Washed Out

Soulthriller · Post by **Soulthriller** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:29 am

esselfortium wrote:I love the sound he was able to get out of processed samples, but I hate that he didn't actually write his best songs.

Being that the results work well, I wouldn't be as bothered by his use of barely-modified samples for entire songs if it weren't for the heaps of initial press calling him a "brilliant multi-instrumentalist", and his faux-naive statements that his music coincidentally "just started to have that same kind of laid-back 80s-throwback feel", neglecting to mention the now-obvious reason it sounded so much like something out of the 80s.

He turned Gary's song into something much more spectacular and what is music but modification of musical frequencies and harmonics that have existed since the beginning of the universe, as long as sound has existed. We just modify these unseen vibrations into various configurations to produce something that brings about pleasure within our bodies and minds.

esselfortium · Post by **esselfortium** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 7:25 am

Soulthriller wrote:
esselfortium wrote:I love the sound he was able to get out of processed samples, but I hate that he didn't actually write his best songs.

Being that the results work well, I wouldn't be as bothered by his use of barely-modified samples for entire songs if it weren't for the heaps of initial press calling him a "brilliant multi-instrumentalist", and his faux-naive statements that his music coincidentally "just started to have that same kind of laid-back 80s-throwback feel", neglecting to mention the now-obvious reason it sounded so much like something out of the 80s.
He turned Gary's song into something much more spectacular and what is music but modification of musical frequencies and harmonics that have existed since the beginning of the universe, as long as sound has existed. We just modify these unseen vibrations into various configurations to produce something that brings about pleasure within our bodies and minds.

Call it whatever you want, he still didn't write a damn note. He didn't even rearrange any of the existing notes. Washed Out is about as responsible for writing "Feel It All Around" as you are for writing "Stars and Stripes Forever".

It's a guy singing karaoke to his own tune over a Gary Low song. It just happens to sound good.

Saying it's no different from actually writing a song is insulting to musicians everywhere.

Elephant Face · Post by **Elephant Face** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 7:50 am

I saw him open for Beach House sometime last year and I was disappointed. He just pressed play and sang over the songs. Feel It All Around wasn't even modified in any way, it was just the sample on loop, not even pitched down. He had a Nord up there but he didn't use it. He sometimes tours with a band, but when I saw him he was solo. Hitting the space bar and calling it a performance is always a let down. It's a pet peeve of mine.

HOWEVER, I still love his stuff and listen to Life Of Leisure at least once a week.

Kinski · Post by **Kinski** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 11:48 am

esselfortium wrote:
Soulthriller wrote:
esselfortium wrote:I love the sound he was able to get out of processed samples, but I hate that he didn't actually write his best songs.

Being that the results work well, I wouldn't be as bothered by his use of barely-modified samples for entire songs if it weren't for the heaps of initial press calling him a "brilliant multi-instrumentalist", and his faux-naive statements that his music coincidentally "just started to have that same kind of laid-back 80s-throwback feel", neglecting to mention the now-obvious reason it sounded so much like something out of the 80s.
He turned Gary's song into something much more spectacular and what is music but modification of musical frequencies and harmonics that have existed since the beginning of the universe, as long as sound has existed. We just modify these unseen vibrations into various configurations to produce something that brings about pleasure within our bodies and minds.
Call it whatever you want, he still didn't write a damn note. He didn't even rearrange any of the existing notes. Washed Out is about as responsible for writing "Feel It All Around" as you are for writing "Stars and Stripes Forever".

It's a guy singing karaoke to his own tune over a Gary Low song. It just happens to sound good.

Saying it's no different from actually writing a song is insulting to musicians everywhere.

gah, jesus. he wrote the melody and lyrics. boc sample stuff too, are they any less of a songwriters than fall out boy who write their own songs? don't be a rockist, man. if it's good, it's good. who cares who wrote what.

esselfortium · Post by **esselfortium** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 6:08 pm

Kinski wrote:
esselfortium wrote:
Soulthriller wrote: He turned Gary's song into something much more spectacular and what is music but modification of musical frequencies and harmonics that have existed since the beginning of the universe, as long as sound has existed. We just modify these unseen vibrations into various configurations to produce something that brings about pleasure within our bodies and minds.
Call it whatever you want, he still didn't write a damn note. He didn't even rearrange any of the existing notes. Washed Out is about as responsible for writing "Feel It All Around" as you are for writing "Stars and Stripes Forever".

It's a guy singing karaoke to his own tune over a Gary Low song. It just happens to sound good.

Saying it's no different from actually writing a song is insulting to musicians everywhere.
gah, jesus. he wrote the melody and lyrics. boc sample stuff too, are they any less of a songwriters than fall out boy who write their own songs? don't be a rockist, man. if it's good, it's good. who cares who wrote what.

Boards of Canada play instruments, they write melodies and rhythms, they compose complex arrangements, they sample themselves performing, they manipulate sounds to create new works. They can't really be compared here, unless you're saying that writing a song and pressing "play" on the radio are equivalent now.

Generally when you're calling someone a songwriter, "who cares who wrote what" is actually pretty important! And no, singing karaoke over a Gary Low song does not make you a songwriter in this universe or any other one I'm aware of.

