CORNELIUS - REFRACTIONS -

Eat Your Own Ears/Fiction/Virgin

Cornelius is the brainchild of Japanese multi-instrumentalist Keigo Oyamada. Performing musician since his teens, Oyamada created his creative alter-ego (the name is an homage to the Planet of the Apes), in the early 1990's from the ashes of his previous project, Flipper's Guitar.

With the 1997 release of Fantasma, Cornelius gained international recognition for his cut and paste production style reminiscent of American counterparts Beck and The Beastie Boys. The album was then released internationally by Matador Records. Being called a "modern day Brian Wilson" for his orchestral-style arrangements and production techniques, Cornelius subsequently became one of the most sought after producer/remixers in the world, working with artists ranging from Blur, Beck Bloc Party, and MGMT, to James Brown, Gotye, and KD Lang.

With 2002's Point, Cornelius' music took a quantum shift, going from sampling “found sounds” to looping organic elements, and creating lush soundscapes. Using water drops as the rhythmic backbone of “Drop” to his vocoder-infused cover of “Brazil”, the album dazed and amazed fans and set the path for the next phase of his career.

2007 brought this philosophy to an even higher level with the release of Sensuous. Cornelius live shows are known the world around for its spectacular visuals (all perfectly synchronized to the performance), custom lighting that doesn't simply augment the performance, but becomes another instrument within it, and a full band of equally talented and diverse players.

The companion piece to the album, Sensurround + B Sides, earned the nomination for “Best Surround Sound Album” at 2009’s GRAMMY Awards.

The summer of 2016 saw the release of Fantasma Remastered, on Lefse Records. The package, a 2LP reissue of his classic album also 4 additional outtakes and earned Pitchfork’s “Best New Reissue”.

After nearly a decade between full length albums, 2017’s Mellow Waves was released to world-wide acclaim. Subsequent touring and festival performances were met with adulation.

2023 saw the release of Dream in Dream, while in 2024 Ethereal Essence was released featuring an array of his ambient and ambient-adjacent works. Following those was the release of a 3-Song EP featuring a collaboration with Arto Lindsay (“Bad Advice”), a remix by Joseph Shabason, and an epic sonic journey in “Mind Train”.

Cornelius has also recorded music for Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, scored the anime mega-film Ghost in the Shell Arise, performed as the backbone of Yoko Ono’s reformed Plastic Ono Band, played in the final configuration of Yellow Magic Orchestra, and co-wrote and produced the Japanese artist Salyu x Salyu.