Bandcamp Reviews: Rafael Toral, The Necks
Traveling Light by Rafael Toral
This artist should have been a no brainer for me in that they are explorers of sound and musical boundaries. But for some reason I ignored this artist. I don't really know why – maybe I read something somewhere and the description didn't sit well with me or I heard something that put me off somehow. The point is, I completely ignored this artist and if I came across them then I would just skip. Like I said, I don't know why this happens and it isn't isolated to Rafael Toral. Maybe this is just normal? But either way, it makes me wonder how many other great artists have I ignored and waiting to be discovered.
So why the change in focus? Two reasons: I have been trying to challenge my preconceived notions (not just in music but in all things) and Rafael Toral's entry in Quietus's The Strange World Of... series. After reading, I knew I had to purchase Sound Mind Sound Body . Upon first listen, I was blown away – this was an important ambient, experimental and drone album. It was pretty clear why it has been labeled as seminal and why many of the artists that I enjoy, have high regards for it. That purchase led to me to Constellation in Still Time — an album that is beautiful and complex in its simplicity. The kind of album that can give you goose bumps (I really should do a long form essay on Constellation in Still Time). So imagine my surprise when I got the latest update from Drag City and Rafael Toral's latest release, Traveling Light, was front and center.
If you read the description of this release, you will see that it is interpretations of Jazz standards but that description is deceptive. It is so much more than that. For a long time, I have had music in my head that I have wanted to hear. I had very limited success in creating music like this* and so my desire to hear these sounds was not satisfied until I heard this release. It was exactly what I imagined it could be. But I want to be clear, I am not saying I imagined or could have come up with Rafael Toral's approach, methods or execution of musical theory. I just knew that something like this could and should exist. My experiment with this sound (as mentioned above) is pale in comparison.
This description won't do it justice but fwiw: drone based Jazz. Where the drone is predominant and the other instruments compliment/extend oblivion. Which begs the question is this Jazz? I mean after all, these are Jazz standards. Regardless, I believe the answer is no but the music fully embodies Jazz's spirit of reinterpretation and it is quite evident that this music comes from Jazz (even if you did not know that the songs were standards).
The kind of album that demands exploration but can also quiet/calm a room or individual. Within the music and in the spaces, is deeper meaning and perhaps even solace. Just an amazing listen overall.
Essential. Will be on my top 10 for 2025
*in 2006, I did a split with Merzbow. One half was Merzbow utilizing sounds that I provided (as Tamarin) and the other half was myself utilizing sounds that Merzbow provided. Which gave me the opportunity to try and realize the sound in my head but I didn't quite make it. No matter, I was in the ballpark and I am proud of that.
Disquiet by The Necks
The Necks are a lot like The Swans. Not in sound but whether you get them or not. I find them completely unclassifiable despite the fact that their music tends to be instrumentally up front and usually won't chase off those unfamiliar (at least in the first few minutes). Their music feels endless, hypnotic and relentless (in the best way possible). I have seen them labeled as a Jazz group and as an improv group. But those labels don't fit and don't do the necks (or the respective genres) justice. If I had to label them then improv would be the best fit but if they are an improv group, then the 3 members are a singular organism reaching for the same endings and beginnings.
This release can be described no other way than epic. It is over 3 hours long and spread across 4 tracks or 3 CDs. To make things easy, I will review each "CD":
CD1
Perhaps the most hypnotic and most ambient of the 3CDs. This is quiet music that slowly mutates across an hour. The bass, drums and piano are undercut by an electronic drone that often seems to disappear (but does it?). Musical Zen.
CD2
I adore music like this, in that it is familiar but it is also intentionally falling apart. One would expect that music falling apart wouldn't be hypnotic but The Necks make it sound natural and perhaps more musical than it would be if played straight. Another hour of getting lost in sound.
CD3
This CD unlike the other two, is made up of 2 tracks. The first track is fairly straight forward for The Necks. Musically, it approaches something like post rock that is veering off center into minimal psychedelia. The last track takes a different turn and evolves Spiritual Jazz into a swirl of hallucinatory ambience of invisible voices.
Essential. Will be on my top 10 for 2025
Photography by Daniel De Los Santos, Tarmac@DEN (Frontier Terminal)