Boards of Canada: Classic or Dud?

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Sometimes they sound to me like bland chillout or pasticheurs of 70s Radiophonic music; sometimes they sound too beautiful for words, the music of my dreams. I'm not sure exactly how highly I'd rate them, though. Any thoughts?

― R "P" C, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

One of my oldest friends became furious when I politely disagreed with him that "Music Has the Right to Children" was the best album of all time. He gave me a condescending fifteen minute lecture on how BoC was where "all art should be focusing at the moment." He smokes a lot of weed.

As for myself, I like MHTRTC. It's background music, but it's lovely background music all the same. My only consistent complaint with BoC is how analog and cheesy they occasionaly get. Like the last two tracks of the new ep. But at the same time "Bishop Amo Roden" redeems the whole thing. So...a "Classic", with reservations. But still not "where all art should be focusing at the moment."

― Toby, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Thoughts? Not if you're playing Boards (or Sigur Ros). Even before the needle hits the record, I fall asleep. Boooooring.

― Stevie Nixed, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Toby is, erm, on the money.

BoC are at their most interesting to me when they move away from the two formulae I mentioned at the start of this thread. "Chinook", "Rodox Video", "June 9th", "Skipping Stones, "Red Moss" are all excellent - I think BoC Maxima is their best album; too much of MHTRTC is overtly unobtrusive and quiet as you say. Also, "M9", which makes all Parr comparisons redundant.

When they go "analog and cheesy" it's curiously endearing because I really don't like what they're copying at all - I like "Iced Cooly" better than any Roger Limb track I've ever heard. There's something in that faded-brown-to-gold process, I think.

― R "P" C, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

First half of "music has the right..." : DUD Second half of "music has the right..." : minor classic, with incredible moments like ROYGBIV. Anyway, Plone does the ROYGBIV thing better than BoC I think...

― fernando, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

why are the british so uncomfortable using the phrase "on the money"?

― fred solinger, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

because they have the monarchy on their money and don't want to be disrespectful.

boards of canada are really good. i'd say classic, for distilling the one ambient track that's on every idm album and basing a career around it. that's usually the best song anyway.

― ethan, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Fernando: I would have agreed with you once about Plone, but now their scope and quality of output sounds quite limited compared to BoC. I must have had a sweeter tooth in 1999 than I do now; how else could I have waved through the likes of "Simple Song", "Marbles", "Bibi Plone" and "Be Rude To Your School" so uncritically? There's a difference between sounding childlike and sounding downright babyish, you know; Plone are at their best on the "Busy Working" / "Greek Alphabet" / "Press A Key" suite of melancholia and reclusiveness.

Fred: I'm not embarrassed with the phrase "on the money", it's just that the Pinefox has turned it into something of a cliche round here and made it hard to use without a moment's tongue in cheek.

― R "P" C, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

The more such remarks you make about Britain, Ethan, the less I believe you acknowledge that hip-hop exists here.

― R "P" C, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Fucking classic. I think the people who consider them only "background music" must have pretty narrowly prescribed ideas about what foreground music is. I could listen to some of these beats for years, just sitting intently in front of my stereo at full volume.

― Josh, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Absolute classic. I agree with the above post - it's not background music at all. I've had the album for ages now but i was listening to it with headphones on and i heard so many new things on tracks like Telephasic Workshop etc. It was like a totally new record. I like Plone too but i wouldn't compare them. Plone are very kitsch and cheesy but in an acceptably tongue-in-cheek way. I don't understand why people find the Boards cheesy though. The analogue sounds make a refreshing change to all the Autechre, V/VM and Richard Devine digital sounds going about today. BoC are the new Orb

― dog latin, Monday, 7 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

It may be just my weak grasp of English, but does the sentence "music has the right to children" mean anything ? If not, then Dud for the most annoying album title ever.

― Patrick, Tuesday, 8 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

I can't draw a parse-tree in this text box, but rest assured that the title does indeed mean something. Namely, that just as people are endowed with the universal right to procreate, so to is music. Further, the implication seems to be that Boards position themselves as the "children" of music -- i.e. the new generation.

― Sterling Clover, Tuesday, 8 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks, Sterling. It's still a really annoying title though.

― Patrick, Tuesday, 8 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

No it's a beautiful title for a classic album. Bit early though to subject them to C&D innit? Should have waited for the follow-up album (does anyone know when it's out?). Gotta agree with the "this-not- background" section, it's aural dreamstuff, regression therapy for 70s kids or religious music if you believe in the souls of machines. Okay, so it's Classic.

