"We're very optimistic"

[flowerbeast]

"We're very optimistic. We might sound melancholy, but that's just the way we write music."
15 years later
"We've become more nihilistic over the years"

WTF happened

[Tarkus]

The world happened :/

[squid]

They got old and bitter?

[zeoevil]

They grew up. A hell of a lot happened in those fifteen years of a life.

[Opothecary]

I think it's tough for them, the most basic way to look at it is that the world has become a very dark place over the past 15 years. Whether we are talking about world events, the way the media covers them, the rise of hate/ignorance based populism, and down to how the climate is changing and the fact that a number of species are dying off at an alarming rate because of those changes, anyone paying attention should find it a hard pill to swallow and should have no shortage of things to be frustrated or alarmed about. The media tries to instill fear and uncertainty in all of us, unfortunately there is plenty of both to go around even if you feel that the media carries an agenda.

Bringing it a little closer to them, the appeal of their art has always had a nod to the nostalgic no matter what they're doing. Whether you look at their original records, where they seem to recall a certain era where there was a lot of color, warmth and the fact that the "educational" content that we consumed as children had some element of education to it rather than distraction, which is what we have now. Do you see anyone making music in 20 years that teleports the next generation back to being in diapers and watching Peppa the Pig? I find it hard to wrap my head around. Nothing is memorable anymore, it's just there to keep kids quiet.

You look at TH and everything becomes a little darker and I can understand the parallels between our current time and the cold and clinical approach that the album takes at times. It's still unmistakably BoC, it's not the first time they've made an overtly dark album - Geogaddi mined paranoia, psychedelia and spirituality to get to those dark places, TH is rooted in cold, hard reality. It's less of a fantasy and I think the enjoyment of their art has always revolved around an escape of some kind. I think some people have a hard time when the art that they are relying on as an escape is tonally a little too close to what they are trying to escape from.

I do hope that they can rediscover their joie de vivre through the eyes of their children in their future work, I know we'd all be grateful for that. I want to see them happy.

[flowerbeast]

I do hope that they can rediscover their joie de vivre through the eyes of their children in their future work, I know we'd all be grateful for that. I want to see them happy.

well at least their children will have the right to their music....ohhhhhhhhhhhh

[seanandcandy]

They got old and bitter?

[TheStatPow]

Being nihilist isn't something that has to be negative and pessimistic.

Theres 2 types of nihilist generally, pessimistic and optimistic.
Im pretty sure Boards are still very optimistic.

A smart pessimistic nihilist most of the time doesn't last long before quitting.

[WATER_CAN-_-]

I think it's tough for them, the most basic way to look at it is that the world has become a very dark place over the past 15 years. Whether we are talking about world events, the way the media covers them, the rise of hate/ignorance based populism, and down to how the climate is changing and the fact that a number of species are dying off at an alarming rate because of those changes, anyone paying attention should find it a hard pill to swallow and should have no shortage of things to be frustrated or alarmed about. The media tries to instill fear and uncertainty in all of us, unfortunately there is plenty of both to go around even if you feel that the media carries an agenda.

Bringing it a little closer to them, the appeal of their art has always had a nod to the nostalgic no matter what they're doing. Whether you look at their original records, where they seem to recall a certain era where there was a lot of color, warmth and the fact that the "educational" content that we consumed as children had some element of education to it rather than distraction, which is what we have now. Do you see anyone making music in 20 years that teleports the next generation back to being in diapers and watching Peppa the Pig? I find it hard to wrap my head around. Nothing is memorable anymore, it's just there to keep kids quiet.

You look at TH and everything becomes a little darker and I can understand the parallels between our current time and the cold and clinical approach that the album takes at times. It's still unmistakably BoC, it's not the first time they've made an overtly dark album - Geogaddi mined paranoia, psychedelia and spirituality to get to those dark places, TH is rooted in cold, hard reality. It's less of a fantasy and I think the enjoyment of their art has always revolved around an escape of some kind. I think some people have a hard time when the art that they are relying on as an escape is tonally a little too close to what they are trying to escape from.

I do hope that they can rediscover their joie de vivre through the eyes of their children in their future work, I know we'd all be grateful for that. I want to see them happy.

I think this post may be quite accurate. Well said.

[drillkicker]

the world has become a very dark place over the past 15 years.

People always say this but it's never true.

[Gevel]

I get where you're coming from Opothecary, but you're being a bit too overly pessimistic and seeing things through an adult's cynical eyes. You really think kids all grown up 20 years from now will look back at the cartoons and stuff they grew up with and not feel nostalgia for it just because it's not the same stuff you grew up with? Heck, sometimes I see the stuff kid's have today and have to wonder how cool my childhood would have been growing up with it. A lot of it is memorable, maybe it just doesn't personally interest you is all.

New generations will always step in and recreate elements of their own childhood's distinctive aesthetics. I love BoC and they are possibly the group that so perfectly captures the birth of the technology era with all its analog imperfections and warmth, but time moves on. Just for the sake of growing older without becoming that guy that yells at kids to get off his lawn and talks about "Well, in MY day...", it's much more healthy to not hold any specific generation as a standard for how things should be. Plus being able to look back at it specifically through media like cartoons and music sure makes it easier to be biased and think the world was perfect just because the entertainment from back then makes you feel all fuzzy inside.

