Pitchfork on BOC’s MHTRTC

[Mexicola]

Thanks to ANorthernSoul, we know for sure. He asked Simon Reynolds on Twitter and he confirmed he had a short interview with them by email a few weeks ago.

[deadfly]

"BoC’s trajectory was more like Seefeel"

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

Yeah, Seefeel are definitely worth checking out. Sort of like a more electronic version of My Bloody Valentine and I imagine they could have been an influence on BoC. Should appeal to a lot of BoC fans.

[Mexicola]

BOC supported Seafeel live didn't they?

[A_Northern_Soul]

As Mexicola said, I contacted Simon Reynolds, the author of the piece to ask if this new quote was part of a longer interview (one that might, perhaps, accompany a new release...). This is the response I got in full:

“i think there's something like four quotes from the brothers from an email interview i did a few weeks ago - but that is nearly the entirety of the interview!”

I didn’t press him for more info - if he does know more it it would be unprofessional of him to say and inappropriate for me to dig further.

Further point - for anyone unfamiliar with Simon Reynolds’ writing, read his stuff! He’s one of the best music writers out there.

[fujee]

Yeah, Retromania was great, as is this article.

[Sherbet Head]

Not sure if this is standard protocol, but Pitchfork randomly re-shared their TH review yesterday morning.

[Opothecary]

Not sure if this is standard protocol, but Pitchfork randomly re-shared their TH review yesterday morning.

Interesting. Sure would be a nice summer if something's on deck after the new OPN release.

[Jango9]

“Arriving at that sound was a really gradual thing with us,” says Eoin now. “We’d been recording in various forms of the band as teens through much of the ’80s, and already had a big collection of our own old crappy recordings that we were really fond of. Then, around 1987 or 1988, we were beginning to experiment with collage tapes of demos we’d deliberately destroyed, to give the impression of chewed up library tapes that had been found in a field somewhere. That was the seed for the whole project."

Holy shit, is this the first time they've said anything in public about what the Catalog 3/Acid Memories era was like?

But by the early ’90s, BoC were closer to a proper band, with guitar, bass, live drums, and the occasional vocal. They weren’t the sort of band that rocked out on stage, though, but nearer to what they described as “experimental atmospheric rock” outfits such as Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine, dedicated to exploring guitar textures and the studio’s sound-painting possibilities. Like Kevin Shields on Loveless, BoC experimented with sampling their own guitars.

And there's Play By Numbers/Some of the R35TT! I can't believe it, they finally talked about the old stuff (albeit not mentioning it by name) in an interview!

[Flory]

“Arriving at that sound was a really gradual thing with us,” says Eoin now. “We’d been recording in various forms of the band as teens through much of the ’80s, and already had a big collection of our own old crappy recordings that we were really fond of. Then, around 1987 or 1988, we were beginning to experiment with collage tapes of demos we’d deliberately destroyed, to give the impression of chewed up library tapes that had been found in a field somewhere. That was the seed for the whole project."

Holy shit, is this the first time they've said anything in public about what the Catalog 3/Acid Memories era was like?

But by the early ’90s, BoC were closer to a proper band, with guitar, bass, live drums, and the occasional vocal. They weren’t the sort of band that rocked out on stage, though, but nearer to what they described as “experimental atmospheric rock” outfits such as Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine, dedicated to exploring guitar textures and the studio’s sound-painting possibilities. Like Kevin Shields on Loveless, BoC experimented with sampling their own guitars.

And there's Play By Numbers/Some of the R35TT! I can't believe it, they finally talked about the old stuff (albeit not mentioning it by name) in an interview!

Wait BoC experimented with sampling their own guitars Uh you mean Boards of Canada - Wouldn't You Like to be Free (Play By Numbers)

Oh by the way some web site loops from back then could also have pre twoisim tracks as circle was one of them

[Flory]

Also this interview confirms the exsistance of those 5 albums to begin with and R35T.

[Twoist]

Sean O'Neal at AV Club also getting in on the anniversary action.

20 years ago, Boards Of Canada made electronic music personal

Spot the links to Bocpages.

