What does BOC think about civilization?

[dreadpirateroberts]

To me, their music has a commentary on our current state of civilization. There are themes of primitive man throughout their music, listen to the end of Kaini Industries for just one example. There is also commentary on the future and collapse of our civilization, see Tomorrow's Harvest.

They use analog devices, often degraded and distorted, to produce their music, which I believe to be a commentary in and of itself:
"We just destroy the sound. Most people spend ages trying to polish the sound and improve it, but we use tapes and old gear and analogue synths to downgrade the sound and make it more damaged, to sound older. The damaged sound adds a character that you can associate with an imaginary and distant time or place. It's like a barely controlled chaos, it's always on edge, threatening to fall apart, just like the best music of the past, before everyone started using computers to sanitize and sterilize music in a cold and clinical way." - J Ghosn's retrieved Feb 2008

Their music evokes a feeling of nostalgia in the listener, remembering better times that once were, perhaps when we were living in a state of innocence. I believe this emotion lies within us not just because of a lost childhood, but also because of a lost state of existence in the world that is the root of all our instincts.

Thoughts?

[WATER_CAN-_-]

Coming back to the topics of Tomorrow's Harvest: if it is a reflection or statement on the sad state of nature & environment – is it just something you’re ‘interested in’, like religion & cults on former records? Or is it something more important, also in your private lives, that you’re worried about?

Mike: It’s not really an environmental thing, it’s much more to do with people and the direction our civilization is taking us in. We’re not literally talking about plants when we use the term “seeds”, so you have to think sideways about the song titles. We’re living in a time of very dramatic change in terms of population numbers and insidious political events and in some ways it now feels that some sort of crash on the horizon is not just inevitable but in fact necessary.

That said, you’re rather pessimistic about the future of mankind? The crash is necessary because people, governments and industry are just not able to change their direction and thinking?

Mike: Yes that’s part of it, humans are essentially selfish. So I feel that real radical change is more likely to come from external events rather than from within.

One of you once said: “I like the idea of doing things that in five, ten, or twenty years time will be able to reveal something about our music, that will make people completely re-examine what we’ve done, and see it in a completely different light.” So you’ve inspired many people with your ideas – would that fit your statement above?

Mike: Yeah I’d say quite honestly if we were able to inspire one person to go out and make their own mark in some way, whether through art or politics, it would make it all worthwhile. On the one hand you can argue that it’s only music and of course that’s right, it’s trivial in the context of history, but all art inspires and moves somebody somewhere, and that’s like a kind of energy passing down through a chain of generations, and it’s all you can ask for as a musician.

https://bocpages.org/wiki/The_Charms_of_the_Sphinx 2013

you're starting to get it
I can help show you the way

[dreadpirateroberts]

Coming back to the topics of Tomorrow's Harvest: if it is a reflection or statement on the sad state of nature & environment – is it just something you’re ‘interested in’, like religion & cults on former records? Or is it something more important, also in your private lives, that you’re worried about?

Mike: It’s not really an environmental thing, it’s much more to do with people and the direction our civilization is taking us in. We’re not literally talking about plants when we use the term “seeds”, so you have to think sideways about the song titles. We’re living in a time of very dramatic change in terms of population numbers and insidious political events and in some ways it now feels that some sort of crash on the horizon is not just inevitable but in fact necessary.

That said, you’re rather pessimistic about the future of mankind? The crash is necessary because people, governments and industry are just not able to change their direction and thinking?

Mike: Yes that’s part of it, humans are essentially selfish. So I feel that real radical change is more likely to come from external events rather than from within.

One of you once said: “I like the idea of doing things that in five, ten, or twenty years time will be able to reveal something about our music, that will make people completely re-examine what we’ve done, and see it in a completely different light.” So you’ve inspired many people with your ideas – would that fit your statement above?

