Coachella Artist: Cornelius

photo from flickr user joi

CHRISTOPHER ATWOOD
GUEST WRITER

Cornelius is a Japanese electro funk DJ/singer whose real name is Keigo Oyamada.

I first heard about him in high school when my friend Jimmy (who goes by the name Kid Vicious these days) got his debut album “Fantasma” from Eastside Records. “He’s amazing,” he told me. “just think of him as the Asian Beck.” This turned out to be a pretty accurate description, his music is a kind of semi folk-alternative blend of cartoon samples, acoustic guitars, drum beats and glitch hop.

Much like Beck, he has the ability to transcend genres as he redefines them. That said, I’m told his couple of albums haven’t really been up to par with the first. Having not heard them myself I can’t really say. I downloaded a version of the Antonio Carlos Jobim classic “Brazil” recently that was badass. Classic bossa nova remixed with modern hip hop style; what more could you want?