Anybody else a little underwhelmed by the new release?

kelp · Post by **kelp** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 3:33 pm

Something i definitely didn't pick up was 'sampled beats', but maybe that's just me. I've been through this before with people on here and I can't imagine any reason why they wouldn't just be using drum machines (or the digital equivalent) not sampling existing 'beats' (unless perhaps you mean sampling individual instrument hits, as in a snare or a rimshot etc)

88marquis · Post by **88marquis** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 3:36 pm

I think people get a bit turned down by how lazy it all sounds. I like how crisp and clear it is - especially the bass. Man that bass.

If Boards of Canada were to put out another crazy complex nostalgic mindfuck album I'd honestly be dissapointed.

Trans Canada Highway has helped me discover how truly heart-wrenching music can come in the most simple of forms. So I kind of half expected newer material to be along those lines.

drixlin · Post by **drixlin** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 3:39 pm

All I'm going to say is this - when I first heard Reach For the Dead - I was kinda "let down"? I don't even know if that's the right vernacular or not...but either way, I kinda felt like, huh?

Then I heard it on Zane's show. Then I downloaded my track from Bleep...then I watched it's video on youtube...then it's on my phone, now it's on my work computer...and now I can't stop listening to it and I absolutely LOVE it. This all happened within hours...It is such a fantastic track, and that building throughout just drives it home for me.

I haven't really listened to much of the rest of the album (never went past Jacquard) - I really do want to wait for my vinyl, as the missus and myself will be sitting back with our headphones on and soaking it all in! I expect to have the same reaction as I listen to the album, a lot of oh dears...and huh?'s will be happening - but I fully expect to have a positive reaction to it and then I won't be able to stop playing it.

So, without reading the rest of the pages (as my tolerance for that atm is lacking after the weeks of constant reading about releases and conspiracies has left me a bit drained, lol) I threw my 2 cents in.

No refunds or exchanges, plz

drixlin · Post by **drixlin** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 3:54 pm

Oh, and on more little tid bit about the lengths of some of the songs...to this day Oirectine is still too short for my liking. Until it gets a 10hour video on youtube, it will forever be too short

Geogandhi · Post by **Geogandhi** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 3:55 pm

Some of these tracks could have been a tad longer. Cold Earth seems way shorter than when I first heard it on that live snippet.

Moloch · Post by **Moloch** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 4:01 pm

Cold Earth has the ideal length if you ask me. But 'Sick Times' kind of annoys me, the drum parts don't last long enough!

Betterthanyourkids · Post by **Betterthanyourkids** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 4:10 pm

Honestly TH blew me away, and I think that if they reverted back to their old selves and did another old, nostalgia inducing album, we'd all be dissapointed. Trans Canada Highway in my mind was their last hurrah in terms of 'classic' BoC. Trans Canada also happens to be my favorite BoC release, but that's beside the point. The point is that the Sandisons would've just been catering to fans had they made another album full of Geogaddi and MHTRTC style tunes. They retained what they thought was important to them and moved forward to give us what I think is a masterpiece.

wwbjd · Post by **wwbjd** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 4:21 pm

Exceeded all my expectations.

Am I in the right thread?

MindElevation · Post by **MindElevation** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 4:34 pm

I can see where the "underwhelmed" people are coming from. I personally love the album though. It isn't by any means my favourite (although it's still early days in terms of listens), but I think they've managed to progress without losing what makes them special.

Vostok · Post by **Vostok** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 4:36 pm

I think the album seems underwhelming because of all the hype around it.

drixlin · Post by **drixlin** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 4:39 pm

Vostok wrote:I think the album seems underwhelming because of all the hype around it.

...if that is what you are basing your enjoyment of the album on, I think you are missing the point.

honeypower · Post by **honeypower** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 4:49 pm

overall the album definitely exceeded my expectations. i thought i was probably going to be disappointed, but i wasn't. it's a great album. the high points are right up there with the other records. 'nothing is real' is in my top 5 BOC songs.

i'd say it sounds like geogaddi pt. 2 with TCH production techniques.

that's where my small complaint comes from. part of what makes MHTRTC and geogaddi so great is the gear/recording methods that were used to create them. i can't go into great detail in explaining these techniques because i'm not exactly sure what they are. but there is a clear change in sound/production going from MHTRTC/IABPOITC/geogaddi to campfire/trans canada...

that change in production definitely suited the acoustic vibes of campfire and somewhat suited the psychedelic vibes of trans-canada.......

but now with tomarrow's harvest they've reverted back to the geogaddi vibes but they've also stuck with the newer production techniques and those techniques IMO don't really suit the geogaddi vibes as well as their older techniques did. it tends to make TH sound a bit like a really, really good BoC imitation at times.

there's always been a shitload of BoC imitators - some good, some bad. but one common thing was that it's always been hard to replicate BoC's sound because of their gear/recording process/aesthetic. the imitators almost always just used DAW's and DAW's have a tendency to create a certain 'digital' sound, and Tommarows Harvest has that sound. like i said though this is a really small complaint.

i don't know......i'm rambling here sorry......but i'm sure some of you know what i'm talking about.

in no way am i bashing the album because it's really, really good. i just wish it didn't sound as good/digital lol, if that makes any sense.

