If there's any non-metal band that could give any metal band a run for their money in pure perfection it would be Boards of Canada. Neither are they made of boards or are they from Canada, they are in fact a downtempo ambient and electronic duo from Scotland. They've been around since the mid-Eighties but only have 3 full lengths and a smattering of other tracks to their name but they're pretty much universally lauded for their unique, nostalgia-driven tones. In fact I've looked far and wide for artists and outfits that have a similar approach and the closest I've come is another Scottish artist called Christ. who actually collaborated with Boards of Canada for a long while (he's quite excellent too). Tycho is the only other artist I've heard that could be compared to them and he's only moderately similar. Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works... records do bear some similarity come to think of it. At any rate Boards of Canada are amazing and you should all give them your undivided attention, forever. Music Has The Right To Children and Geogaddi are regarded as the best releases from the duo but I also hold a soft spot for The Campfire Headphase which absorbed some post-rock influence into their sound. It's all great anyway, their music is varied, clever, relaxing but also contemplative. A couple of their tracks was also in the Until The Light Takes Us black metal documentary too (as well as numerous tracks featuring in the likes of Top Gear, Spaced etc. and on David Firth's awesome Salad Fingers animations). For the more illicit of you this is the ultimate come down band.

A particularly difficult band to Youtube clips from as each album traverses a number of varied electronic textures and approaches so odd tracks might seem rather disjointed. But a few favourites:

Thanks for sharing!

It's definitely some killer tunes...I love crazy elctropop. Almost reminds me of a live Beck show. Beck DJs a lot at his shows and plays crazy sound bits and loops noises. And his bassist is one of the most talented guys on the planet, he just improvs crazy funk all over the place while the drummer just nails the back-drop. MMM yummy...going to go listen to some now!

Written by Branzig on 19.03.2012 at 18:29

Thanks for sharing!

It's definitely some killer tunes...I love crazy elctropop. Almost reminds me of a live Beck show. Beck DJs a lot at his shows and plays crazy sound bits and loops noises. And his bassist is one of the most talented guys on the planet, he just improvs crazy funk all over the place while the drummer just nails the back-drop. MMM yummy...going to go listen to some now!

The idea of calling this band "pop" hurts me inside but they are indeed very popular ;]

Interesting, but a bit underwhelming IMHO. Prolly takes some time and patience for everything to properly sink in, though. Definitively a lot of potential, will be trying them out some more later.

Written by Slayer666 on 19.03.2012 at 20:12

Interesting, but a bit underwhelming IMHO. Prolly takes some time and patience for everything to properly sink in, though. Definitively a lot of potential, will be trying them out some more later.

Cool, well I know lots of people who find them flat out boring. I think I liked them from the very first song so I dunno. Could be a band you could learn to like.

Amazing group, their beats carry a heavy dose of serenity

Loved them since I first watched "Salad Fingers" years ago... the haunting "Beware the Friendly Stranger" was used and I went out and picked up Geogaddi immediately. Can't get enough of the darker electronic/ambient stuff...

News (hopefully) about the new record here.

An interesting marketing campaign, if it's even supposed to be that.
Can't see how they can mess up, seeing as how everything they've released to far was awesome.

Yeah I saw that earlier. Exciting stuff to say the least.

Written by Introspekrieg on 28.03.2012 at 21:12

Loved them since I first watched "Salad Fingers" years ago... the haunting "Beware the Friendly Stranger" was used and I went out and picked up Geogaddi immediately. Can't get enough of the darker electronic/ambient stuff...

Actually Salad Fingers / general David Firth animations were my first meeting with them. I just wish it wasn't so hard to find artists with styles exactly like this.

Well, it's official now.
Link

New BoC song. Not sure how I feel about it. It sounds a bit standard, though of decent quality.

Anyone else notice that most of their songs are right at the 5 minute mark?

It is a bit standard, but I can't say I often listen to them song by song so I won't be making assumptions based on a single song.
I usually go for one whole album or if I'm in the mood, all three of them.

Written by Boxcar Willy on 25.05.2013 at 00:35

Anyone else notice that most of their songs are right at the 5 minute mark?

Music Has the Right to Children
Geogaddi
The Campfire Headphase

Apart from a few songs, no.

While I don't think the new album is going to topple any of the other albums, it's actually satisfyingly BoC-sounding enough. I think repeated listens will be even more enjoyable. Not bad at all.

Come To Dust is a fantastic song.

There's a bunch of stand out tracks, which is quite strange considering their previous works. Anyway, I like the album very much.
I see it like this: MHTRTC>Geogaddi>The Campfire Headphase=Tomorrow's Harvest
A great addition to their already fantastic discography.

Still my favourite track off the new one.

Realised I haven't actually listened to the new album since around the time it was first released. Listening to it again now and it passes my "music to listen to when awake at 4.29 am" test. One of my favourite categories.

Boards of Canada make my life worth living. Also props for the Tycho and Aphex Twin references - both of which get some excessive attention on my Winamp "favorites" playlist. Never heard of Christ though, so thanks for the indirect suggestion.

I only remember Tomorrow's Harvest vaguely, but I remember I didn't not like it. It just didn't resonate with me the way their other releases have, but maybe that's just a reason to give it some more attention because I'm pretty sure I had the same initial reaction to their music when I first heard it: not bad, needs more attention, will possibly grow to like it.