Mike: Yeah I’d say quite honestly if we were able to inspire one person to go out and make their own mark in some way, whether through art or politics, it would make it all worthwhile. On the one hand you can argue that it’s only music and of course that’s right, it’s trivial in the context of history, but all art inspires and moves somebody somewhere, and that’s like a kind of energy passing down through a chain of generations, and it’s all you can ask for as a musician.

https://bocpages.org/wiki/The_Charms_of_the_Sphinx 2013

you're starting to get it
I can help show you the way

sent you a dm

[vitriolie]

"I never seen anything like this before, but at the same time I remember this image, it looks so familiar." This is exactly the first what came to mind when I saw reveal of Tomorrow's Harvest. It is like they predicting the future , but letting you remember at the same time.
"I remember the last collapse"



I think Geogaddi is much more complex and difficult to digest than TH, but it is still has that deep nostalgia. And Music has the right to children is already a relic of the past from the 90s.

[WATER_CAN-_-]

https://www.nfb.ca/film/standing_alone/

[Cupz]

idk ask them what am I a psychic

[WATER_CAN-_-]

Like much old folk music, the music of Boards Of Canada is full of pagan symbolism.

We are interested in the pagan roots of our society,

Mike confirms,
with all its rituals and ancient ways of life. Most people seem to forget that the modern age we live in is also transient. You can at least study an alternative to the current society and way of life. Look at someone like Julian Cope, who uses these influences to enrich his music uniquely. But those influences can also manifest themselves in other ways, outside of music.

https://bocpages.org/wiki/Even_voorstellen 2002

[WATER_CAN-_-]

This is the sacred berry
When it is blessed, we will return it to Mother Earth

Pete Standing Alone 1982

[WATER_CAN-_-]

[Alvin]

Coming back to the topics of Tomorrow's Harvest: if it is a reflection or statement on the sad state of nature & environment – is it just something you’re ‘interested in’, like religion & cults on former records? Or is it something more important, also in your private lives, that you’re worried about?

Sorry if this is too much of a tangent but RE: cults. Has it been established whether this is only something they are interested in, or something they are actually in?

[WATER_CAN-_-]

rational people have culture, not cults

the answers are all there before you

[WATER_CAN-_-]

[WATER_CAN-_-]

[μasch]

Industrial Society and Its Future etc etc...

[WATER_CAN-_-]

And so, the idea for The Campfire Headphase was born: They wanted to go back to the time when making music was for them simply an escape. Back to Twoism, their debut lp, with its maddening singing sound.

Mike: "Twoism is probably the least political record we've made. It's music to dream to. If your life's shit and you hate your job, you put on a record, the melodies move you, you can forget everything. That's what we've tried to recreate again. An air bubble in which you can rise and fly off. Away from everything. The new record's got no hidden agenda. The only thing it says is 'fuck all this stuff', switch off the news, fuck the job off, get out of the city and take the time to go back and think about happier times. Everybody has a year in their head, the best summer of their lives."

https://bocpages.org/wiki/The_Last_Secret_of_Pop 2005

[2020k]

Inspired the addition to my signature.

[WATER_CAN-_-]

Interviewer: "How much does the current political instability in the world affect your music?"

Marcus: "Looking at the current situation, sometimes I feel inspired to create something dark and challenging out of this chaos. But on other days, I feel the best approach is to counter it and create something fresher and more positive. The media worldwide is already doing a good job of instilling fear and maintaining it daily. We don't need to add to that. While our music does have dark and surreal elements, the underlying message is always one of hope and freedom."

https://bocpages.org/wiki/Music_of_Struggle 2006

[WATER_CAN-_-]

[WATER_CAN-_-]

[llydia]

There is one thing we know for sure, and that's that they don't like internet explorer! I don't think they think we are incapable of cleaning up this mess, you know the older generation looking down on the newer generation? I think they think we are just ill equipped to deal with what is to come... I got that vibe incredibly when listening to "Tomorrows Harvest".