― Omar, Tuesday, 8 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

classic. ish.

'music has the right' took a while for me to love. much of it is classic but there are some boring parts. roygbiv is, of course, the highlight.

the best thing though is probably happy cycling on the peel session (is this on the US version of 'music has...'?)

i disagree about plone though, fernando. i think plone work when they are overly twee and fisher-price like, but too often (on the patchy album) they try and sound darker, or more ambivalent, or go the cod- morricone way, and it doesn't work.

Boc have done some beautiful songs (the last single was wonderful too), and i think its a bit of a shame that they often get categorised as 'smokers music' (which is pretty harsh criticism)

― gareth, Tuesday, 8 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Classic, beautiful etc. But forgodsake, Dog Latin, NOT the 'new Orb'. There's something so disappointing about The Orb - a sense of good ideas wasted because they couldn't be arsed. IMHO of course.

― Dr. C, Tuesday, 8 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Whether or not you buy the album as a whole there's no denying how emotionally engaging it is for 'electronica', or how evocative of times and spaces. Whereas other Hard-Drive output fails, BOC succeed in conveying the sensation of presence (being somewhere/sometime) without resorting to the specifics. We don't even know where the sentiments are taking us, to a distant past, memories, regrets; or is it a muted anxiety about the future we haven't arrived at yet. For me the originality comes from their evocation of rural spaces, but this is not soley due to their analogue set-ups or hazy samples. They really express what it's like to be out doors through a love of the countryside, it's some of the only music I know that can compliment nature and fill the sky. So if you think it's background, fine but maybe you've not sat in a field for long enough. I formed my own opinions and loved it like nothing else for months before the Hype came down and everyone started scratching their chins, so for me, a classic, though it's not fair to assess them now. Personally I doubt they have anything else to say, the other non- album material (Happy Cycling excepted) confirms this, and their music doesn't deviate from it's singular trajectory, suggesting that perhaps they spent the whole of their lives until MHTRTC defining this sound. Surely they deserve Classic status for dabbling in nostalgia without an ironic excuse

― K-reg, Tuesday, 8 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

If anyone wants more from this field - try Global Goon - Cradle of History. Edit according to taste.

― K-reg, Tuesday, 8 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Glad to see the positive responses. I think I love BoC now with only a few hesitations (some of the weaker and more background-ish tracks on MHTRTC; I think most of their finest work is actually on BoC Maxima).

I'd have agreed with you about Plone once, Gareth, but now I find those tracks *unlistenably* twee; I can't get more than a minute into "Marbles" without choking, and don't get me started on "Bibi Plone". Conversely, "Busy Working", "The Greek Alphabet" and "Top And Low Rent" sound better to me than they ever did.

K-reg hits the nail on the head, as often, I think.

― Robin Carmody, Tuesday, 8 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

yes, he does. he's right about the global goon album too

― gareth, Wednesday, 9 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

I think I should note that I've lived around fucking farm country all my life and I never make rural associations with MHTRTC. Is it a British thing?

― Josh, Wednesday, 9 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Yeah Josh, but I think it's more specifically a *vaguely nostalgic* British thing.

― Vespucci, Wednesday, 9 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

I don't know why no one has mentioned the Hi Scores EP, which I got before hearing MHTRTC, and still prefer. I find the melodies stronger, and it meanders less...plus it's got my 'everything you do is a balloon' imo a great song, not to mention seeya later with that wonderful bassline

elliot

― elliot, Saturday, 12 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

I'm surprised that they always seem to be regarded as being highly influential -- I like 'em, but they seem pretty derivative of early 90s electronica/ambient. MHTRTTC came out 1998 and didn't exactly break any new ground.

― Johnathan, Sunday, 13 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

josh. i think of boc related ruralness as in woods and stuff rather than agricultural landscape. also think of the edges of medium size towns. but very brit specific. in fact england specific (which is odd with them beig scots).

a more relevant connection for boards of canada is martin parr's boring postcards. which comes back to the nostalgia for innocence thing too

― gareth, Monday, 14 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

Wondered how long it was going to be ...

What better comparison point for a band who call a track "M9"?

― Robin Carmody, Monday, 14 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-five years ago)

three months pass...

Anyone know anywhere on the web I can view/download BOC videos/visual materials?