I'm at the point now where I've needed a daily BoC dose for the past year and I don't see myself ever getting tired of their brilliance.

PS shoutout to my avatar

The new one definitely lacks the magic of their other releases, but I suppose it's a take what you can get situation as music quite like BoC is virtually non-existent. I think after a year the hype and mild disappointment has worn off and I might be able to appreciate the new one. I might revisit it on a daily basis and see what happens.

I definitely recommend Christ. though. 'Metamorphic Reproduction Miracle' is rather nice. Probably the most BoC-like thing I've heard,

I had never heard of Board Of Canada, the three tracks I listened to here are nice, indeed. Do you have a particular album to recommend?

But I can't understand why, OH why, no one mentioned Amon Tobin. Amon Tobin for Pete's sake. He makes the best electro/trip-hop/chillwave stuff. Just listen to this, I have spent entire days and nights with this on repeat.

Here's the linky-link:

Written by Guest on 03.06.2014 at 06:43

I think after a year the hype and mild disappointment has worn off and I might be able to appreciate the new one.

That pretty much did it for me. I'm able to fully appreciate it now. Not as much as their other albums since it's not as good, but still.

Tycho is good, but it comes of as really one-dimensional when compared to BoC. It's something I just take shot of every now and then to 'chillout'. Even in the context of the chillout genre it isn't anything special.

Written by Ilham on 03.06.2014 at 13:50

Thanks for that. I've seen that name dropped a few times but never bothered checking his stuff out (a matter of laziness and nothing more). That was definitely up my alley - sounds like a mix of a lot of previously mentioned artists in this thread.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 03.06.2014 at 17:10

Thanks for that. I've seen that name dropped a few times but never bothered checking his stuff out (a matter of laziness and nothing more). That was definitely up my alley - sounds like a mix of a lot of previously mentioned artists in this thread.

Yeah he's very active, I was very surprised not to see him mentioned along Aphex Twin and the others. He has almost ten full length albums out, and even I haven't listened to them all. But I can tell you that Bricolage, the one from which that track comes from, is great. It's a good way to start getting into Amon Tobin.

I listen to a lot of this kind of stuff. I'd talk about more bands, but my memory is failing me and my EHDs are still in cardboard boxes, I should really start emptying them.

10 full-lengths eh... I suppose it's not a Buckethead-level discography but it's still quite a sizable meal to digest, let alone ingest. I'm always torn with bands and artists like that. Boards of Canada seemingly can't release enough material to satisfy me, but I'm sure if they did I'd just complain about the quantity anyway.

Written by Ilham on 03.06.2014 at 13:50

I had never heard of Board Of Canada, the three tracks I listened to here are nice, indeed. Do you have a particular album to recommend?

But I can't understand why, OH why, no one mentioned Amon Tobin. Amon Tobin for Pete's sake. He makes the best electro/trip-hop/chillwave stuff. Just listen to this, I have spent entire days and nights with this on repeat.

Here's the linky-link:

Amon Tobin's very good indeed. I guess though I never found it atmospherically similar to BoC. I always found that BoC has a subtle, underlying sinisterness and peculiar nostalgia-driven tone about it which to this day is pretty unique (maybe because I discovered them through David Firth animations). I'm quite sensitive to different moods when it comes to ambient electronic stuff.

I'd say Music Has The Right To Children would be the album to first explore BoC with.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 03.06.2014 at 17:24

10 full-lengths eh... I suppose it's not a Buckethead-level discography but it's still quite a sizable meal to digest, let alone ingest. I'm always torn with bands and artists like that. Boards of Canada seemingly can't release enough material to satisfy me, but I'm sure if they did I'd just complain about the quantity anyway.

Well, 10 full lengths is not THAAAAT much in almost 20 years. He released his first in 1995. As I said, I'm a fan, and didn't listen to them all. Oh, he also did a great job on the Splinter Cell 3 soundtrack. I loved that game, I played the first, skipped the second, and came back for the third just because I knew Amon Tobin did it.

You sound like someone who likes to complain .

Written by Ilham on 03.06.2014 at 17:28
You sound like someone who likes to complain .

Only when it comes to music, I swear! Otherwise I'm a pretty chill/easygoing/laidback kind of guy.

I'll likely download the entire discog and weed out the ones I don't like in time, although it'll probably take me a year just to give it all the attention it deserves.

Written by Guest on 03.06.2014 at 17:26

Amon Tobin's very good indeed. I guess though I never found it atmospherically similar to BoC. I always found that BoC has a subtle, underlying sinisterness and peculiar nostalgia-driven tone about it which to this day is pretty unique (maybe because I discovered them through David Firth animations). I'm quite sensitive to different moods when it comes to ambient electronic stuff.

I'd say Music Has The Right To Children would be the album to first explore BoC with.

Alright, sorry I polluted your thread with talks about something not related .

Annnnd I'm illegally downloading it right meow. Arrr!

Written by Ilham on 03.06.2014 at 17:39


Alright, sorry I polluted your thread with talks about something not related .

Annnnd I'm illegally downloading it right meow. Arrr!

Yeah, you need stop doing that... contaminating me

Is it not on Grooveshark then?