Point

Uncut - Ranked #50 in Uncut's "100 Best Albums of the Year" - "...The ghosts of Brian Wilson and Steely Dan loom close..." Mojo - "...A stylish exploration of mood and groove..." Spin - 7 out of 10 - "...Burbling iridescent streams of symphonic guitar figures and multi-tracked Cornelii mingling with lapping waves and chirping birds..." Alternative Press - 8 out of 10 - "...A rewarding listen. It's a collection of rich textures and nature-inflected compositions..." The Wire - "...Rather lovely songs that toy with expectations...without brushing them aside..." NME - 8 out of 10 - "...Like a collection of commerical suicide notes, POINT reaffirms that there's no end to the wilfully obscure manoeuvers of Cornelius....POINT chooses the gentlest of found sounds and the brightest of colors from the post-rock palette." Q - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Deliriously fine..." Entertainment Weekly - "Beautiful music for clever 21st-century lads and lasses..." - Rating: A

Five years after the release of Fantasma, Cornelius' dizzyingly dazzling stateside breakthrough, comes Point, an album as much about focus and precision as its predecessor was about appropriating and reconfiguring sounds and styles into a psychedelic free for all. Keigo Oyamada's fondness for exotica, bossa nova, garage rock, and dream pop also shapes Point, but the effect is more organic and less contrived; bright, strummy guitars, insistent beats, and sweet harmonies loop over and over again until the songs reach their breaking points. Despite the album's heavy reliance on sampling, songs like "Another View Point" and "Smoke" sound surprisingly fresh and spontaneous; the twittering birds on "Bird Watching at Inner Forest" and the burbling, Matmos-like water sample that runs through "Drop" emphasize Point's playfully surreal naturalism. Though the album ranges from sharp, new wave-influenced tracks like "Smoke" to trippy Shibuya-punk like "Fly" to "Nowhere"'s swanky nouveau exotica, it has fewer of the stylistic about-faces that made Fantasma so fascinating. Indeed, on the first few listens Point might disappoint Cornelius fans used to the previous album's quick changes and contrasts, but the restraint and cohesion Oyamada brings to the album make its louder and crazier moments, such as the loopy, static-laden opener "Bug (Electric Last Minute)" and guitar workout "I Hate Hate," that much more distinctive. Though it lacks brilliant singles like "Star Fruits Surf Rider" and "Chapter 8: Seashore and Horizon," Point's mature playfuness won't disappoint Oyamada's fans as long as they continue to expect the unexpected from him. ~ Heather Phares|

ホンダ〈ASIMO〉と女の子が踊るCMにも使われていた“Brazil”を含む、小山田圭吾のウェディングCD。別名〈コーネリアスとジーラの引出物〉……といっても、もらって迷惑なアレでなく。一発でコーネリアスとわかる音使いはそのままに、ジーラこと嶺川貴子が自身の名盤『fun 9』で発揮した驚異的なセルフ・プロデュース能力（って、なんであまり言われないんだろう?　すげえゾ、彼女!）を吸収して編み出されたであろうという解釈で〈ウェディング〉なわけで。彼が猿になってもうすぐ10年。かつてのようにサンプリングに頼ることもなく、〈POINT〉つまり点描でひとつひとつ緻密に描いた些細で壮大な音楽的ランドスケープは、たとえば、プロ・トゥールス（デジタル音楽制作ワーク・ステーション）内蔵の携帯電話で着メロを打ち込んでいるような（笑）、極端にバカバカしくも地道な作業と、あなたの顔にもあるホクロ（＝POINT）の間で構成されています。
bounce (C)松戸与三