Rafael Toral

Profile:
Rafael Toral, born in Lisbon, 1967 has been intrigued by the potential of sound and the functions of music since he was a teenager. As a composer and performer, he has been deeply involved with Rock, Ambient, Contemporary, Electronic and Free Jazz music in different periods of his life.
Working with electric guitar and electronics, in the 1990’s he created a blend of Ambient and Rock and recorded acclaimed albums like Wave Field or Violence of Discovery and Calm of Acceptance. By the early 2000’s he arrived to a sense of accomplishment about his previous 15 years of work, also realizing the world needed a different creative response. He decided to start something new, as radically different from the previous phase as possible. In a transition to vulnerable action, he launched the alien-sounding Space Program in 2004, using experimental electronic instruments. It’s been an ambitious long-term project exploring an approach to electronic music based on silence, through decision making and physical gesture, in a way inspired by post-free Jazz. The resulting music, “melodic without notes, rhythmic with no beat, familiar but strange, meticulous but radically free – riddled with paradox but full of clarity and space”, has been described as “a brand of electronic music far more visceral and emotive than that of his cerebral peers”.
Since 2003 he’s been thinking and practicing an understanding of silence as “space”, with a clear function in music creation but also as a metaphor for social relationships and a statement on information and sensory overload.
Performing solo or in numerous collaborations (including Jim O’Rourke, Jim Baker, Sei Miguel, Chris Corsano, John Edwards, Evan Parker, Tatsuya Nakatani, Manuel Mota, Alvin Lucier, Phill Niblock, Christian Marclay, Sonic Youth, Rhys Chatham, Lee Ranaldo, C Spencer Yeh, and many others), he has been touring throughout Europe, Canada, USA, Mexico, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.
Also active in visual and spatial arts, Toral has produced video and several installations from 1994 to 2003.
In 2014 he relocated to the mountains in central Portugal for a more sustainable life. In 2017, having concluded the Space Program’s recording series, Toral is entering a wider field with multiple directions and possibilities. From his mountain studio, he also offers mastering services.
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Artist

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Albums

DDD001 Sound Mind Sound Body — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Sound Mind Sound Body (Album) AnAnAnA DDD001 Portugal 1994 Sell This Version
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mr$ 0595 Wave Field — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Wave Field (Album) Moneyland Records mr$ 0595 Portugal 1995 Sell This Version
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E# 33 Chasing Sonic Booms — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Chasing Sonic Booms(CD, Album) Ecstatic Peace! E# 33 US 1996 Sell This Version
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PER 008 Aeriola Frequency — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Aeriola Frequency (Album) Perdition Plastics PER 008 US 1998 Sell This Version
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TO:48 Violence Of Discovery And Calm Of Acceptance — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Violence Of Discovery And Calm Of Acceptance (Album) Staubgold TO:48 UK 2001 Sell This Version
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tom 027 Electric Babyland / Lullabies — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Electric Babyland / Lullabies(CD, Album) Tomlab tom 027 Germany 2002 Sell This Version
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Sm 62 Harmonic Series — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Harmonic Series(LP, S/Sided, Etch, Ltd, Blu) Table Of The Elements Sm 62 US 2003 Sell This Version
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TO:CDR4 Engine - Live In Paris — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Engine - Live In Paris(CD, MiniAlbum) Touch TO:CDR4 UK 2003 Sell This Version
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vector 1, HEADZ 24 Harmonic Series 2 — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Harmonic Series 2(CD, Album) Vectors, Headz vector 1, HEADZ 24 Japan 2004 Sell This Version
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STAUBGOLD 69 Space — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Space (Album) Staubgold STAUBGOLD 69 Germany 2006 Sell This Version
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Touch Radio 19 Live At Vila Nova De Foz Côa, May 29th 1999 — Rafael Toral Fennesz / Rehberg* / Toral* & Feliciano* Fennesz / Rehberg* / Toral* & Feliciano* - Live At Vila Nova De Foz Côa, May 29th 1999(File, MP3, 96 ) Touch Touch Radio 19 UK 2006
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quecksilber 11 Space Solo 1 — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Space Solo 1 (Album) Quecksilber quecksilber 11 Germany 2007 Sell This Version
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TAIGA 3 Space Elements Vol. I — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Space Elements Vol. I (Album) Staubgold TAIGA 3 US 2008 Sell This Version
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none Liveloop — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Liveloop(5xFile, MP3, 320) Noise Precision Library none Portugal 2009
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none AER Series — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral AER Series(5xFile, MP3, 320) Noise Precision Library none Portugal 2009
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none Mills Session — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Mills Session(2xFile, MP3, 320) Noise Precision Library none Portugal 2009
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TAIGA 10 Space Elements Vol. II — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Space Elements Vol. II (Album) Staubgold TAIGA 10 US 2010 Sell This Version
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none Live In Bilbao — Rafael Toral Lee Ranaldo | Rafael Toral Lee Ranaldo | Rafael Toral - Live In Bilbao(File, MP3, 320) Noise Precision Library none Portugal 2010
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TAIGA 16 Space Elements Vol. III — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Space Elements Vol. III (Album) Staubgold TAIGA 16 US 2011 Sell This Version
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CF248CD Live In Minneapolis — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral, Davu Seru Rafael Toral, Davu Seru - Live In Minneapolis(CD, Album) Clean Feed CF248CD Portugal 2012 Sell This Version
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none Love — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Love(5xFile, MP3, 320) Noise Precision Library none Portugal 2013
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none Saturn — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Saturn (Album) Not On Label (Rafael Toral Self-released) none Portugal 2017 Sell This Version
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NPL 020 Moon Field — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Moon Field (Album) Room40 NPL 020 Portugal 2017 Sell This Version
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staubgold 147 Space Solo 2 — Rafael Toral Rafael Toral Space Solo 2 (Album) Staubgold staubgold 147 Germany 2017 Sell This Version
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none Live In Boston — Rafael Toral Chris Corsano | Rafael Toral Chris Corsano | Rafael Toral - Live In Boston(File, MP3, 320) Noise Precision Library none Portugal 2017