LP5 - Inferno

[Jango9]

Yoooo! Welcome back, mang!

One thought I had regarding the nuclear family image update was that, there being more people, means it is pointing to not just one family, but the entire family of Earth. Given some of the visuals we have seen I think it is a guess as good as any.

Aye, good to see ya again! Sorry I haven't been in touch, never got too deep into the habit of emailing people haha. As for the family of earth thing you may be onto something, we are all living in one big societas after all!

[Den]

My personal hope is that this record is far more complex thematically than Tomorrow's Harvest felt. TH felt like a very straightforward apocalyptic soundtrack.

My hot take: "We are in the doom timeline" media is boring and I have no use for it. Such a one-note statement. Ok, Earth has problems, humanity is doing bad stuff. Cool, very profound of you to point it out. Give me something more varied, give me art that pays a little more homage to the insane manifold contradictory *entire spectrum* of the experience of being a sentient being.

That's what I fell in love with about BoC's stuff for in the first place - it opened my eyes up, it broadened my perspective on life. Having it reduced to a narrow band of depressing rumination would be... tragic, to me.

I think the album art alone reveals a lot of thematic complexity. The title and cover have defied our expectations - then you open the album to wide open landscapes with hexagons scattered across the sky, people on horseback, inexplicable brutalist monuments, Incredible String Band-like imagery of children inspecting flowers, a gigantic crucifix suspended above a parking lot, and this is only from what we can so see so far.

[eep]

My personal hope is that this record is far more complex thematically than Tomorrow's Harvest felt. TH felt like a very straightforward apocalyptic soundtrack.

My hot take: "We are in the doom timeline" media is boring and I have no use for it. Such a one-note statement. Ok, Earth has problems, humanity is doing bad stuff. Cool, very profound of you to point it out. Give me something more varied, give me art that pays a little more homage to the insane manifold contradictory *entire spectrum* of the experience of being a sentient being.

That's what I fell in love with about BoC's stuff for in the first place - it opened my eyes up, it broadened my perspective on life. Having it reduced to a narrow band of depressing rumination would be... tragic, to me.

I do respect TH as a soundtrack to a nonexistent apocalypse movie, but I really agree that that approach kinda led them to drop some of the weirder elements Boards often uses. I'd hope for something more like Geogaddi, where I think it was almost pondering on why everything was going to shit rather than just sort of being like "haha it's the end of history lol lmao."

[WATER_CAN-_-]

[Goiter Sanchez]

Just noticed this on the coffee cups at my work...

[bioluminescence]

I have a gut feeling that Inferno symbolizes the self immolation of Boards of Canada. I think this might be the good-bye album and Sandisons are likely to retire the Boards of Canada project now that the contract with Warp has been fulfilled and the music of Boards of Canada has become a cliche. They are going out like the Branch Davidians - in a huge INFERNO. They will, of course, continue to make music for the rest of their lives as well as producing for other people.

[Altruizine]

My personal hope is that this record is far more complex thematically than Tomorrow's Harvest felt. TH felt like a very straightforward apocalyptic soundtrack.

My hot take: "We are in the doom timeline" media is boring and I have no use for it. Such a one-note statement. Ok, Earth has problems, humanity is doing bad stuff. Cool, very profound of you to point it out. Give me something more varied, give me art that pays a little more homage to the insane manifold contradictory *entire spectrum* of the experience of being a sentient being.

That's what I fell in love with about BoC's stuff for in the first place - it opened my eyes up, it broadened my perspective on life. Having it reduced to a narrow band of depressing rumination would be... tragic, to me.

While I think there’s a presence of impending doom related to real life ongoings, judging by the cover and track titles, it’s mainly an emotional influence and the themes are more esoteric and mystical. I think I ”get” the cover now, looks like an obscure record you’d stumble upon in the 70s. They’re trying to emulate a situation where that happens, or you just find it in a library or on sale at a flea market for a dollar. You have no idea what it is but make the acquisition and put it on… turns out it’s cursed. I’m saying they probably made it sound like it could’ve been made back then, if not technologically at least in spirit. Contemporary political commentary would be much more indirect than that of TH.

[sund0wn]

I have a gut feeling that Inferno symbolizes the self immolation of Boards of Canada. I think this might be the good-bye album and Sandisons are likely to retire the Boards of Canada project now that the contract with Warp has been fulfilled and the music of Boards of Canada has become a cliche. They are going out like the Branch Davidians - in a huge INFERNO. They will, of course, continue to make music for the rest of their lives as well as producing for other people.

