Mellow Waves is the 2017 studio album from the band Cornelius. For me Mellow Waves is a varying ride of pensive thought and staccato emotions. There are many familiar hooks and textures where collegiate nostalgia surfaces. In other moments I'm caught unsettling feelings about what is and what might happen — both musically and emotionally. Despite these salient qualities nothing defines Cornelius more than Keigo's voice. This goes beyond just the sonic qualities of the music he produces. The visual accompaniment for Cornelius' music videos, album art, and stage performances reinforce the thoughts and feelings as much as songs. When Rostrum Records reached out to chat about collaborating for the American release of a special vinyl press for Mellow Waves I was all ears.

Leaning on the format of Patatap's interface Cornelius gave me a few dozen raw sound clips and the introductory video to the Cornelius live set. The thumbnails above describe something that looks distinctly 2D from far away. However, upon closer inspection all the forms are created using thousands of tiny particles. My goal was to find a way to translate this aesthetic into something that could be used in a way anyone could make Cornelius like effects with. The result is a visual sound kit that respects the tempo of each individual sound. These sounds in turn drive the identifiable spirograph shapes the particles form. Ultimately the kit further constrains the concept of Patatap and in that offers insight into the components of what Cornelius embodies. Special thanks to Mr.Doob for the Sporel project which this is heavily based on.

Check out the website here: http://cornelius.patatap.com/