[Aesthetikx]

Sean O'Neal at AV Club also getting in on the anniversary action.

20 years ago, Boards Of Canada made electronic music personal

Spot the links to Bocpages.

This was a brilliant article, IMO. Really could only be written 20 years later, a few of the 'easter-eggs' in the article were only discovered in the last few years or so. I also like the idea of double nostalgia, the 90's interpretation of the 70's interpretation of the future -- good stuff.

[Josh]

I cannot distinguish the difference between a CS1x and a AN1x. Good thing I enjoy Pearl Jam.

[747Music]

Jango9 - No, not the first time. They've talked about it before. In the "Virgin Megaweb" interview from 1998 they went into detail about what they were making as teens.

[breadmaker]

Both the Pitchfork and A/V Club articles are great, though I found it a little unfortunate that both felt the need to use the word "dated" when mentioning the 90s. This has, to me, always been one of the most short-sighted criticisms of any cultural product that is too old to be considered current but not yet old enough to be beloved. The shade thrown at FSOL and it's "corny" futuristic aesthetic is especially annoying, since I'm sure a lot of the 1970s music that BOC now cherish was considered hopelessly unfashionable in the 1980s. Furthermore, tumblr has been enthusiastically circulating bad mid-90s Designer's Republic cyber aesthetics around for YEARS, so maybe Simon Reynolds is just a little out of touch perhaps? (I guess to be fair, he is 54.)

There's actually so much pre-millenial electronic music that I enjoy specifically *because* it now sounds pleasantly dated (early Orbital, Atom tm, Autechre, etc.) The fact that BOC decided to side-step a lot of the trends of their time is neat and all, but I think it's just a convenient journalistic conceit to make it a framing device for a paragraph or two.

Also a bit cringey is AV club calling the dj scratching on "eagle in your mind" a "trapping" of late 90s trends, which to me just sounds like someone's got lazy ears. One of my favorite things about MHTRTC is that there's these specific elements which are plucked out of the world of trip-hop but then sent through the twisted BOC kaleidoscope to emerge as fucked-up versions of the original sound (see also: whatever menacing business is happening at 2:52 of "sixtyten.") It's BOC saying "we're going to do hip hop for just a moment but because it's us it's obviously going to sound a bit nightmarish." That little nod to record scratching in "eagle" is a stroke of genius - it's a weird contemporary landmark in an otherwise disorienting landscape of aged, forlorn synths and barely audible murmurings. Clearly they weren't throwing in some dj moves just to pander to the kids of the day.

[dustbowl27]

Also a bit cringey is AV club calling the dj scratching on "eagle in your mind" a "trapping" of late 90s trends, which to me just sounds like someone's got lazy ears. One of my favorite things about MHTRTC is that there's these specific elements which are plucked out of the world of trip-hop but then sent through the twisted BOC kaleidoscope to emerge as fucked-up versions of the original sound (see also: whatever menacing business is happening at 2:52 of "sixtyten.") It's BOC saying "we're going to do hip hop for just a moment but because it's us it's obviously going to sound a bit nightmarish." That little nod to record scratching in "eagle" is a stroke of genius - it's a weird contemporary landmark in an otherwise disorienting landscape of aged, forlorn synths and barely audible murmurings. Clearly they weren't throwing in some dj moves just to pander to the kids of the day.

Agreed. Appreciate you saying that. I suppose the more entrenched in the electronic music and culture of the time when MHTRTC was released the more genre and trend concepts are going to influence your relationship with the music. Thinking of BoC's music in those terms is unfortunate and dilutes its potential.

The "scratching" elevates the emotional affect of An Eagle In Your Mind. They use a similar sounding technique in Sick Times.

[Orbited insanitarium]

I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that Pitchfork would want to interview them about the album's 20th anniversary.

Honestly, I was a bit surprised that for Geogaddi's 20th there wasn't a new interview conducted. Be it with pitchfork or any other music media.

In a way, Geo had just as much acclaim as MHTRTC upon release.

I wonder.....