Boards of Canada Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest

Sick and well gnarly this album is, proper pukka I tell thee!!

I have yet to fully get into T.H., I'm surprised to see almost exclusively positive reviews, to be honest. I think the albums lacks something, but I'm not sure what it is yet. My opinion might change over time, though.

  On 6/28/2013 at 7:34 PM, Terpentintollwut said:

I think the albums lacks something, but I'm not sure what it is yet.

It lacks you.

Listening to TH again because it's a cool, cloudy day again and it seems a good fit. Cold Earth is very much a throwback to previous BoC, more so than the rest of the tracks I think.

My playlist preference is very much dependent on weather lately.

Just listened to this record 3x this morning.. simply amazing.

  On 6/28/2013 at 8:14 PM, MassfreeKid said:

 

  On 6/28/2013 at 7:34 PM, Terpentintollwut said:

I think the albums lacks something, but I'm not sure what it is yet.

 

It lacks you.

 

As in, I should listen to it more often until I 'get there', or as in it needs me to fix it?

if it lacks anything,its immediacy?,but i wouldn,t have it any other way,i love the obvious single mindedness? of the vision and follow through to create a true proper full length listening experience that does there back catalogue justice, instead of taking the easy route after such a long period of silence,releasing tracks that they know would appease the fan base.

i'm guessing this has been mentioned already, but 'skyliner' would fit nicely with these tracks.

I dunno...sounds like the same synth presets were used on every track. the synth tones definitely are not as warbly as before. I want warbly synths...warbles...WARBLES!!!!!! DAMMMITT

  On 6/29/2013 at 3:12 AM, zero said:

I dunno...sounds like the same synth presets were used on every track. the synth tones definitely are not as warbly as before. I want warbly synths...warbles...WARBLES!!!!!! DAMMMITT

exactly, wtf. It makes you remember (if you didn't already realize) what an integral, crucial part of their early sound that synth was. It sounds like they're using different synths, and as a result, they almost sound like a totally different (and much diminished) group.

tomorrow's harvest is ok

  On 6/29/2013 at 5:50 AM, lumpenprol said:

 

  On 6/29/2013 at 3:12 AM, zero said:

I dunno...sounds like the same synth presets were used on every track. the synth tones definitely are not as warbly as before. I want warbly synths...warbles...WARBLES!!!!!! DAMMMITT

exactly, wtf. It makes you remember (if you didn't already realize) what an integral, crucial part of their early sound that synth was. It sounds like they're using different synths, and as a result, they almost sound like a totally different (and much diminished) group.

 

agreed

  On 6/24/2013 at 3:20 AM, lumpenprol said:

btw I have it on good authority the Bros intended it as an anagram of:

 

Calypso Ape

Nah...definitely Soapy Place:

  On 6/29/2013 at 5:50 AM, lumpenprol said:

 

  On 6/29/2013 at 3:12 AM, zero said:

I dunno...sounds like the same synth presets were used on every track. the synth tones definitely are not as warbly as before. I want warbly synths...warbles...WARBLES!!!!!! DAMMMITT

exactly, wtf. It makes you remember (if you didn't already realize) what an integral, crucial part of their early sound that synth was. It sounds like they're using different synths, and as a result, they almost sound like a totally different (and much diminished) group.

 

Yeah I miss their secret weapon.

Stumbled across this video, which is Nat Geo / Cincinnati Zoo extreme slow motion video of cheetahs running. It's rather lovely.

But then, watching it full screen (even better, projected onto a wall in a dark room), with the soundtrack played through headphones, makes it something quite beautiful and powerful. The soundtrack is New Seeds from Tomorrow's Harvest. Enjoy.

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/69303690" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/69303690">Boards of Canada - New Seeds</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user15305119">Ankit Kanwat</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

If that embed doesn't work, then here's the link. Make it full screen HD.

  On 6/29/2013 at 9:56 PM, DorkingtonPugsly said:

 

  On 6/29/2013 at 5:50 AM, lumpenprol said:

 

  On 6/29/2013 at 3:12 AM, zero said:

I dunno...sounds like the same synth presets were used on every track. the synth tones definitely are not as warbly as before. I want warbly synths...warbles...WARBLES!!!!!! DAMMMITT

exactly, wtf. It makes you remember (if you didn't already realize) what an integral, crucial part of their early sound that synth was. It sounds like they're using different synths, and as a result, they almost sound like a totally different (and much diminished) group.

