TORAL, RAFAEL - Space Elements Vol. 1

"This is the third in Rafael Torals Space Program series of releases -- his long-term research project launched in 2004, through which he has unearthed an innovative approach and a complete re-thinking of how electronic music is conceived and experienced. Using custom experimental instruments, Toral performs electronic music concerned with phrasing and swing" and performing strange melodies with physicality, movement and gesture in flux. The result is something youre unlikely to have heard before, a kind of alien electronic jazz. After the acclaimed, orchestral Space and the follow-up Space Solo 1, this is the first volume of the Space Elements series, each release being focused on one kind of instrument, on small settings and including collaborations. Space Elements Vol. I features Rute Pra_ɬßa (cello), Margarida Garcia (electric double-bass), Sei Miguels amazing percussionist C_ɬ©sar Burago, and David Toop (flute), besides a short appearance by Sei Miguel himself. From Torals liner notes: "Having found that jazz is the field of musical knowledge where disciplined decision-making is most developed, this music is more informed by jazz than by any other. The Space Program emphasizes articulating silence and sound, by structuring musical discourse on experimental instruments with a simple and clear sonic identity. To my surprise, I found no historical precedents to this practice, being that it draws practically no information from electronic music history (which is grounded on different thinking patterns), and it draws very little from jazz history as well, since the instruments I use are inadequate to play any music based on the Western system. I regard this approach to jazz (meaning a system of individual decision-making from the standpoint of free-spectrum live electronics) as a new and exciting field of creative possibilities. I called it post-free jazz electronic music." Space Elements Vol. I was mastered direct to metal and pressed on clear 200 gram virgin vinyl in a limited edition of 500 copies. The jacket was designed by Helder Lu_ɬ_s at No Type and features a collage by contemporary artist Jo_ɬ£o Paulo Feliciano. CD version forthcoming on Staubgold." - Taiga"