Anybody else a little underwhelmed by the new release?

[Taint3dBulge]

To me where the album shines is in my car.. Iv listen to it at home on little pc speakers with an expensive sound card Then on my nice headphones and did this several times.

I think i kinda blow off the music as i work or play a game and just let it drown me instead of float me.

In my vehicle its 5.1 surround and thats where i actually listened to it for the first time and actually listened. I think the album is going to become one of my favorites.. I just gota listen more.. Maybe when i go to sleep on of these nights ill put on some earbuds and see what that does.. I do like that im hearing more and more deeply meshed tones.. You really have to pay attention.. Thats when the beauty comes out.

The first time hearing it.. I didnt like it.. I dont go from 1-end i do random its just better.. the flow from 1-end is just to skippy and takes away from everything imo.

[In_The_Annexe]

It definitely gets better the more you listen to it, just like all of the other Boards of Canada albums.

[Aesthetics]

My issue (so far, I still need more listens) is that this album is being exactly like TCH for me: with the exception of a few tracks, none of the music really "does it" for me, if you know what I'm saying. Also it seems to have this quieter, less wide and less detailed sort of sound to it that even TCH didn't have and that bugs me. Also, tracks don't feel creative to me. Cold Earth seems lazy and I don't like the melody at all, it doesn't really go anywhere and frankly it sounds more like a BoC-alike than BoC themselves.

This album is also the first of theirs with something in it that legitimately annoys me. I skip Jacquard Causeway. I can't stand it.

Maybe more listens will raise it back up to being above it but right now I'd say I'm putting this on par with TCH.

I quoted your post over an hour ago to reply with a comparable kind of opinion.
I just can't stand the thought of not liking the album I've been waiting for a long time from one of my favorite music acts out there. I already knew the album would be different to their earlier work and might disappoint some fans... but why on earth am I one of them? I can't find myself in all these positive replies around me.

The last couple of days I played the album several times (counter is on 10 or so). I'm always a very slow digester and I rarely give my opinion after a few listens because by experience I know my opinion will change. But now I just can't make up my mind about the new BoC because I'm missing a lot of BoCs signature, even after 10 listens.
But in the meantime of having your quote in my text field I'd put on TH on my headphones in reverse (started at Semena up to Gemini).. you never know, just trying everything. This time it does hit me more! I do hear stuff I didn't the first few listens so I still give it a few more chances. Like many said, I do believe it is a grower but how much time does it need to sink in??

I remember that I didn't like Geogaddi as much as I did with MHTRTC at first listen. Over the course of a few years Geogaddi knocked MHTRTC from its throne and it now is my favorite album by them followed by TCH and MHTRTC.


- While writing this I'm at Cold Earth and it finally struck me! Where are all these details and varieties coming from all of a sudden?? Seriously, I'm feeling it now. How come it doesn't sound as flat as it was before? -

Perhaps it is not the amount of listens but more the timeframe in which I hear them. When looking back at memories I always feel the atmosphere of a certain period after a while. I always wondered why I don't feel it at the moment it happens because when I think back it always feel better than in that particular moment. I guess my mind needs comparison with the current state of mind to distinguish and feel the difference.
This whole BoC trip that started at the end of April is coming to an end with the album release. If I don't feel the whole album soon I might put it on the shelf for a few weeks / months. Then my memories are formed and it should strike me.. right?


I'm at White Cyclosa in the meantime (I know, I'm very slow at writing this post) and why did I never hear that chopper before??


All in all, I'm having mixed feelings now, which clearly reflects my post structure .

[rainier]

Some of the songs I had to hear in different contexts before I really got their full effect. When I listen to music I usually am very focused on it, but that didn't work for me with Jacquard Causeway. It wasn't until I was out for a walk and I got really focused on looking at these seedpods floating around while the sun was setting with JC on in the background that it really hit me with it's amazingness.

That's how pretty much all of TCH is for me. I am not usually inclined to put stuff on as "background music" but TCH only really hits me if I'm focused on another task. Usually drawing or gardening or something like that.

