Bola ‎– Soup

I honestly would've paid my 25 bucks and more to get my hands on the first and last tracks. If albums were priced based on quality like food is, then this album would cost 200 dollars!

A timeless release by Bola. SOUP, his first album, immerses the listener into an aquatic world. "Glink," the opener, is like sunlight filtering through the waves, while "Versivo" plumbs further into the depths, though occasional glimmers still emerge. "W.I.K." swims in warm tones, even as the rhythm anchors it down. The trio of Forcasas each go in a different direction, from the vaporous beauty of "Forcasa 1" to the ambient industrialism of "Forcasa 2" and into the electro-tinged elegance of "Forcasa 3." Fitton's careful use of sound, like the fragments of a voice and the mournful woodwinds on "Pendulus," envelop the album with a certain fullness, while his careful attention to detail and mood help sustain the even the longer tracks: the robotic transformations of "Amnion" or the slow-burning lasers of "Whoblo." But the jewel in the crown is surely "Aguilla," a melancholy immersion in sound. An album destined to be a classic.

Great album - calming..great sound..it deserves the fantastic rating..

Electronic music doesn't get much better than this. What we have here is soulful, playful, adequately alien ambient techno with attention to detail. No filler tracks in sight, hardly even a bad minute here. The perfectionism even extends to the beautiful remastered cover design by the Skam Records imagician Michael England, which suits the "bottom of the ocean" feel of the music inside.

It's really hard (for me) to put into words what makes this album so wondrous. Perhaps the best way to describe it is as the best ambient music for those who want to get out of the room/house and take a long walk/drive. It's ambient in that utilizes textures and many layers of sound that appear and disappear at will. But the music never makes you still. It's always moving and in flux: never too slow but never too fast either. Plus the texture spectrum is quite broad: never settling on just conveying warmth or coolness. Nearly every sensation is evoked when listening to the album from start to finish. And while you can pick your favourite point (mine is still the opener "Glink"), you can enjoy every moment of the album. And I do firmly believe it is an album that needs to be appreciated as a whole as oppose to mere separate tracks. All in all, this is an excellent album of sound, atmosphere ... and pure wonder.

Bola's first, and best album is an absolute masterpiece. The music on these two discs is shimmering with beauty. The first track "Glink" is one of the best opening tracks I've ever heard. A steady crescendo that builds layer upon layer until after about seven minutes, the listener reaches the eventual end. The next track, Versivo kicks things off with a punch, and can really catch the listener off guard. Now this is a good beat. The B-side is one three part epic entitled "Forcasa." Upon initial listen, it might be hard to see the connections between the songs, but eventually, you will notice the similarities in theme. To be quite honest, "Forcasa 1-3" is probably one of the best moments found on a single side of a record. The second half of the album is on par with the glory of the first. "Aguilla" is a standout track, with some sweet keyboards and some vocal samples. The album is a benchmark in electronic music. It is as good as everyone says. If you have any interest in electronic music, whether you're into complex beats, or ambient melodies, Soup has it all.

I remember the first time I heard this album. Back in 1999 I was recommended this album by a friend, who lent me his copy so I could hear it. It sat for almost a week next to my bed, and was always on my "to play" list but I never got round to it. Anyway, one morning I woke up in the early hours and decided to give it a listen. In no small way, it completely changed everything, and I was awestruck with just how beautiful it was. What really struck me was the consistancy in production quality, from the terrific opener that is "Glink", the superb melodies of the "Forcassa" trilogy, right up to the staggering beautiful "Aguila" . Needless to say, I purchased my own copy the next day. Of course, there are many other similarly essential albums out there, but this one will always hold a special place in my heart. Thank you Bolaman!

This album was described perfectly to me recently with one word: Celestial. I'm not religious, but if ever there was an appropriate soundtrack for the ascent to "heaven" then this is it.

As fond as I am of "nasty", when "nice" can be as good as this then I'm not going to complain. Mr Fitton has excelled himself on this album, creating some of the most sublime, dreamy soundscapes and journeys I've ever heard. His ability to create atmospheres that tug on the heartstrings and bring a tear to the eye while simultaneously making one feel distinctly weird is displayed here at it's fullest.

Strange and beautiful ambient washes ride effortlessly over odd, meandering bass sequences and subtle, deep and slow rhythms. I think it's important to play this on a decent system so you can really hear and feel the interactions between the bottom end and the sounds that envelop it. It's hard not to feel like you're floating while this album is playing.

As many times as I listen to it, this album will always remind me of the first time I heard it. Bola had cancelled his appearance at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival at Camber Sands, UK in April 2003. Instead of Bola being replaced by another act, his music was played in absentia. This was the third day of the festival and I was very close to exceeding my physical and mental limits of endurance. Whenever I hear "Soup", I can see the room around me, as viewed from the floor, feel the carpet underneath me, feel the madness returning. The day after I got back from ATP, my mental state was such that only listening to Bola albums could make me feel normal, where normal had become the seemingly endless magic of ATP.

SKAM has done it again. You thought they couldn’t follow up the seminal release of Boards Of Canada’s Music Has The Right To Children but you were wrong. Bola comes from a three-year hiatus to bring you one of the most beautiful ambient albums of all time. Very nostalgic because of the nature of the production it sounds as if it could have been recorded circa 1995. The album is very refreshing and smoothly balanced. Characterized by light beats and meandering synths lines, and the occasional heavly beat driven song, a la W.I.K. Another of one Fitton’s attributes is to make an extremely layered song but intertwine sound so effectively and make his complex sound that no one can match. Highlights are Versivo, Forcasa 1 and Aguilla, but the whole album is nothing short of faultless. But what can you expect from the man that assisted with engineering and production of Autechre’s Incunabula, a key originator of Gescom and gave SKAM the push start it needed to make it the label it is now. Pick up this album as soon as possible. Now that it has been re-pressed its widely available and includes beautiful artwork by Michael England.

Amazing! I bought this last summer amidst a lot of excitement about this supposedly legendary re-release... (I didn't know much about Skam at the time) I'm very very glad I did. This is by far the best thing I've bought in the last year, Soup is beautiful. Every song is amazing, particularly the three 'Forcasa's, which are each stunning in their own way. Whoblo is an entrancing 13-minute epic that ends a masterpiece perfectly. Highly recommended to anyone into anything from Skam, Warp, etc.