Vredessmedjan from Bigfield by Harald Björk
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 motoric 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. Over the last few years, Harald's followers have heard him get closer and closer to the core of his art with every single release. Finally, Bigfield has arrived - his first true masterpiece, one of those rare albums that will make listeners dance, weep and smile in equal parts.
Kranglan is a part of the Nacka nature reserve southeast of Stockholm. It is distinguished partly by the beavers that suddenly moved in along the lakeshores, partly by the two giant broadcast masts that every night turns the reserve into a never ending light show by spreading its beams in the sky.
When artist Harald Björk was to come up with a name for his record label it was not hard to choose.