Good to hear I'm not the only one who believes this to be a good-bye. I suspect the BoC project outlasted their artistic creativity. What better way to end it all by burning it all in a blaze of symbolic self immolation and calling that act Inferno? If this album proves to be their best work so far and a modern reinvention of their sound I'll eat my headphones.

[deadfly]

What makes t worse is how disconnected they seem from modern music. While techno and dance music have exploded globally (people meeting, dancing & sweating together) BoC sound like they exist in a parallel universe. Their music increasingly feels like it's made for isolation, headphones on, lights off, rather than for being alive among other people. Old men music basically: withdrawn and hermetic, telling listeners to retreat and be fearful instead of engaging (the WORLD).

.

That's a pretty good summary of why they are my favourite band. Does anybody in their right mind want them to make bangin' techno?

[jcnporter]

BoC feel stuck in creative stagnation. They peaked early and everything since then points to late-career decline. TH already leaned into a partly failed reinvention: cinematic, ambient, hevy on apocalypse nostalgia. Fans (and critics) wrapped it in so much artsy interpretation (in line with strategic promotion of the album) that the discourse covered this view obvious for non-fans.

What makes t worse is how disconnected they seem from modern music. While techno and dance music have exploded globally (people meeting, dancing & sweating together) BoC sound like they exist in a parallel universe. Their music increasingly feels like it's made for isolation, headphones on, lights off, rather than for being alive among other people. Old men music basically: withdrawn and hermetic, telling listeners to retreat and be fearful instead of engaging (the WORLD).

If Inferno continues this ambient-cinematic drift, it likely be a deeper slide into legacy and failed reinvention. Inferno will be a major disappointment to fans but they will buy it anyway and they will fool themselves it's actually good. Inferno will be legacy bias for sure. It will be the last album before the inevitable cashing in by selling boxes and collections (what we've already seen happening last year).
Inferno will be a negative dark smear in their legacy and likely provide a case of failed innovation at best. You could describe it as a Tutu or You're under Arrest compared to the free spirit of Bitches Brew or On (the corner).

Please prove me wrong BoC. I get the nihilism and dystopian view on the world but the world really needs more lightheartedness and waaayy more positive vibes. I really hope Inferno isn't as hellish as it sounds. I won't wait for it and it will most likely be the last album I'll ever buy from them.

I think you could equally say that they've consistently ploughed their own furrow over the years, looking to their own inspirations rather than musical trends and this album could just be a continuation of that. I'm a couple of years younger than the brothers and personally don't see techno and dance as modern music. I was sweating, dancing and meeting people in dance clubs 30 years ago now. I suppose the question about creative stagnation is whether an artist wants to innovate musically or whether their inspiration is more thematic.

[razlomlogic]

End of the road, last stop. You arrived nowhere at incredible speed.

[Helios]

What makes t worse is how disconnected they seem from modern music. While techno and dance music have exploded globally (people meeting, dancing & sweating together) BoC sound like they exist in a parallel universe. Their music increasingly feels like it's made for isolation, headphones on, lights off, rather than for being alive among other people. Old men music basically: withdrawn and hermetic, telling listeners to retreat and be fearful instead of engaging (the WORLD).

.

That's a pretty good summary of why they are my favourite band. Does anybody in their right mind want them to make bangin' techno?

Fo real. I was like “that’s exactly what I love” after every line I read.

BoC x Fred again.. barf!

[Altruizine]

My personal hope is that this record is far more complex thematically than Tomorrow's Harvest felt. TH felt like a very straightforward apocalyptic soundtrack.

My hot take: "We are in the doom timeline" media is boring and I have no use for it. Such a one-note statement. Ok, Earth has problems, humanity is doing bad stuff. Cool, very profound of you to point it out. Give me something more varied, give me art that pays a little more homage to the insane manifold contradictory *entire spectrum* of the experience of being a sentient being.

That's what I fell in love with about BoC's stuff for in the first place - it opened my eyes up, it broadened my perspective on life. Having it reduced to a narrow band of depressing rumination would be... tragic, to me.

While I think there’s a presence of impending doom related to real life ongoings, judging by the cover and track titles, it’s mainly an emotional influence and the themes are more esoteric and mystical. I think I ”get” the cover now, looks like an obscure record you’d stumble upon in the 70s. They’re trying to emulate a situation where that happens, or you just find it in a library or on sale at a flea market for a dollar. You have no idea what it is but make the acquisition and put it on… turns out it’s cursed. I’m saying they probably made it sound like it could’ve been made back then, if not technologically at least in spirit. Contemporary political commentary would be much more indirect than that of TH.

