Anybody else a little underwhelmed by the new release?

fdamb · Post by **fdamb** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 5:52 am

(Old time poster here new username) It seems disproportionate the amount of praise this album is getting. All the long time fans I've talked to in a personal context are generally a little let down, but on the forums and reviews there doesn't seem to be much critical discussion.

Yes, time will bare some quality on it as everyone is saying, but in terms of the raw sound that is entering the ears; compare that naked sound to the naked sound of Geogaddi or even TCH EP and there seems to be a missing quality.

In the early 2000s we had hoards of musicians rightfully inspired by BoC, myspace communities, lots of excitement and energy etc. The thing is that the aesthetic impact sort of waned once a few started copying the image so callously and deliberately, and people who have been around will know exactly what I'm talking about. I'm not saying they were "wrong", in fact put some of that music side by side with the new BoC and you can't tell who's who!....

..and I guess that is what irks me. TCH Ep seemed like a move away from the more cursory elements of their style which had been beaten to death but this is sort of a regression. That's not to say that its less than great (it is certainly great) but how many times do we want to hear those basic synth pad drones (Semena Mertvykh), for instance? How transparent and simple do we want melody and sound design to be (Cold Earth)?

I wouldn't go so far as to call this album a stain on their catalogue, but is it really worth the seven years? Share your thoughts.

ArbitersGround · Post by **ArbitersGround** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 6:03 am

At first, but the album is getting better with each listen for me. It's kind of like when I saw Godfather Part II for the first time. I thought it wasn't that special, was even bored while watching it. But when I let it simmer in my mind a little bit, and let some of the quotes and scene digest, I kept going back and now it's my favorite movie.

My first listen, I kind of kept waiting to get blown away but it didn't happen. I listened to some tracks later and was like "Whoa, how did I miss this shit, here?"

This is the opposite of my reaction to Bonobo's latest album. I thought it was amazing my first lesson. I still think it's great, but it got stale kind of quickly for me.

EDIT: Also if it wasn't for 1969, I would say Tomorrow's Harvest is better than Geogaddi.

seanandcandy · Post by **seanandcandy** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 6:04 am

i mean, i guess i'm sorry you don't like it?
but it's boards of canada, and they are what they are.

superuser · Post by **superuser** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 6:17 am

I agree that it isn't up to what I was expecting after an 8 year hiatus and all the hype, but I do still think it is good music.

The other thing that I think we can rightfully assume is they have a huge amount of material recorded over this period that might have a completely different sound to it--allowing them to make a follow up in relatively short order (wishful thinking maybe knowing BOC).

They obviously had a really distinct feel for this album and I will say that is one of its strongest points. It's a real start to finish piece and doesn't feel quite as wandering as some of their earlier EPs and albums. That's what gives me hope that over this long period they have several different sounds and they compiled this concept piece together as one unit and might have enough to make another LP or several EPs with different sounds.

So yeah, I was a bit underwhelmed too, but they set the quality bar so high that it creates insane expectations.

I do think their entire marketing campaign on this one was so next level though. Was a lot of fun and maybe some more secrets to discover in the coming months.

GeogEddie · Post by **GeogEddie** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 6:18 am

I'm sure sad to see them drop the acoustic guitars almost entirely. That's one of the big sticking points for me. I think The Campfire Headphase was absolutely a more bold, accomplished work. In that sense, TH does indeed feel like a regression, meant more as fan service than the next evolution in BoC's musical journey. In short, it's a placeholder album.

On the other hand, the music here is good (occasionally really good), the production is incredible, and I feel like there's some kind of theme or concept to the album, which may or may not be profound, that will only come out after a lot more listening than I've been able to do so far.

qazxswplmnko · Post by **qazxswplmnko** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 6:18 am

Gotta agree. At the moment I only like Nothing is Real, and all the shorter, quieter songs. I pray that my opinion changes. I've personally been waiting for this return for 5 years now, and my reaction is making me sad.

Opothecary · Post by **Opothecary** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 6:27 am

Okay, I'll bite. I'm sorry you're not feeling it. Maybe you overdid it on their imitators in the lean years, or the weight of expectation has become to the point that nothing could match your vision for what it could be...or you've either outgrown or reached your saturation point with this sort of sound. It's totally okay that you feel that way. I probably spent more time over those years checking out their supposed influences (movie/music wise) rather than trying to chase their sound elsewhere.

OTOH I feel so strongly in the opposite direction that this morning I was contemplating creating a "worth the wait?" thread that was along the lines of "Would you wait another 7 years for a record of this caliber, or would you have preferred releases in both 2010ish and 2013 if it meant that they were both more along the lines of TCH?"

As much as I like TCH and it mostly holds up (and of course, conceptually, they try to avoid consecutively repeating themselves), the back half of that album with a couple of notable exceptions aside, feels like the only time I've ever thought BoC sounded like they were imitating themselves, like maybe they were treading water and short on ideas on how to take this more damaged acoustic pop concept to a full album length. If it had been about 15 minutes or 3 or 4 tracks shorter, it would have been a truly legendary album.

I decided to wait a week until after it's officially out everywhere to create that thread so that all the patient people could weigh in once the honeymoon period was over.

For what it's worth, I have not spent an extended amount of time checking out their supposed imitators (early Lone, Christ. and Bibio aside, and none especially recently) but rather completely different types of music that tended more toward rock and improvisation, because I was scared of being burned out on that "place" they take you to. I'm glad that were stretches of months at a time that I listened to no BoC at all.

