Track Listing

1. Mic Check
2. Micro Disneycal World Tour
3. World Tour
4. New Music Machine
5. Clash
6. Count Five Or Six
7. Magoo Opening
8. Star Fruits Surf Rider
9. Chapter 8 Seashore And Horizon
10. Free Fall
11. 2010
12. God Only Knows
13. Thank You For The Music
14. Fantasma

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42792 in Music
• Released on: 1998-06-15
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

CD Description
Like many of his counterparts in the 90's wave of Japanese rockers, Keigo Oyamada (a.k.a. Cornelius) is well-versed in the history of pop as it leads up to the here and now. And for the most part, the likable genre-jumping antics of FANTASMA, his third full-length that works as a US debut, pigeonhole him as a somewhat more schizophrenic Beck. He gets crazy with not just the cheeze wiz, but 3D microphones, Meredith Monk-like vocal overlays, drum'n'bass beats, kitschy keyboards, and a mound of samples, ingredients for a pop-cult salad nonpareil.
Where Cornelius dazzles though, is in his musical default function, which is wisely set on psychedelic indie-pop. The droney, driving "New Music Machine", for instance, cobbles together a bleeding lo-fi aesthetic out of 48 tracks worth of background vocals, analogue synths and, above all else, drums 'n' guitars. And "Seashore and Horizon" shuttles between such a seamless Pet Sounds vibe of acoustic guitars and choral arrangements and kooky magical mystery pop burn-out, that you can almost smell the members of the Elephant 6 collective molding with envy.

Customer Reviews

Eclectic Japanese weirdness (cool though!)
I was introduced to Cornelius by listening to Coldcut. They seem to be fans, they have played his tracks on their radio show, their TV show on cable, and even got him to remix one of their tracks on their "Let Us Replay" remix album.

It's a bit tricky to categorise this album, probably easier to throw a few words in, like in free association: Rock / Jazz / Squarepusher / Beach Boys / Kraftwerk / Lo-Fi / sythesised speech / Bedroom studio.

If you're anything like me, then this album is a breath of fresh air. You never know where it's going, and it keeps you guessing. I received this disc last week and it's been in my walkman ever since - a new record for me, I normally get through two albums a day...

A fantastic album, hugely varied and dynamic
Fantasma is one of the strangest albums I have ever had the fortune to hear: it comprises drum and bass, rock, scary fair music, and much more. The man who wrote the music is obviously hugely talented, so this album makes a very welcome break from much of the other rot being advertised as "music" today, and coming from a heavy metal fan, that's quite a compliment. If you want my advice, then if you hear one song and enjoy it, then you'll like the rest and it will definetely be worth your while buying the album. No matter what your taste, Fantasma by Cornelius will turn you on.

This man is mad. Try it, you might like it.
This album fits comfortably into a category, and the category is Cornelius. It ranges from a number of minimalist tracks which focus on small, but intersting ideas to ones where sounds appear to have been scattered to see if they would land in a pattern. I'm still not sure they have, but it's fun deciding. The musical style varies from traditional rock material to Japanese pop to dance forms I try not to categorise to what sounds like 1960s backing music; and it often changes within the tracks. Hey, at least the Planet Of The Apes sample on 'Monkey' (a.k.a. 'Magoo Opening')is easy to explain. 'Free Fall' is perhaps the most accessible track, a spaced-up rock number that rates in any language. My version of the CD has a typewriter lesson on it as well, but you may escape this. Open your mind before you open the CD case.