ARTIST: DAMATA
TITLE: WHAT’S DAMATA
LABEL: DUGNAD REC
CAT. NO: DUG026
FORMAT: LP / 12’’
GENRE: ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC / AMBIENT
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

If you’re going to listen to one Damata album this year, why not listen to the only one? ‘What’s Damata’ is the debut album of this Guitar Trio, and is a compilation of compositions and excerpts from improvisations recorded in January 2019. The albums attitude, while handled with a lot of caution, suggests that everything is allowed in this music, which points towards the prudence of Brian Eno and Maria Kannegaard, the freedom of Supersilent and the harmonies of Aphex Twin and Olivier Messiaen. A lot of the music has a cinematic character to it, and may at times sound like a homage to Ambient Music, Drum’n’Bass and Scandinavian Jazz and Jazz-Rock, all while preserving the organic sound from the guitar trio format and the playfulness found in improvised music. This playfulness has also planted its seeds in the mixing process; a tune might suddenly accelerate or the drums might be replaced with drum machines. The titles on the album is no exception, which one can read from titles like ‘Oslo, 32. August’, ‘Her Piece’ and ‘I Say Damata, You Say Matoma’. Further, the order of the tunes is different from each format, meaning that the vinyl track order is different than the track order on streaming services. ‘What’s Damata’ is available on vinyl, CD and streaming services through the Oslo label Dugnad Rec. 


Torstein Slåen - Guitar

Karl Erik Horndalsveen - Bass
 Ola Øverby - Drums



Ulf Holand - Engineer
 Christian Engfelt - Mix

Espen Høydalsvik - Master



Jan Tore Eriksen - Photo
 Christopher Owe - Graphic