Bola

631,200 plays (62,593 listeners)

idm, electronic, ambient, electronica, downtempo… see all

Manchester’s Bola is Darrell Fitton, whose 1995 debut 12-inch for Skam under that name helped shoot the now-collectible label to underground notoriety. Although the first of Fitton’s released tracks appeared on the Warp label’s Artificial Intelligence II compilation in 1995 and displayed the same style of chrome-dipped melodic techno adhered to by many Warp artists, his subsequent Bola material focused in on a heartier, less accessible aesthetic.

His self-titled Skam EP combined vaguely funk-fueled rhythms with harsh, austere synth textures and almost industrial-grade distortion. With the exception of compilation tracks for Silent Records’ U.S.-released Skampilation, the Skam-V/Vm collaboration 0161, and the mostly obscure Mask series (a joint venture between Skam and Munich’s Musik aus Strom), three years separated Fitton’s debut from his next proper release; “Aguilla” was an extremely limited-run three-track seven-inch released by Skam in 1998. Two months following appeared Soup, Fitton’s long-awaited LP debut. An impressive synthesis of the machine-beat ambiance of post-techno with warm, wistful analog soul, Soup sounded familiar more than dated, and served as an impressive summing up of the formal qualities of dance music utterly uninterested in the dance floor.

In addition to his Bola releases, Fitton loaned his production and writing skills (“Five” & Sciew Spoc originally being Bola tracks) to the first 12-inch by Warp artists Autechre under their Gescom guise, and is rumored to serve as Skam’s in-house engineer.

Soup
Bola
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Fyuti
Bola
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Gnayse
Bola
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Mauver
Bola
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matthewgregory wrote:
last week

Magnasushi...

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boredofcanada wrote:
last week

Glink is the absolute ambient bliss.

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digitaltrash wrote:
last week

your home.web.site. lovely. ... thanks for your music. simply beautiful.

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ArtificialOwl wrote:
last month

Like :)

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Bolamachine wrote:
last month

http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/BOLA#/pages/BOLA/37634643464 I'll be posting some unreleased versions/stuff on the Facebook page for people to get / check out...

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alightedlamp wrote:
last month

wtfyes.

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Atmospheric7T7 wrote:
August 2008

Glink is a powerful wave of atmospherics and soft meanderings.... a truly stunning opener from Soup!!

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DayvanMollusk wrote:
August 2008

Gnayse is one of my all time fave albums! Absolulty emotional

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idrioema wrote:
August 2008

Greetings ! :)

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jazzy_ass wrote:
August 2008

probably not

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tilen wrote:
August 2008

it hardly gets any better than this

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Om_ega wrote:
August 2008

:)

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Bolamachine wrote:
July 2008

http://www.facebook.com/pages/BOLA/37634643464 Blipsalt was on the longer double CD edition

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Shackbu wrote:
July 2008

I see, it looks like 'Blipsalt' was only on the cassette and vinyl. I've only got the CD which is why I couldn't find it. I'll have to try and find it and 'Metalurge'. Thanks for the answer.

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Bolamachine wrote:
July 2008

"Blipsalt"... and on the ltd edition Vinyl version "Blipsalt" and "Metalurge"

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Shackbu wrote:
July 2008

which track on aiII did he do?

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p76j108 wrote:
July 2008

excellent,looking forward to those 30 albums.

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joyeboy wrote:
July 2008

awesome!!!

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Bolamachine wrote:
July 2008

Rumours of my musical demise are best described as premature! I was hoping to release at least 30 albums next year!

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jazzy_ass wrote:
June 2008

bola IS idm

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Recent Activity

TechForze added Bola to TechForze’s library. 2 hours ago
le-chiffre tagged Bola with ‘ambient’. 3 hours ago
AuTechRec added Bola to AuTechRec’s library. 8 hours ago
stillfunkychild tagged Bola with ‘idm’. yesterday afternoon
T_H_S, lotsanoiz, volki and 2 other people added Bola to their libraries. yesterday afternoon
exe1ent tagged Bola with ‘downtempo’, ‘idm’ and ‘ambient’. Wednesday evening
tiit19 tagged Bola with ‘electronic’. Wednesday evening
Monsunchen, s_img, xacedead and 33 other people added Bola to their libraries. Wednesday evening
Furbolg tagged Bola with ‘electronic’. last week
infi90 tagged Bola with ‘downtempo’. August 2008