Boards of Canada: Classic or Dud?

in some ways i think much of their back catalogue is a bit tainted by the beats. as in, they seem unnecessarily leaden. they certainly date the records to a particular time period (its less apparent on geogaddi i guess). i like pretty much everything still, but the beats detract for me, or, at least, are the worst parts of most of their stuff

i can't think of many examples of tracks where the beat seems a real problem to be honest - anyone have any specific examples? it seems like a bit of a shot in the dark otherwise. i can think of many examples where the heaviness of beat compliments what else is going on - 'Whitewater' from 'Boc Maxima' for example - but i can see what is meant by the suggestion that more could've been done with the beats - they just come in and seem to trundle from A to B without varying much of the time, but somehow they manage to seem quite deft rather than leaden (Orange Romeda! Amo Bishop Roden!). it may just be the tempo of most BOC songs that makes the beats seem leaden rather than the sounds used to construct them (muffled, dirty, retro - to match the overall sound).

i think the drums on something like Mort Garson's Plantasia would have been a better approach

i nearly always find the beats a welcome addition, and BOC always seem to have valued electronic rhythm to a fair extent and they tend to prefer it heavy. it's usually one of the last things to come in, which can give the impression the track has been built to support the beat rather than the other way round, no? which is an understandable criticism if true, only i don't hear it as a big problem myself - i don't think it would make a significant difference to how i hear BOC. 'ROYGBIV' seems as good an example as any of the beat being useful, if only for the bit where the bassdrum drops out again just for 4 bars - that's possibly the best bit, but it couldn't work without the beat beforehand.

how about Autechre or Biopshere? do their beats sound better because they're complex or 'modern', or 'lighter'?

what are the drums on 'Plantasia' like (hint)?

It’s pretty coincidental; I listened to Music again last night and it didn’t work for me as well as it usually does. (I believe) I too felt the beats slightly lacking. But hey, some of my favourite moments are things happening to the beats. There is a wonderful bit in ‘Kid For Today’ where the heavier beat enters and plays two snares in a row (so that one is on the spot of a bass drum). And the lo-fi drums at the end of ‘Aquarius’. And the fantastic beat fucking in ‘Pete Standing Alone’. And the sonically beautiful drums in ‘Roygbiv’, ‘Turquoise Hexagon Sun’, ‘Last Walk Around Mirror Lake’... yeah, they’re not so bad after all.

as for BoC, they're like one of those artist everyone Loves and is influenced by, but justifiably. I Love Boards Of Canada, and I don't care what anyone thinks.

But I'll say that some of their tunes stick in the head alarmingly well for 'ambient' music. Is there a reason I haven't gone and re-investigated them since? Yes, it's that I actually find their music a little creepy and disturbing.

Yeah, this is one of the greatest things ever.

anyone heard this Cardamar remix of ROYGBIV?

nopeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

i think this is one of those bands that more than others, sometimes they are just EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEED

I need a new album from these guys

Classic. I'm pretty sure they're aware at this point how they keep rehashing their sound in every album since MHTRTC, and will probably pull something out of the park... being a little optimistic, but BoC just doesn't strike me as a band that doesn't care about it's legacy.

Have you heard Walls on Kompakt? They don't sound the same but have a comparable aesthetic.

And, well, I like both of them.

They've got a ST album coming out soon and an amazing single out already called Burned Sienna.

http://www.myspace.com/wallsjams

Anyone know anything about "Chameleon"? Just popped up on iTunes, with the copyright listed as BoC's own Music70, not Warp...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIadksm7wjE

Uploaded: October 13, 2009

boardsofcanada
3 hours ago
diet coke green screen failure

youtube user boardsofcanada = http://www.youtube.com/user/boardsofcanada

Apparently, the last time a new discography entry was reserved (that black square next to their last EP) a new album/EP was announced within the week -> ?

http://www.boardsofcanada.com/discography.html

Hoping.

that def feels like the sorta thing they'd do, provided their history.

as any medieval monk worth his salt will tell you, the secret to a good forgery is mixing in actual authentic stuff with the fakes

Turns out this was a fake after all. At least the people responsible didn’t drag it out too long

yep

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiXfSh1tYP0

I wish they'd just work with Warp and drop all this old material already and put these bootlegs and BS forgeries to rest finally.

gy!be did it with "all lights..." and it seems to have worked out pretty quietly, which I always understood to be what they wanted, so you never know, maybe one day.