensuous (2006)

Remix Albums

• 96/69 (1996), remix LP of 69/96
• FM (1998), various artists' remixes of Fantasma
• CM (1998), Cornelius' remixes of artists contributing to FM (Unkle, Money Mark, Buffalo Daughter, Coldcut, The Pastels, The High Llamas)
• CM2 (2003), a Cornelius remix collection (Blur, k.d. lang, Beck, Gerling, The Avalanches, Moby, Manic Street Preachers, Sting, Tahiti 80 and more)
• PM (2003), various artist's' remixes of Point
• CM3 (2009), a Cornelius remix collection (Kings of Convenience, Bloc Party, The Go! Team, James Brown, Sting, Ryuichi Sakamoto and more)

EPs

• Holidays in the Sun EP (1993)
• Cornelius Works 1999 (1999), rare CD-R promo from 3-D Corporation Ltd. (Japan)
• Gum EP (2008)

Singles

• The Sun Is My Enemy (1993)
• Perfect Rainbow (1993)
• (you can't always get) what you want (1994)
• Moon Light Story (1994)
• Moon Walk (1995), cassette only
• Star Fruits Surf Rider (1997)
• Freefall (1997), UK only
• Chapter 8 (1997), UK only
• Point of View Point (2001)
• Drop (2001)
• Music (August 23, 2006)
• Breezin' (September 27, 2006)

DVD/VHS

• Promotions! (1994),music videos
• Love Heavy Metal Style Music Vision (1994), live performances
• EUS (2000), live performances
• Five Point One (2003), a DVD package of music videos and PM
• from Nakameguro to Everywhere tour '02-'04 (2008), live performances
• Sensurround (2008), a DVD version of Sensuous with accompanying videos and 5.1 surround sound
• Sensuous Synchronized Show (2009),live performances

Compilations

• Tribute Spirits (May 1, 1999)
• DJ-Kicks: Erlend Øye (April 19, 2004)
• Matador at Fifteen (October 12, 2004)

Other works

• Coloris (2006), a Nintendo bit Generations game for Game Boy Advance
• 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".
• "Count Five or Six" appears on the soundtrack to the TV series Spaced.
• Composed music played by the Katayanagi Twins characters in the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
• Produced Salyu's S(o)un(d)beams (2011)

External links

• SEEN: Download Cornelius
• cornelius-sound.com - official website (in Japanese and English)
• corneliusjapan.com - semi-official website (English)
• Nippop Profile | Cornelius
• Matador Records' Cornelius page
• 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.
• Interview with Oyamada Keigo - Manny Santiago goes to the 3D Studio in Nakameguro, Tokyo for Heso magazine.

• Cornelius discography at Discogs
• Cornelius discography at MusicBrainz