And as far as the world having become dark only in the past 15 years (I'm assuming you mean since 9/11), the world has always been tough, we just have much much more access to news as it happens around the world, where as before you were limited to the next day's paper or seeing the 11 o' clock news.

But I get it, it's just part of being human. Sometimes I get scared how easy it is to be so cynical as we get older, though. As a kid we make fun of how adults act, and then somehow we just start naturally being just like them with all their complaints. All I know is, I don't wanna be the "back in my day" guy when I'm not even 30 yet

[warphead]

People often talk about how innocent and free being a kid was in the mid to late 70's and early 80's (I was born in 75). And I can confirm that I would be out playing all day (unless there was school lol) as long as I was back home for tea time 5pm. There was definite a sense of running free. But we also had this dark foreboding shadow of nuclear war over of us, I used to think about it a lot as a kid and would even be be frightened of forming cumulonimbus clouds , and Mike and Marcus talk about the exact same thing in the Warp Records Book. So every generation has it's fear.

Also about perhaps two years ago maybe longer I purposely started to refuse to watch or read the news. It was (still is I guess) in the UK all about terrorism or pedophile/child abuse. I could feel it starting to really effect me, and I guess make me extremely hateful and depressed about the world. So I stopped for about 2 years and only recently started every now and again getting some news via the radio. I can assure you the non-stop 24hour looping effect of seeing and hearing about terrorism on news channels is no good for the soul.

[drillkicker]

The world is only a dark place if you choose to see it that way.

[warphead]

The world is only a dark place if you choose to see it that way.

for once drillkicker I'm going to agree with you

[Opothecary]

I get where you're coming from Opothecary, but you're being a bit too overly pessimistic and seeing things through an adult's cynical eyes. You really think kids all grown up 20 years from now will look back at the cartoons and stuff they grew up with and not feel nostalgia for it just because it's not the same stuff you grew up with? Heck, sometimes I see the stuff kid's have today and have to wonder how cool my childhood would have been growing up with it. A lot of it is memorable, maybe it just doesn't personally interest you is all.

My point is that there's a new mentality of disposability to everything in our culture, and that includes how we consume our entertainment. Everything is on demand. When you were a kid, you had a certain number of toys, VHS tapes and video games. You learned to cherish each one and attach memories to them, my point is that the way consume media and enjoy things now is completely immemorable - how are you expected to become nostalgic about something that you only see or use once because there's 100 other things that you're just going to watch once? That's my real point. Nostalgia can only be associated with things that you're attached to via repetition and habit. Riding your bike, a certain movie, etc. No one wanders far from home on their bikes anymore and there's an embarrassment of content to sit on your couch and get fat watching.

And as far as the world having become dark only in the past 15 years (I'm assuming you mean since 9/11), the world has always been tough, we just have much much more access to news as it happens around the world, where as before you were limited to the next day's paper or seeing the 11 o' clock news.

I agree, but perception becomes reality. Ignorance was bliss. I don't consider myself a scared person or a doomsayer. I like to laugh, drink some beers, enjoy music and hiking. Don't confuse awareness of the truth of reality for being hopelessly depressed. There's things that you can change and things that you can't - and there's no point in getting bummed out about things that you can't control. It doesn't mean they can't live in the back of your head though.

[Cupz]

They probably noticed the fanboyism on twoism.org.

[chronical]

They probably noticed the fanboyism on twoism.org.

I'm sure they noticed the fanboyism the moment it was created.

[Kenko]

My point is that there's a new mentality of disposability to everything in our culture, and that includes how we consume our entertainment. Everything is on demand. When you were a kid, you had a certain number of toys, VHS tapes and video games. You learned to cherish each one and attach memories to them, my point is that the way consume media and enjoy things now is completely immemorable - how are you expected to become nostalgic about something that you only see or use once because there's 100 other things that you're just going to watch once? That's my real point. Nostalgia can only be associated with things that you're attached to via repetition and habit. Riding your bike, a certain movie, etc. No one wanders far from home on their bikes anymore and there's an embarrassment of content to sit on your couch and get fat watching.

Well said, I've noticed this same effect also, I just wasn't sure how exactly to explain it. I remember in an interview back in 2013 when boc said something similar, about how it could be too easy for kids to just download (maybe even pirate??) mp3s onto their phones, which could also lead to just listening to the songs only once or twice then deleting them right after. Atleast, I think that's how I remember they explaining it anyway.
A good example of this could be mobile phone games. Most of them are free (or cost very little money) and don't really have much to them, yet kids still seem to get so attached that suddenly they don't care about game consoles anymore. I still have fond memories of playing certain games for hours straight, but with mobile phone games, you can only play them for a short while until deleting and forgetting about them.

[drillkicker]

Opothecary being the usual Luddite and complaining about kids these days

[Alien Sugar]

My idea of a new album is going to revolve around the musical content of that sisters remix. Just, lets hope we'll see it real soon.