Boards of Canada The cover artworks of Boards of Canada

you guys have probably thought about this already and there might be threads about this, but it doesn't matter, i haven't been here since the beginning anyway. and the BoC subforum has been pretty boring lately.

the cover artwork of BoC's releases, mainly in the major albums has always fascinated me. music has the right to children, geogaddi and the campfire headphase artwork ( and i will talk here about the main cover only, being it always the first visual contact with the record ) all present an image that is essential to define the album, and this is my point here - although the music is doubtless the main subject, the artwork, the image acts here as a totally necessary complement and is able to reinforce the effect that this music has on you. yes, i think it has such power.

of course i don't deny this is subjective, but let me grab an example here and suggest that you try to imagine the wonderful music has the right to children:

...with the following cover:

kinda boring isn't it?

of course it's not this sudden comparison that will replace your love for the image or all that means to you in terms of the record that it is, and after all the listening time, maybe you can't imagine it without the cover anymore. if that's the case...that's where i am trying to reach.

this modified cover i did, doesn't pretend to suggest any of their records with similar image treatment, it's just one of the infinite possibilities that show how their music really depends on these specific images that ended up being the actual covers.

MHTRTC has my favorite cover of all. it's simply brilliant in terms of plastic quality, color treatment and of course composition. the old photo effect manages to activate the part of my brain that is responsible for bringing back old memories and the faceless people add a certain mystery to the whole thing.

In Geogaddi you have a much warmer feeling, but the silhouettes suggest a certain darkness that defines this particular record.

The campfire headphase, being my least favorite album, has one of my favorite covers. i love how the blur effect can create a distance in time, and the face in the shadow brings, again, a mistery that makes me always get back to it and rediscover it's sound.

Also in the remaining packages space there are plenty of beautiful pictures that contribute to this whole visual richness, that i feel as part of the BoC essence as well:

(geogaddi booklet)

(the campfire headphase booklet)

(a beautiful place out in the country cover)

i wish they had given the same treatment of the major albums artwork to releases like this last one, a beautiful place out in the country or theiror singles, but i understand they are of much smaller relevance. even tho, i like to imagine how they would exist while i listen to their music.

i am sure BoC have always been sensitive to art or images, and the whole hexagon sun collective story pretty much proves it, so i can't imagine their artworks being that much different from what we know.

So how do you feel about their visual approach and how does it affect the listening experience? would you be able to imagine different covers?

i am really interested in discussing this.

  On 8/27/2010 at 6:25 PM, ruiagnelo said:

you guys have probably thought about this already and there might be threads about this, but it doesn't matter, i haven't been here since the beginning anyway. and the BoC subforum has been pretty boring lately.

 

 

the cover artwork of BoC's releases, mainly in the major albums has always fascinated me. music has the right to children, geogaddi and the campfire headphase artwork ( and i will talk here about the main cover only, being it always the first visual contact with the record ) all present an image that is essential to define the album, and this is my point here - although the music is doubtless the main subject, the artwork, the image acts here as a totally necessary complement and is able to reinforce the effect that this music has on you. yes, i think it has such power.

of course i don't deny this is subjective, but let me grab an example here and suggest that you try to imagine the wonderful music has the right to children:

 

 

...with the following cover:

 

 

kinda boring isn't it?

of course it's not this sudden comparison that will replace your love for the image or all that means to you in terms of the record that it is, and after all the listening time, maybe you can't imagine it without the cover anymore. if that's the case...that's where i am trying to reach.

this modified cover i did, doesn't pretend to suggest any of their records with similar image treatment, it's just one of the infinite possibilities that show how their music really depends on these specific images that ended up being the actual covers.

 

MHTRTC has my favorite cover of all. it's simply brilliant in terms of plastic quality, color treatment and of course composition. the old photo effect manages to activate the part of my brain that is responsible for bringing back old memories and the faceless people add a certain mystery to the whole thing.

In Geogaddi you have a much warmer feeling, but the silhouettes suggest a certain darkness that defines this particular record.

The campfire headphase, being my least favorite album, has one of my favorite covers. i love how the blur effect can create a distance in time, and the face in the shadow brings, again, a mistery that makes me always get back to it and rediscover it's sound.

 

Also in the remaining packages space there are plenty of beautiful pictures that contribute to this whole visual richness, that i feel as part of the BoC essence as well:

(geogaddi booklet)

 

(the campfire headphase booklet)

 

(a beautiful place out in the country cover)

 

i wish they had given the same treatment of the major albums artwork to releases like this last one, a beautiful place out in the country or theiror singles, but i understand they are of much smaller relevance. even tho, i like to imagine how they would exist while i listen to their music.

 

i am sure BoC have always been sensitive to art or images, and the whole hexagon sun collective story pretty much proves it, so i can't imagine their artworks being that much different from what we know.

 

So how do you feel about their visual approach and how does it affect the listening experience? would you be able to imagine different covers?

i am really interested in discussing this.

