Anybody else a little underwhelmed by the new release?

[Zazen]

I wasn't AT ALL underwhelmed by this release, and honestly cannot comprehend how anyone could confuse this album with a BoC impersonator -- seriously, no one could have nailed the dissonant, beatless openng of Gemini (which, to me, sounds like the deep, echoey ending of Music is Math) or the beautiful synths and voices of Nothing is Real. To me, it seems like the logical progression of their sound, and I don't think the "raw sound entering the ears" is any less layered or interesting.

So no, not underwhelmed at all -- it's met and even exceeded my high expectations.

[padawan23]

Theres been a lot of evolution in the electronic music industry since 1998 . So when people say they were underwhelmed i really think they just want to hear another band . Everything that is BOC was on the album for me .

Can anyone articulate exactly technically what was missing ?
did it need more arps , more children laughing , perhaps more sinister overtones , more Orange ?

I am not sure they have evolved that much... and whilst there catalog of sound has been varied it all comes under the same "mmmmm..interesting" umberella (no reeyanar )
The samples are a bit BOC by numbers and hold no wonder....like i said earlier - mobile phone chatter - really!?

[Moloch]

New album is a massive grower. For example Jacquard Causeway is becoming one of my favs.

[kelp]

The samples are a bit BOC by numbers and hold no wonder....like i said earlier - mobile phone chatter - really!?

What would you require them to sample?

[padawan23]

The samples are a bit BOC by numbers and hold no wonder....like i said earlier - mobile phone chatter - really!?

What would you require them to sample?

Just saying I expected sounds that were a little more "out of the ordinary" than a mobile phone and a fella counting backwards on a track called telepath.
People loved the nostalgic memory inducing sound there records induce - Do you get that with this?

[thepastinsidepressant]

9 tracks out the 17 for me have easily ear wormed in. the remaining 8 will take a while but having
said that, i look upon the remaining 8 as not filler but to enhance the experience. can't have it all
in your face, needs dynamics. don't forget Geogaddi had its share of vignette moments too.

those 9 are:

1 Gemini 2:56
2 Reach For The Dead 4:47
3 White Cyclosa 3:13
4 Jacquard Causeway 6:35
5 Telepath 1:32
6 Cold Earth 3:42
7 Transmisiones Ferox 2:18
8 Sick Times 4:16
9 Collapse 2:49
10 Palace Posy 4:05
11 Split Your Infinities 4:28
12 Uritual 1:59
13 Nothing Is Real 3:52
14 Sundown 2:16
15 New Seeds 5:39
16 Come To Dust 4:07
17 Semena Mertvykh 3:30

for me thats pretty good going, the remaining 8 aren't exactly single material, hits so to speak but thats not the intention here, they are there to enhance etc

i think New Seeds has probably the most clever use of mobile phone interference to employed into a track, it works so well. very smart.

[Helios]

I wasn't AT ALL underwhelmed by this release, and honestly cannot comprehend how anyone could confuse this album with a BoC impersonator -- seriously, no one could have nailed the dissonant, beatless openng of Gemini (which, to me, sounds like the deep, echoey ending of Music is Math) or the beautiful synths and voices of Nothing is Real. To me, it seems like the logical progression of their sound, and I don't think the "raw sound entering the ears" is any less layered or interesting.

So no, not underwhelmed at all -- it's met and even exceeded my high expectations.

This. People are entitled to their own opinion, but I just cannot for the life of me understand how anyone can call this album "minimal" or "ambient." These tracks are some of the most complex and layered ones they've ever made, so I'm not sure what people were expecting. I think people are trying to directly compare it to Geogaddi or MHTRTC, but it seems everyone forgets that every BoC release has had a different sound than the last. TH is different, but most certainly high quality BoC. I love this album. How anyone can be underwhelmed by Cold Earth, Nothing is Real, Palace Posey, New Seeds, etc (!), I will never understand.

[Geogandhi]

I wouldn't say that they are the most complex at all. It's just that the sounds they have chosen have been worked on more so they are bigger and fill more gaps.

[padawan23]

i think New Seeds has probably the most clever use of mobile phone interference to employed into a track, it works so well. very smart.[/quote]


check out SCANNER - Delivery album from 97.....that proper dark phone hack stuff.

[honeypower]

the biggest complaint i have about the album is that it almost sounds too good.

one thing i always liked about BoC was the way they used older gear to achieve their sound.

this album sounds like it was made almost entirely on a DAW like protools or logic or something.

that's probably why to some people it sounds like a BoC imitator at times.

[justin]

9 tracks out the 17 for me have easily ear wormed in. the remaining 8 will take a while but having
said that, i look upon the remaining 8 as not filler but to enhance the experience. can't have it all
in your face, needs dynamics. don't forget Geogaddi had its share of vignette moments too.

those 9 are:

1 Gemini 2:56
2 Reach For The Dead 4:47
3 White Cyclosa 3:13
4 Jacquard Causeway 6:35
5 Telepath 1:32
6 Cold Earth 3:42
7 Transmisiones Ferox 2:18
8 Sick Times 4:16
9 Collapse 2:49
10 Palace Posy 4:05
11 Split Your Infinities 4:28
12 Uritual 1:59
13 Nothing Is Real 3:52
14 Sundown 2:16
15 New Seeds 5:39
16 Come To Dust 4:07
17 Semena Mertvykh 3:30

for me thats pretty good going, the remaining 8 aren't exactly single material, hits so to speak but thats not the intention here, they are there to enhance etc

i think New Seeds has probably the most clever use of mobile phone interference to employed into a track, it works so well. very smart.

