Hypothetical retirement

[Echelon]

i did get the feeling that they were essentially saying... “we are not the only ones out there, guys...”

I got this impression. Why else do you think the BOC twitter account initially liked that post about how brilliant the "bait and switch" of people expecting unreleased BOC tracks and getting to hear all these artists they've never heard before was.

Let's face it. They had the chance to make us all overjoyed on during Warp 30. Autechre did exactly that and released some old tapes. Instead BOC basically told us, "Stop obsessing about our old music, here's some old (and new) music that's just as good."

I'll be totally honest. As great as Societas is, Warp 30 was still a disappointment for me. Even if they didn't release any new music, they still could have dropped a hint about the future. As such, Societas might have been a contractual obligation.

[koalemos]

My real hope is that they take inspiration from Aphex Twin and create some sort of Soundcloud with their back catalog... wishful thinking.

[Soul_Slip]

My real hope is that they take inspiration from Aphex Twin and create some sort of Soundcloud with their back catalog... wishful thinking.

Yeah, I would love that. I still feel like a website might still be in the making. It may take a long time to get everything catalogued and ready for release. I also am optimistic we may see one more show, that special event, and maybe they would release older stuff around that... very wishful thinking haha that is my boc dream

[sixtyniner]

Yeah, I would love that. I still feel like a website might still be in the making. It may take a long time to get everything catalogued and ready for release.

Yeah mdg talked about a new site more than 5 years ago now https://www.twoism.org/forum/viewtopic. ... 83#p244783

About the cataloguing, I'm reminded of this quote from an interview in 2013:

"MIKE SANDISON We spent some time overseas and then we were busy expanding our studio space back here in Scotland. A couple of years ago we decided to start collating and cataloging all our early recordings, just for ourselves really, to know that we could tidy it all up and hand it on to our kids someday, but there are literally thousands of tracks going way back into the ’80s. It’s a huge task, and this just seemed to eat up time. We’ve been working on new music all the time throughout this, so we have a lot of material to wade through."

This reads to me like they changed their minds about what they're cataloguing it all for ("just for ourselves really, to know that we could tidy it all up and hand it on to our kids someday") and might have already finished it all by now. It's disappointing when you look back at what mdg was saying, "99% likely to happen": https://www.twoism.org/forum/viewtopic. ... 220#p70220

[Echelon]

My real hope is that they take inspiration from Aphex Twin and create some sort of Soundcloud with their back catalog... wishful thinking.

Yeah, I would love that. I still feel like a website might still be in the making. It may take a long time to get everything catalogued and ready for release. I also am optimistic we may see one more show, that special event, and maybe they would release older stuff around that... very wishful thinking haha that is my boc dream

Dude you just gave me an awesome idea. What if they're designing the ultimate BOC website with everything cataloged on it. Everything they've ever done with the possibility to download or hear.

They've been cataloging their music since the 2000s. What if it all leads up to the best BOC discography website ever.

Haha, thanks a lot Soul Slip. You got me salivating over something that will never happen haha

[Valotonin]

Dude you just gave me an awesome idea. What if they're designing the ultimate BOC website with everything cataloged on it. Everything they've ever done with the possibility to download or hear.

They've been cataloging their music since the 2000s. What if it all leads up to the best BOC discography website ever.

[♄ope keeper]

Just add:

https://bocpages.org/wiki/The_Last_Secret_of_Pop (2005 interview)

They've already begun a new LP (they have a contract for another three albums with Warp).

Mike: "The next album shall come as a shock to everyone. Nobody will expect this from us."

(so maybe even 2 new albums after TH?)


https://bocpages.org/wiki/Une_Cabane_Au_Canada (2002 interview)

Marcus: "It's also important to us not to take it all too seriously."

[Valotonin]

I recall making a thread a while back about TH being the potential end point of their record releases; thinking that it signaled a farewell etc. I was convinced otherwise, first by the fact that people hypothesised after Campfire Headphase that "Farewell Fire" had a rather direct meaning, which turned out not to be the case, and secondly by the fact they still do have one album to release on Warp to fulfill their contract, as has been mentioned here elsewhere.

