records > chasing sonic booms

Ecstatic Peace! Northampton, MA, USA E# 33 (CD, 1998).

tracks

Collaborations with Jim O'Rourke, Jane Henry, Manuel Mota, Waldo Riedl. Rafael Toral plays guitar with electronics on all tracks (except 5, live loop electronics). All tracks are improvisations with the musicians above or solo, recorded live.

Artwork by Kristin Anderson. Images by NASA.

Number 1, WREK Radio's top 30, 14 April 1988. (Atlanta, Georgia, USA)

notes from rafael toral

1. Blackbird Lunar Cabaret, Chicago, USA 14 NOV 1995

Jim O'Rourke, accordion.

This delicate set was recorded a couple of days after Jim and i met for the first time. It was the last one from a concert we played at the Lunar Cabaret in Chicago (the weather was really cold). We were surprised (at least i was) with how little and quietly we played, after all the "noise" of that evening...

2. Skyrocket c.u.b.a., Münster, Germany 30 SEP 1994

Jane Henry, violin.

While having some Dutch cheese with Jane at her place in Utrecht, i thought of inviting her to join me for a few sets after playing Wave Field in Münster. Back in New York, where i first met her, she introduced me to the best hamburger place in the world. This is part of the last tune we did, which would frequently be with a high energy level. 
 
 

3. Concorde Roulette, New York, USA 2 NOV 1995

Manuel Mota, prepared acoustic guitar, feedback.

Complex-textured guitar drones are Manuel's specialty. He's also Portuguese and we happened to be in town at the same time. My friend Morgan said we both looked like we were doing surgery to our guitars, while the room was full of gliding droney waves. Jim Staley helped us with the recording and it sounded great.

 

4. Aardvark Lunar Cabaret, Chicago, USA 14 NOV 1995

Jim O'Rourke, piano, feedbacks, keyboard, electronics.

One of these moments you feel you're on the edge of a razor blade and anything can happen in the next second. Electricity and adrenalin bursts were going on loud and fast. Jim was accurately unpredictable here. At some point i thought he was smashing the piano. It was special and intense, i was really glad to meet and play with him.

5. X-1 /Liveloop 3 WHPK Radio, Chicago, USA 15 OCT 1996

solo.

No Noise Reduction (which is Paulo Feliciano and me) did a series of live radio broadcasts called On Air. I became even more interested in live radio events after that and this piece here was my first solo broadcast. "A guitarless composition for guitar effects", as Bill Meyer called it. Maureen, Jim and Adam were listening in the vinyl room and at some point the loop began sounding like a sci-fi flame-thrower.

6. Firebee Drone MeX, Dortmund, Germany 29 SEP 1994

Waldo Riedl, accordion.

When i played Wave Field in Dortmund, i remember someone in the audience fell asleep, snoring heavily. My friends Jens and Waldo were there and Waldo ended up playing a few sets with me. His accordion doesn't always respond to what he plays, that's something we both enjoy. We also did a guitar minifan installation on that day.

7. Super Sabre The Cooler, New York, USA 10 OCT 1994

solo.

Lee Ranaldo was curating a concert series at The Cooler and invited me to play on it. I thought there was some arrangement so that i'd play with some other musicians, but two days before the concert it turned out that i was supposed to play alone and would have to improvise. Doing it solo was new to me, it was a little scary. Lee believed i could make it. The room was packed (he played first), but when i got onstage, i knew it would be okay.

reviews

Chasing Sonic Booms CD (E#33). Third CD to by issued under his own name, from this improvising guitarist out of Portugal. Previous albums have showcased a stunning array of shimmering/ambient textures, while this disc explores his more explosive, improv-oriented side. It features a series of live improvisations performed in the US with the following guests: Jim O'Rourke (accordion, piano, feedbacks, keyboard, electronics), Jane Henry (violin), Manuel Mota (prepared acoustic guitar, feedback), Waldo Riedl (accordion).

Release notes on Forced Exposure.

