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2LP
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SKALD 034LP
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Double LP version. Skam Records present the return of Bola. After ten long years hidden away in the hills, huddled in the Bolamachine -- at long last Bola awakens, delivering an album of power, elegance, and beauty... All tracks composed and performed by Bola. "Kappafects" was co-composed and performed by Dennis Bourne. No humans were harmed during the making of "Evensong". While every care was taken, slight but unavoidable human abuse was endured in the making of "Kappafects". Art and design by Michael England.
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CD
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SKALD 034CD
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Skam Records present the return of Bola. After ten long years hidden away in the hills, huddled in the Bolamachine -- at long last Bola awakens, delivering an album of power, elegance, and beauty... All tracks composed and performed by Bola. "Kappafects" was co-composed and performed by Dennis Bourne. No humans were harmed during the making of "Evensong". While every care was taken, slight but unavoidable human abuse was endured in the making of "Kappafects". Art and design by Michael England.
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2LP
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ATFA 002LP
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2LP version with mp3 download. "Bola's music aggressively melds sheer force of spirit with a sound not often heard by ears outside the remote Upper East Region of Ghana. His bold fury stems from the kologo--a two-stringed lute with a calabash gourd resonator--and Frafra-language vocals, emitted in raspy bursts. This is some of the most distinct and dynamic music to come out of Ghana since the emergence of hiplife music in the mid-90s. Volume 7, which came out in 2008, is just one entry in a brilliant series of recordings Bola has released on CD and cassette. Although he employs a traditional instrument and the age-old mode of griot story-telling, Bola embraces elements of modern mainstream Ghanaian music--drum machines, synths, bone-shaking bass. Inspired by pioneering kologo greats like King Ayisoba, Bola has taken a dynamic instrument used by traditional healers and herbalists to sing to god in search of advice and taken it to futuristic heights."
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CD
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ATFA 002CD
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"Bola's music aggressively melds sheer force of spirit with a sound not often heard by ears outside the remote Upper East Region of Ghana. His bold fury stems from the kologo--a two-stringed lute with a calabash gourd resonator--and Frafra-language vocals, emitted in raspy bursts. This is some of the most distinct and dynamic music to come out of Ghana since the emergence of hiplife music in the mid-90s. Volume 7, which came out in 2008, is just one entry in a brilliant series of recordings Bola has released on CD and cassette. Although he employs a traditional instrument and the age-old mode of griot story-telling, Bola embraces elements of modern mainstream Ghanaian music--drum machines, synths, bone-shaking bass. Inspired by pioneering kologo greats like King Ayisoba, Bola has taken a dynamic instrument used by traditional healers and herbalists to sing to god in search of advice and taken it to futuristic heights."
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2LP
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SKALD 022LP
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Double vinyl version of the previously-released CD. The new official Bola full-length arrives after a long wait, following 2004's slick and calm Gnayse. Kroungrine is Bola's fourth proper studio full-length (or, the fifth, if you count 2006's Shapes), filling out the puzzling/thrilling stable of releases that also includes 1998's IDM classic, Soup and 2001's synthy and melodic Fyuti. With his customary play on words titles, Bola lures us into a mesmerizing world of cinematic soundscapes, lush melody and full-bodied bass. His synthesized tones sound entirely organic, accented at unexpected intervals with beats which are digital and satisfyingly crunchy, but still unobtrusive and perfectly balanced. Kroungrine is another masterful adventure from one of the UK's true electronic mavericks and testament to Bola's growth as both an artist and musician. Kroungrine refers to "crown green bowls," a variant of lawn bowls played in the north of England. The "crown" is a very slight mound in the middle of the green, making the game more difficult.
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CD
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SKALD 022CD
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The new official Bola full-length arrives after a long wait, following 2004's slick and calm Gnayse. Kroungrine is Bola's fourth proper studio full-length (or, the fifth, if you count 2006's Shapes), filling out the puzzling/thrilling stable of releases that also includes 1998's IDM classic, Soup and 2001's synthy and melodic Fyuti. What Kroungrine sounds like is anyone's guess, but it drops like chewy beef and overcooked roasties. It has a crunch and fullness that satisfies and leaves you feeling truly replenished and unable to move, except maybe for just playing again, using that just-barely reachable remote control. And by the way, Kroungrine refers to "crown green bowls," a variant of lawn bowls played in the north of England. The "crown" is a very slight mound in the middle of the green, making the game more difficult.
