Cornelius - Point

At first I didn't think much of "Point" - it seemed annoying, cheesy, and pretentious. It took me several listens and a little bit of research to finally "get" it.

"Point" is a successful juxtaposition of musical elements that no one would ever think of juxtaposing (due to the seeming disparity and incongruity of those elements). These elements include musique concrete, gentle r&b-ish backgrounds, speed metal, rather danceable grooves, and vocal harmonies sustained far beyond the capacity of the human lung. The talented Cornelius somehow manages to blend all these elements (and more) into a surprisingly palatable aural stew - a remarkable feat. In some cases, such as the title track, the result is something so fresh and architecturally sound that it could be considered a work of art. Other times, the effect is one of calming cybernetic beauty ("Tone Twilight Zone", "Brazil", "Nowhere"), or, in the case of the John Zorn-esqe "I Hate Hate", attention span reduction and head shaking.

When approached as belonging to any specific musical genre, "Point" can seem annoying, cheesy, and/or pretentious, like the trying-to-sound-as-radio-friendly-as-possible, trying-way-too-hard demo of a band far too eccentric for the mainstream. But as is becoming increasingly more common in the world of music as time goes on, Cornelius is a genre unto himself, a hybrid of too many pre-existing genres to possibly concatenate (with hyphens) into a single pronounceable word.

A unique blend of canonical electronic experiments, rock, La Monte Young influence (perhaps?), and Asian pop. Phenomenally produced. Intriguing drones, vocal harmonies, and funky ultra-tight rhythms abound. But so do examples of cliché psuedo-humor and cheesy tracks that could almost be classified as "adult contemporary". The distorted guitar/bass riffs are hair-metal-nostalgic at best and annoyingly-fruity-loopy at worst. I can only stand about the first 1/3 of this CD. Recommended for those who like Japanese pop-rock music, but who want something a little more adventurous and arty. All others would be best off avoiding this release.

Japanese voices, strange harmonics, extremely funky drumtracks, nice melodies, all blended together in very listenable and enjoyable, yet very strange music. It's worth a try!