― Mitch Lastnamewithheld, Saturday, 8 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

At Hexagon Sun's website, which is presently in the works.

Boards of Canada are many, many light-years ahead of their time. Their product itself is forward-sounding in the present, but their craft is decades ahead. Early forms of electronic music showed us that you can use the most basic, mathematical elements of music to actually listen to what algorithms and formulae sound like. 45 years later, BoC have shown us how a logarithm or the golden mean can sound as beautiful and as aurally pleasing as they are intensely fascinating.

With BoC, electronic music is moved firmly out of the urban environment which spawned it and into a world where synthesizers coexist with hundred-year-old willow trees. Occasionally, the music dives into suburbia to pick up the soccer children, but it takes them out to the fields instead of to Hot Topic. Along the way, we get to see glimpses of genuine, hypothetical implementations of that which once embodied the suburban existance--interpersonal unity and a wide-eyed observation of the surrounding world.

I hope that what I'm saying sounds a bit emotional, because there is no other way to describe Boards of Canada. Not only are they a 'classic,' but they are a clear indication of a majour path which portions of electronic music are already beginning to undertake. People who judge them based solely on their aural aesthetic may be missing the point now, but I feel confident that, in the future, the progression of time will reveal them for what they truly are.

― matthew m., Sunday, 9 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

-----

and into a world where synthesizers coexist with hundred-year-old willow trees.

-----

love this. Also the term 'soccer children' = beautiful, somehow very BoC. Ah well, that used to be me ;)

― Omar, Sunday, 9 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Agree with alot of what you're saying Matthew. The pastoral aspect seems very undervalued in their work. Although they sound nothing like them,I'm always reminded of the Incredible String Band when I listen to them. It could be the beards of course though.

― Billy Dods, Sunday, 9 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh yes Omar. It's an evocative phrase. And how. Sounds better than "advert children" which I was playing with a while ago.

Since one of my earlier threads seems to have been resuscitated, I'll just add that I probably rate BoC higher in terms of *magic realism* than I ever have. I can sort of see where Billy's coming from with the ISB comparison, as well: if you're looking for the halfway point, Bill, I'm waiting with a C90 of "The Fourth Dimension" ...

― Robin Carmody, Sunday, 9 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

_Music Has A Right To Children_ is an album that grows in magnitude the more I hear it. It's an astounding piece of work, mixing repetition with warmth, emotions pinned firmly to to senquencer pads.

― Dan Perry, Wednesday, 12 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

one month passes...

This summer I inherited a huge batch of CDs (many of them which could be classed as electronica) from a former friend I was communicating with again during his last few months. This CD was in that batch. Despite the intriguing name, title, and graphic design, I consider it a dud, though I did give it a few listens before consigning it to the discard pile. (As I've said elsewhere though, this is a genre that I rarely like.)

― DeRayMi, Monday, 5 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

one year passes...

Reevaluate?

― Mary (Mary), Thursday, 21 August 2003 01:57 (twenty-two years ago)

is that a command?

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 21 August 2003 02:02 (twenty-two years ago)

no that would be RE-EVALUATE!!

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Thursday, 21 August 2003 02:24 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.bilderberg.org/chpsyco.jpg

The 70's BBC children's television series, The Changes, is an
indisputable influence for MHTRC. Robin Carmody is well aware. His BBC Radiophonic Workshop essay is outstanding.

IABP and Geogaddi are minor shifts in the BoC sound. The whole David Koresh theme is creepy, but I love it.

I say they're ace, hands-down, CLASSIC. They make beautiful textures, tones, and melodies with very few synths and outdated samplers and that is no simple feat!

Any ILXors ever been to the Pentland Hills area or met the BoC or any of the music70 collective?

― Cub, Thursday, 21 August 2003 04:31 (twenty-two years ago)

pentlands, yeah.

― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 21 August 2003 04:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Twoism = Good Idea
Hi Scores = Great Execution
Music Has the Right to Children = Classic
Geogaddi = A Step Back; loss of innocence?

Boards of Canada = Near Classic; depends on what they do next.

― christoff (christoff), Thursday, 21 August 2003 15:54 (twenty-two years ago)

I find the early material too simple and lacking the gauzy warped projector feel that MHTRTC has, I thought IABPBTC was very weak (only listened to it 3 times), haven't heard Geodaddi enough to comment...

re: the "british sound" as mentioned above: stirmonster (v. occasional glaswegan ILM poster) once mentioned elsewhere [heavy paraphrase ahead] that he found the prettiness of BoC's music a sharp contrast to the dreadful starkness of the north coast of scotland.

