BoC - The Campfire Headphase

DJ PIMP

Well-known member
Its lovely. All filtered sunlight and tussock scratching across my ankles until I got to the top of the sand dune and the wind started whipping my face.

Perfect soundtrack to Ursula Le Guin's 'Searoad', which I'm currently relishing.

"...he went on finding Japanese glass netfloats every winter on this beach, years after anyone else had found one. Some of the floats he found had limpets growing on them. Bearded with moss and in garments green, they had floated for years on the great waves, tiny unburst bubbles, green, translucent earthlets in foam galaxies, moving away, drawing near."
 

Diggedy Derek

Stray Dog
Heard it recently, and got to say I thought it was a good deal less challenging and beguiling than their previous work, which I already wasn't a fan of.
 

DJ PIMP

Well-known member
Thats what I thought at first (only I like their stuff a lot). True, it doesn't do the enchanting eerie / bittersweet thing to the same degree... its softer than that.
 

minikomi

pu1.pu2.wav.noi
Just once i want to read a boards of canada review which

a) is extremely cold and clinically technical
b) does not compare their music to anything.

this is your chance to please me.
 

DJ PIMP

Well-known member
A further revisionist retro-future pop album of forgotten memories distilled into textured melody that will either thrill or bore the listener, depending on mood and cynicism.


Hows that?
 

minikomi

pu1.pu2.wav.noi
not a bad start... needs more discussion of synth patches & sampler techniques that avoids use of the words "warm" or "crunchy"
 

micmack

My Little Pony
I've only listened to it once, but found it boring. I was hoping they'd at least move the sound on. It sounds like Music has... will always be a weight around their necks.
 

mms

sometimes
micmack said:
I've only listened to it once, but found it boring. I was hoping they'd at least move the sound on. It sounds like Music has... will always be a weight around their necks.

they have moved it on i think - i liked it which is a first for me - except for beautiful place which i reckon is their best.
never liked the last two albums
 

bassnation

the abyss
micmack said:
I've only listened to it once, but found it boring. I was hoping they'd at least move the sound on. It sounds like Music has... will always be a weight around their necks.

some of those cloying synth noises they use on their 2nd album literally make me feel queasy - something about them that hits you in the pit of the stomach. had the same kind of feeling with some richie hawtin tracks.

its not bad music, just a tad dull - unless your stoned.
 

mms

sometimes
bassnation said:
some of those cloying synth noises they use on their 2nd album literally make me feel queasy - something about them that hits you in the pit of the stomach. had the same kind of feeling with some richie hawtin tracks.

its not bad music, just a tad dull - unless your stoned.

yeah i couldn't bare it when it was first out - found it a bit sick making and too dense - but it seems ok now
 
I think they have moved on a bit, albiet subtly. There's all the guitars now, and a lack of all the dialogue samples from previous. There's still some really gorgeous melodies in places. Admittedly, we have been seeing gradual 'diminishing returns' from BoC, but it'll still worth having I reckon. my fave track at the mo' is 'dayvan cowboy' - huge!
 

nomos

Administrator
Funny, I get that same queasy feeling from Geogaddi as well. I can barely stand to put it on. MHTRTC, on the other hand, was one of those albums that felt so perfect (a la Loveless) that I never wanted to hear another sound from them again (which of course ended up being the case with MBV). I just wanted it to stand as the beginning-and-end of BOC, for me at least. I think that's why it took me a year or two to finally get the follow up and it still feels like an unwanted sibling.
 
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minikomi

pu1.pu2.wav.noi
i loved MHTRTC too, and was GIVEN geogaddi, listened once to about half of half the songs and then never put it on again. . . i hadn't thought about it but, now that it's mentioned, queasy is exactly how i would describe the feeling.

if only i had some dj godfather mixes as a chaser.. hinthinthinthinthint ;)
 

bassnation

the abyss
minikomi said:
i loved MHTRTC too, and was GIVEN geogaddi, listened once to about half of half the songs and then never put it on again. . . i hadn't thought about it but, now that it's mentioned, queasy is exactly how i would describe the feeling.

if only i had some dj godfather mixes as a chaser.. hinthinthinthinthint ;)

ha ha! sorry mate, i keep forgetting. why don't you send me an email tonight so when i get home i'll remember :)
 

henry s

Street Fighting Man
boards of canada are nothing more than the IDM blue oyster cult...they share an acronym, and just look at those song titles: telephasic workshop = workshop of the telescopes, beware the friendly stranger = (don't fear) the reaper, color of the fire = fire of unknown origin...and so on and so forth...
 

mms

sometimes
henry s said:
boards of canada are nothing more than the IDM blue oyster cult...they share an acronym, and just look at those song titles: telephasic workshop = workshop of the telescopes, beware the friendly stranger = (don't fear) the reaper, color of the fire = fire of unknown origin...and so on and so forth...

what a strange conclusion to come to !! do you have any more explanations - these ones don't really stand up to me although i like the idea :)
 

henry s

Street Fighting Man
I wasn't really serious about that comparison, it's just that seeing "BoC" in print always makes me think of Blue Oyster Cult...who couldn't really be any further from Boards Of Canada, but some of those song titles mine the same sci-fi territory...(Blue Oyster Cult had some whack songwriters, like Roger Meltzer, who imposed a lot of spectral/astral tripe on them...which is kinda what made them interesting...that and the Patti Smith connection)...
 

Tweak Head

Well-known member
I loved and still love MHTRTC. One of my favourite records of all time. Geogaddi I like but I found it something of a disappointment. Beautiful Place .. is good but not up to the standard of MHTRTC. Listening to Headphase now for the first time. Too early for a verdict, but so far coming in somewhere between MHTRTC and Geogaddi. Initial thought is that maybe they're subtly trying to expand their appeal, get some of those Air fans on board ...
 
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