Btw it occurred to me that I should’ve continued the story, why’s it ”cursed” and what happens. I’m not in the best mood to do that myself so for a quick laugh I asked ChatGPT and it did a great writeup about how ”the record knows you’re listening”. I don’t want to paste a wall of AI slop here but you can do the same or use your own imagination

[Den]

My personal hope is that this record is far more complex thematically than Tomorrow's Harvest felt. TH felt like a very straightforward apocalyptic soundtrack.

My hot take: "We are in the doom timeline" media is boring and I have no use for it. Such a one-note statement. Ok, Earth has problems, humanity is doing bad stuff. Cool, very profound of you to point it out. Give me something more varied, give me art that pays a little more homage to the insane manifold contradictory *entire spectrum* of the experience of being a sentient being.

That's what I fell in love with about BoC's stuff for in the first place - it opened my eyes up, it broadened my perspective on life. Having it reduced to a narrow band of depressing rumination would be... tragic, to me.

I think the album art alone reveals a lot of thematic complexity. The title and cover have defied our expectations - then you open the album to wide open landscapes with hexagons scattered across the sky, people on horseback, inexplicable brutalist monuments, Incredible String Band-like imagery of children inspecting flowers, a gigantic crucifix suspended above a parking lot, and this is only from what we can so see so far.

Also, the dynamic between the dimly-lit, buried effect of the cover and the rain-drenched psychedelia of the images inside the album seems important.

[Soul_Slip]

BoC feel stuck in creative stagnation. They peaked early and everything since then points to late-career decline. TH already leaned into a partly failed reinvention: cinematic, ambient, hevy on apocalypse nostalgia. Fans (and critics) wrapped it in so much artsy interpretation (in line with strategic promotion of the album) that the discourse covered this view obvious for non-fans.

What makes t worse is how disconnected they seem from modern music. While techno and dance music have exploded globally (people meeting, dancing & sweating together) BoC sound like they exist in a parallel universe. Their music increasingly feels like it's made for isolation, headphones on, lights off, rather than for being alive among other people. Old men music basically: withdrawn and hermetic, telling listeners to retreat and be fearful instead of engaging (the WORLD).

If Inferno continues this ambient-cinematic drift, it likely be a deeper slide into legacy and failed reinvention. Inferno will be a major disappointment to fans but they will buy it anyway and they will fool themselves it's actually good. Inferno will be legacy bias for sure. It will be the last album before the inevitable cashing in by selling boxes and collections (what we've already seen happening last year).
Inferno will be a negative dark smear in their legacy and likely provide a case of failed innovation at best. You could describe it as a Tutu or You're under Arrest compared to the free spirit of Bitches Brew or On (the corner).

Please prove me wrong BoC. I get the nihilism and dystopian view on the world but the world really needs more lightheartedness and waaayy more positive vibes. I really hope Inferno isn't as hellish as it sounds. I won't wait for it and it will most likely be the last album I'll ever buy from them.

This is an extremely hot take and I definitely disagree with almost all of this. I absolutely disagree about stagnation and a dark stain in their careers. Like BoC must adhere to your expectations? They are just a band that has different tastes at time as to what we might think they would do. I love that about them. The vibe from the teaser is 100% exactly what I was hoping for. Super dark and serious but waay out there in abstraction and texture. That’s my favorite part of BoC when they choose to do that. Basefree, Sixtyten, Gyroscope, Jacquard Causeway, Audio track 7a. I absolutely like this new period of BoC. Best thing is this is all our opinions. Inferno is what I have been waiting for since audio 7a dropped years ago. I am glad they doubled down. I think they were rather serious when they mentioned TH was the start of a new era. This is probably what they always intended to be like. Personal composers. I love it. That teaser…. the driving synth distortion gives me chills and those metallic sounding warped voices is soooo them. This will not be a stain in their career. What an odd judgement

[el Cerebro]

I really can’t believe this is finally happening, I feel insane!

[el Cerebro]

Again I want to thank Fred, Mex, and Grim, everything you do is a balloon and I am infinitely thankful to you, and infinitely happy we still have this weird band to rally us.

[Wildfire]

While techno and dance music have exploded globally

What, like 25 years ago?

[Soul_Slip]

Again I want to thank Fred, Mex, and Grim, everything you do is a balloon and I am infinitely thankful to you, and infinitely happy we still have this weird band to rally us.

Yes amen to that!

[rd1994]

For some reason I am really really looking forward to Acts of Magic, purely since its the only album track under 2 minutes.