[PlacentaSand]

My issue (so far, I still need more listens) is that this album is being exactly like TCH for me: with the exception of a few tracks, none of the music really "does it" for me, if you know what I'm saying. Also it seems to have this quieter, less wide and less detailed sort of sound to it that even TCH didn't have and that bugs me. Also, tracks don't feel creative to me. Cold Earth seems lazy and I don't like the melody at all, it doesn't really go anywhere and frankly it sounds more like a BoC-alike than BoC themselves.

This album is also the first of theirs with something in it that legitimately annoys me. I skip Jacquard Causeway. I can't stand it.

Maybe more listens will raise it back up to being above it but right now I'd say I'm putting this on par with TCH.

I quoted your post over an hour ago to reply with a comparable kind of opinion.
I just can't stand the thought of not liking the album I've been waiting for a long time from one of my favorite music acts out there. I already knew the album would be different to their earlier work and might disappoint some fans... but why on earth am I one of them? I can't find myself in all these positive replies around me.

The last couple of days I played the album several times (counter is on 10 or so). I'm always a very slow digester and I rarely give my opinion after a few listens because by experience I know my opinion will change. But now I just can't make up my mind about the new BoC because I'm missing a lot of BoCs signature, even after 10 listens.
But in the meantime of having your quote in my text field I'd put on TH on my headphones in reverse (started at Semena up to Gemini).. you never know, just trying everything. This time it does hit me more! I do hear stuff I didn't the first few listens so I still give it a few more chances. Like many said, I do believe it is a grower but how much time does it need to sink in??

I remember that I didn't like Geogaddi as much as I did with MHTRTC at first listen. Over the course of a few years Geogaddi knocked MHTRTC from its throne and it now is my favorite album by them followed by TCH and MHTRTC.


- While writing this I'm at Cold Earth and it finally struck me! Where are all these details and varieties coming from all of a sudden?? Seriously, I'm feeling it now. How come it doesn't sound as flat as it was before? -

Perhaps it is not the amount of listens but more the timeframe in which I hear them. When looking back at memories I always feel the atmosphere of a certain period after a while. I always wondered why I don't feel it at the moment it happens because when I think back it always feel better than in that particular moment. I guess my mind needs comparison with the current state of mind to distinguish and feel the difference.
This whole BoC trip that started at the end of April is coming to an end with the album release. If I don't feel the whole album soon I might put it on the shelf for a few weeks / months. Then my memories are formed and it should strike me.. right?


I'm at White Cyclosa in the meantime (I know, I'm very slow at writing this post) and why did I never hear that chopper before??


All in all, I'm having mixed feelings now, which clearly reflects my post structure .

The bottom line is that the album was made to sound this way... The old BoC exists but not in Tomorrow's Harvest if you will. The old BoC is obviously there but you know what I'm saying right? I bet the brothers knew a lot of diehard fans would be confused...

[lumpenprol]

@aesthetics

nice honest assessment. For me, I don't mind a slow grower, but there has to be something in the album that intrigues me or delights me from the get-go, to keep me coming back for more. After playing it through a similar number of times (10 or so), I found I wasn't compelled to keep listening. I put on some Shpongle as a palate cleanser and it did the trick...reminded me the delight of pure musical enjoyment. Shpongle are sometimes (often?) kind of tacky, but they always have the clear, unpretentious goal of giving you an eargasm. I don't know if TH has been "overthought" concept-wise, but I'm not finding many musical surprises or delights in it so far.

I may be in the minority in that, after many plays, Headphase rose to be my favorite BoC album (not including IABPOITC ep, which I rate above it). I really like the relaxed ambience of that album. I actually think where BoC may falter is when they try too hard to impress. I would love for them to make the BoC equivalent of Miles Davis' In a Silent Way. IABPOITC ep was really subtle - no big banging drums, no epic radio-friendly tracks - but utterly amazing upon repeated listens. I think they are very good at beguiling the listener, but when they go for the epic "big soundtrack feel", I think they aren't necessarily playing to their strengths. New Seeds and Come to Dust do nothing for me, emotionally speaking, for example - they seem too self-consciously epic.