Vostok · Post by **Vostok** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 4:50 pm

drixlin wrote:
Vostok wrote:I think the album seems underwhelming because of all the hype around it.
...if that is what you are basing your enjoyment of the album on, I think you are missing the point.

No I meant like that's probably a reason as to why people think its underwhelming.

I love the Tomorrow's Harvest personally.

ArbitersGround · Post by **ArbitersGround** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 4:55 pm

Also, when you wait and anticipate for an album, you develop a lot of expectations and hopes like "Oh I hope they'll have a track like this" and when you listen to it, there's always some sort of disappointment when your hopes don't come true. But then when you accept the album for what it is and go back, you can appreciate it more freely, I think.

drixlin · Post by **drixlin** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 5:00 pm

Vostok wrote:
drixlin wrote:
Vostok wrote:I think the album seems underwhelming because of all the hype around it.
...if that is what you are basing your enjoyment of the album on, I think you are missing the point.
No I meant like that's probably a reason as to why people think its underwhelming.

I love the Tomorrow's Harvest personally.

Gotcha

softfokus · Post by **softfokus** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 5:07 pm

i wasn't disappointed at all with the album. it feels like a natural progression of their sound to me. it seems like they condensed a lot of what made their previous releases exceptional and attempted to assemble those elements into a cohesive whole on tomorrow's harvest. it does feel like they approached each track with more restraint than they have on previous releases, but i'm not of the opinion that's a bad thing.

i won't have a solid opinion of the album until i've lived with it for some time.

it's weird to me people feel that a group has a responsibility to satisfy every fan's expectations. they really only have a responsibility to satisfy themselves when making an album. it seems apparent they were satisfied with the album, because i don't think they would have released it otherwise. it's only natural it isn't going to meet the demands of every fan who has been obsessing over their music for years at this point. i feel like listening to their music is sometimes like a conversation. they are making a statement and you're either receptive to that statement or you aren't. nobody really likes having the same conversation over and over. i certainly prefer to live in a world where tomorrow's harvest exists for me to absorb more than a world where i'm still waiting for any new material to surface.

listening to the live transmission was a great experience for me. I expect living with the album in the coming months will be too.

Mason Bane · Post by **Mason Bane** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 5:18 pm

I don't know if "underwhelmed" is the right word.

I remember when Depeche Mode started doing crap music after a few releases. Construction Time Again and Speak and Spell were their pinnacle. I haven't liked them since. Bands change and their sound changes.

I don't think I like BOC as well with this different sound but oh well.

JonathanJindra · Post by **JonathanJindra** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 5:41 pm

I enjoy specific moments of the album (White Cyclosa, Palace Posy, Nothing is Real) but overall it lacks the imagination a release like Geogaddi had to take me to a place I've never experience before. The emotional landscape they've painted is just unappealing and the exaggerated 'dystopian future' elements within songs like Come To Dust and Split Your Infinities are difficult to take seriously...the arpeggiators and cheesy reverb on the snare drum hit. Reminds me of Learning to Fly by Pink Floyd

30equals · Post by **30equals** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 9:14 pm

I kinda get what the OP is saying. I too miss the organic feel (read:analog) and overal warmth the older albums tend to radiate. TH is a bit too crispy & clean in that sense.

I'm not sure what to think of it. RFTD kinda let me down, then the official stream got me excited again (Palace Posy right!

). Def needs more listening to fully get me.

In_The_Annexe · Post by **In_The_Annexe** » Thu Jun 06, 2013 9:14 pm

If you thought this album was "Underwhelming" you're ignorant of the world and you need to start keeping up with world affairs that don't involve your 6 o'clock news.

This album is very much a "Concept" album.

It's not Headphase
It's not Geogaddi
It's not MHTRTC

It's Tomorrow's Harvest.

____twoism

Anybody else a little underwhelmed by the new release?

Re: Anybody else a little underwhelmed by the new release?