RAFAEL TORAL – Spectral Evolution – LP – M14

After years as a space-gazing electroacoustic journeyman, Portuguese soundscapist Rafael Toral tamed his arsenal of homemade noisemakers and reinvented the blissful, slow-motion drone music of his past. Toral was a key figure in that Jim-O’Rourkian mid-’90s nerve net of free improvisation, ambient, feedback, electronics, EBows, and distant beer bottles clinking in rock clubs. His shoegaze-inspired roots, electronic explorations, and deep appreciation of ’30s and ’40s jazz standards collide on Spectral Evolution. Familiar jazz harmonies are played with the slo-mo deliberation of a Morton Feldman piece, modulated feedback spirals out like a Chet Baker trumpet solo, squiggling electronics chatter like an android aviary, and Toral’s patient guitar makes graceful cameos. It’s the year’s most kinetic bliss-out.

Christopher R. Weingarten / Pitchfork