Plus, the melody he did write is hilariously similar to the melodies he wrote for the vocals in at least several of his other songs. It even sounds like the FruityLoops settings he used to process his samples and vocals (that is to say, the only two tracks in the song) are 100% identical in nearly every song he's released. He's a hack who got lucky.

Kinski · Post by **Kinski** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 7:24 pm

esselfortium wrote:
Kinski wrote:
esselfortium wrote: Call it whatever you want, he still didn't write a damn note. He didn't even rearrange any of the existing notes. Washed Out is about as responsible for writing "Feel It All Around" as you are for writing "Stars and Stripes Forever".

It's a guy singing karaoke to his own tune over a Gary Low song. It just happens to sound good.

Saying it's no different from actually writing a song is insulting to musicians everywhere.
gah, jesus. he wrote the melody and lyrics. boc sample stuff too, are they any less of a songwriters than fall out boy who write their own songs? don't be a rockist, man. if it's good, it's good. who cares who wrote what.
Boards of Canada play instruments, they write melodies and rhythms, they compose complex arrangements, they sample themselves performing, they manipulate sounds to create new works. They can't really be compared here, unless you're saying that writing a song and pressing "play" on the radio are equivalent now.

Generally when you're calling someone a songwriter, "who cares who wrote what" is actually pretty important! And no, singing karaoke over a Gary Low song does not make you a songwriter in this universe or any other one I'm aware of.

Plus, the melody he did write is hilariously similar to the melodies he wrote for the vocals in at least several of his other songs. It even sounds like the FruityLoops settings he used to process his samples and vocals (that is to say, the only two tracks in the song) are 100% identical in nearly every song he's released. He's a hack who got lucky.

so songs like 'sir pancelot bonfire' are boc being hacks? or 'aquarium'? or 'xyz'? because he's doing exactly this, except isnteaf of ading a synthline he's singing and ading f/x effects. you don;t think it;s good enough? fine! but why are you trying to say it's shit because he's not writing his songs enough? i really don't get why you're so bummed out. his melodies sound alike? i never thought we're talking about diversity here. i thought it's about whenever he's legitimate songwriter or not.

your logic makes avalanches, prefuse 73 or bullion all 'hacks', because la-dee-dah. and makes all hip-hop useless. becauce pfffff.

esselfortium · Post by **esselfortium** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 7:37 pm

BoC never released Sir Prancelot Brainfire. They could fart into a tin can on their own time, for all I care, as long as they're not trying to sell it to me. Either way, to my knowledge it's them performing a cover of a song, not making a tape copy of it and calling it theirs.

Beyond that, what the hell are you talking about? Stop twisting my words.

Kinski · Post by **Kinski** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:32 pm

it's not a cover. it's a recording of a tv theme with synth playing over it. and i don't think washed out released his stuff in the first place, it was all floating around as free mp3s. just like old tunes are. i just don't get why you're so pissed at washed out for doing what pretty much every sampling artist is doing. including boc, believe it or not. every once in a while i stumble upon a person with such opinion and i just can't help myself, sorry! one day i will make an international samples in music awareness week and put an end to all of this.

edit: saying that, i see you're more pissed at others for thinking he's such a great instrumentalist, so maybe i'm actually fighting something that's not there. sorry if so. but i still stand behind my statement that he is a competent songwriter.

YELLOW · Post by **YELLOW** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:35 pm

Continuing on the live element, Mike tells a story that will certainly add to an increase in message board chatter, "I think it's commetable that people are creating software to do that because at least it's better than someone turning up to a show and pressing play on a .wav file. We know a guy who is a very high profile electronic producer in Britain - very famous in some electronic circles - and he played a show in Glasgow one time and he told us that he had just played a cassette and stood on stage pretending to press buttons. And he thought it was funny. We were laughing but also horrified at the same time."

^Boards of Canada, RE-UP Interview

Retrodreaming · Post by **Retrodreaming** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:47 pm

'Life of Leisure' hit the space bar anytime,enjoy.

Soulthriller · Post by **Soulthriller** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 10:00 pm

if it's good, it's good. who cares who wrote what.

Exactly (:

Elephant Face · Post by **Elephant Face** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 10:05 pm

YELLOW wrote:
Continuing on the live element, Mike tells a story that will certainly add to an increase in message board chatter, "I think it's commetable that people are creating software to do that because at least it's better than someone turning up to a show and pressing play on a .wav file. We know a guy who is a very high profile electronic producer in Britain - very famous in some electronic circles - and he played a show in Glasgow one time and he told us that he had just played a cassette and stood on stage pretending to press buttons. And he thought it was funny. We were laughing but also horrified at the same time."
^Boards of Canada, RE-UP Interview

This is so awesome!

turquoise70 · Post by **turquoise70** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 2:14 am

Soulthriller wrote:
if it's good, it's good. who cares who wrote what.
Exactly (:

this is how i feel.

some of my favorite songs right now are actually just tracks that OPN put into his mixes, slowed down 20% and -slightly- processed.

i have a very low threshold for what i'm willing to consider art, and i consider shit like that to be art too. it's just a different activity.

to me, this whole debate resembles the whole "DJs vs Producers" thing. someone's always just "not doing enough" in the other person's eyes, but in my mind they are both equally valid approaches to creating beautiful stuff.