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 21 August 2003 16:14 (twenty-two years ago)

roy g biv sounds better when ine kamoze sings the hotstepper over it
*ducks*

― frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Thursday, 21 August 2003 16:36 (twenty-two years ago)

I've been to the pentlands, they're rubbish.

Not in the north of Scotland though, just next to Edinburgh. The Pale Saints recorded some of their records near there.

― Keith Watson (kmw), Thursday, 21 August 2003 16:38 (twenty-two years ago)

ah okay, my horrible paraphrase caveat stands.

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 21 August 2003 17:46 (twenty-two years ago)

look how polite everyone is upthread! i swear, it's that george bush setting the tone of ilx discussion recently.

anyhow, classic, "geogaddi" included.

― amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 21 August 2003 17:55 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

so, what about now?

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

― charltonlido (gareth), Sunday, 10 April 2005 09:10 (twenty-one years ago)

they should do 8 more remixes, and then release a remix album.

― jermaine (jnoble), Sunday, 10 April 2005 09:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm looking forward to a new one but they may have left it a bit long between releases for people to put up with yet more of their schtick (a lovely schtick as it is). They could do with going for a new but not totally new sound/angle if you see what I mean.

― dog latin (dog latin), Sunday, 10 April 2005 10:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Can't disagree charltonlido, but then again it was never the BoC's beats that did it for me, more their exquisite off-kilter melodies. They still sound strong.

― stevo (stevo), Sunday, 10 April 2005 10:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I had a brainwave that Geogaddi might sync up with the movie The Wicker Man. And it did for the first few scenes - very nicely too!

― dog latin (dog latin), Sunday, 10 April 2005 10:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Skipping 1359 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

What's that v MENA-region sounding instrument at the start of Prophecy..? wouldn't have minded a bit more of that on the album.

― nashwan, Monday, 8 June 2026 18:01 (one week ago)

Maybe Armenian duduk? As already pointed out, several hints of Dead Can Dance all over the record

― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Monday, 8 June 2026 19:12 (one week ago)

Thanks I'll investigate. (Not so) funnily enough did also go on a big Dead Can Dance dive last week.

― nashwan, Monday, 8 June 2026 20:21 (one week ago)

still pretty much a daily listen for me - "hasn't left the CD player" lol (not a lot of competition for CD player access right now)

saw some reddit speculation today that the LP works as a prequel to Tomorrow's Harvest and that tickled the part of me that loves mapping loose narrative vibes onto BoC albums - that Inferno is like an end of civilisation vibe and TH is a bleak & largely post-human vibe (eg the relative lack of vocal samples on TH)

not trying to find a definitive reading ofc but this kind of speculation is part of the vibe for me (and totally encouraged by the bros if I correctly remember some of the interviews they gave around TH)

― Cod:Shellfish (emsworth), Wednesday, 10 June 2026 00:53 (one week ago)

This is absolutely how I had both of those albums now. Inferno is the Destruction stage of civilization and Tomorrow's Harvest is the Desolation.

Someone on Reddit tried tying the other albums to the other stages but I definitely buy that thematic connection with the last two.

That discussion totally introduced me to these amazing Thomas Cole paintings that capture the stages:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Course_of_Empire_(paintings)

― octobeard, Wednesday, 10 June 2026 01:00 (one week ago)

Had->hear

Phone autocomplete is absolutely immolating my posts lately

― octobeard, Wednesday, 10 June 2026 01:02 (one week ago)

feel I should apologise for overuse of the word "vibe" but honestly not really sorry

― Cod:Shellfish (emsworth), Wednesday, 10 June 2026 01:09 (one week ago)

Was alone in the gym and his morning apart from my PT, who’s the same age as me and open to musical choices, so I stuck Inferno on. The embryo one sounded JUST like Snivilisation in that context.
― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Monday, 8 June 2026 13:13 (two days ago)

Snivilisation is a useful comparator: it would seem churlish to complain about "Father and Son" but then give "Philosophy by Numbers" a free pass.

