There’s something in the air. Flooba is back with “Diario di Aria,” a wonderful mix of ambient and other electronic sounds, plus field recordings, all blended into an interesting soundscape. According to the liner notes, “Air acts as the central thread running through the work.” I can attest that you can really feel that “invisible presence” though these tracks.
For those interested, I wrote about Flooba (an artist name used by Adriano Sorbello) several years ago when I was in the habit of tracking down independent netlabels, before Bandcamp became so predominant. [You can see it at this link.] That album (“Crepuscular Borders”) included the use of many similar elements found on “Diario di Aria.” I’m happy to report his latest is in a similar high-quality vein as his earlier work.
The first three tracks roll into each other pretty seamlessly and feel like chapters in an event. “Tempesta Perfetta” starts us off with some uplifting ambient sounds, although there are also moments of unease. There are also field recordings in the mix of a storm brewing and/or the ocean getting riled up. By the end it feels like something big is coming. “Refuge Illusion” becomes a little more unsettled, but also includes some pleasant little melodies down in the mix and a thread of what I would describe as (electronic?) seagull sounds throughout. The last part of our triptych is “Catabatico di Aprile.” It starts with what sounds like a boatyard as a storm is moving in, with creaking vessels and the movement of loose gear. While the field recordings are more forward on this track, slowly the drones and other sounds move in, although mostly more as background or embellishment.
The last song, “Catastrofe con vista,” is separate from the earlier trio. It starts with a subtle tone that could be an alarm and feels like we’ve reached the point of assessing damage, or determining if we came out of things somewhat unscathed. Like on the first two tracks, the sounds are a mix of moments of both concern and hope.
“Diario di Aria” is available on the a/grounds label out of Bologna, Italy.