Rafael Toral // Spectral Evolution LP
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This is a record released by Portuguese ambient artist Rafel Toral on moikai in February 2024.
Contains 1994 guitar ambient songs that return to their roots and are reminiscent of their 12 debut album "Sound Mind Sound Body."
Labels and other worksplease use this form. ///Click here to see more Drag City releases available at Tobira.
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12 "black vinyl.
tracklist:
- Spectral Evolution 47:14
00: 00 Intro
01:30 Changes
09:48 Descending
12:35 First Short Space
14:38 Take the Train
19:02 First Long Space
25:36 Fifths Twice
30:59 Second Long Space
36:19 Your Goodbye
39:49 Second Short Space
42:20 Ascending
43:15 Changes Reprise
Text excerpt by Drag City:
"[...] The record begins with a brief 'Intro' that sets the stage for the unique sound world explored throughout the remainder of its duration: over sparkling clean guitar figures, Toral stages a duet between two streams of modulated feedback, seeming less electronic than like mutant takes on a muted trumpet and an ocarina. This segues seamlessly into the stunning 'Changes', where a dense array of Space instruments solo with wild abandon over a thick carpet of slowly moving chords, growing increasingly chaotic over the course of eight minutes yet always fastened to the lush harmonic foundation. On these and many other moments on the record, Toral manages the almost miraculous feat of having his self-built electronic instruments (which in the past he had seen as 'inadequate to play any music based on the Western system ') play in tune. In an unexpected sidestep away from any of his previous work, the chord changes that underpin many of the episodes on Spectral Evolution are derived from classic jazz harmony, including takes on the archetypal Gershwin 'Rhythm changes' and Ellington- Strayhorn's 'Take the “A” Train', although slowed to such an extent that each chord becomes a kind of environment in its own right.
Threading together twelve distinct episodes into a flowing whole, "Spectral Evolution" alternates moments of airy instrumental interplay with dense sonic mass, breaking up the pieces based on chord changes with ambient 'Spaces'. At points reduced to almost a whisper, at other moments Toral's electronics wail, squelch, and squeak like David Tudor's live-electronic rainforest. Similarly, his use of the guitar encompasses an enormous dynamic and textural range, from chiming chords to expansive drones, from crystal clarity to fuzzy grit: on the beautiful 'Your Goodbye', his filtered, distorted soloing recalls Loren Connors in its emotional depth and wandering melodic sensibility. The product of three years of experimentation and recording, and synthesizing the insights of more than thirty years of musical research, "Spectral Evolution" is the quintessential album of guitar music from Rafael Toral. "
Artist: Rafael Toral
Label: Drag City
CAT No.: M14
This is a record released by Portuguese ambient artist Rafel Toral on moikai in February 2024.
Contains 1994 guitar ambient songs that return to their roots and are reminiscent of their 12 debut album "Sound Mind Sound Body."
Labels and other worksplease use this form. ///Click here to see more Drag City releases available at Tobira.
---------------------------
12 "black vinyl.
tracklist:
- Spectral Evolution 47:14
00: 00 Intro
01:30 Changes
09:48 Descending
12:35 First Short Space
14:38 Take the Train
19:02 First Long Space
25:36 Fifths Twice
30:59 Second Long Space
36:19 Your Goodbye
39:49 Second Short Space
42:20 Ascending
43:15 Changes Reprise
Text excerpt by Drag City:
"[...] The record begins with a brief 'Intro' that sets the stage for the unique sound world explored throughout the remainder of its duration: over sparkling clean guitar figures, Toral stages a duet between two streams of modulated feedback, seeming less electronic than like mutant takes on a muted trumpet and an ocarina. This segues seamlessly into the stunning 'Changes', where a dense array of Space instruments solo with wild abandon over a thick carpet of slowly moving chords, growing increasingly chaotic over the course of eight minutes yet always fastened to the lush harmonic foundation. On these and many other moments on the record, Toral manages the almost miraculous feat of having his self-built electronic instruments (which in the past he had seen as 'inadequate to play any music based on the Western system ') play in tune. In an unexpected sidestep away from any of his previous work, the chord changes that underpin many of the episodes on Spectral Evolution are derived from classic jazz harmony, including takes on the archetypal Gershwin 'Rhythm changes' and Ellington- Strayhorn's 'Take the “A” Train', although slowed to such an extent that each chord becomes a kind of environment in its own right.
Threading together twelve distinct episodes into a flowing whole, "Spectral Evolution" alternates moments of airy instrumental interplay with dense sonic mass, breaking up the pieces based on chord changes with ambient 'Spaces'. At points reduced to almost a whisper, at other moments Toral's electronics wail, squelch, and squeak like David Tudor's live-electronic rainforest. Similarly, his use of the guitar encompasses an enormous dynamic and textural range, from chiming chords to expansive drones, from crystal clarity to fuzzy grit: on the beautiful 'Your Goodbye', his filtered, distorted soloing recalls Loren Connors in its emotional depth and wandering melodic sensibility. The product of three years of experimentation and recording, and synthesizing the insights of more than thirty years of musical research, "Spectral Evolution" is the quintessential album of guitar music from Rafael Toral. "
Artist: Rafael Toral
Label: Drag City
CAT No.: M14
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