Cornelius, born Keigo Oyamada on January 27, 1969, in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan, is a pioneering figure in the Japanese alternative and electronic music scenes. Cornelius, a moniker inspired by the Planet of the Apes character, began his music career as part of the pop duo Flipper's Guitar in the early 1990s, which became a standard-bearer for the emerging Shibuya-kei movement. Following the disbandment of Flipper's Guitar, Oyamada embarked on a solo career, adopting the Cornelius persona, and quickly garnered international acclaim for his innovative fusion of pop, electronic, and experimental sounds.

Cornelius's sound is characterized by its intricate production, combining an eclectic array of influences spanning from power pop to trip-hop, and from ambient to noise music, all executed with a distinctively precise and playful style. His breakthrough solo album, "Fantasma" (1997), solidified his status as a cult figure outside Japan and led to collaborations with a diverse range of artists around the world. His more recent releases, such as "Dream in Dream" and the remastered version of "Point", along with collaborations like "Change and Vanish (feat. mei ehara)", continue to expand his soundscape, blending traditional instrumentation with electronic experimentation. Cornelius's music remains a testament to his unwavering dedication to pushing the boundaries of sound and his ever-evolving artistic vision.

Genres

Indietronica

J-ambient

Japanese Alternative Pop

Shibuya-kei

Related Artists

Stereolab

MF DOOM

TOWA TEI

Beck

Madlib

Aphex Twin

Nujabes

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Four Tet

Air

Belle and Sebastian

Boards of Canada

Latest Release

BAD ADVICE / MIND TRAIN

Cornelius

Single - Released August 21, 2024