― Tim F, Wednesday, 10 June 2026 05:16 (one week ago)

BoC blocks McCartney from #1 on the UK album charts: https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2026/06/09/paul-mccartney-blocked-from-his-first-no-1-on-one-chart/

― Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, 10 June 2026 06:18 (one week ago)

horrible AI text in that article, c'mon Forbes

― assert (matttkkkk), Wednesday, 10 June 2026 07:16 (one week ago)

That’s horrific AI bullshit

― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, 10 June 2026 09:47 (one week ago)

Enjoyed the ixi reaction vid and good for her dropping it on June 9th

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jduXn4yeM8k

― nashwan, Wednesday, 10 June 2026 10:22 (one week ago)

xp yikes, i'm going to use that as my example next time someone tries to convince me AI writing is good

― rameau in the main room (dog latin), Wednesday, 10 June 2026 11:36 (one week ago)

The other day on the trolley I overheard a child say "in 4000 years it will be 6026" which felt like encountering a BoC sample IRL

― feed me with your chips (zchyrs), Wednesday, 10 June 2026 13:34 (one week ago)

Nice

― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, 10 June 2026 13:35 (one week ago)

Enjoyed the ixi reaction vid and good for her dropping it on June 9th

I got the sense she didn't like Deep Time? just passed on in silence to the next track. this is important to me, Deep Time #1 superfan

― disco stabbing horror (lukas), Wednesday, 10 June 2026 15:19 (one week ago)

xxp did the child have all-white eyes

― disco stabbing horror (lukas), Wednesday, 10 June 2026 15:20 (one week ago)

ixi the piano lady (and Nine Inch Nails fan) has a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jduXn4yeM8k

― StanM, Wednesday, 10 June 2026 15:23 (one week ago)

oh crap - sorry. I just see a tiny icon on my phone instead of YouTube thumbnails

― StanM, Wednesday, 10 June 2026 15:24 (one week ago)

xp I think this is because she already did a full analysis of Deep Time in a separate vid when it was released as Tape 05

also lol

― feed me with your chips (zchyrs), Wednesday, 10 June 2026 15:27 (one week ago)

thanks, I'm glad I asked!

― disco stabbing horror (lukas), Wednesday, 10 June 2026 15:39 (one week ago)

She’s so awesome

― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Wednesday, 10 June 2026 16:17 (one week ago)

I was waiting for ixi's video!!! nice

― octobeard, Wednesday, 10 June 2026 18:10 (one week ago)

The Process is hitting hard: a soundtrack of societal collapse while a malfunctioning AI voice babbles nonsense, then fades into some of their prettiest music ever

― The Immortal Bird of Avon (Boring, Maryland), Thursday, 11 June 2026 17:30 (six days ago)

Yeah - I somewhat interpret that as death. And You Retreat In Time and Space which follows is the journey to the afterlife.

― octobeard, Friday, 12 June 2026 02:16 (five days ago)

It kinda opens with this beautiful shimmering music that reminds me of the end of Fantasia with Ave Maria, that's like the ascent or transition and then the gates open and off you go!

― octobeard, Friday, 12 June 2026 02:17 (five days ago)

I watch a lot of this guy's videos. Wasn't anticipating a big Inferno analysis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=659pj7itNVM

― whimsical skeedaddler (Moodles), Friday, 12 June 2026 02:46 (five days ago)

yeah those last three tracks are incredible - the way the process ends with that sad little piano reprise of Arena Americanada like a rueful lament for a society that fucked itself - then You Retreat feels almost like a statement on their own body of work? like, “here’s a soothing quintessential BoC track for you, it evokes old old kids tv and nature docos and all that, if you want or need something soothing while the world burns to a crisp and civilisation collapses then here you go” - and then Platonia somehow manages to take you somewhere strange and new, for some reason the bell in that track just sends me

― Cod:Shellfish (emsworth), Friday, 12 June 2026 03:01 (five days ago)

Moodles that vid is great but damn he only did like the first half of the album! I was excited for him to dive into Blood in the Labyrinth and Arena Americanada. Oof

― octobeard, Friday, 12 June 2026 03:41 (five days ago)

Maybe there will be a part 2

― whimsical skeedaddler (Moodles), Friday, 12 June 2026 03:45 (five days ago)

Want to listen to this - especially the BoC/Shamen/Books mashup - but subscribe to Apple Music? no https://music.apple.com/us/album/early-hours-dj-mix/6772230636

― disco stabbing horror (lukas), Monday, 15 June 2026 19:52 (two days ago)

All Reason Departs in my head all day today. Absolutely the album highlight for me.

