[.ca] Point

From Amazon.co.uk:
Point is the long-awaited full-length follow-up to Fantasma, and it does not disappoint. Cornelius--aka Japanese pop auteur and clothing designer Keigo Oyamada--thrilled the world with his debut international release, back in 1997: a breezy blend of electronica that melded the thick, soupy guitar feedback of My Bloody Valentine to the gorgeous harmonies of Beach Boys, and fed it all through a peculiarly kitsch Japanese bubblegum pop filter. On Point, the crystal-clear "Smoke" weaves a tangle of jerky new-wave guitar over clip-clopping electronic beats and the raw clatter of percussion, while the heavenly "Tone Twilight Zone" elegantly demonstrates that even the most ornate, maximal production can be imbued with a sense of almost supernatural calm. Perhaps the album's greatest success is the way that it presents ambient cliché--the gurgle of running water, breaking waves, the chirruping of crickets--as just another form of instrumentation. An enchanting, psychedelic journey into stereophonic sound, the meticulously precise rhythms and harmonies of Point confirm Oyamada's mastery of the studio. No-one on earth is making music quite like this. --Louis Pattison

Chronique amazon.fr:
Musicien particulièrement respecté, Keigo Oyamada est considéré comme l'un des artistes les plus innovants de sa génération. À l'origine d'un style très personnel, donc original, sa musique pourrait se situer à mi-chemin entre les Beach Boys et les Beastie Boys. Autrement dit, il s'agit d'un genre hybride, friand de bidouillages électroniques, de collages sonores, de bruitages divers et de distorsions, au sein duquel la guitare occupe toujours une place centrale. Éclectique et déjantée, la pop de Cornelius tente ainsi des expériences tous azimuts, n'hésitant pas à tomber dans l'excès pour mieux revenir à des ballades colorées, mélodieuses et acidulées. Car l'influence de l'easy-listening, tel un patrimoine national, se fait également sentir tout au long de ce trip halluciné auquel les paroles en japonais confèrent une dimension vraiment ludique. Amateurs de Beck, Blur ou The Avalanches, vous ne serez pas déçus. Sachez tout de même que l'auteur de ce disque n'ingurgite probablement pas que des substances totalement licites... Cela pour ne pas que vous vous imaginiez, en l'écoutant, que votre platine CD à tendance à dérailler... --Luc Demont

Point:
Perhaps the musical equivalent of Derrida, Japanese sonic collagist Cornelius uses his latest release, Point, to deconstruct music and sound using binary oppositions to show the instability of his preferred artform. This is not a novel idea for birth-named Keigo Oyamada as his much-heralded 1998 international debut, Fantasma, made good on the same subject but from a more light-hearted point of view. Where as Fantasma was the know-it-all student walking into class on the first day eager to demonstrate his skill and superiority for the rest of the class, Point is the more mature professor awaiting him. Cornelius achieves his deconstructionist task by showing how each element of Point directs (errr, points) the listener to an opposing ingredient eventually circling back to its initial starting place (errr, point) as songs flow seamlessly together united by something as simple as the sound of water or birds. The primary oppositions Cornelius brings to the fore of his music are that of man vs. machine, and nature vs. mechanization. "Drop" is a perfect example of this concept. It begins with the sound of peacefully moving water, then adds a simple acoustic guitar track to the mix, ultimately showing that it is the water that keeps much of the song's beat. "Drop" segues into "Another View Point" with the cascading water giving way to a sequencer playing the same beat as the flowing stream. Demonstrating its circular and contradictory nature, Point begins and ends with a single sustained piano note morphing into an automated tone. In the opening track, "Bug (Electric Last Minute)," a single sustained piano note gives way to the crashing of a digital sound machine while the closing number, "Nowhere," ends the disc with the crashing of a phonograph lid terminating both the note and the white noise produced by a record stylus in an empty groove. It is this binary that Point rips apart so effortlessly with the piano, water, and phonograph on one side with the white noise, sequencer, and digital crash on the other. With Point Oyamada shows how these elements are oppositional yet are inherently one and the same.

