Kitaro

98,604 listeners (1,148,953 plays)

new age, ambient, instrumental, electronic, japanese… see all

Kitaro’s style is the epitome of the contemplative, highly melodic synthesizer music often associated with the new-age movement. Interestingly enough, this famous Japanese composer taught himself to play electric guitar in high school — inspired by the R&B music of Otis Redding. In the early ’70s, Kitaro formed the Far East Family Band, which released two albums of progressive rock. In 1972, however, he met the innovative German synthesist Klaus Schulze during a trip to Europe. Kitaro was hooked. He built his first synthesizer and began experimenting with all kinds of unusual sounds.

His first solo album, Astral Voyage, appeared in 1978 and quickly gained a cult following. Two years later, he produced the first of several soundtracks for Silk Road, a Japanese television documentary series that ran for five years. Several albums of music from Silk Road were released to a growing international contingent of fans who admired his combination of lush, majestic textures and gentle, almost naive, melodies. His music started gaining popularity in nearby Taiwan, for instance, by 1983, and he even performed in a large venue in Taipei in the middle of 1984.

Kitaro, however, was still considered an underground artist in America until he signed with Geffen Records in 1986, which re-released seven of his earlier albums and gave him the support to expand his scope in many ways. For instance, after years of creating albums in the privacy of his home studio near Japan’s Mt. Fuji, Kitaro produced his 1987 release, The Light of the Spirit, with the help of Mickey Hart. The album featured an array of American musicians and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best New-Age Performance category.

1	Caravansary full track	429
2	Silk Road full track	399
3	Theme From Silk Road full track	312
4	A Passage of Life full track	303
5	Bell Tower full track	248
6	Koi full track	241
7	Shimmering Horizon full track	186
8	Oasis full track	175
8	Moondance full track	175
10	Matsuri full track	160
11	Cosmic Love full track	149
12	Orochi full track	145
13	Dance of Sarasvati full track	143
14	Prologue full track	139
15	Agreement full track	134

Top Albums

Asia
Kitaro
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The Best of Kitaro
Kitaro
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Dream
Kitaro
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Best of Silk Road
Kitaro
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imogenXfrosti wrote:
2 hours ago

Kojiki <3 amazing...

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achmeazorg wrote:
4 hours ago

A passage of life. magical.

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Karilana wrote:
Thursday evening

His music is like a beautiful dream. I could listen to this music all the time and one hour longer.

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eufisica wrote:
Tuesday morning

My favorite artist. I gone to a concert in Lisbon and was amazing. I have almost all the CDs including a very rare edited and imported from Japan.

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Cowboyblur wrote:
Sunday evening

free stuff? Tat music amazed me!

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chano1867 wrote:
Sunday evening

Es decir más de lo mismo. Un millón de gracias Kítaro

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chano1867 wrote:
Sunday evening

Es una verdadera maravilla la música de éste compositor. Se agradece enormemente lo que transmite.

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Melina44 wrote:
7 days ago

Una MARAVILLA !!!!!!!!

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Gyt1s wrote:
7 days ago

free downloads ! Thank you.

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PanSandro wrote:
7 days ago

http://folkportal.3dn.ru/

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DrCox0_ wrote:
11 days ago

Музыка, какой она должна быть

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simonnestle wrote:
13 days ago

good, but too similar

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MusicxSeeker wrote:
15 days ago

Just beautiful, I can listen to this all day.

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phosgene wrote:
15 days ago

Aw, this is really bad...

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mancocabac wrote:
16 days ago

eline yürenğine sağlık...

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Stefax wrote:
16 days ago

Musica unica e bellissima

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AlanSteward wrote:
18 days ago

If you like World Music with an electronic twist, check out Alan Steward right here on last.fm "Global Warning" and "Enigma Wrapped in a Riddle" All FULL LENGTH TRACKS! Like it, play it, let us know how what you think! http://www.last.fm/music/Alan+Steward

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trancemw13 wrote:
19 days ago

music of soul... :) Kitaro healing my dreams...

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triobelisk wrote:
19 days ago

Yes...

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cesarojedac wrote:
23 days ago

muy bueno....

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Recent Activity

Supernovus, zhacker98, TuZhao and 8 other people added Kitaro to their libraries. 1 minute ago
yjanet tagged Kitaro with ‘asiatique’. yesterday evening
Bib4Tuna, sthanna and 6 other people added Kitaro to their libraries. yesterday evening
FerPaes tagged Kitaro with ‘favoritos’. yesterday morning
NewMaxx and fullgrip added Kitaro to their libraries. yesterday morning
maulofsound connected Kitaro to the group MST3K. yesterday morning
nicogrungelo, ensermarhung, mohitpune and 2 other people added Kitaro to their libraries. Friday morning
Ystrean tagged Kitaro with ‘new age’ and ‘ambient’. Thursday evening
teshimoztemoru, Charliff, omorantes and 2 other people added Kitaro to their libraries. Thursday evening
devilie tagged Kitaro with ‘ambient’ and ‘japanese’. Thursday afternoon