You forgot that bit of her foot by the letters.

  On 8/27/2010 at 8:08 PM, Joy Rex said:

 

You forgot that bit of her foot by the letters.

the colour themes set the mood of the sleeves off from the first glance

Geogaddi says to me pagan energy, psychedelia tainted with an undercurrent of evil, cycles within nature and music, power of the earth and human relationship

MHTRTC is very much about nostalgia, memories and childhood

The Campfire Headphase conveys a gentleness and peace, wisdom gained from experience, summer, perhpas altruism or at least having love and respect for your fellow man and the environment/systems/nature you live with

  On 8/27/2010 at 11:56 PM, Zykial said:

the colour themes set the mood of the sleeves off from the first glance

Geogaddi says to me pagan energy, psychedelia tainted with an undercurrent of evil, cycles within nature and music, power of the earth and human relationship

MHTRTC is very much about nostalgia, memories and childhood

The Campfire Headphase conveys a gentleness and peace, wisdom gained from experience, summer, perhpas altruism or at least having love and respect for your fellow man and the environment/systems/nature you live with

the cover on campfire definitely suggests summer, i can feel that also.

but the human figure has a much stronger presence than in any of the other ones, however it's face.... is in the shadows.

i find it intriguing that the most direct and accessible record has the most mysterious cover.

can this insert from America's "Hat Trick" have any signifigance? What is a blank slate? Can I get any higher? Somebody stop the new sight, man!

Interesting topic. Here's my two cents:

On the Music Has the Right to Children cover we see a group of vague figures dressed in 70's attire photographed next to a stone wall bordering a lake surrounded by mountains. We are given little evidence as to why these people are just "hanging out" with one another. Is this a vacation? Do they live there? The only clue we receive of any established relationships within the group is the female figure in the center holding a child. She is obviously a maternal figure. The figure's faces are blurred out, leaving their expressions up to the imagination of the viewer. They could all be crying or making a derp face for all we know. The group displays vague body language, obscurring their emotions and the far right figure's gender (I think it could be a man; the crossed arms hide any hint of breasts). The woman in the yellow turtleneck sweater (or is it? The figure's skin tone matches too closly to the hue of her clothing for me to tell properly) has her right hand on her hip, showing, at the very least, contentment for her situation. The children seem to be content also, sitting politely on the wall. Combined with the beautiful greenish blue filter and the speckles of age, this cover properly represents the sound of the album: nostalgic and almost emotionally content, with an undercurrent of uneasiness brought on by the vagueness of everything obvious and the questionability of the details.

My favorite cover has to be that of Geogaddi, which is fitting because it is also my favorite Boards of Canada album. What immediately hits the viewer's eye is the striking contrast in color compared to the cover of Music Has the Right to Children. In fact, the Geogaddi cover's hue is a photo negative to that of the previous album. The album itself is a couple of shades darker and harsher than that of Music Has the Right to Children, and I think the cover represents that. For starters, the color is deceptive. At first, it seems like a warm, cozy shade of orange. However, the color, at least to me, seems to morph into something sinister. I realize now that the overall "orange" is actually red shapes bathed in a yellow aura, almost like fire. The hue isn't merely warm, it's hot. It burns. What at first seemed welcoming is now a scalding Hell (this description is a little overdramatic, but you get the picture). The picture itself is kaleidoscopic, adding a psychedelic impression. The figure represented in this fashion seems innocent enough; a man doing jumping jacks in front of several trees. It would all appear to be just lighthearted fun, but his image is repeated six times in a circle. One man's influence is now six times that of a singular being. His kind antics hide the fact that he is exponentially more powerful than you are. This idea of seeming innocent while hiding secrets from the listener (the vocoded David Koresh reference in "1969" and the many backmasked messages for instance) is the album's signature tone.

I won't comment too much on The Campfire Headphase cover. I haven't listened to all of it yet, but I think that the lonely, unassuming figure and the similar color scheme to BOC's first album might represent both a return to form and personal exploration. I dunno....

TL;DR BOC is music for pretentious nerds.

  On 8/28/2010 at 12:35 AM, all_purpose_sandpaper said:

 

can this insert from America's "Hat Trick" have any signifigance? What is a blank slate? Can I get any higher? Somebody stop the new sight, man!

i dunno, but i definitely think this is significant

  On 8/28/2010 at 1:58 AM, kaini said:

i dunno, but i definitely think this is significant

very much so

boards of children

  On 8/29/2010 at 5:05 AM, verticalhold said:

boards of watmm

  On 9/1/2010 at 4:48 AM, tontonz said:

  On 8/29/2010 at 5:05 AM, verticalhold said:

boards of watmm

watmm has the right to boards

rofl

lol as if Cunningham did spend more than 2 hours on this

MTRTC and TCH do have similar album covers, to the point where I originally thought the latter might be made at the same time as the former.

Makes me wonder what kind of art the next one would have, if it comes out.