The music of Isao Tomita (1932 – 2016), like the music of many electronic music pioneers, has been hard to find on streaming services. Though he released more than a dozen albums, few of them are currently available.
A new album, Rising Planet – Tomita’s Greatest Works of Space Music, doesn’t fix that, but it at least makes some of his best tracks available to a new generation. The album brings together tracks from seven albums that were released on the Nippon Columbia DENON label in the last five years of Tomita’s life.
Here’s what the label has to say about the release:
What runs through all the tracks collected here is ‘space’.
This is a collection of best tracks by a superstar synthesizer artist who continued to embrace and depict his ‘longing for space’ until the end of his life.
Flying Lotus, who professes to be influenced by Tomita’s music and revealed that he was inspired by Tomita’s music even for his latest album “YASUKE”, which attracts both music fans and anime fans, has commented on his great predecessor.
“The sound of Tomita has been part of me for many years, I’ve used it in many different scenarios especially sleeping, the music of Tomita has shown me colorful visions and lucid dreams. These classical compositions are redefined and reimagined with such amazing sonics that, to me, are some of the most interesting sounds I’ve ever heard.
Tomita was ahead of his time and I’m so glad that there’s a new generation of listeners interested in his magic.”
Track List:
1. Mars
2. Itokawa and Hayabusa
3. Whistle and Chime – The Art of Sound Creation
4. 1ere Arabesque
5. Clair de Lune
6. Nuages
7. Rising Sun
8. The Sea Named “Solaris”
9. The Unanswered Question
10. Night on the Galactic Railroad
11. Rising of the Planet 9
Rising Planet: Tomita’s Greatest Works of Space Music is available now in digital/streaming formats.
It’s really a shame most of his music has disappeared from distribution. Even though I made the major mistake of selling off my CDs when I was desperately poor, I did keep everything as digital files on my hard drive. Some of it has been lost to glitches and other iTunes errors but, I still have most of it, thankfully.
C O O L .
Been listening to Tomita since his release of ‘Snow Flakes Are Dancing’ from 1975-76. Love his work.
This title is incorrect. This is not a “New Tomita Album”. It’s a compilation of some past releases.
Referring to it is a “new album” is correct. An album is just a collection of recordings, it doesn’t need to be new material.
Not according to the RIAA and most music professionals. But you’re entitled to your opinion.
Crikey you must be bored.
I started listening to his music going all the way back to when I was in high school. I think my first Tomita album was “The Planets” and back then, the only playback mediums available to us were vinyl, cassette, and 8-track, all of which kind of sucked compared to today’s high-quality digital mediums such as the ones Apple just announced and is now distributing.
It’s a new greatest hits album. All of the tracks were made by Tomita. Therefore, it is a new Tomita album.
Simple.
Wrong lol
Appreciate his contribution to electronic music, but I could never get over his “trademark” and enjoying whistling synth sounds.
Not my cup of tea…
Isao Tomita’s style of subtly layering interweaving synths influenced Jarre.
Jarre was the only other 1970s Electronica pioneer able to do this subtle layering interweaving synths.
1972 Tomita’s Electric Samurai Switched on Rock 1972 with its humorous take on Rock hits is a work of Brliance
I should have added Electric Samurai Switched on Rock humour influenced
Yellow Magic Orchestra, Yello, Laurie Anderson.
Lotta modulars around these days, but no one reaches his level. This kind of detailed modular work was its own unique phase, like early Krautrock. Its fairly easy to get a nice sound from any synth, but having the ear and high studio discipline required to pull off a Tomita/Carlos/Gleeson epic is a near-extinct rarity. Too few people seem open to fresh classical twists now.
Me, I like that “Tomita” whistle. He was just the first one to put it where it belonged.