Narratives of BOC albums

[davefilmdeity]

I know many people have put their own spin of narratives of Tomorrows Harvest, and as a writer I have always loved playing around with narrative concepts for BOC music.

I have looked all over the place to try and find others interpretations of what MHTRTC, Geogaddi, and TCH.

Plus with being new to Twoism, I just wanted to get a feel of what emotion/narrative comes to mind individually.

[Iced Cooly Beatnik]

The Campfire Headphase was already explained by BoC in an interview, with such a simple concept it makes the entire record all the more brilliant.
Tomorrow's Harvest is likely supposed to evoke a different action with each track, like it's the soundtrack to something sinister and oncoming, particularly Semena Mertvykh, which gives the idea of an ominous unhappy ending.
Geogaddi is one you could talk about for years (and people still are), it slowly but surely gives a darker vibe throughout the record, with Magic Window acting as possibly a sort of reflection after Corsair's "dropping off" ending.
MHTRTC, I really can't say, it seems to be their most direct record, there doesn't seem to be a major concept surrounding that.
Overall, each one follows a "narrative" of what sounds best with each song going into one another, but it's really more a series of interconnected ideas and concepts than it is a traditional narrative.

[Jonse]

In my opinion:

*MHTRTC

The innocence of childhood coupled with the enhanced wonder the world brings at that age. A look back. A sense of coldness, a disjointed feeling, fitting that sort of idea perfectly - the idea of not knowing or understanding as a child.

*Geogaddi

A continuation. Less disjointed, warmer, more ethereal. Not looking back or forward but in the moment, periodically changing from a place where the weight of reality is absolutely crushing the narrator (if it were a concept record proper) and a place where everything is just fine - a place where no wrong exists. The chronicling of a trial by fire and a coming of age tale. Layers upon layers, minute details that exist simply for the sake of existing and good variation makes this their most direct sort of work. It's an album that gives you no filler but can have parts posing as such to the untrained ear. Of course that's just my opinion but I know a lot of others who had the same experience of not getting into every part of it immediately and then realizing how all of the pieces fit together later.

Incredibly moving and probably because I can relate to it, the character of it, even without words - if that makes sense to others.

The record (alongside one other), in all seriousness, literally kept me from taking my life. It gave me the motivation to pursue music to the fullest myself, and more so than "without Boards of Canada, my music would not exist as it is", I have to say "without Geogaddi, my music would not exist as it is".

*TCH

Subtlety deconstructed and reconstructed into itself but subverted in many ways. Hit or miss, mostly hit, where downbeat and seemingly simple creations reveal layers of detail unique in their own way on a very fine level even if very similar on a large scale. I don't think this has a narrative per se in the same sense that the two previous LPs seemed to have, but it has it in the sense of tone and its overall idea. Its cohesiveness pulls together tracks in a way that an album like MHTRTC couldn't, where they would sometimes feel out of place.


*TH

Uhh, well...alright, I guess this VHS tape sound thing is a good idea, hopefully it and the whole campaign makes up for all of this record's shortcomings.

(I don't know, maybe they're legitimately satisfied with what they put together.)

I give props to vignettes like Uritual and Telepath as well as the song New Seeds. However, Telepath doesn't quite break any new ground and New Seeds and Uritual (my favorite TH tracks) however nice they may be are not surrounded with very fitting tracks, so even if someone enjoys TH a lot I would like to say that it seems fairly clear it's their least cohesive album, which is unusual for BoC.

It feels like they tried several directions and couldn't decide which one to take. New Seeds is the least repetitive of the full tracks and absolutely beautiful, but it'd better sit alongside tracks like the ones from both TCHs. I really appreciate that track, but other than that, the coldness doesn't really do it for me, the textural component is largely absent throughout the record and the high points are very much so like really sweet candy - Nothing is Real didn't take any time to digest and we all loved it when we first heard it. It was beautiful, but it only took about two or three additional listens for me to realize how truly repetitive it is, and with that the value felt cut in half.



Anyways, yeah. Sorry if the TH part sounds more like a review but if it's all hodgepodge, I can't really assess a narrative. Keep in mind as well that these are just my opinions and if you really like TH, you should continue to like it.

[Najlepsiejszy]

The Campfire Headphase was already explained by BoC in an interview, with such a simple concept it makes the entire record all the more brilliant.

I never really got vibes like that. I always pictured an old guy remembering his past- YOU HEARD ABOUT WOODSTOCK, BOY? 100000000000 PEOPLE CAME DOWN THERE! AH TO BE YOUNG AGAIN

Something like that

[Iced Cooly Beatnik]

The Campfire Headphase was already explained by BoC in an interview, with such a simple concept it makes the entire record all the more brilliant.

I never really got vibes like that. I always pictured an old guy remembering his past- YOU HEARD ABOUT WOODSTOCK, BOY? 100000000000 PEOPLE CAME DOWN THERE! AH TO BE YOUNG AGAIN

Something like that

Memories are definitely a theme throughout, it's like the protagonist is going back through bits of his life, remembering various images and the emotions and feelings they evoke.