I'm 35 now and they have given me a feeling of wonder that I haven't had since I was 20 and hearing MHTRTC for the first time, where it was very nice on the first listen and has only improved on the subsequent listens. I hope the feeling doesn't fade. It all makes me wonder if your appreciation for this album comes from WHEN you got into them - there's certainly something to all the old school heads coming out of the woodwork to say it's delivering an MHTRTC level of immediate satisfaction, whereas people that got into them later on are a little more cool on it.

sleepysilverdoor · Post by **sleepysilverdoor** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 6:29 am

The first time I listened to Reach for the Dead, my initial thought was "WOW THAT SYNTH LAYERING IS BEAUTIFUL". Then it ended and all I could think was "wow, that petered out right when it was really getting a move on!" The second time all I could think about was how structurally weird it was. After about the 4th time I gave up on imagining where it could have gone and remembered how annoyingly short Roygbiv is.

The first listen of the full album, it blew me away. The second listen through I was in a different mood and it grabbed me less. By listen 4 it was really earworming on me hard.

Geogaddi is a fantastic album, and I could barely get past track 5 when I first heard it. They've certainly switched vibes, and there are a lot more people doing the same sort of thing now...but in terms of how their music slowly imprints itself upon my psyche, few artists other than BoC and Bardo Pond have been able to do that. And Bardo has a couple of albums I think are sub-par even though other fans adore them (Dilate, I'm talking about you). Probably just goes with being a music fan.

TaoTapeTao · Post by **TaoTapeTao** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 6:40 am

I'm gonna give it another listen tonight, but all the great songs seem to fizzle out before they hit that sweet spot. Idk.

The Telepathic Kid · Post by **The Telepathic Kid** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 6:43 am

that is one problem I have with a lot of the tracks on this release, they don't end, they just seem to fade out.

Opothecary · Post by **Opothecary** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 6:43 am

TaoTapeTao wrote:I'm gonna give it another listen tonight, but all the great songs seem to fizzle out before they hit that sweet spot. Idk.

I think that's kind of the point, I know it keeps me coming back to the album. There are so many beautiful moments spread throughout the album that it makes me want to play it again. It might be all down to personal preference. I felt like maybe they learned something from TCH, where to me, they seemed like they were delivering too much of a good thing on that album and it cheapened the experience a little bit. As someone somewhere once said, the trick is to surrender to the flow. I could only imagine what people would say about Roygbiv if it came out today!

Weekend_Warrior · Post by **Weekend_Warrior** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 7:01 am

The Telepathic Kid wrote:that is one problem I have with a lot of the tracks on this release, they don't end, they just seem to fade out.

Actually, every single track on Campfire fades out. I noticed that shortly after the release

paul · Post by **paul** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 7:04 am

Opothecary wrote:
TaoTapeTao wrote:I'm gonna give it another listen tonight, but all the great songs seem to fizzle out before they hit that sweet spot. Idk.
I think that's kind of the point, I know it keeps me coming back to the album. There are so many beautiful moments spread throughout the album that it makes me want to play it again. It might be all down to personal preference. I felt like maybe they learned something from TCH, where to me, they seemed like they were delivering too much of a good thing on that album and it cheapened the experience a little bit. As someone somewhere once said, the trick is to surrender to the flow. I could only imagine what people would say about Roygbiv if it came out today!

yes and yes. i think its precisely why this will for some, be 'a grower.' when i first heard RFTD i literally was covered in goosebumps when that filthy little beat dropped in. AND as soon as i wanted to snap my neck bobbing my head to it ... it was gone. i call PURE GENIUS.

work so hard to make something so sweet then take it away just a tad too soon - thats nectar! keeps them wanting more. this song - like the album overall - will never get old. may not be your instant favorite, but it will likely be the one you notice in the future that play without interruption.

radiateme · Post by **radiateme** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 7:06 am

After my first listen I felt a bit confused about the whole thing, but after a bunch more it all started coming together for me. The best albums usually catch you off guard like that, in my experience. Then you learn all the little details spread throughout.

Same thing happened to me with Geogaddi and Campfire.

Also, I feel like the tracks on here move along a bit more subtly than previous LPs.

Twoist · Post by **Twoist** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 7:13 am

Don't know about you lot but for me it's natural to be underwhelmed or just plain puzzled during the first few listens of a Boards album. Love of what they do is a long ball game. You hear new things, appreciate subtleties and in time your mind can suddenly tune into a melody or a break without warning and suddenly you 'get it'.

I freely admit to finding TH a little more immediate - but ask me in six months what I like from it and I may even find myself admitting to enjoying Palace Posy

bluesky · Post by **Fredd-E** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 7:15 am

You can't really judge a BoC album by a few listens. Give it some time to sink in.

seanandcandy · Post by **seanandcandy** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 7:20 am

I may even find myself admitting to enjoying Palace Posy

you are the wORST

Twoist · Post by **Twoist** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 7:24 am

seanandcandy wrote:
you are the wORST

There's no hope for me..save yourselves..

kelp · Post by **kelp** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 7:29 am

Nope, not even remotely underwhelmed by the new one.

When Campfire Headphase came out, I listened to it once and then put it away thinking i would never listen to it again, it took a full year or more before i dug it out and actually came to realise it was actually (in the main) pretty good. However, this new one has hit me immediately as being obviously very very good.

radiateme · Post by **radiateme** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 7:31 am

Twoist wrote:
seanandcandy wrote:
you are the wORST
There's no hope for me..save yourselves..

Don't worry... you'll like it soon enough.

Or else!