A live recording of an exhibition by Rafael Toral in Paris, "Engine" is like watching a butterfly evolve from a cocoon to all his chromatic splendour. Scored for guitar, bass and a series of devices ranging from feedback circuits to analogue modular systems, this piece shows once and for all Rafael is not just a "guitarist"; even the hypnotic character of his music is constantly developing to leave room to new bursts of sound and intelligent ideas. Putting a pretty complex mechanism into a forward-motion state, Toral lets you think while listening, all the while maintaining that "in-your-face" approach that separates him from the extremely academic and boring mass of "six string intellectuals" we're so fed up with. And when the butterfly finally starts his long fly, you've come to the last 15 minutes of the piece: droning guitars resplendent in all their beauty, hovering around for our amazement. [touchingextremes.org]