Showing posts with label Tomita. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tomita. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Tomita - The Firebird

RCA: 1975/2016

Tomita's passing was sad, but not unexpected, the famed Japanese synth wizard having lived a long, accomplished life. And if there's anything positive to be gained from a storied musician's death, it gives their estate and associated labels a reason to push out a fresh round of re-issues of their seminal work. Not that it happens all the time – Prince's estate remains rightfully protective of the man's vaults of music – but far as I can tell, Sony and Tomita have been on okay terms for the past few decades. About as positive a relationship as anyone can have with a faceless monolithic entertainment corporation anyway. (they do make wonderful portable music devices tho'!)

Not that Tomita's '70s albums were out of print or hard to find, but it'd been a while since his famed records were last in fresh circulation. Heck, Firebird alone hadn't been released in non-Japanese stores since the early '90s, though to be fair, Snowflakes Are Dancing is generally regarded as the Very Important Tomita Album deserving of frequent re-issues, since that's where all his technical innovations (Phasing! Flanging! Spatial stereo!) first appeared.

Once he got all that sorted, Tomita was able to crank out more classical interpretations at a modestly steady clip – just which ones would he take on, then? Bach and Beethoven were clearly out, as Carlos had already created the defining electronic takes on them (for a while anyway). Nay, ol' Isao-san had something a little more modern in mind, one of the giants of 20th Century classical and ballet composers, Russian Igor Stravinsky and his Firebird suite. Even if you've never heard a single piece of orchestral music in your life (!!), you've likely heard some variation of Infernal Dance - pure heavy metal fodder, that. Though I always think final boss in jRPG, which makes sense since Infernal Dance kinda' is a final boss confrontation in the actual ballet.

Obviously Tomita couldn't perform and produce the entire suite, so we get a truncated version of Firebird, with most of the highlights intact (think Disney's Fantasia 2000 version). For a composition that traditionally utilizes huge orchestras, what Tomita cranks out here is quite remarkable, synth-heavy sections of Round Of The Princesses, Lullaby, and Finale hitting you with just as much gravitas while worming in quirky, bleepy, flanged sounds and effects. I cannot deny though, Infernal Dance doesn't pump the adrenaline so effectively with the tinny synths here. Give me that full-frontal horn assault any day!

A couple bonus compositions were made for Side B, including Debussy's Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Faun. I don't know much about this one, but it's pleasant enough. The second is another heavy metal favourite, Moussorgsky's A Night On Bald Mountain. Hot damn, but are those choir samples ever put to great use here! Even the weird, burbling bloops have me imagining dancing devils as some cyborg abominations. Like, if that Disney version went full anime. Makes sense, with all the players involved.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Tomita - The Planets

RCA Red Seal: 1976/1991

Ol' Isao proved he could create clever synthesizer interpretations of the classics with Firebird, outclassing even the pioneering work Wendy Carlos did with Hooked On Bach. There was a sense, however, he was selling his potential short in keeping his chosen works 'grounded'. Whereas most modern classicists were content in doing straight-forward covers, Tomita's style suggested room for experimentation and free-flowing expressionism - his works need not be intended for art houses or chambers, but capable of sending the listener into the wider cosmos above. Just borrow a few stylistic markers from those Berlin guys, and Tomita could craft music as futurist as anything conceived from sci-fi's golden years.

Okay, I’ve no idea whether it was Tomita’s intent in turning his focus primarily towards space music, but this album sure supports the theory. Gustav Holst’s The Planets is considered one of orchestral music’s defining suites, with various portions, passages, and pieces adapted into several genres since (progressive rock adores it). The concept was simple enough: each planet has its own musical theme derived from its astrological attribute, a fair idea since science was still sketchy on several of our solar system’s neighbours. Thus Mars: The Bringer Of War is fierce and aggressive, while Venus: The Bringer Of Peace is tranquil and lovely – which is practically opposite of what those planets are like in reality. Mercury: The Winged Messenger’s spritely, sunny bounce makes good sense for the innermost body though, and having Neptune: The Mystic quietly fade out to ghostly, lonesome choirs evokes the wondrous mysteries that lurked beyond the largely unknown blue ice giant. The Planets may have been astrological in inspiration, but Holst couldn’t resist adding a little astronomy in there too. Tomita, on the other hand, fully embraces it wherever he can. After a whole lot of music box tinkering and robot Moog squawking, The Planets literally lifts off on rockets.