[Echelon]

Just add:

https://bocpages.org/wiki/The_Last_Secret_of_Pop (2005 interview)

They've already begun a new LP (they have a contract for another three albums with Warp).

Mike: "The next album shall come as a shock to everyone. Nobody will expect this from us."

(so maybe even 2 new albums after TH?)


https://bocpages.org/wiki/Une_Cabane_Au_Canada (2002 interview)

Marcus: "It's also important to us not to take it all too seriously."

Good Job finding that HK! I'm glad there's actual evidence they aren't done.

Maybe we have a reason to be hopeful.

[Ottomatik]

Mike: "The next album shall come as a shock to everyone. Nobody will expect this from us."

I don't think TH actually is that unexpected and shocking album, I'm wondering if it might rather be the fully acoustic album that they've mentioned working on a few times. However IIRC they said in some interview that they weren't pleased with the result and decided not to release it. But I'm relying on my memory here, I should go through the old interviews for verification.

[♄ope keeper]

Just add:

https://bocpages.org/wiki/The_Last_Secret_of_Pop (2005 interview)

They've already begun a new LP (they have a contract for another three albums with Warp).

Mike: "The next album shall come as a shock to everyone. Nobody will expect this from us."

(so maybe even 2 new albums after TH?)


https://bocpages.org/wiki/Une_Cabane_Au_Canada (2002 interview)

Marcus: "It's also important to us not to take it all too seriously."

Good Job finding that HK! I'm glad there's actual evidence they aren't done.

Maybe we have a reason to be hopeful.

I think we can be very hopeful... they knew back then the next album will be "a shock", it was... but then I think it doesn't mean that their natural nihilism will affect also next albums...

They knew this will be the theme back in 2005 - state of the world, too much of human and unnatural life in many aspects (population size, urbanism, globalization, technology, crowds noise pollution etc.), they gave some glimpse on Geogaddi in 2002 already, it was... but they love music, they listen to everything as they still show with Societas X (moody, uplifting, dark, strange, dreamy - everything) and maybe they'll just jump on another theme and that's it...

But at the same time as in my life, I don't want to underestimate the seriousness of the last theme (if only the coronavirus would be sufficient for the change - clean air, water, soil, more natural life, working time, for family, friends, common good, no infinite GDP etc.)...

After Gemini were destroyed and (Cold) Earth almost depleted, there were Sick Times (hopefully "just" the coronavirus) leading to the moment of Collapse, the last dance of apocalypse (Palace Posy), then we knew we have to Split Your Infinities (confusion and always illusion of infinite GDP etc.) because of it Nothing Is Real, it will fade away (Sundown), we will try once more (New Seeds), but be careful - it can Come to Dust anyway... and the rest will be history...


Did you intentionally wanted to turn away from the more sentimental side of your work, such as on your EP In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country from 2000?

Michael: "We still make a lot of those melodic tracks, but didn't fit as well on those albums. Maybe another time."

Marcus: "It still interests us, composing strong melodies. In fact, I think we're one of the few bands in electronic music who emphasizes the melody so strongly. But on the new record we are rather using the old idea of soundtracks. Small fragments, and melodies that are cut off abruptly."

If you look back, is there something from Campfire Headphase that does not satisfy you anymore today? I ask this because it seems to me that "Tomorrow's Harvest" is a significant step forward from its precedessor, especially concerning moods and sounds.

Marcus: "Honestly, every time we work on a new album we tend to make it sound differently from the previous one, as for sounds and moods... or at least this is our aim. It is a very precise choice. We still want to suggest an idea of change, we want to hear clearly that it is all about a new chapter. This said, I still believe that Campfire Headphase contains many good tracks, among the best things we have ever done. Making a new album which sounds different from the previous one doesn't mean disowning the predecessor, right?"

Will there be live shows taking place around the record? Do Boards Of Canada still exist as a live entity?
Eoin: "We've been busy in our rehearsal space lately, so never say never."

You must be pretty proud of your loyal fans, spreading the word.
Mike: "Our listeners seem to be really cool, savvy types of people. They didn’t let us down."

Are you guys still blissfully retired in the countryside, like proper good ole British gentlemen?
Marcus: "Oh yes, we are. Although we tend not to dress in tweed and to hang stuffed deer heads on the walls."

