Review by DjBatman
3½ stars out of 4
"Warning! There's an escape from the Planet of the Apes!"
I remember someone saying that in dance music (or was it "in today's
music"?) you have mostly two kinds of producers. The
"onebloke", i.e. a guy (dj and/or musician) who does it all,
using samplers, keyboards, instruments, computers etc.; he can have
collaborators but he is the main man behind the production. Norman Cook
aka Fatboy Slim aka Freak Power aka Beats International etc. is probably
the best example of onebloke. Then you have the "two-dj", which
is a couple of dj/producers acting like one single entity. Coldcut are
maybe the greatest two-dj ensemble I've ever heard. Some inspired
(?) folks in music journalism have defined Cornelius' music as some kind
of modern "lounge" music... an electrified, sample-driven version
of instrumentals from the 60's or something like that. This is only
partially true. This "onebloke" (who, actually, has several
collaborators grouped under the name Orangu-Tang Clan) whose real
name is Keigo Oyamada, from Japan, in this album shows a really
eclectic musical background. Apparently obsessed with Italian words
("Fantasma" means "Ghost" in Italian... and his
japanese label is called "Trattoria", which is a name for those
small Italian restaurants where you can eat good old-styled "slow
food"). Cornelius steals his name from one of the main characters
in the movie "Planet of the Apes" and takes the listener into
one of the weirdest musical journeys. Guitar riffs, melody, britpop
vs. japanese pop ("Star Fruits Surf Rider"), mic checks (?),
burps (!) and bleeps, cartoon music and breakbeats (at the top of his
delirium, Keigo performs a reworking of a theme from Mr.Magoo's classic
cartoons, sampling the original version by Dennis Farnon and His Orchestra,
adding frantic jungle breaks). A breakbeat on "The Micro Disneycal
World Tour" seems to have been evolved from a classic Malcolm McLaren
break; I think I have already heard somewhere else a couple of the samples
contained in the album, but they're well manipulated. The guy's a genius,
'nuff said.
Here's what others reviewers have to say:
"...an exuberant kaleidoscope of hip-hop, noisecore, film
soundtracks, cheesy listening, indie rock, even Sesame Street....an
endearing music-obsessive-comes-of-age tale--from Saturday morning TV
to arena rock to bootleg Jean-Jacques Perrey reissues..." 6 (out of
10) Spin 5/98, p.134
"...FANTASMA is brilliant. Cornelius's innovations will definitely
excite futuristic B-boys and rockers alike..." Vibe 5/98, p.144
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