Pitchfork on BOC’s MHTRTC

[Cyclosa]

https://pitchfork.com/features/article/ ... f-the-90s/

[tonx]

“I always felt rhythm is the part of music that dates it, for better or worse,” says Sandison today. “It gives away the era, it’s the replaceable part in cover versions. But people get attached to a chord progression, or a figure of notes, because those are timeless. We have a subtractive way of putting our music together. So a lot of what we were doing with [Music Has the Right] was actually the process of removal; discarding the things that other people would do that annoyed us, until the skeletal remains didn’t annoy us anymore. And this pushed the whole sound into a kind of apparition of the music that was not quite all there.”

[tonx]

On the one hand, “music has the right to children” seems to propose an ideal listener or listening state for this music: impressionable, receptive, open to the in-rush of experience. That interpretation is strengthened by the duo’s own description of the title as “a statement of our intention to affect the audience using sound.”

This article is full of great stuff!

[koroviev]

I don't recall seeing those illustrations before. I wonder if they're from the cutting room floor of the MHTRTC cover.

[Cyclosa]

I don't recall seeing those illustrations before. I wonder if they're from the cutting room floor of the MHTRTC cover.

http://www.bryanolsoncollage.com/

[deadfly]

“What I still like about [the album] is all about everything it doesn’t do, in the context of the world of music it came into,” says Sandison today.

- So this is a new interview? They don't seem to say that much but I suppose it's encouraging that they've come out of hiding to actually talk to somebody!

[Sherbet Head]

Enjoyed that. Love the artwork too!

“What I still like about [the album] is all about everything it doesn’t do, in the context of the world of music it came into,” says Sandison today.

- So this is a new interview? They don't seem to say that much but I suppose it's encouraging that they've come out of hiding to actually talk to somebody!

I was thinking the same thing. Wasn't sure if that was a fresh quote or something sourced from a recent-ish (possibly TH era) interview?

[Opothecary]

“What I still like about [the album] is all about everything it doesn’t do, in the context of the world of music it came into,” says Sandison today.

- So this is a new interview? They don't seem to say that much but I suppose it's encouraging that they've come out of hiding to actually talk to somebody!

We can always dream that they were being interviewed for some other reason, with just a couple questions about MHTRTC thrown into the mix for this article. WIshful thinking!

[Kreide]

I don't recall seeing those illustrations before. I wonder if they're from the cutting room floor of the MHTRTC cover.

http://www.bryanolsoncollage.com/

great stuff. thanks

[2020k]

“I always felt rhythm is the part of music that dates it, for better or worse,” says Sandison today. “It gives away the era, it’s the replaceable part in cover versions. But people get attached to a chord progression, or a figure of notes, because those are timeless. We have a subtractive way of putting our music together. So a lot of what we were doing with [Music Has the Right] was actually the process of removal; discarding the things that other people would do that annoyed us, until the skeletal remains didn’t annoy us anymore. And this pushed the whole sound into a kind of apparition of the music that was not quite all there.”

I agree with this so much. Rhythm is usually the replaceable part in most covers, regardless of genre. It's usually the drum samples or the way things are mixed that give away eras for me (or in the case of the dubstep-phase, Transformer noises). MHTRTC definitely has a vibe in its percussion that says "this was made in the late 90's" but I don't think it dates it as much as something like a mainstream 90's Pop house remix record sounds dated. The second a 90's dance remix comes on I'm like "Oh, there it is, where's the interesting snare rhythm but with a shitty sample?" With MHTRTC the percussion is of its time, but definitely doesn't follow any specific fads of the time.

This article is wonderful.

[Decorah]

I'm not familiar with any of these quotes being used...I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that Pitchfork would want to interview them about the album's 20th anniversary. Just seems kinda casual, like it's not a big deal at all that they talked to the brothers recently.

This is a really great write up. Reminds me a bit of the piece Factmag did on the 15th anniversary. Alot of this is pretty on-the-nose which isn't really something I say alot when it comes to Pitchfork these days.

Man, I love this album so, so much.

[GeoDose]

“What I still like about [the album] is all about everything it doesn’t do, in the context of the world of music it came into,” says Sandison today.

- So this is a new interview? They don't seem to say that much but I suppose it's encouraging that they've come out of hiding to actually talk to somebody!

We can always dream that they were being interviewed for some other reason, with just a couple questions about MHTRTC thrown into the mix for this article. WIshful thinking!

Dare to dream... This is awesome nonetheless, though. Can't wait to read through the whole thing, perhaps while listening to my vinyl repress that I've neglected for far too long!

[arvy]

Interesting read. Thank you.

[Mexicola]

“What I still like about [the album] is all about everything it doesn’t do, in the context of the world of music it came into,” says Sandison today.

- So this is a new interview? They don't seem to say that much but I suppose it's encouraging that they've come out of hiding to actually talk to somebody!

Certainly appears to be a new interview. Guessing by email?

[joshu_atx]

“What I still like about [the album] is all about everything it doesn’t do, in the context of the world of music it came into,” says Sandison today.

- So this is a new interview? They don't seem to say that much but I suppose it's encouraging that they've come out of hiding to actually talk to somebody!

Certainly appears to be a new interview. Guessing by email?

it's possible, Simon Reynolds has written a lot about BoC, IDM, and hauntology in the past and is well versed in indie and electronic music history, he's the writer who literally coined the term "post-rock" back in the day. wouldn't shock me if he was personally in contact with them.

[joshu_atx]

I don't recall seeing those illustrations before. I wonder if they're from the cutting room floor of the MHTRTC cover.

http://www.bryanolsoncollage.com/

great stuff. thanks

ditto - thanks for the link!

[dustbowl27]

Good article. Nice to read the bit where Mike talks about world building.* I feel like that's why they're attracted to the anticon. gang. Nosdam, Doseone and Why? have all similarly worked to create their own little worlds through their music.

*"...The kinds of bands we like have something going on that is way beyond just the music itself. I appreciate all that world-building, especially if the artist is doing something separate from the main flow.”

Concluding the article with the idea that the band hasn't brought forth a new vision with each record is kind of confusing to read considering that each album released after Music Has The Right goes to great lengths to create its own world and narrative.

[Kyla]

ABRACADABRA

“I do actually believe that there are powers in music that are almost supernatural,” Eoin once argued. “I think you actually manipulate people with music, and that is definitely what we are trying to do.”

[TheStatPow]

"BoC’s trajectory was more like Seefeel"

Never heard of them so I looked them up and yeah, it really has a BoC vibe!

[jcnporter]

What a great article - Simon Reynolds and the sadly departed Mark Fisher are/were some of the few writers, being immersed in the whole hauntology thing, who could really get to the heart of BOC and Reynolds is one of the best writers about music, full stop.
He's quite specific about when each of the quotes are from and quite clearly a few are from 'now' or 'today', so I imagine an interview specifically for this piece. I'd imagine if they were going to talk to anyone, Simon Reynolds would be first choice.
Or maybe it's not such a big deal, maybe he just asked?