It would be nice is BOC took one from the page of AT

[ctb11110]

Yeah quantity and quality are different things. I think BOCs track record of music quality is higher than Aphex's, he's had at least a few rather "meh" releases (not terrible per se, but just not as high quality as his acclaimed material). His 12-year break from releasing albums notwithstanding, Aphex's has a habit of putting out a ton of music of which a large percentage is good and some is just alright.

[drillkicker]

Curating is a forgotten skill.

That's a strange thing to say. Music curation is a relatively new skill. In the past when music was easier to release, people would record songs in a single take and press them on vinyl. Listening to some of the old '78s from Bulgaria and Southeast Asia will show how well music was curated in the past.

[Aerial Boundaries]

Curating is a forgotten skill.

That's a strange thing to say. Music curation is a relatively new skill. In the past when music was easier to release, people would record songs in a single take and press them on vinyl. Listening to some of the old '78s from Bulgaria and Southeast Asia will show how well music was curated in the past.

I think what he means is that it is a recently forgotten skill amongst many artists. Mainly since the rise of the internet.

[Mexicola]

It's only strange in the era of the internet, mpFree and the 'I want it NOW!' crybaby generation.

Quality control is something many, many people have apparently forgotten or perhaps more accurately, didn't understand to begin with.

[jcnporter]

I've said all this before, the whole 'unreleased tracks' thing was, pre-internet, a record company cash-in to squeeze the last drop out of established acts, some artists were happy with that, some weren't.
It's only become established with the internet and the supposed death of the album. Some people seem to have forgotten the point of the album as a concept, a story, a self-contained piece of work.
If you want to find a band that still cares and understands about the album as a complete piece of work, there's two brothers from Scotland that make electronic music and call themselves....

Unreleased tracks are unreleased for a reason. For me it's pretty simple - they're like the pieces of paper on the artist's desk or files on their hard drive - private and nothing to do with anyone else.
There is no obligation for an artist to release any of their private property for any of us to view. We should perhaps mind our own business, like we do with everyone else that we don't know.

[Mexicola]

Well said.

[Najlepsiejszy]

Releasing the tracks would be just the nice thing to do. If they don't want our money for them, then why don't they just release them for free?

It would be so stupid if MDG hadn't told the brothers about how well received OT/R35TT/Boc Maxima were.

Sometime in 2005 or something all plans to release OT and the rest of the unreleased stuff went to shit and we don't even know why. We can only speculate that it's because the tapes were leaked. But then why should we, the fans who have never even seen one of the super rare tapes be punished? i, for one, am not satisfied with MP3s of poor quality and I'm sure that nearly 100% of us would like to put even Boc Maxima on our shelves, even though a FLAC of the release is widely available.

Of course you can dismiss all of this by saying "but they don't owe you anything!!", but I think that they at least owe us an explanation as to why OT/R35TT/everyting else has not been released yet after all those years.

Part of the appeal to listening to previously unreleased stuff is the roughness of the songs. Sure, AFX's unreleased tracks are not all perfect, but there are some VERY GOOD tunes- like the compilation made by fans, Selected Ambient Works 1.5. I don't think Richard has worked a lot on mastering of these songs, but they still sound so goooood. I don't think anyone expects previously unreleased songs to sound 100% perfectly. And it's fine!!

Also it's pretty weird- on one hand, we love the brothers for their use of "dirty", pure sounds- at the same time we want their tracks to sound perfectly. One of the reasons for me as to why TH is bad (pls don't hate) is this lack of organicity. As far as I'm concerned, one of the reasons for MHTRTC widely-loved nostalgic feel is the absence of "clean" sounds

But I dunno, I guess I'm just a part of the crybaby generation

[Mexicola]

Rolls eyes. Again.

[Najlepsiejszy]

thanks a lot

[Skimming Stone]

I agree Najlepsiejszy with pretty much everything you said, don't worry

[lyst]

Why in God's name would they release old stuff for free on Soundcloud. They can just compile a bunch of old shit into an album and then release it and make a shit-ton of money, *Ala Tomorrow's Harvest.

[Najlepsiejszy]

Old fans have been waiting for it since 2005

[Mexicola]

Naj its not a dig at you per se. It's just tiring listening to the same old arguments over and over and over. Gets a bit Groundhog Day after a while.

[Najlepsiejszy]

"They owe you nothing" is also a pretty old argument

[Aerial Boundaries]

It's on old rebuttal to an old argument. And still very much valid. They really don't.

They don't even owe us an explanation as to why the BOCset hasn't happened (yet), but I'm willing to bet that more important stuff has gotten in the way. Like making new music, and families and such.

I understand the frustration, but in the end, it doesn't make them wrong just because they want only the best of their work out there. The way they see it, and indeed the way I see it, they're doing right by their fans this way. Because the fans only want what's up to scratch, and obviously they don't think a lot of their unreleased work IS up to scratch. You or I might think it's worthwhile to have the 200 snippets from the Geo sessions, or the older albums that may or may not be amateurish, but they don't. They don't think they're good enough. They aren't an "ok" release band. They're an "as close to perfect as is possible" release band.

This same philosophy is the reason why we have such a singularly hypnotic and high quality discography from them. They're not grumpy, or ungrateful. Those who demand more and more, quicker and quicker, they are ungrateful.

[Skimming Stone]

Of course you can dismiss all of this by saying "but they don't owe you anything!!", but I think that they at least owe us an explanation as to why OT/R35TT/everything else has not been released yet after all those years.

This is one of the main reasons the whole situation ends up frustrating me more than it could be. I am totally okay with them wanting to keep their old releases to themselves for whatever reason, it's completely their choice. But although it's also their choice whether they shed some light on the situation to all of us, it feels as if it's common courtesy to give such a patient and accepting fanbase at least a tiny bit of insight. 10 years is a long time, and some people here have been there since the beginning of it all.

[Aerial Boundaries]

We should've learnt by now that information is usually scarce. The solution lies with us, stop focusing on it. We'll know when we know. I am young but I can totally see where Mexi is coming from here, the internet age has made us so used to constant ubiquitous knowledge. It's like you guys are going through BOC withdrawal here lol.

[Skimming Stone]

I care about it more because the old tunes are among my favourite releases from the brothers, I love how the tracks sound imperfect. I have also learnt that all the complaining in the world won't get me anywhere, It just helps me ease my frustration a bit I am very grateful of what the brothers have decided to share with us, and I respect their extreme quality control.

[Mexicola]

Lest we forget, Old Tunes etc was apparently leaked.

I guess I just find it disrespectful. Feels like people demanding, stamping feet and sticking their lip out because they don't get what they want. It comes across as petulant at times and I'll wager its also counter-productive.

Still, you guys have fun!

[d e n]

Mexicola, sorry for burdening you with having to move that TransCanada energy issue thread. I knew it would be moved but purposefully posted that in the BoC forum as a symbol of what's important!

there is so much mystery and things to explore that the work of BoC points to. Especially with environmental issues re Tomorrow's Harvest.

All the energy spend urging for the 'next experience' of new music really, really, really takes away from what's happening now and in my experience that perpetual desire desensitizes the experience of new music when it is released.

From what I've read on here from older members about the WATMM site it feels like these kind of threads originated from over there!