Keigo Oyamada, also known by his moniker Cornelius, is a Japanese musician and producer who co-founded Flipper's Guitar, an influential Shibuya-kei band, and subsequently embarked on a solo career. In 1997, he released the albumFantasma, which landed him praise from American music critics, who called him a "modern-day Brian Wilson" or the "Japanese Beck".
Career
Oyamada was born in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. His 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. 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. 2007 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 NFLtelevision 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. In 2013, he participated with Taku Satoh and Yugo Nakamura directing the music for the exhibition Design Ah! at 21 21 Design Sight in Tokyo.
Music style
American music journalists often describe Cornelius's musical style as being similar to Beck'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, lead him to being sometimes characterised as an "acquired taste."
Personal life
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. They divorced in 2012. He is a second cousin of Joi Ito and Miki Berenyi, the latter who appears on the song “The Spell of a Vanishing Loveliness” from Mellow Waves.
Discography
The discography of Cornelius consists of six studio albums, three soundtracks, eight remix albums, three extended plays, fourteen singles and seven video albums.
Cornelius appeared on the TV showYo Gabba Gabba! performing a version of his song "Count Five or Six" as a way to teach kids how to count. 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.
