Bleep

Drag City are re-releasing some of the seminal early releases of Portuguese guitarist Rafael Toral. In a manner similar to artists like MAL, Toral’s focus in the 1990s was to explore the full ambient potential of the electric guitar. Wave Field, his second LP, sees the instrument used to create soundscapes of hitherto-unheard tranquillity and beauty. Droning, pulsating and throbbing sounds slide in and out of these textures and are underpinned by little flashes of feedback and gorgeous sustained chords. Everyone from My Bloody Valentine and Arvo Part is invoked, but really Wave Field is in a class of its own.