Boomkat

Experimental electronic type Rafael Toral started his Space series back in 2004, and since then he’s been exploring new ways to implement his signature electronic squiggles into performance and composition, reframing his arsenal of modified oscillators as jazz instruments (of a sort). ‘Space Elements III’ is possibly the closest Toral has come yet to realizing that dream – with the alien blips and hisses hitting up alongside jazz percussion and even Rhodes. In a dark room and not listening too carefully you might even mistake ‘Space Elements III’ for a jazz record, but on closer listen you can hear the distinct pulses and clamorous rhythms of a synthesizer setup. It still amazes me how Toral ekes the sounds he does from his gear, he gives a uniquely physical performance and manages to make his electronics sing and squark like an expert jazzman, and when he strikes up a uniformity with the other instruments (as with a collection of bells on ‘III.III’) it sounds like little else I’ve come across. Recommended.
Boomkat