Search - Cornelius :: Sensuous

Sensuality

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 04/24/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It must be overwhelming for an artist like Cornelius to make a mega-masterpiece like "Point," and be expected to follow it up with something just as good, if not better.



And Cornelius manages to do pretty well with "Sensuous," his third full-length album, and his first in five long years. While it doesn't measure up to his last album, "Sensuous" does manage to be a charming, atmospheric little collection of quirky pop music.



It opens with the title track, an ambient little guitar melody that never goes anywhere much -- but it's redeemed by the staccato guitar and colourful sampling patchwork of "Fit Song." I suppose it's called that because Cornelius "fits" dozens of odd little sounds into the song, over the sputtery guitar and manic drums. It's wonderfully eccentric.



From there, Cornelius mingles electronic experimentation with sparkling sound effects and charming, almost childlike melodies. Hiccuping piano melodies and folky guitar, interrupted by digital blips and a CD spinning. Funky electronica that sparkles like a gem. Revving guitars that tumble into a heart-racing melody. Unstoppable "tick... tock" electropop. And a shimmering, soaring "Like A Rolling Stone," which sounds like wind chimes being diddled.



It takes a little while to listen to "Sensuous" objectively. The ghost of "Point" keeps looming over this album, and at first listen it's easy to think, "Oh, this isn't nearly as good as 'Point' was."



But as the album winds through soundscapes of the bizarre and beautiful, the real intent of "Sensuous" starts to come out. There are almost too many musical ideas crammed in here, with brief sparks of typical pop. Then Cornelius's offbeat jams move on and continue taking themselves apart.



The backbone of the music itself is plucked guitar, like a two-fingered street musician, but wrapped in heavy cocoons of shimmering synth, avant-garde stylings, and odd samples here and there. Cornelius's soft vocals bob in occasionally, usually singing some particular phrase ("Muuuuuu-siiiiiic...").



But let it be established that this isn't a GREAT album; the songs have little structure, and there's some songs that are definitely filler. It rides through on atmosphere and avant-garde beauty, and the complexities that begin to emerge after more than one listen -- feelings of drowsiness, sadness, complacency, and exuberance.



But even lesser Cornelius is better than most music, and while "Sensuous" may be his weakest work, it's still a beautiful piece of work. Definitely worth listening to -- just don't compare it to "Point.""

Love this record

Babs Piano | Los Angeles, CA | 06/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Cornelius is BAD!!! This CD is so beautiful-- always inventive and sonically striking. You'll hear something new everytime you listen to it. A true pioneer-- dig this record."

Good Content, Bad format

mhtones | San Jose, CA USA | 06/07/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm a big Cornelius fan. His album Point is one of my all time top 10 cds. Sensuous is a good album too. Not quite at Point's level, but enjoyable all the same. However, this CD and the replacement that Amazon has sent me has a formatting error between tracks 8 (Omstart) and 9 (Beep It) where the crossfade between tracks gets cut out and goes to silence for approx .5 seconds. This is really annoying. Since Amazon sells a few different versions of this CD online, I'll mention that the 2 sent to me are "imports" and were manufactured by the label "EverLoving" (note: "Import", as I am located in U.S.) I don't know if this same problem occurs with other label printings or versions of Sensuous. My overall rating of this CD is a 3 (i.e. 4 for Cornelius' tracks, 2 for formatting problem)."