17. Semena Mertvykh (3:30)

[mc10101]

I'm a little surprised that so many people are convinced BOC 'stole' or 'sampled' the music for this piece! Just because they used a VHS recorder to get that grainy, uneven sound doesn't mean they got it from a movie. Most VHS machines had phono inputs allowing you to use them as (low-quality) audio recorders - I remember overdubbing music onto adverts and documentaries I'd recorded as a teenager, simply because it was a novelty. Besides I think the boys are more than capable composers themselves.
Also, although among the links posted here there are numerous pieces that have a similar 'sound' or a couple of chords in common, they are all highly filmic in that they create an expectation of things to come; scares, intrigues, developments of some sort. But SM does no such thing; it is utterly devoid of expectation or anticipation - more like reluctant but complete resignation.

Well, they most likely interpolated this. I'm not sure if your point was to say they came up with this melody on their own, because I think it's pretty obvious they didn't. They mention Isham in interviews and have a habit of interpolating things. Aquarius, Telepath, White Cyclosa..

I think interpolation is part of every composer's process, whether consciously or not, but we don't assume that for every new piece of music there must be a definitive 'source'. Everything we hear has countless influences running through it. Marcus and Michael cited Isham and Frizzi etc as influences not sources

[Basefree]

we don't assume that for every new piece of music there must be a definitive 'source'. Marcus and Michael cited Isham and Frizzi etc as influences not sources

I also assumed everything on this album was purely composed by Boards of Canada, but Telepath shattered this illusion. If that, why not the aforementioned others as some proof is in the oven.

Few artists would admit straight after an anticipated release that they just directly borrowed things from elsewhere. I think you have an idealized view to this, but you are entitled to your opinion and I cannot prove you wrong per se as long as the brothers refuse to disclose the true origin.

[mc10101]

we don't assume that for every new piece of music there must be a definitive 'source'. Marcus and Michael cited Isham and Frizzi etc as influences not sources

I also assumed everything on this album was purely composed by Boards of Canada, but Telepath shattered this illusion. If that, why not the aforementioned others as some proof is in the oven.

Few artists would admit straight after an anticipated release that they just directly borrowed things from elsewhere. I think you have an idealized view to this, but you are entitled to your opinion and I cannot prove you wrong per se as long as the brothers refuse to disclose the true origin.

I think perhaps it comes down to a gut-feeling about their methods and intentions. The descending pattern of chords in SM are obviously the same ones (but gated) in Gemini, but also seem to appear in vastly varied forms throughout TH including the notorious Telepath, which I always felt was some kind of deliberate musical joke, maybe something they just stumbled upon and liked (neither Pat Leonard nor Madonna were mentioned in their list of favoured film composers!).
But as I say this is all my own gut-feeling based on their previous work and compositional prowess. To me the influence of Isham, Frizzi, even Carpenter has more to do with stylistics and production techniques than the melodies themselves.
Ultimately though, the fact that M + M virtually never answer direct questions from us fans is what fuels threads like this one!

[Maxima]

I only just gave this track the close attention it deserves, as it had sort of fallen by the wayside for me. Once I listened to it with the rest of the album in mind, though, it's taken on a whole new identity.

I was initially confused by this song, as it seemed very... bland and empty. I wondered why the album didn't just end with "Come to Dust", since this just felt like something tacked onto the end. I was way off.

I've heard a mention or two that the chord progression is very similar to that of "Gemini", which fits well with the palindromic structure M&M have been talking about. Once I took a moment to consider that comparison, "seeds of the dead" started to make a lot more sense. "Come to Dust" was essentially the final stage of the cycle to which Tomorrow's Harvest alludes, but an album as unsettling as this couldn't possibly leave well enough alone with a satisfying conclusion - the cycle has to begin again, even though we all know how it will end. It's as if the album could be played on repeat and make perfect sense, since, thematically, we are doomed to repeat our mistakes endlessly.

"Seeds of the Dead" points to the idea that even before we are born, we're destined to die, both on an individual and a global level.

[egbdf]

I've heard a mention or two that the chord progression is very similar to that of "Gemini", which fits well with the palindromic structure M&M have been talking about.

Gemini doesn't really have a chord progression. It's just a droned note under some chromatic stuff which eventually becomes a minor chord.

[Jonse]

Semena Mertvykh

Semena

Semen

Semen (it stains mountaintops)

[juKajitsu]

Semena Mertvykh

Semena

Semen

Semen (it stains mountaintops)

Semena Mertvykh

Mertvykh

Metvykh

Meth

Sorry

[arvy]

fuck me but this drone sound is not from this world, just listened to it on the vinyl loud, it gives me shivers

[polarbear]

[Opothecary]

best like ever?

[polarbear]

they have already like on previous occasions..

[Fireal420]

a prior post in this thread talked about not giving semena mertvykh the attention it deserves until recently.


well, last night i decided to do the same thing, and really give the track a deep and honest listen. well, this track is certainly about something terrible. it almost sounds like a situation that absolutely positively cannot be fixed, and you are in the stages of realizing it.


anyway. when i listened to the track, gemini began playing immediately afterwards. which really made me notice the similarities between the two tracks. the string section of both tracks seem to fade in and out at for the exact same amount of time in both tracks. which makes me wonder if the tracks are somehow the same thing, just being played with different tunes and pitches


all i know, is that something is def. going on with tomorrows harvest. after listening to semena mertvykh and gemini back to back, you can almost feel the connection in the tracks.

[arvy]

Why they wrote Russian word in English letters ? It's one of the biggest mysteries on TH for me.

[Najlepsiejszy]

Why they wrote Russian word in English letters ? It's one of the biggest mysteries on TH for me.

Would you read семена мертвых comfortably? Also it just fits with the rest of the cover being written in Latin alphabet

[arvy]

Why they wrote Russian word in English letters ? It's one of the biggest mysteries on TH for me.

Would you read семена мертвых comfortably? Also it just fits with the rest of the cover being written in Latin alphabet

Ok, so why not just Seeds of the dead?

edit: actually I would read it with no problem, so whats your point was ? If it fits with the rest of the cover in Cyrillic alphabet, the tracks should be written in English with Russian letters?

[thepastinsidepressant]

so semen is our seed to give life. the name comes from latin but its in russian too… hmm

[Radiobuzz]

Why they wrote Russian word in English letters ? It's one of the biggest mysteries on TH for me.

I wondered about that too, they've used Russian and Spanish on the same record (ok, Spanish was present on the ARG and not on the album, but whatever). It's the first time they've used another language.

[Yellow Records]

This album has a lot of Spanish, Russian, and even German references in it. I've listened to a lot of Numbers Stations recordings that all stem from those three (and British and American of course)...

There's so much correlation between the theme of this whole album and these types of numbers stations.

This post really isn't saying a lot of stimulating stuff im just SAYIN.

[Najlepsiejszy]

There are German references? Where?

And I don't think that a title of one song is much of a reference...half of a title, in case of Spanish

[thepastinsidepressant]

perhaps its just an idea to convey these type of number station transmissions, from around the world, different languages, mixed up messages, the anagrams, codes etc