This is a strange yet hooky album, not easy listening at all, but when it gets you, it really gets you, but if you enjoy Cornelius, this is as good as it gets.
now go and buy some pizzicato five while you are at it, music does not get much groovier than them.

Cornelius. A nutty Japanese guy that patches together more genres than your grandma does quilts!

This album, while not being overly innovative on a track by track basis, still leaves you with the distinct feeling that its the only album of its kind.

Encompassing smooth hip hop beats, samples and scratch trickery, cut and paste wizardry, perfect pop sensability, gorgeous harmonies, the full palette of instruments, crunching distortion, jangly acoustic strumming, blips and bops, and more!

Genres covered include big beat, psychadelica, folk, metal, hip hop, surf rock, space rock, beach boys pop, latin, IDM electronica, and list dont stop! All contained in at times frantic ADD song structures and other times cruisy laid back pop.

A masterful cut and paste collage of everything pop music has covered, and everything a production and pop genuis like cornelius is capable of.

Quite simply put, Fantasma is insane.
Cornelius (AKA Keigo Oyamada) has collected and pasted his musical genius together into a CD case, and mailed it off to America. Songs flow from one to the other like silk, yet Kiego hardly contains any two tracks to the same genre. One listen to "Count Five or Six", and you will totally uppercut someone.
There is no word better word than "insane" to describe the genius encompassed in this album

Listening to Fantasma is almost like visiting Tokyo Disneyland, with Cornelius taking something typically Western and adding a Japanese twist to it. A whirling dirvish of colorful sounds filled with unconventional twists and turns, almost one-upping his Western counterparts. The approach of Keigo Oyamada, aka, Cornelius, is similar to most electronica artists, along with incorporating equal parts rock swagger and the playful cartoonish spirit of J Rock. Thrown into this aural-carnival is everything from The High Llamas sunny vibes, the analog tweaks of Money Mark, and Beck's cut and paste approach, to nuggets of My Bloody Valentine feedback and Beach Boys experimentalism/harmonies. Adventurous, daring, and wonderfully produced. Fantasma demonstrates that electronica/rock is alive and well in the Land Of The Rising Sun. Let Cornelius take you along for the ride.

I first heard star fruits surf rider on a channel 4 broadcast for the fuji rock festival - i was instantly hooked by the presentation and amazing lush chords and espically the wind instrument break down in the middle. The whole album is all killer no filler - and every song sounds different to the other , the album is a real musical journey!! i was totally into straight up rock music before hearing this , so i think if you have an open mind to new music this is a totally essential purchase!!