When people talk about BoC's "maturity", I don't think maturity requires darkness or cynicism or...nihilism. On this new album, the one track that really gives me a feeling of "maturity" is Sick Times, a subtle mixture of melancholy with perseverance, even comfort (plus, of course, a nice groove). Would like more tracks with a similar mood (not sound, necessarily).

I think their decision to cut tracks short was probably a bad one, tracks like Cold Earth, Sick Times, and Palace Posy could easily have been extended to the 6 min mark...not sure why they extended Jacquard as that is one that I might not have extended...

All in all I don't think it's a bad album, but it doesn't have nearly the emotional punch of their earlier albums, to me...will see how it grows though

[brasco666]

Had my reservations too after listening to the streamed version for the past couple of days, but today I got the cd and gotta say it makes all the difference. There is layers and layers of detail going on that will only become apparent after multiple listens on good speakers/headphones.

For example, every time I listen to RFTD I'm hearing something new. On the surface it seems like a simple song. Droney pads, glitchy beat, arps. But today I was hearing whole lot of tripy stuff happening just under the surface, including what i think was some kind of throbbing binaural beat thing during the first half of the song that freaked me out.

Also the drums and bass on Cold Earth are immense!

[vballs]

I feel for you lot that are feeling underwhelmed, Its pretty strange, BoC`s stuff usually takes a while to grow on me but this album blew me away from the get go; every piece on it is simply wonderful. Every time I listen I find new stuff going on in each track, there are very subtle little melodies and sounds that make the whole experience feel so rich. (Listen to the outro of Transmisiones Ferox, there is a beautiful little flutey sound, very trademark BoC like the one in eagle in your mind. There is lovley stuff like this going on throughout).

Just like most of their music, this whole album is like a musical version of those magic eye paintings, what lies beneath the very surface really counts. When you see it or hear it rather, I imagine you will be hooked. It will probably happen when you least expect it, you will be going about your day then suddenly a sneaky subliminal hook from one of the tunes will come and get you.

Id say dont try too much to like it because you feel you should. Just relax and eventually you will be submerged in this pleasant adventure.

[paultomba]

It's intrigues me that Cold Earth keeps getting a bad rap on forums, (this one & others).
I reckon it's, singularly, the direct link to their older "classic" albums... children counting and all.

A belter.

& agreed, I enjoyed your honest assessment Aesthetics. But I still recommend a few passive listens, absorb it a bit reading a bit or working. It's done me wonders.

I'm still not utterly sold on Palace Posy though, although I'm assuming it's there for a reason.

Oh, & for what it's worth I love Jacquard, although it seems to be the big divider.

[The Telepathic Kid]

its with headphones that it really hit me.

I also enjoy there's more standout melodies like on Cold Earth, Nothing is Real, and Come to Dust.

to quote myself, this was my problem with TCH;
The melodies are just not there for me. It seems to be about the mood, the atmosphere and "losing yourself in the song" instead of melody, song progression and actual song writing.


I don't feel they entirely fixed this, but at the very least the album has a more cinematic and ambitious scope, it feels sinister and subtle, while TCH just felt hazy and somewhat lazy.

[rainier]

It's intrigues me that Cold Earth keeps getting a bad rap on forums, (this one & others).
I reckon it's, singularly, the direct link to their older "classic" albums... children counting and all.

Yeah this sounds to me like MHTRTC with TCH filter on it. The reverb on one of the voices and the beat has such a 90s hip hop feel like you'd find on MHTRTC, but the lush haziness of TCH. I thought it would be more of a standout for people.

[radiateme]

a musical version of those magic eye paintings, what lies beneath the very surface really counts. When you see it or hear it rather, I imagine you will be hooked. It will probably happen when you least expect it, you will be going about your day then suddenly a sneaky subliminal hook from one of the tunes will come and get you.

