The LP version of the CD released by Quecksilber in 2007. Limited edition of 500, mastered direct to metal and pressed on 200g virgin vinyl.
In 2004, Rafael Toral announced that he was to embark on a long term project, which was to be a multi-facetted work in progress representing his new approach to music. With the release of the first album of the program, the eponymous Space (staubgold 69 cd), he managed to disrupt the notions of avantgarde music even of those who consider themselves well-versed in this field. In the past, Toral's work had been based on the guitar and the myriad possibilities of generating sounds from it. More often than not, his music exhibited a tendency towards the concept of the drone. So many people familiar with his oeuvre were surprised to learn that none of those elements figured in Space (though he might re-introduce the guitar at a later stage of the Space Program - but that is what is called artistic license...). In the program, Toral focuses on single sound events. The sounds are generated by self-devised electronic equipment set into action by the performance of gestures, by bodily action (take a look at the video samples of the Space Study 1 on his website, where he plays glove-controlled computer sinewaves). Thus, the music is created by individual decisions in real time - just like in Jazz, as Toral emphasizes. So basically, this is electronic music played with a jazz sensibility. Toral brings a performative aspect to electronic music that it often sorely lacked. The initial album Space is like a roadmap. It is a point of departure for recordings in the Space Program. It is accompanied by three diversified series: the performance series Space Studies (which started in 2004), and the record series Space Elements and solo Series. The latter are unaccompanied real-time solo recordings on one instrument only (as opposed to Space Elements, where Toral collaborates with other musicians). The present CD is the first in that series and the second materialisation of the program. Whereas Space featured an orchestral approach to composition (and thus a diversity of elements), Space solo 1 presents the listener with music which is narrowed down almost to a point. Everything is concentrated on a single element. The key feature of this music is that it was performed with a degree of skill, a commitment and a depth of exploration that could not be found on an orchestral record like Space. On this album, Toral appears as a musician who simply plays an instrument on an individual, human and physical level. One cannot help but notice that Toral is opening up a new dimension in music - and maybe also in language. When the renowned British music magazine The Wire recently ran a large feature on Toral's new project, the last sentence read thus: It seems that mere words are far from able to convey everything a human being may wish to express. Toral's new project is just that: A new mode of expression. (label info)