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CD
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NSPK 007CD
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"Since first coming to light on Manchester's now infamous SMAK series, Ola Bergman's production and output has continued to grow in stature with every release. This is his debut album and his first music to make it to the digital format. All of his defining tracks are included on this useful overview of Bergman's gifts. 'Panettone' layers introspective strings atop a steady disco shuffle: a hefty, unusual, building Balearic tune. 'Vulture's End' showed up near the climax of Ellen Allien's My Parade mix, and its calculated and cool electroid bounce still sounds mighty fine. The first exclusive we come to is 'No Policy,' like a prime early New Order outtake, where Hooky wasn't allowed in the studio, allowing Bernard and Steven to get busy with the machines in earnest. 'No Policy' could also be unknowingly mistaken for a classic early Newcleus outtake, there's the same epic sense of outer space, near desolation and yet finding effortless natural uplift in bass and melody. 'Pseudocorp' rocks a militant hip hop drive and detuned synths -- Boards of Canada living it up with the original Human League for some premium retro-futurist action -- fabulous stuff. More unreleased gems surface, in the shape of 'Otra Vuelta's rim shot electrofunk, once again genuinely riveting stuff. 'Drivis II' provides fitting closure to a large album, deep anthemic chords, a percussive shuffle creating an emotional, highly charged coda, from a producer we're sure you'll hear a lot more from in coming years."
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12"
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NSPK 006EP
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"Third vinyl EP release from Ola Bergman for Stockholm's New Speak imprint. Ola's always occupied a special place in our hearts, ears and playing out boxes. Across his EP releases there's a steady arc of growing assurance -- and these six latest tracks could represent his finest work. 'Satyricon' has the requisite amount of darkness -- an almost organic electro groove, if such a thing is possible, heartbreaking keyboard line, anthemic melodies and a tuff enough drum pattern make for a real electronic winner. 'Alabaster figure' welds a rocksteady rhythm to a circling refrain, and 'Forecast' just rolls like a good'un. 'Panettone' is a well titled piece, sweet like the cake, yet with enough solid texture to satisfy -- achingly lovely strings lie atop a steady disco tempo, a real building tune. 'Drivis' relishes its own bass bulges, offsetting midnight blue chords against a staggered percussive groove."
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CD
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NSPK 004CD
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"This album takes as its starting point the amazing tune 'Skåne', drawn from Andreas Tilliander's 1998 album Vena -- recorded in his Komp guise for the Komplott label, present here as the concluding track. Tilliander presides over the Scandinavian electronic scene with something approaching don status: under his own name and also as Mokira, Lowfour, Rechord and one suspects, perhaps even more guises, he has supplied some of the most forward thinking music of the last ten years. Pop influenced glitch for Mille Plateaux, cut up digital electronic hip hop for Raster Noton, deep bass heavy ambient drift for Type, each and every album occupying a distinct stance and attitude from the last. 'Skåne' is one almighty groove, skeletal synthetic drums teeter over a massive, almost hardcore influenced bassline, filled with the cabinet movements of sound system culture and the polyrhythmic qualities of techno. New Speak presents Skåne Revisited as a variant on the 'one rhythm' style album, known to bass and rhythm aficionados -- what happens here is almost entirely distinct from the linear voicings you'll find on the latest bashment releases. Instead, New Speak's hand-picked team of mixers realign the original in keeping with its inspiration, not its sound qualities." Artists: Komp (Andreas Tilliander) / Ludvig Elblaus / Milano Bass Machine / Pluxus / Standard Radio / Folie / Bill Yard / The Policy Unit / Bauri / Xela.
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