This is it, really. BoC albums are full of little things going on around the tracks that you don't notice at first. I'm pretty sure that's what the people who are disappointed are missing because this album happens to have hit me quickly and it has tons of those moments.

If you look back at the threads when TCH was first released, a lot of people were confused as well just like now. Nowadays it's a lot of people's favorite album. I guess that's just how it is with BoC releases.

[d e n]

its with headphones that it really hit me.


The melodies are just not there for me. It seems to be about the mood, the atmosphere and "losing yourself in the song" instead of melody, song progression and actual song writing.


I don't feel they entirely fixed this, but at the very least the album has a more cinematic and ambitious scope, it feels sinister and subtle, while TCH just felt hazy and somewhat lazy.

to each his own, but i'll be damned... feeling TCH as lazy is something i literally couldn't even begin to relate to no matter how hard i tried.





Aesthetics,


haha... you sound seriously worried. don't try to like it and reassure yourself so much. i would just step away from the fatigue induced by following the release all last month and then go back to checking out the record when you're mind is clear. if you're not feeling it then that's fine: you're not feeling it.

[rainier]

Yeah I don't think anyone should try and crack their head on this forcefully. I tried to do that with TCH and it didn't work. Just take a taoist approach to it.

I can understand being frustrated though. These dudes don't release a lot of stuff, so if you're really into them you want to love what little they do put out. But unfortunately it doesn't always happen. I feel lucky that I love this album so much. It'll probably tide me over for another 7 years or so. (But seriously guys pleeeeeasse put something out sooner pretty please)

[auzzie4life010]

Not me. I listened to it for the first time today and I immediately loved it! I think every song on it is great.

[NorthcutTAmnestY]

So in the new interview with the brothers, I can't remember which one said it, but one of them said something along the lines of their being more subliminals in this record than any of their past records, which surprised me. Also, that all of the album was definitely recorded with vintage hardware, and nothing was sampled.

I knew I heard some Riz Ortolani in the album, and it does have this feel of a 70's video-nasty soundtrack, come to think of it.

Anyway, yeah, I think it's a great album - it's definitely a slow burn and deceptively simple. Makes me want to go through TCH one more time - though I have tried continually to enjoy it as a whole before.

[Opothecary]

I think some people are caught up in how it SHOULD sound, which is strange. I'm not a gearhead, so I don't get wrapped up in how they achieved different sounds, music is an emotional thing for me, and it either takes me to "that place" or it doesn't. There's something to be said for not wanting to see how the sausage is made. This album takes me to that place, I even find myself enjoying Jacquard Causeway after 10+ listens, which was the one track I'd been a little cold on for a time.

Enjoying a certain type of music can be a fleeting thing in your life, or in this case, if it's been so long between albums that the back catalog is now so ingrained in your consciousness that you've become conservative about it and there's no room for it grow in new directions in your head.

It's also kind of funny, TCH took a long time to grow on me when it was released and maybe I was suffering from BoC exhaustion by then. People that discovered them via TCH have probably lived with this music for the same period of time between MHTRTC and TCH, so maybe they are reaching their exhaustion with it now too.

I'm also very glad that I went into this not overlistening to the back catalog over the past several years or trying to find a substitute for their sound.

[Torn n Frayed]

Fuck no.

[Zazen]

To me it just seems a plain matter of fact that the album has as much depth and detail as their previous releases. Try listening to Gemini, Sick Times, Transmisiones Ferox, Split Your Infinities, or Nothing Is Real with headphones on and lose yourself in the puddles of sound.

[krs]

Seems like some of you have forgotten that the brothers make music for themselves, not us. We're lucky enough that they decide to release it. I mean, come the fuck on. You guys constantly complain about how long they disappear between albums and then make threads like this. It's like shooting yourself in the foot and then asking why it hurts...

My ass.

I firmly believe that TH is a direct response to the negative fan reaction TCH received. The fans said "we want more MHTRTC!" and they delivered.

How is this like MHTRTC?

It isn't.