Rafael Toral è un chitarrista 'elettronico' portoghese ancora poco noto ma già attivo da diversi anni nei settori dell'improvvisazione più sperimentale. Apprezzato per via di due album in duo con Paulo Feliciano a nome No Noise Reduction e per i due album solisti
pubblicati finora (Sound Mind Sound Body, Ananana 1994, e Wave Field, Moneyland 1996, quest'ultimo appena ristampato su Dexter's Cigars) e incoraggiato da personaggi come John Zorn, Phill Niblock e Lee Ranaldo e Thurston Moore dei Sonic Youth, Rafael arriva alla terza uscita assembrando sette registrazioni effettuate tra il '94 e il '96 in duetto con altri musicisti dell'ambito. Due pezzi sono eseguiti insieme a Jim O'Rourke. Il
primo, Blackbird, si regge quasi interamente sulla fisarmonica suonata dal chicagoano, flebile, sottilissima e sposa perfetta delle altrettanto impalpabili e fantasmatiche presenze elettroacustiche di Toral; nel secondo, Aardvark, Jim presta la sua opera dissonante al piano e alle tastiere con un risultato non distante da quanto andava facendo in proprio un paio di anni fa. Gli altri brani sono incisi con la violinista Jane
Henry (Skyrocket, splendida dissoluzione rumorista), col chitarrista Manuel Mota (Concorde) e col fisamonicista Waldo Riedl (Firebee drone, un sibilo inquietante). Due i pezzi eseguiti da solo, X-1, per soli effetti elettronici ("Una composizione senza chitarra per effetti chitarristici", scrive impagabilmente Bill Meyer nelle note di sopertina), e Super Sabre, uno splendido esercizio tra l'Hendrix più allucinato e il Merzbow più musicale. Drones di chitarra, filtri elettronici, movimenti isolazionisti e rumoristi, disponibilità verso le forme sonore più distanti e una grande fascinazione per lo spazio e agli aerei (durante l'ascolto si ha spesso l'idea che si siano voluti replicare i diversi rumori sonici prodotti dalle navigazioni aeree). Adesso che O'Rourke sembra interessato ad altro, non è detto che Rafael non ne sappia raccogliere l'ingombrante e faticosa
'eredità'. (8)

Stefano I. Bianchi, BlowUp

A collection of solo performances and duets that the Portuguese guitarist Toral recorded from 1994 to 1996. Chasing Sonic Booms highlights both the strengths and weaknesses Toral works with. I believe toral's Wavefield album, with its shimmering drones, is his best relaese, an album where Toral digs deep into a particular form and wrings the most out of it. As a collection of improvisations this album is bound to have its weak points. Most occur when Toral and his partners  run into a dead end of squiggles and squawks that pile up over themselves. That's how it goes with the violin-guitar screech of "Skyrocket" or the careening electro-tones of "Aardvark" or "X-1." It makes things hard to get through at times. Its best points, the subtle interplay with Jim O'Rourke's accordion during "Blackbird," the guitar duet with Manuel Mota on  "Concorde," the unfolding fronds of "Firebee Drone," are all more engaging and enjoyable. It's a matter of personal taste, but this is the stuff I go to when I want to hear the best of Rafael Toral's material. As an introduction and as a summary of his approach to making music live, Chasing Sonic Booms is a good Rafael Toral primer. The best is definitely yet to come
for Toral; if this CD and the Dexter's Cigar reissue garner him a higher American profile, future recordings will hopefully be available stateside.

Bruce Adams, Your Flesh, Fall 98



This is my first exposure to Toral, and the experience is an exciting one. This CD is exactly my cup of tea, in that it consists entirely of live improvisations recorded direct to tape - totally human music. Rafael is Portuguese, and a very intriguing guitarist indeed. He specialises in exquisitely controlled feedback and electronically treated drones, producing waves and fields of sound that change often only incrementally over the duration of the pieces. Here he pits himself against accordion, violin, piano and other guitars in a varied suite of pieces recorded between Chicago and Dortmund, both solo and with collaborators. Apparently this reflects his "coming out" internationally over the last few years, from a Portuguese cocoon apparently every bit as stifling as a South Pacific one. The pieces are all named after ultra-high speed and/or experimental aircraft (perhaps reflective of the process of escape the CD records). Certainly the image of a sleek jet aircraft nicely encapsulates the sounds he dishes up, both adrenalising and occurring at a very high altitude. They range from the meditative to te intensely unsettling, and manage to steer clear of all the cliches one might have expected. Another great offering from Ecstatic Peace (thanks, Thurston!), and one we could all do with exploring in depth. Truly, Rafael Toral has the Right Stuff.

Bruce Russell, Opprobium (Australia)



In the opening, the music is subtle, airy, and yes--meditative. There ar sounds, not notes, or rather singular waves of sounds, oscillating slightly and changing their timbrel coloring. Toral is quite consistent in this minimal approach. O'Rourke's accordion blends perfectly with Toral's trasparent feedbacks. Then suddenly pandemonium breaks off --dry, angular screeching sounds followed by piercing distorted guitar, Toral is using his instrument with a rather cello mentality occupying low frequencies. It compliments Jane Henry's fierce violin playing. In the next piece "Concord", singing feedback with slight industrial noises create vast sonic expanse where waves of sound slowly pass through. Music remains in its meditative quality. Not to much going on in this space, but everything that's happening makes sense and has aemotional coherence. Toral's music in this piece is ambient and dreamy, but it's ain't no sweet.

Misha Feigin, Improvisor