[♄ope keeper]

Mike: "The next album shall come as a shock to everyone. Nobody will expect this from us."

I don't think TH actually is that unexpected and shocking album, I'm wondering if it might rather be the fully acoustic album that they've mentioned working on a few times. However IIRC they said in some interview that they weren't pleased with the result and decided not to release it. But I'm relying on my memory here, I should go through the old interviews for verification.

Thank you for the comment... I hope same as you that that "shock album" will be something else, something more as you say of a "fully acoustic album" (they have always loved a real instruments music and they play them themselves), just "a good shock"...

(I also think TH may be some sort of a "shock", but after all it's still a proper BOC album)

[♄ope keeper]

[Echelon]

Just add:

https://bocpages.org/wiki/The_Last_Secret_of_Pop (2005 interview)

They've already begun a new LP (they have a contract for another three albums with Warp).

Mike: "The next album shall come as a shock to everyone. Nobody will expect this from us."

(so maybe even 2 new albums after TH?)


https://bocpages.org/wiki/Une_Cabane_Au_Canada (2002 interview)

Marcus: "It's also important to us not to take it all too seriously."

Good Job finding that HK! I'm glad there's actual evidence they aren't done.

Maybe we have a reason to be hopeful.

I think we can be very hopeful... they knew back then the next album will be "a shock", it was... but then I think it doesn't mean that their natural nihilism will affect also next albums...

They knew this will be the theme back in 2005 - state of the world, too much of human and unnatural life in many aspects (population size, urbanism, globalization, technology, crowds noise pollution etc.), they gave some glimpse on Geogaddi in 2002 already, it was... but they love music, they listen to everything as they still show with Societas X (moody, uplifting, dark, strange, dreamy - everything) and maybe they'll just jump on another theme and that's it...

But at the same time as in my life, I don't want to underestimate the seriousness of the last theme (if only the coronavirus would be sufficient for the change - clean air, water, soil, more natural life, working time, for family, friends, common good, no infinite GDP etc.)...

After Gemini were destroyed and (Cold) Earth almost depleted, there were Sick Times (hopefully "just" the coronavirus) leading to the moment of Collapse, the last dance of apocalypse (Palace Posy), then we knew we have to Split Your Infinities (confusion and always illusion of infinite GDP etc.) because of it Nothing Is Real, it will fade away (Sundown), we will try once more (New Seeds), but be careful - it can Come to Dust anyway... and the rest will be history...

Honestly, as much as we don't want to consider BOC prophets, I do like the way you arranged the song titles Hopekeeper. That is, I hate to say it, a plausible way for society to go.

Now the matter is when BOC will release their next album/music during this crisis.

If BOC are not done, they may use this next release to retire once and for all. They're in their fifties and obviously are concerned more with parenting than music. Honestly, that's totally respectable and responsible. I have a feeling that when they release something next, it's going to be a final burst and an attempt to get as much royalties as possible.

I feel the next move they make, may be the ultimate BOC experience. And may be the culmination of everything MDG's teased over the years. We can only be hopeful that's what this is all leading up to and why they've all been silent.

[Echelon]

And here's a compilation of all the promises of archival material and the sheer bulk of it they have:

MDG: "Any and all early material by BOC was 100% written by Mike Sandison & Marcus Eoin. There's absolutely no question of "legal" regarding the BOC back-catalogue, and any hold-up with remastering or curating early work has been purely down to the time involved!"

MDG: "At this point, the box set of early material is looking 99% likely to happen. I say that because it hasn't been finally compiled yet. There's a big archive to get through, the obvious tracks that were on various demos and mixtapes given out to friends in the late eighties and early nineties, but also a huge amount of unreleased material that hasn't surfaced so far. There are hundreds of tracks for every year from say 1986 through to 1995, and then for every record BOC have released there are a mountain of tracks that didn't make it onto the record. So the time involved is the only issue from what I understand. There's been regular debate across here about what goes on them and in what order etc. But if you can be patient, these tracks will come out, and a whole lot you won't have heard yet too. Asides from that, let me just say once again for the record, there's a new album coming out first, and maybe more. No dates yet, but they are definitely coming."

