Most Complex BoC song

[Psilcosyn]

Telephasic Workshop

[PlacentaSand]

Audiotrack 01A

[MindElevation]

Yeah gotta be Telephasic Workshop. From around 3 minutes onwards it starts to get ridiculously complex.

[Impossible Geometry]

It's got to be Seven Forty Seven or Peacock Tail.

I agree and I would also add Satellite Anthem Icarus in there, the production on that is immense especially at the end with all the compression and delays

I'd have to agree with both of these quotes. As an artist myself, I find that it's not always the amount of drum tracks and choppy edits that take lots of time. Mass amounts of time are spent in executing proper layering with multiple tracks and effects so that they all blend well and make a wall of sound while still maintaining their individual identity. Having said that, I believe everything BoC has ever done was time well spent. BUT knowing that they worked with, not only all types of synth on The Campfire Headphase, they also used a multitude of guitars, and that makes that album, IMO, the most complicated. Getting multiple, different and perfect guitar tones to blend nicely with all the synths and samples is no simple task. Layering, mixing and editing all of that must have been an intense monster of a project. I'd think that any of the main songs on THC would have taken the longest. But all in all, that's just my opinion and only BoC know the real answer

this!

[Aimo]

I agree and I would also add Satellite Anthem Icarus in there, the production on that is immense especially at the end with all the compression and delays

I'd have to agree with both of these quotes. As an artist myself, I find that it's not always the amount of drum tracks and choppy edits that take lots of time. Mass amounts of time are spent in executing proper layering with multiple tracks and effects so that they all blend well and make a wall of sound while still maintaining their individual identity. Having said that, I believe everything BoC has ever done was time well spent. BUT knowing that they worked with, not only all types of synth on The Campfire Headphase, they also used a multitude of guitars, and that makes that album, IMO, the most complicated. Getting multiple, different and perfect guitar tones to blend nicely with all the synths and samples is no simple task. Layering, mixing and editing all of that must have been an intense monster of a project. I'd think that any of the main songs on THC would have taken the longest. But all in all, that's just my opinion and only BoC know the real answer

this!

Yip, TCH stuff definitely 'sounds' the most complex - mixing and matching that many layers of god knows what is phenomenal. I think it's generally agreed, both from hearing the music and their own comments, that it's a mixture of found sounds(for want of a better expression - I find 'sampling' a bit too clinical) and recorded intruments, messed up so much that you'd never guess where the original sound came from. And this is what I think gives their music such an organic and emotional feel - it's real instruments, but mixed and manipulated in such a way that is unique to them. You could take these ingredients yourself, and never come up with their 'sound'. which is why I think it's so easy to spot the fakes - yes, it's BoC on paper, but they have that certain something which is impossible to copy.

[seanandcandy]

i think the fact that even their most simple songs are comparatively complex speaks volumes of their production standards

[Yeah That's Right]

Telephasic Workshop certainly has a lot going on

The Beach at Redpoint and Julie and Candy are quite layered but don't change much throughout.

Agree on XYZ too.

[rainier]

I can't really speak to the idea of what takes the longest and all that, because I seriously can't even imagine how they work to make their stuff.

But re: TCH, I always think of Pinoccio singing "I got no strings" for some reason. Like before you could kind of hear them pulling the strings to get their sound, but TCH sounds totally organic, yet you know they worked really hard to get it to sound like that, but it seems effortless. Then again I hear some people say that album sounds "lazy" so I guess it depends. Even when I wasn't sold on that album at first I was really impressed by the production.

[energywarning]

I'd have to agree with both of these quotes. As an artist myself, I find that it's not always the amount of drum tracks and choppy edits that take lots of time. Mass amounts of time are spent in executing proper layering with multiple tracks and effects so that they all blend well and make a wall of sound while still maintaining their individual identity. Having said that, I believe everything BoC has ever done was time well spent. BUT knowing that they worked with, not only all types of synth on The Campfire Headphase, they also used a multitude of guitars, and that makes that album, IMO, the most complicated. Getting multiple, different and perfect guitar tones to blend nicely with all the synths and samples is no simple task. Layering, mixing and editing all of that must have been an intense monster of a project. I'd think that any of the main songs on THC would have taken the longest. But all in all, that's just my opinion and only BoC know the real answer

this!

Yip, TCH stuff definitely 'sounds' the most complex - mixing and matching that many layers of god knows what is phenomenal. I think it's generally agreed, both from hearing the music and their own comments, that it's a mixture of found sounds(for want of a better expression - I find 'sampling' a bit too clinical) and recorded intruments, messed up so much that you'd never guess where the original sound came from. And this is what I think gives their music such an organic and emotional feel - it's real instruments, but mixed and manipulated in such a way that is unique to them. You could take these ingredients yourself, and never come up with their 'sound'. which is why I think it's so easy to spot the fakes - yes, it's BoC on paper, but they have that certain something which is impossible to copy.

Whenever I think of complexity in their music, I always jump to "Chromakey Dreamcoat." I never listen to that song without feeling amazed by how they layered so many varying sounds (not to mention the portion at the end). When I went back to the album after not having heard it for some time, I remember being blown away by suddenly hearing what sounded like a banjo in the mix.

[re-phaelam-ed]

percs in pete standing alone.
percs in chinook

[qazxswplmnko]

I used to think corsair was just a chill, calming song. 6 years later and I just noticed a synth in the background that sounds kinda bassy, as well as having multiple tones at once. I'd consider that hard work. I've listened to this what, 3,000 times? Who knows. Enough that this discovery of mine makes me wonder what else I've been missing out on.

[Melts]

+1 Seven Forty Seven
+1 Whitewater
+1 Music is Math
+1 Pete Standing Alone
+1 Everything You Do Is A Balloon

I'd add a rate equally complex melodies:

Sixtyniner
5d
IWGITattooed
Buckie High
1969
Amo Bishop Roden
Bocuma
Olsen
The Midas Touch
Audiotracks
...and many more...

Most complex but wont listen to due to weird trip/feelings:
Music is Math
June 9th

Most complex feeling of atmosphere:
Macquarie Ridge
5.9.78
...both conjure images of dewy sunrise forest critters awakening...

But the prize goes to (gonna take mad heat for this one!)... what I consider a pioneering example of some of the very best REAL dubstep percussion ever recorded...

:Skyliner.

[azamarro]

also "pete standing alone," in particular the middle bit which floors me every time.

I wish they did that kind of stuff more often! That's why I had problems with Geogaddi when it first came out. Tracks like "Alpha and Omega", "Gyroscope", and "Julie and Candy" were complex production-wise but were musically stagnant. Whereas MHTRTC tracks like "Pete Standing Alone" and "An Eagle In Your Mind" would evolve or throw in some surprises.

That being said, I think the phrasing in "Sunshine Recorder" is pretty complex. Not my favorite tune, but it constantly switches between 4/4 and 6/4 and I can never get the timing of the melody down.

[El Camino]

Definitely agree with everyone who's saying Telephasic Workshop, those vocal samples must have been incredibly difficult to organise.

[Geodesic]

TCH is quit impressive, the mix is extremly well made, 84' Pontiac Dream and Satellite Anthem Icarus are very lush. Also I don't know how they found this wonderfull Satellite Anthem Icarus Guitar melody...

TCH is a mix reference for me.