Yeah those are my standout tracks too , however i love gemni just as a good intro piece and semena mertvykh because just a cool way to end an album .

My GF's only reason for not loving Boards of Canada is that she doesn't like instrumental music, it has to have lyrics for her to be satisfying or she thinks its boring .

In other news im in the market for a new Girl Friend ....

[Torn n Frayed]

the biggest complaint i have about the album is that it almost sounds too good.

one thing i always liked about BoC was the way they used older gear to achieve their sound.

this album sounds like it was made almost entirely on a DAW like protools or logic or something.

that's probably why to some people it sounds like a BoC imitator at times.

Yeah, I keep trying to see the places where they've melded the music and voices, cracks or seams, but ...they're not there. I know they are morphing into something new and are growing as artists so it's all good, imo.

[kelp]

Just saying I expected sounds that were a little more "out of the ordinary" than a mobile phone and a fella counting backwards on a track called telepath.
People loved the nostalgic memory inducing sound there records induce - Do you get that with this?

To be honest, i've only heard it once through (via the live broadcast) and it was difficult to absorb the whole thing in one go. I don't remember a lot of the vocal samples now really. Definitely need to listen many many more times to this. It did sound subtle, layered, complex and highly interesting to these ears. I think, certainly in the case of this album, the vocal samples may well be playing 2nd fiddle to the actual music. That's fine as it's the music I'm most interested in.

EDIT : I don't think it sounded as 'nostalgic' as the other albums. But I don't think the Campfire Headphase sounds particularly nostalgic, i think they left the whole nostalgic thing behind around that time, sounded like it to me anyway. I really believe they are going for a much different angle on this one...

[nickb523]

this album sounds like it was made almost entirely on a DAW like protools or logic or something.

I can spot quite a few software things going on, for example on "Reach for the Dead" i swear i can hear Ableton's Beat Repeater and on "Jacquard Causeway" the filtering on the beats sounds like Reason's Dr Octorex.

But that's all a bit geeky!

[thepastinsidepressant]

its like one minute its stepping into this cold war vibe, then its back into 70s nostalgia (though theres not much of it, cold earth etc). certainly can hear the digital production more than analogue i agree.

but hey its all looking back 80s or 70s, and all is good, we could pick the shit out of this for the next 8 years, well we are going to arent we?

[justin]

this album sounds like it was made almost entirely on a DAW like protools or logic or something.

I can spot quite a few software things going on, for example on "Reach for the Dead" i swear i can hear Ableton's Beat Repeater and on "Jacquard Causeway" the filtering on the beats sounds like Reason's Dr Octorex.

But that's all a bit geeky!

Weird im glad im not the only one who noticed that i was thinking this sounded more crisp in some way . Im very sure they are using more daw's in there workflow . Ableton seems like a logical tool for them since they experiment so much and it's designed for that .

If i could put a finger on it id say they have removed tape from a particular section of their workflow maybe they just use the electronics in machines to color the sound and keep it crisp . Then they master out to a higher 30 Ips 2 in tape vs a 1/2 at 15ips . That would really make a huge difference .

[Geogandhi]

I'm glad I can't tell random software fingerprints, it would really spoil something for me especially with a artist like BoC. I don't use software only Logic for the final stages etc so I have no clue about that stuff.
There are no easily recognizable Anologue synth sounds like their earlier stuff, they are either far too affected with software effects or the synths are (god forbid) soft.

[FernieCanto]

People loved the nostalgic memory inducing sound there records induce - Do you get that with this?

Well, that there is the problem. Being underwhelmed by the album because of what it is, what one prefers and what one wished for is one thing. But claiming the album is underwhelming because of what one says it should be, well, that's not really what art is all about. For me, it's absolutely clear that the album is NOT supposed to be nostalgic like all the others. This album is the other side of the "nostalgia" coin. That's what it is, and what it's meant to be. If people don't like that, well, then it's not a problem with the album being "underwhelming" at all.

For me, the album matched its intentions pretty well. The album doesn't sound nostalgic because it is NOT nostalgic.

[Headphase]

For me, this album is like Geogaddi part 2.

There are some beautiful songs, some haunting songs and overall it can take a while for some people to get used to.

[padawan23]

People loved the nostalgic memory inducing sound there records induce - Do you get that with this?

Well, that there is the problem. Being underwhelmed by the album because of what it is, what one prefers and what one wished for is one thing. But claiming the album is underwhelming because of what one says it should be, well, that's not really what art is all about. For me, it's absolutely clear that the album is NOT supposed to be nostalgic like all the others. This album is the other side of the "nostalgia" coin. That's what it is, andidntd what it's meant to be. If people don't like that, well, then it's not a problem with the album being "underwhelming" at all.

For me, the album matched its intentions pretty well. The album doesn't sound nostalgic because it is NOT nostalgic.

did'nt really explain myself very clearly there...sorry
I actually think there is nostalgic tones on this album - what I was trying to say was that this, along with the sampled beats, the incidental short tracks and the recording techniques used, don't "hit the spot" and feel a bit lazy......even though the feelings of nostalgia were present in previous LP's the tracks still some how seemed fresh and thats what BOC's magic was all about, I just feel the magic is a bit diluted on this one......