harald bjork: bigfield

Harald Björk grew up in a Stockholm suburb surrounded by musicians and nature. His interest in recording sounds started when he, as a child, stumbled upon his father's old tape recorder, a machine that quickly became his favorite toy. Lots of mixtapes and a Nirvana-influenced punk band soon followed. As a teenager, Harald bought his first decks and started DJing hip-hop. Soon, he got in touch with the early Swedish techno scene. A creative year in Berlin resulted in releases on Deep Focus, Traum Schallplatten and Apparillo Music. After moving back to Stockholm, Harald started working on various music projects as well as touring live. At the end of 2009, his own record label KrangIan Broadcast was born, releasing the mesmerizing Kranglan EP as its first output. In 2010, Harald played at some of the biggest festivals and clubs in Sweden. The time has come for Bigfield, his debut album for Kranglan Broadcast. Harald Björk's music is a naive and emotional, melodic type of techno with a melancholy Scandinavian touch. His music can be described as a mixture between the playfulness of Aphex Twin and the poppy electronica of early Röyksopp spiced with techno beats à la Berlin and Cologne. Harald's tracks are often appreciated by followers of labels like Border Community, Kompakt and Cocoon. His records are played by DJs like James Holden, Sven Väth, Miss Kittin and Four Tet, amongst others. In his live performances, Harald uses a computer brimful of chopped-up, raw emotion and an army of machines and controllers used to build up atmospheres of innocent love and sweet frustration. Bittersweet melodic adventures escalate into explosive breakdowns, winding up into motorik beats. Listening through Bigfield, it's clear why many people consider Harald one of the finest producers of electronic music today. Every single sound is pure perfection, the colors are vivid, the arrangements to the point yet never less than enigmatic. What's more important is that he's got soul, oceans of it. Harald is a true romantic artist, constantly returning to the same themes of nostalgia, understated euphoria and sunshine over snowy landscapes. Bigfield is one of those rare albums that will make listeners dance, weep and smile in equal parts.