Magical Purview:
Length - 45:44 I can't even attempt to fathom the effort it took to coalesce these random, diverse sound snippets into the perfect, blurring confection that is now called Point. This record is really incredible. There is absolutely everything on hear- samba, ska, metal, reggae, pop, etc. And believe it or not, Cornelius makes it all work perfectly. This intricate concentration of beautiful sound collages far surpasses anything else I have ever heard in terms of masterful production and thick involvement. If you're looking for a special album, this is absolutely the one.

His point is:
Japanese avant-pop-trippist Cornelius (real name: Keigo Oyamada) had a hard act to follow after 1997's "Fantasma," an electronic masterpiece. But "Point" doesn't disappoint -- it's more experimental, spacier and almost hypnotic, a twist of rock, experimental electronica and dreampop. "Point of View Point" may be the highlight of the album -- sharp guitar strums overlaid by some intermittent blasts of drums, an eerie bright hum and "left/right/left/RIGHT!" It's lush, sunny and memorable, and the sort of pop that sticks in your head -- in a good way, like a trippier version of the Beach Boys or Beatles. There's a wildly different sound in "Smoke's" a bouncy funky groove and "Drop's" a strummy pop. Shifting the tone is "Tone Twilight," a dreamy slow pop song with an ambient touch. Then Cornelius does an about-face in "I Hate Hate" with a spray of abrasive electronics leading to some aggressive, bombastic electro-rock. Rock. Trip-hop. Ambient. Blues. Lounge jazz. Funk. All are woven into this album, along with some wicked vocal samples and a sprinkling of experimental sound effects. All of this to apparently illustrate Cornelius's thoughts on nature and machines, clashing and yet musically intertwined. The guitars and drums are absolutely brilliant -- one moment they're bluesy, then bombastic, then gentle acoustics. Laid over the basic bones is an array of electronic music -- the wavy wails of "Another View Point," discordant spray in "I Hate Hate," or sparkling blips of "Brazil." But Cornelius knows when to put the electronics in the backseat and just let the instruments take over. He also takes it one step further by laying in samples like falling water or singing birds. The birds especially show up in the two-song cycle of "Tone Twilight Zone" and "Bird Watching At Inner Forest," which sound like a rainforest soundtrack. And the vocals are inobtrusive. It's not hard to hear them, but the vocals are so submerged in the mix that they sound almost like another instrument. Cornelius shows again that he's a master of avant-pop in "Point," a worthy follow-up to the outstanding "Fantasma." Beautiful, eerie, and fiery, this is a definite keeper for indie-electro fans.

Buy it:
This album is outstanding. If you haven't listened to the whole thing from beginning to end without stopping then you need to. This album is more than just music, it is an experience. Also if you have already listened to the ablum and haven't seen the video's then you need to. For those of you trying to decide on whether to buy it or not, I say try something new and even if you don't like it you will respect it as hella good music.

Absolutely superb:
POINT is what I like to call a "lava-lamp" record. Much like a lava lamp, this album makes you cooler simply because you own it. Like Beck's ODELAY and The Avalanches' SINCE I LEFT YOU, it's a record that relies heavily on inventive sampling, and yet would not sound out of place in a collection of jazz music. The songs are amazing in their simplicity, and Cornelius' English lyrics never degenerate into the "Engrish" that turns many American listeners away from Japanese music. While this album does have a few mood swings (the thrash-punk "I Hate Hate" being an obvious example), the best tracks on this album ("Smoke," "Brazil") make for some of the best chill-out music from any continent.

• Bug (Electric Last Minute)
• Point of View Point
• Smoke
• Drop
• Another View Point
• Tone Twilight Zone
• Bird Watching at Inner Forest
• I Hate Hate
• Brazil
• Fly
• Nowhere