Gum

Japan’s Cornelius (Keigo Oyamada) is like a human blender, sucking in all manner of musical and artistic expression, and pulsing the motor until he hits on a combination that suits him for the task at hand. Dabbling in everything from guitar punk to sampling and remixing to electronic dance music to psychedelia and pop, the joy of Cornelius is in the unknowing... trusting him to take you somewhere you’ve never been before, and suspecting it will be way more fun than listening to Jandek. On Gum, he continues linking sounds and rhythms together in a manner that often ends up resembling collage (due to fits and starts and bursts of sound), and turns out a few perfect Cornelius gems. Title track “Gum,” lifted from his last album, Sensuous, has great energy, all staccato guitars and vibrating bass lines, and the textured remix here by Prefuse 73 is just as much fun. “Cue” is wistful and romantic and jazzy, while “Clap & Whistle & Walking” is exactly what its name implies, with the additional charm of birds chirping merrily. Singer Petra Haden (see Petra Haden Sings The Who Sellout for more on her own talents) takes the Japanese-sung version of “Music” from Sensuous and gives us her own Japanese AND English interpretations, while electronic-folkies The Books offer up a reverent take of “Fit Song.”