MDG: "This is more or less right - what you've heard on these leaked compilations is really only the tip of the iceberg. There's a number of other compilations, demos and so on that were made even prior to these, going back years, beyond the handful of known titles that have surfaced. Bear in mind that even the tapes and discs that were put together and distributed are still relatively only a small selection picked from a much larger legacy of unheard work. If they were to release every single track they've ever recorded, you'd be looking at a massive number of albums simply to get through it all.

Behind the scenes Mike and Marcus are very prolific, and have always produced a lot of what they call 'collateral' material. There's a huge archive. Some of the material dates right back to 1983, but the real body of work in the archives begins around 1986-1987 and ramps up around 1991. The band has been working through these archives for the past two years or so - whenever they've been free, in an effort to place the work into 'chapters'. But it's a huge time-consuming job in itself just to archive it properly and clean it up. (The analogue cassette archive alone took a year or so to work through). It seems there's a good chance that some of the older work (and the side-project work) will now get a release in some form, maybe in installments. The plans for this are still being thrashed out, although it's always a low-priority issue as obviously the upcoming album is the main thing everyone is concentrating on right now.

I hope this clears it up a bit for you!"

OK The reason it was jumped on was this: Warp and BOC have been in talks for a long while about putting out a box set of old tracks from these tapes and others, with new packaging and art, to be released sometime after the forthcoming record. The tapes were private comps given out to close friends a few years ago, long before the band imagined there would be this kind of interest, and long before the likes of Soulseek etc existed.

The tracks are out there now, nothing can be done about that, they've been circulating for a while and fans have them, so the decision was taken to at least consider tidying them up and repackaging them with decent exclusive artwork & more rarities. BOC never wanted these tracks presented this way, mislabelled and as poor-quality MP3 files.

There's no 'hype', these comps were never listed on any old discogs as they were never intended for mass release in the first place.

Now the intention is still to get round to scheduling a release of these tunes and other rare comps, but unscrupulous people like 'prince murat' are obviously stealing the thunder of the proposed releases, whilst trying to make a tidy profit in the process (a starting price of $799 speaks volumes about 'prince murat's true intentions. who is trying to profit from hype here? if any money is going to be involved, surely the artist who wrote those tracks should be receiving the royalties, and not this person? there's no difference between this kind of profiteering and someone trying to sell a bootleg CDR of Beck's new album months prior to release.)

Anyway, now you know, we hope the intervention hasn't caused too much negative feeling, after all the concern that Warp and BOC have is that basically it's going to spoil the impact of a nice release that hopefully will be enjoyed by the fans.

-mark, hs

[sixtyniner]

I feel as though you guys are sleeping on this quote I posted above. It shows they likely changed their minds about releasing the bocset in a 2013 interview:

"MIKE SANDISON We spent some time overseas and then we were busy expanding our studio space back here in Scotland. A couple of years ago we decided to start collating and cataloging all our early recordings, just for ourselves really, to know that we could tidy it all up and hand it on to our kids someday, but there are literally thousands of tracks going way back into the ’80s. It’s a huge task, and this just seemed to eat up time. We’ve been working on new music all the time throughout this, so we have a lot of material to wade through."

https://bocpages.org/wiki/Brothers_Who_ ... ca_by_Hand

[Echelon]

I feel as though you guys are sleeping on this quote I posted above. It shows they likely changed their minds about releasing the bocset in a 2013 interview:

"MIKE SANDISON We spent some time overseas and then we were busy expanding our studio space back here in Scotland. A couple of years ago we decided to start collating and cataloging all our early recordings, just for ourselves really, to know that we could tidy it all up and hand it on to our kids someday, but there are literally thousands of tracks going way back into the ’80s. It’s a huge task, and this just seemed to eat up time. We’ve been working on new music all the time throughout this, so we have a lot of material to wade through."

https://bocpages.org/wiki/Brothers_Who_ ... ca_by_Hand

I've kept that one in mind. But I've been thinking what if it's put towards a college fund or something like that. I'm obviously not going to speculate beyond that, but I think that these recordings may be used to both support the kids and for a retirement fund.

