Search - Rafael Toral :: Sound Mind Sound Body

Sound Mind Sound Body
Rafael Toral
Sound Mind Sound Body
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock
 
  •  Track Listings (5) - Disc #1

Rafael Toral's debut declared to the world the advent of a brilliant and original musical talent, but the world hardly took note--who was paying attention to Portuguese avant-garde guitarists in 1994? Six years after its o...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Rafael Toral
Title: Sound Mind Sound Body
Members Wishing: 2
Total Copies: 0
Label: Moikai Records
Original Release Date: 3/7/2000
Re-Release Date: 2/22/2000
Album Type: Original recording reissued
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock
Styles: IDM, Progressive, Progressive Rock
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 781484900726

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Rafael Toral's debut declared to the world the advent of a brilliant and original musical talent, but the world hardly took note--who was paying attention to Portuguese avant-garde guitarists in 1994? Six years after its original issue, this revised edition (two tracks have been replaced, another expanded) of Sound Mind Sound Body is even more time-stopping and gorgeous. Toral was inspired by John Cage, Brian Eno, and My Bloody Valentine, and he reveals their influences with his skilled manipulation of temporal extremes, gradually evolving dynamics, and processed sounds. "AER 4" and AE 1" are lush, liquid pieces that function equally well as engaging compositions and ambient soundscapes. Toral's manipulation of digital glitches on "Loopability 1" foreshadows the work of artists like Pole and Oval, and he evokes the calm of a Zen rock garden on the generously proportioned "AER 7 E," which arises out of an exquisite latticework of decaying harmonics. --Bill Meyer

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CD Reviews

Start with WAVE FIELD
Benjamin D. Collins | 10/30/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Very good ambient drones. Like Eno's ambient works but avoids the "cheese" factor that plagues alot of the stuff after "Thursday Afternoon". The only track that I didn't totally love is the solo acoustic guitar track, even though it could have it's use at a quiet volume, mingling with the sound of birds and windchimes in my backyard. I love the way the tones curl over themselves and create a beautifully dense cloud in the fourth track. His masterpiece IS definately the warm, oceanic "Wave Field" album from 1995 and it is strangely not available here. Try cdnow.com or direct from Drag City if you are so inclined. Do exactly what the liner notes in "Wave Field" say and listen to it very quietly or very loud. You can listen to it hundreds of times. On his last album, "Aeriola Frequency" on the Perdition Plastics label, he succeeds in further removing himself from the compositions to create an audio environment that you can leave on in a room for hours and it will add interesting atmosphere without doing too much. Also seek out Alvin Lucier's "I Am Sitting In A Room", which, along with Eno, Cage, and MBV is another touchstone for this work. Also look for Nuno Canavarro's playful Eno-ish masterpiece from '88 "Plux Quba", which was re-mastered by Rafael."
Night sky dark blue
Paulo Meneses | Lisbon Portugal | 10/19/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Sound Mind Sound Body is the kind of CD one can enjoy listening to out loud late at night without hearing to the neighbours complainting trough the apartment walls. It sound is quite gentle and calm and, listening to it, you can only free itself within, permit all those beams and rays of sound to gain dimension in your mind. And they do. It's compositions are all made of the same texture, they all have the same fluorescent night sky dark blue to which the plain in the cover is flying to, yet, as you listen to it, they all individualize in different ways, in different "soundscapes", with emotional tonalities that can only express themselves wholy using the instruments (mainly guitar)in an abstract way we're not used to listen often."
I don't know guys, it MIGHT BE BETTER THAN WAVEFIELD
Benjamin D. Collins | Fayetteville, GA USA | 10/24/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yeah I have wavefield and i love it. But I listen to this record so much it is ridiculous. Anybody can appreciate the beauty here, even a skeptic about drone music could put this on and take the best nap they've ever had. I listen to it when doing anything but like most drone music it is really good when sleeping. I just think the tones on this album are some of the most lush gorgeous sounds i have ever heard."