Yann Tomita

Yann Tomita is one of the great oddballs of the Japanese music world, an astral voyager who'll also probably go down in history as the only steel pan player outside of the Caribbean to have a significant impact on his country's hip hop scene. Hell, you could probably argue that his production for Seiko Ito's 1989 hit 'Mess/age' preempted The Neptunes by a decade – but we're getting sidetracked now. Since the early '90s, Tomita has pursued an idiosyncratic brand of cosmic kitsch, using synthesizers, steel pan drums, exotica and musique concrète to outline his philosophies about the universe. We're not sure quite what to expect from his upcoming performance at Liquidroom, but given that the stage setup includes an antique Serge Modular synth, 'Biofeedback System' and 'Mind Disintegrator & Space Light Probe Phaser', it should be something rather extraordinary.