Isao Tomita – Bird Chorus (FLAC – right click to download)
Isao Tomita – Animation Fountain (FLAC – right click to download)
I’m just going to be 100% honest – I don’t know a lot about what I’m sharing tonight. I just know it’s rather rare, by a fairly notable artist (especially if you like this blog) and it’s incredibly out-of-print. And I’m kind of in the middle of a mild anxiety attack and writing about random Japanese electronic music can be soothing. So, yeah.
I don’t even know where or when I bought this. I was going through a pile of 7” singles that I hadn’t recorded yet and found it buried at the bottom. If I had to guess, this is probably something that I bought at Shop Mecano in Nakano Broadway – my favorite electronic music store in Tokyo that does definitely not sell City Pop, by the way.
I’ve been going there for more than 10 years now, and he knows I have A: disposable income, B: a fondness for out-of-print music and C: poor impulse control. I suspect Mr. Mecano holds stuff there specifically for me, because he knows I’ll grab it once I hear the words “out of print since 198X” or “never re-released, not online, very rare!”
The songs I’m sharing tonight are from a seven-inch single by Isaso Tomita, the legendary Japanese electronic music composer. This single was only made available as a promotional item at the 1985 Tsukuba Expo, which was a world’s fair held outside of Tokyo in the Tsukuba Science City. The theme of the expo was to “showcase man’s relationship with science and technology and to enable the general public to enhance their knowledge of the sector through participation and personal experiences.”
So I guess it was a technology trade show open to the public.
Since it was in Japan, the country really used it as a showcase to display their most cutting-edge technology. If the Wiki is to be believed, the very first Sony Jumbotron was at this expo. And the expo was also the showcase to the world’s first HDTV system. In 1985!
Japan brought out all kinds of dope shit at this thing. They had a robot that could play the keyboard! One of the first maglev trains was used on the site as well. If you really want a deep dive into the event, check out this 45 minute video by the amazing YouTube channel Reely Interesting, which shows off some of the then cutting-edge technology that was on display.
I don’t know where “promotional single by Isao Tomita” fits into this. Was it sold or given away at the Expo? Or was it given out as a promotional record to, y’know, promote the expo before it was held? I’m sure there are websites out there that can answer that question for me, but I’m in knee-deep in researching the Brian Boswoth film Stone Cold for an upcoming podcast (yes, really) and I can only fall down so many rabbit holes.
Besides, you’re all here for the music anyway, not my prattling. And this is some good shit.Tomita was a pretty good electronic music composer, I don’t know if you knew that.
The A-side is “Bird Chorus” which is exactly what you think it is, electronic sounds manipulated to sound like bird songs. I don’t know how much it I would say really sounds like birds (some of it reminds me more of cats and dogs, if I’m honest), but it’s really cute, fun, and a good example of what a musical genius could do with the proper synthesizers in the mid-80s.
“Animation Fountain” is a more standard Tomita piece, reminiscent of classical music. I could have sworn it was an adaptation of an actual classical piece, but the liner notes cite Tomita as the sole composer. I also don’t know why it’s called “Animation Fountain.” Maybe it was the backing track to a fountain display at the festival? That video I linked to might have the answers, but to be honest, I haven’t watched the whole thing from front to back, it is 45 minutes, after all.
Regardless of where this music came from, what its use was, or how it was made available at the time, I think both tracks stand out as some solid A+ work by one of the most influential, talented and important electronic musicians of all-time. I don’t know why they’re still out-of-print, unavailable on any Tomita compilation or box set, but since that happens to be the case, that means I can guilt-free share them with you here. So enjoy!
