Cornelius @ Webster Hall, NYC 5/10/07

Coachella was just a teaser. Keigo Oyamada, or Cornelius for the Planet Of The Apes lovers, brought his Sensuous Synchronized Show to NYC last night, and for once you'll hear nary a bitch or a whine about Webster Hall. The show was a mesmerizing mesh of Cornelius's avant-pop deconstructionist genius and his custom-tailored synced-up imagery -- and like the Knife show during CMJ, the harrowed Hall was the perfect space for it.

The Cornelius Group comprises four metronomic virtuosos armed with guitars, theremins, flutes, and windchimes for all, and by turns they toy with every musical idiom imaginable (deep-pocket Tower Of Power/Headhunters funk, thrash, math-rock, prog, with a side of electronics and hazy-eyed balladry). A stage wide rear projection screen hosted the footage -- technicolor swirls, CGI-enhanced visuals of mothers and children, rocks morphing into people, the Yellow Pages fingers coming to life and going on a walkabout -- all set in time to Cornelius's irresistible pop urges. The videos for "Music" and "Fit Song" made the visual cut, and the dance-happy crowd endorsed each stop along the setlist (including Sensuous jamz "Breezin'," and "Beep It," Fantasma's "Count Five Or Six,"; and Point's "Drop," "Tone Twilight Zone," and the speed-freaky "I Hate Hate").

It's a shame he comes to the States so infrequently; a night with Cornelius feels like the body-moving apex of high art, and for once we were feeling sorta classy. Don't worry though, we'll post some defaced Corgan pics in a sec and clear up that nonsense. In the meantime, take the jump for a few more of our souvenirs from last night's awesomeness.

Posted at 7:58 PM in Concert
Tags: Cornelius

4 Comments

flutes, windchimes, balladry, thrash, theremins

one of these five terms doesn't belong, and also clearly shows that the reviewer has absolutely no idea what thrash is.

Posted by: ivan drago at 05/13/07 4:40 PM | Reply
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ivan drago, cornelius is going to THRASH your ASS.

with a windchime.

Posted by: kevin r hollo at 05/16/07 12:27 PM | Reply
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i was at the show last night and you captured it perfectly. thrash and all.

Posted by: mikeypod at 01/27/08 11:33 PM | Reply
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dunno about thrash myself. thrush is a medical affliction, isn't it? cannot recall any cornelius thrashing, live or on recordings. more akin to very polite and knowledgeable, impeccably-timed exuberance.

Posted by: jim at 08/26/08 4:22 PM | Reply
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