Damian Dalla Torre - Happy Floating (Squama)

The Slow Music Movement Blog

Mostly we put our daily recommendations here for the blog readers among you, although occasionally we go longform.
Reading about music is a bit like looking at pictures of food - not nearly half as much fun as getting involved, so we scribble a brief intro to hopefully whet your appetite but you're better off just hitting play. Not very "slow" I know but there's a lot of music to check these days & hopefully you'll find the recommendations a handy filter.
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3/3/2022 0 Comments

Damian Dalla Torre - Happy Floating (Squama)

What Your Ears Say & The Cover Looks Like

What We Say

Quite a debut LP from Damian Dalla Torre for Squama Recordings as he leads 19 other musicians with his tenor sax & subtle electronic conducting to an orchestral nujazz meets cultured cinematic chillout hot spring & leaves a welcome sign post so we can all now soak & luxuriate in its therapeutic waters.

What The Release Notes Say

Giving form to a broad personal project of deep contemplation and quiet emotionality, Happy Floating marks the debut album of South Tyrol-born, Leipzig-based musician Damian Dalla Torre on Munich imprint Squama Recordings.
Conceived from sketches dating back several years and completed during 2020's moment of collective reflection, Happy Floating is a stunning result of genre collapsing and unexpected metamorphoses. A highly collaborative work, the record features contributions by nineteen musicians, including Ruth Goller, Alex Binder, Heidi Bayer, Theresia Philipp, Antonia Hausmann, Jan Roth, among others.
Released in February 2022, this rich collage of field recordings, brass instruments, synth-strings and delicate sampling techniques oscillates between gentle familiarity and dreamlike distortions, inspiring a warmth that extends across time. Visually, this is underscored by Maximilian Schachtner’s uncanny cover artwork pairing a cotton-candied sunset with playful hand-drawn clouds next to an image of rustling plastic texture, applying the record’s theme of ambivalence to the vinyl sleeve.
Throughout the record, Damian Dalla Torre seeks to explore a state of Happy Floating: in this pursuit, he remains self-aware of the fickle nature of carelessness, powerfully concentrating it in sonic form.
Of the work, he says, "it's ambivalent–you are melancholic, but at the same time blatantly hopeful." Damian Dalla Torre's work encapsulates the collective feeling of a generation in challenging times, where a careful sense of optimism persists against the backdrop of an increasingly murky world outside one’s own four walls. This is reflected in the tonal shifts of Happy Floating: from the computerised yearning and levitating flutes on "Bolzano" to the shapeshifting "heyheyhey" and blissful organ chords erupting onto brass stabs on "Where To Go"; to the intriguing juxtaposition of analogue guitar plucks and piano experimentations against the call and response of the Casio synth on "8:45," and the unsettling drone of the album's closer, "SO," disrupting the expectation of settling into the ease of resolution.
Buoyancy rises through the soaring melodies of the album’s title track “Alles Neu” like the symbolic phoenix from the ashes; a metaphor for the opportunities that arise with new beginnings. Euphoria may seem elusive, but in the determination to make peace with a world in flux, Damian Dalla Torre offers a compelling glimpse into an essential new artistic voice.

Words by Caroline Whiteley
CREDITS
7.23:
Damian Dalla Torre - clarinet, tenor saxophone, organ, synth
Antonia Hausmann - trombone
Bertram Burkert - acoustic guitar
Volker Heuken - vibraphone, marimba
Christian Dähne - electric bass
Jan Roth - drums

Alles Neu:
Lukas Diller - alto Saxophone
Damian Dalla Torre - flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone, organ, synth, electric guitar
Antonia Hausmann - trombone
Markus Rom - electric guitar, tape loops
Volker Heuken - vibraphone, marimba
Alex Binder - electric bass
Jan Roth - drums

heyheyhey:
Heidi Bayer - trumpet
Theresia Philipp - alto saxophone
Antonia Hausmann - trombone
Damian Dalla Torre - organ, synth, electric guitar
Markus Rom - electric guitar, tape loops
Beate Wiesinger - double bass

Bolzano:
Damian Dalla Torre - flute, synth, organ
Heidi Bayer - trumpet
Theresia Philipp - alto saxophone
Antonia Hausmann - trombone
Markus Rom - electric guitar, tape loops, beat
Ruth Goller - electric bass

Where To Go:
Damian Dalla Torre - flute, organ, synth
Heidi Bayer - trumpet
Theresia Philipp - alto saxophone
Antonia Hausmann - trombone
Markus Rom - electric guitar, tape loops
Arno Krokenberger - pipe organ
Lorenz Heigenhuber - double bass

8:45:
Damian Dalla Torre - clarinet, tenor saxophone, synth, electric guitar
Antonia Hausmann - trombone
Lukas Diller - baritone saxophone
Bertram Burkert - acoustic guitar
Markus Rom - electric guitar, tape loops
Volker Heuken - vibraphone
Johannes Bigge - piano
Beate Wiesinger - double bass
Lorenz Heigenhuber - double bass
Jan Roth - drums

Plastic Air:
Max Kraft - flügelhorn
Damian Dalla Torre - harmonium, synth
Johannes Bigge - piano
Lorenz Heigenhuber - double bass
Jan Roth - drums

SO:
Theresia Philipp - alto saxophone
Lukas Diller - baritone saxophone
Damian Dalla Torre - synth
Jonas Timm - mellotron
Ruth Goller - electric bass
Philipp Scholz - drums

Composed & Produced by Damian Dalla Torre
Mixed by André Karius at Nada SoundDesign
Mastered by Martin Ruch at Control Room Berlin
Photography by Damian Dalla Torre
Illustration by Moriz Oberberger
Design by Maximilian Schachtner at Daily Dialogue

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