by Richard S. Ginell
Continuing the outer-space theme that he had been pursuing most of the time since The Tomita Planets, Tomita claimed that he drew upon the &wave forms of electromagnetic emanations from various stars and constellations& for the sonic textures of this album, as translated by a computer. If so, the results aren't much different than his previous palette of sounds and effects; if anything, they are more restrained, less showy, and a little more faithful to the material than in earlier projects. Then, the repertoire doesn't exactly lend itself to a far-out approach, a succession of excerpts from Villa-Lobos' wonderful Bachianas Brasilieri, Nos. 2, 4 and 7 interspersed with Baroque chestnuts and Rachmaninoff's &Vocalise& for good measure. This makes historical sense since the Villa-Lobos works were tributes to J. S. Bach mixed with his own Romantic Brazilian-tinged outlook into a new idiom altogether. The &Canon of the Three Stars& turns out to be a tastefully blurred rendition of the good old Pachelbel Canon, and Albinoni's Adagio and Bach's &Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring& are the other well-worn Baroque entries. &Whistle Train& is a rhythm machine-propelled version of Villa-Lobos' &The Little Train of the Caipira,& and &Pegasus& takes the same tack with the &Toccata& from the Bachianas Brasilieras No. 7; both are rather appealing, despite the rhythm tracks. Though not the most exciting or titillating Tomita album, it might wear better over the long haul than some of his others.