Cornelius "Gum"

The last time Cornelius (Keigo Oyamada) put out a proper record, I was still gainfully employed at a normal, non-academic job, had never once used p2p out of some bizarre fear it would take over and eventually swallow my computer, and was, like most of the country I suppose, waiting to see if we would be attacked again. It was late 2001 when Matador started putting stuff on their website about Point, and that stuff was intriguing, and I ended up liking Point more than Fantasma, a fact I believe would get me lynched in certain parts of Tokyo. Okay, for a while I liked it more. But I’ve since returned to my original, somewhat saner ways. It was just a pretty radical departure from what had become his signature sound—earthier, simpler, more patient—and that sort of change is bound to create all sorts of crazy reactions, both ways. Anyhoo, I think Cornelius has been pretty busy the past few years, and two of the things he’s been doing is playing live with Ryuichi Sakamoto and hanging with Caetono Veloso, or so Matador’s website now tells me. And he’s now on the verge of finally releasing a new full-length (perhaps called Sensuous), or so I can assume by the impending release of the 7″ Music. The sampler has all of the unique elements that added up to my overwhelming adoration for Point—the miniscule, monosyllabic voice samples that show themselves like ripped up pieces of brightly colored paper randomly stuck to sheet music, the determined sequence of the music’s progression, one thing politely waiting to appear after the other, then joining together to make wonderful noise. “Gum” (mp3) in particular sounds like the loudest, fuzziest, guitar-est parts of Stereolab’s early catalog, recorded live to tape and then edited to further clip Laetitia Sadier’s vocal tics from “ba ba’s” to “b-b.”