Keigo Oyamada (Cornelius): Top 5 songs

Keigo Oyamada

Musician
He made his debut with Kenji Ozawa as Flippers Guitar, but it's as a solo artist that he really made his name. You haven't heard of him? Perhaps you know him better by his alias, Cornelius.

Yann Tomita: Memories Of Tape Recorder   ヤン富田　『Memories Of Tape Recorder』
'Yann Tomita is a superb musician that Japan should be proud of. He works in a wide range of genres, from experimental music to pop. There are probably few musicians like him anywhere in the world. I want everyone to hear his music.'

Happy End: Kaze wo Atsumete
はっぴいえんど 『風をあつめて』


'Brian Reitzell, Air's drummer who compiled songs for the movie Lost in Translation, asked me to give him some Japanese songs from the 1970s and I burned this song on a CD-R for him. Later on, I went to the UK for a Yoko Ono tour and a little boy came up to me for a chat at the concert venue. The boy started humming this song so I asked him why he knew it. He answered that he'd started liking the song after listening to the Lost in Translation soundtrack. This coincidence took me aback. The song that I'd introduced to a foreign guy was introduced to me, once again, by a foreign kid. Very odd.'

Asa-Chang & Junrei: Hana   ASA-CHANG & 巡礼 『花』


'It's computer music but it has an indigenous aspect at the same time. It's extremely original, but it has a sense of Japanese mood. Either way, it still has something that anyone in this world could share.'

Toru Takemitsu: Gagaku Shuteiga   武満徹　『雅楽　秋庭歌』
'Toru Takemitsu represents Japanese orchestral composition. He composes music based on western orchestration but using traditional Japanese instruments such as the shou, the shakuhachi, and the biwa. His music amplifies the characters of the instruments and uses pauses in a good way, perhaps uncommon amongst foreign composers.' 　　

Haruo Mimami and CORNELIUS: Akatombo   三波春夫＋コーネリアス　『赤とんぼ』


'This is a song that everyone in Japan knows. The song seems to be a mixture of continental melody and western music. Above all, it's a song that includes something that Japanese people seem to have lost. I added backing tracks to the recorded vocal of Haruo Minami while he was still alive.'