― nashwan, Monday, 15 June 2026 19:56 (two days ago)

kind of obsessed with the guardian reviewer who complained about the drum programming on this record, perhaps one of the worst takes ever?

― Cod:Shellfish (emsworth), Monday, 15 June 2026 20:05 (two days ago)

Sure looks like it. Multiple factual errors in it too. Reminds me of some old school Pitchfork reviews that tried to be edgy and extremely panned some albums like Tool's Lateralus and NIN's The Fragile that ended up aging extremely well (both of those reviews have been scrubbed)

― octobeard, Monday, 15 June 2026 20:19 (two days ago)

Clarification: the albums aged well, the reviews most definitely did not.

― octobeard, Monday, 15 June 2026 20:20 (two days ago)

Wait they really took the reviews down? Why not leave them up and get the views from people bringing them up to dunk on them? (plus integrity etc)

― disco stabbing horror (lukas), Monday, 15 June 2026 20:47 (two days ago)

Somewhere Right Now In The Future Somebody Is Scrubbing The Reviews That Did Not Age Well

― scanner darkly, Monday, 15 June 2026 20:59 (two days ago)

The Guardian review is so wrong I wonder if the guy even listened to it

― rameau in the main room (dog latin), Monday, 15 June 2026 21:08 (two days ago)

Wait they really took the reviews down? Why not leave them up and get the views from people bringing them up to dunk on them? (plus integrity etc)

Some of those reviews were outright embarrassing. I guess when they started becoming more respected as tastemakers they scrubbed the archives. The Tool review is actually still up ! Famously rated it a 1.9. The Fragile was like 2.0 or something. They reassessed it as 8.7

I actually think both reviews are still up so maybe they unscrubbed!

― octobeard, Monday, 15 June 2026 21:28 (two days ago)

xp it came the day after the listening sessions so the they basically heard it once and reviewed off of memory. An already flawed situation

― octobeard, Monday, 15 June 2026 21:29 (two days ago)

You Retreat is the one I keep returning to - the gorgeous hymn like beginning, the guitar & bass come in like they are from a Daft Punk RAM era track with classic BoC keyboard runs over the top, ah it's magic really. also interested in the sound right at the end of the album, like an electronic scanner maybe? (tying back to the idea of scanning for other civilizations on the 1420MHz frequency at the start of the album?)

― ( X '____' )/ (zappi), Monday, 15 June 2026 21:38 (two days ago)

The drum sounds are ok but I was yearning for more interesting beats on this record after the first couple of plays.

― nashwan, Monday, 15 June 2026 21:39 (two days ago)

But would they be Boards of Canada without those slow plodding beats that have that mechanical shuffling quality? - that feels like it's integral to their sound

― Dan S, Monday, 15 June 2026 22:17 (two days ago)

imo Geogaddi was a little more interesting rhythmically

― nashwan, Monday, 15 June 2026 22:26 (two days ago)

I just listened to Geogaddi this weekend and in many ways it’s Inferno with fewer hooks

― Whatwhawhawhaehawhahwawhawwww (DJP), Monday, 15 June 2026 22:28 (two days ago)

this album strikes me as the societal collapse prequel to the post-apocalypse that f Tomorrow’s Harvest

― The Immortal Bird of Avon (Boring, Maryland), Monday, 15 June 2026 22:33 (two days ago)

feel like Inferno is not only rhythmically cool but has a dizzying amount of rhythmic and textural detail buried in the mix, little spectral drum parts like the degraded-to-the-point-of-near-imperceptibility pattern overlaid in Father and Son

― Cod:Shellfish (emsworth), Monday, 15 June 2026 23:43 (two days ago)

xp The Tomorrow's Harvest album cover features a hazy blurred view of the SF skyline from the Alameda Naval Air Station. Marcus Eoin referred to it as "an ingredient of the theme on this record" and added, "if you look again at the San Francisco skyline on the cover, it's actually a ghost of the city. You're looking straight through it."

That album does feel somewhat post-apocalyptic, but so do all of their other albums. That inscrutable enigmatic quality is what I love most about them

― Dan S, Tuesday, 16 June 2026 00:11 (yesterday)

yeah one reason this album rewards repeated plays is there’s a lot of musical and rhythmic layers in it

― The Immortal Bird of Avon (Boring, Maryland), Tuesday, 16 June 2026 00:19 (yesterday)

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