Just being hopeful. With my luck it's literally just given to the kids to safeguard until they die and then given to their kids to safeguard until they die and so on until the world ends and the tapes will be used in a ritual sacrifice.

[arvy]

Just add:

https://bocpages.org/wiki/The_Last_Secret_of_Pop (2005 interview)

They've already begun a new LP (they have a contract for another three albums with Warp).

Mike: "The next album shall come as a shock to everyone. Nobody will expect this from us."

(so maybe even 2 new albums after TH?)


https://bocpages.org/wiki/Une_Cabane_Au_Canada (2002 interview)

Marcus: "It's also important to us not to take it all too seriously."

Good Job finding that HK! I'm glad there's actual evidence they aren't done.

Maybe we have a reason to be hopeful.

I think we can be very hopeful... they knew back then the next album will be "a shock", it was... but then I think it doesn't mean that their natural nihilism will affect also next albums...

They knew this will be the theme back in 2005 - state of the world, too much of human and unnatural life in many aspects (population size, urbanism, globalization, technology, crowds noise pollution etc.), they gave some glimpse on Geogaddi in 2002 already, it was... but they love music, they listen to everything as they still show with Societas X (moody, uplifting, dark, strange, dreamy - everything) and maybe they'll just jump on another theme and that's it...

But at the same time as in my life, I don't want to underestimate the seriousness of the last theme (if only the coronavirus would be sufficient for the change - clean air, water, soil, more natural life, working time, for family, friends, common good, no infinite GDP etc.)...

After Gemini were destroyed and (Cold) Earth almost depleted, there were Sick Times (hopefully "just" the coronavirus) leading to the moment of Collapse, the last dance of apocalypse (Palace Posy), then we knew we have to Split Your Infinities (confusion and always illusion of infinite GDP etc.) because of it Nothing Is Real, it will fade away (Sundown), we will try once more (New Seeds), but be careful - it can Come to Dust anyway... and the rest will be history...

What is the difference between Collapse and Apocalypse?

[♄ope keeper]

I think we can be very hopeful... they knew back then the next album will be "a shock", it was... but then I think it doesn't mean that their natural nihilism will affect also next albums...

They knew this will be the theme back in 2005 - state of the world, too much of human and unnatural life in many aspects (population size, urbanism, globalization, technology, crowds noise pollution etc.), they gave some glimpse on Geogaddi in 2002 already, it was... but they love music, they listen to everything as they still show with Societas X (moody, uplifting, dark, strange, dreamy - everything) and maybe they'll just jump on another theme and that's it...

But at the same time as in my life, I don't want to underestimate the seriousness of the last theme (if only the coronavirus would be sufficient for the change - clean air, water, soil, more natural life, working time, for family, friends, common good, no infinite GDP etc.)...

After Gemini were destroyed and (Cold) Earth almost depleted, there were Sick Times (hopefully "just" the coronavirus) leading to the moment of Collapse, the last dance of apocalypse (Palace Posy), then we knew we have to Split Your Infinities (confusion and always illusion of infinite GDP etc.) because of it Nothing Is Real, it will fade away (Sundown), we will try once more (New Seeds), but be careful - it can Come to Dust anyway... and the rest will be history...

What is the difference between Collapse and Apocalypse?

Good question... I think it could be the same, on the album it's likely divided - Collapse could be moments before the apocalypse, some ultimate event which leads to it, there's something coming at the end of the track (I suppose there are more possibilities than "a falling a-bomb", maybe also some sort of "Earth event", weather etc.), "the last event of collapsing civilization" and then there is exact "breaking point" Palace Posy, the exact moment (the track is 4 minutes long, the real time of the moment can last 4 days) when the old human world definitely ends what we see on the "less human" second half of the album... but I don't know everything of course, maybe BOC will give us the right fully clear interpretation sometimes (I still can't 100% understand the narrative chronology of the album personally)...

Thanx to everyone for interesting discussion...

[Echelon]

Thanx to everyone for interesting discussion...

I've been trying to keep discussion alive and thank you (and everyone else) for participating in it as well.

There's sadly nothing left to do as a BOC fan but have faith. I still hope if they resurface, they do it now, while so many people are questioning the world. We need their kind of insight about life.