Talking about these pieces in specific detail won’t do much good on my part, especially if you’re familiar with the original orchestral arrangements (if you aren’t, get on that, mang!). The attributes Tomita brings probably won’t surprise folks already weaned on his other works either, much less modern classical in general. What gives The Planets such standout quality though, is how ol’ Isao flits between grand space opera and pulpy sci-fi quirk throughout, keeping you guessing exactly where he’s taking things next. It’d be far simpler to rely on basic substitutes, but Tomita’s fearless in having singing Moogs, simulated radio chatter, and far-out flanged pads sharing the spotlight with symphonic synth strings, organs, and harps. It’s remarkable just how much millage Tomita got out of his hardware here, apparently all performed on his own. Holst’s estate sure weren’t impressed though, forcing The Planets’ initial vinyl run off shelves in short order – same ol’ difficulties for these modern classicists, eh?

This is a great album, essential listening for anyone with a hankering for raw, exploratory ‘70s synth works. I would say that with a ‘Saturn’ track, wouldn’t I?

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Tomita - Kosmos

RCA Victor: 1978/1991

Long before electronic music was almost exclusively made for the riff-raff of dance culture, electronic music was exclusively made for the hoity-toity upper elites of culture. True, only higher class brackets were capable of affording synthesizers at the time, so naturally only classically trained composers did much of anything with the gear. Shortly after the ‘70s took hold though, the commons clued into the catchy potential of electronic music too, and some charming compositions began charting in record sales. Well, if they’re enjoying these camp pieces, scoffed the elite, they’ll undoubtedly lap up the fromage of the classics too. Thus they set out a Japanese robot dubbed Tomita to placate the masses with synthesized interpretations of Stravinsky, Holst, Strauss, and Bach.

Right, the specific details above are mostly the bunk (probably), but if anyone greatly benefited from Wendy Carlos and Rick Wakeman proving you could do classical music with electronics, it was ol' Isao. By the time he released Kosmos, he'd gained a reputation as the foremost modern classical interpreter about, folks always anticipating which master of the past he'd tackle next.

Did I mention sci-fi was a big deal in the '70s? What better way to give the fans what they wanted – and maybe even lure in a few who’d yet to discover the Japanese synth maestro – than opening Kosmos with a quirky, charming cover of John Williams’ Star Wars Main Title? It’s… um, well, it’s… Star Wars? Kinda bloopy, with a whistle instead of the opening fanfare; surprising amount of bouncy rhythm for the time too. Y’know, when you think of chintzy, made-for-TV sci-fi pulp from that decade, this is the music you’re likely imagining soundtracking it. Follow-up Space Fantasy borrows from Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra and various Wagner compositions, most notably Ride Of The Valkyries and Tannhäuser, though whenever I hear the latter, I almost immediately think of Bugs Bunny riding an obese white horse rather than space opera. Also, Kosmos has quickly turned incredibly camp with such music.

Fortunately, things get more interesting with the following songs. The Unanswered Question from Charles Ives goes ambient, mysterious, and with a touch of mechanical menace lurking. Rodrigo’s Aranjuez-Adagio is soaring and gorgeous, especially with the synths Tomita utilizes here, and Solveig’s Song’s from Edvard Grieg’s no slouch either, Tomita cleverly playing a portion of the campy bit through a filter as though it’s a transmission from deep space.

The highlight of Kosmos is the final track though, J.S. Bach’s The Sea Named “Solaris”; heck, it was a highlight on Carl Sagan’s Cosmos too! Yes, finally, at the end of this review, I come clean about my primary reason for getting this album. Look, I was starting a Tomita collection eventually, and it may as well be the album holding the song I’m most familiar with by him. If you haven’t heard The Sea Named “Solaris” yet, get on that shit, brah! Absolutely essential modern classical! Kosmos ain’t too bad either, once you get past the corny first bits.

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