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CD
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SKALD 020CD
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Shapes is the fourth Bola album from Darrell Fitton following on from his now-classic, Gnayse. These tracks were first released as a triple 12" package shortly after Bola's first full length album Soup in 1999. The release was simply packaged with no artist or label credits, just a white shape on a black background on each of the labels. There were just over 300 copies released worldwide so, not surprisingly, it came and went quickly, and has become a release much sought after by the collectors. We always felt that the tracks deserved a wider audience so recently we blew the dust off the DAT tape, had the tracks remastered, added three bonus tracks for good measure, including two unreleased tracks written during the same period, and here's the result: the Shapes CD. Please note, we will not be releasing a version of this album on vinyl. This will be the only format available for this release.
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2LP
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SKALD 015LP
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Double LP version, full color gatefold sleeve. Warehouse find of a few copies of this 2004 LP version... "In the scheme of things there are a number of electronic artists now who have, by releasing quality album after quality album become modern-day classic electronic artists. Darrell Fitton (aka Bola), although he'd never admit it, is one of these alongside Autechre, Boards Of Canada, Plaid and Aphex Twin. The reason you probably know little about Bola is that he's easily the most reclusive of these, though we'd argue that his music is equal, if not better in terms of form and beauty. Bola hails from Rochdale the same northern town as Gracie Fields and Autechre who, incidentally, introduced Darrell to the Skam label (Autechre that is, not Gracie). They also collaborated on another Skam project, Gescom, but where friends Autechre perhaps reflect the industrial heritage of Rochdale in their uncompromising compositions, Bola's sound is that of the surrounding hills, moors, streams, canals. Something more gentle and thoughtful (an interesting contradiction considering his studio's in the centre of town).
Gnayse is the third Bola album following on from Soup and Fyuti. We reckon it's the most complete -- one of those perfect albums with a beginning, middle and an end, 'Soup's a bit naïve to say the least' explains Darrell of his earlier work. 'I hope people think I have gone forward, I might be going backwards'. A statement from Darrell that unintentionally sums up the timelessness of Bola's music in fact he listens to hardly any contemporary music, 'I'm a jazz head -- that's what I listen to, jazz and classical. I don't really listen to electronica at all.' Mind, we advise you not to take Darrell's advice and if you listen to any electronica listen to Bola."
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CD
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SKALD 015CD
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"In the scheme of things there are a number of electronic artists now who have, by releasing quality album after quality album become modern-day classic electronic artists. Darrell Fitton (aka Bola), although he'd never admit it, is one of these alongside Autechre, Boards Of Canada, Plaid and Aphex Twin. The reason you probably know little about Bola is that he's easily the most reclusive of these, though we'd argue that his music is equal, if not better in terms of form and beauty. Bola hails from Rochdale the same northern town as Gracie Fields and Autechre who, incidentally, introduced Darrell to the Skam label (Autechre that is, not Gracie). They also collaborated on another Skam project, Gescom, but where friends Autechre perhaps reflect the industrial heritage of Rochdale in their uncompromising compositions, Bola's sound is that of the surrounding hills, moors, streams, canals. Something more gentle and thoughtful (an interesting contradiction considering his studio's in the centre of town).
Gnayse is the third Bola album following on from Soup and Fyuti. We reckon it's the most complete -- one of those perfect albums with a beginning, middle and an end, 'Soup's a bit naïve to say the least' explains Darrell of his earlier work. 'I hope people think I have gone forward, I might be going backwards'. A statement from Darrell that unintentionally sums up the timelessness of Bola's music in fact he listens to hardly any contemporary music, 'I'm a jazz head -- that's what I listen to, jazz and classical. I don't really listen to electronica at all.' Mind, we advise you not to take Darrell's advice and if you listen to any electronica listen to Bola."
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12"
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SKA 015EP
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"A successor to Soup in chronology only, this EP concerns itself with rampant use of computer sound processing technologies, a move certain to irk most who see a Bola as a tangible link between the Artificial Intelligence movement of nearly ten years ago (which itself was concerned with soft melody-oriented analogue textures and repetitive rhythms) and the 'neo-Artificial Intelligence' movement of today (producers like Passarani, recent Plaid, just about everything American or anything that gets too overwhelmed with the possibilities of contemporary digital sound design and related 'Autechretianisms', or production related effort in general). Not sure why this music is even relevant save for the Skam connection; the first track is a midtempo hip hop thing with vocoded vocals, the second a kind of midtempo tech-electro thing with industrial influences (sounds like a 'shapes' cast-off to these ears), the third an almost sub-Plaid downtempo thing with killer bleeps and first-tracky vocal bits, and the last another 'shapesey' one, pleasant enough if not a snoozer (but I suppose that's just it then, isn't it)." -- Hrvatski. Limited stock; currently unavailable on CD...
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