 

Yeah I miss their secret weapon.

 

but in all seriousness, i love the synths on this album. and one particular synth they used in the past isn't the essence of boc.

"same synth preset" comment bothered me. i don't see where you're coming from with that...you're crazy man!

now that's IDM

this album has sort of a nihilistic feel to it, which i don't personnally like. several tracks feel skeletal, dry, like remains or something. i think that aspect wasn't worth being explored thoughout an album. at the end it turns out uninspired imo, instead of conveying interesting musical ideas. on those tracks, it's like they took legowelt's aesthetics (especially under the "smackos" moniker) - to be more precise, emulating obscure 70's ambient soundtracks - and removed the magic from it. the whole thing gives me a nihilistic impression, which was very likely intended by the band, yet you know what? nihilism is lame. fuck nihilism lol

yeah.

I disagree. to me this sounds extremely polished and really well thought out.

edit: @lumpy

I won't deny that it's very polished and well thought out, but it seems like they made the album a bit sparse and unsatisfying on purpose because of the theme. Tracks that seem like they'll pay off or really go somewhere, but don't. Cut short (sort of like the human race's existence!)... and my enjoyment of the music.

A lot of well established groups know they have their musical style and method on motherfucking lockdown, so they put a lot more thought into how it's presented. Whittling things away until the edges are nice and smooth. There are things to like here, but it's very light on those things in my opinion. Lots of buildup, potential starts to be explored, then *done*. A lot of the music here seems like a real no-brainer for them, but it's the concept they're really stressing.

  On 6/30/2013 at 3:05 AM, Brian Tregaskin said:

this album has sort of a nihilistic feel to it, which i don't personnally like. several tracks feel skeletal, dry, like remains or something. i think that aspect wasn't worth being explored thoughout an album. at the end it turns out uninspired imo, instead of conveying interesting musical ideas. on those tracks, it's like they took legowelt's aesthetics (especially under the "smackos" moniker) - to be more precise, emulating obscure 70's ambient soundtracks - and removed the magic from it. the whole thing gives me a nihilistic impression, which was very likely intended by the band, yet you know what? nihilism is lame. fuck nihilism lol

I don't think I entirely agree, but the smackos point hit the head full on, imo.

People liking this album should definitely check out "Pacific Northwest Sasquatch Research" and "Computer Day" to a lesser extent as well (although "Radioshack" could be on TH).

"This plane might not make it baby" (from PNSR) already has all those electronic soundtrack vibes from third rate action movies from the 80s, for instance. Biggest difference is perhaps Legowelts shtick of being playful and using goofups in tracks, imo.

I'm in love with this album.

I love all of it.

That is all.

Just like Exai TH is immediately enjoyable but also has the proper depth to be a keeper, nice one 2013, ty!

  On 6/30/2013 at 8:42 AM, goDel said:

 

  On 6/30/2013 at 3:05 AM, Brian Tregaskin said:

this album has sort of a nihilistic feel to it, which i don't personnally like. several tracks feel skeletal, dry, like remains or something. i think that aspect wasn't worth being explored thoughout an album. at the end it turns out uninspired imo, instead of conveying interesting musical ideas. on those tracks, it's like they took legowelt's aesthetics (especially under the "smackos" moniker) - to be more precise, emulating obscure 70's ambient soundtracks - and removed the magic from it. the whole thing gives me a nihilistic impression, which was very likely intended by the band, yet you know what? nihilism is lame. fuck nihilism lol

 

I don't think I entirely agree, but the smackos point hit the head full on, imo.

 

 

Yeah that's sort of what I meant, too, I guess. I'm sure the long gap between TH and their last release before that does influence my reception of the album a bit ... which it shouldn't. Maybe if this was released some two years after Campfire Headphase, I'd be thinking "Aaah, nice, the bro's are still experimenting! Perhaps not 100% my thing but they've got a promising future ahead of them!" instead of "Really, THAT'S where they ended up? I think I liked the older style better..."

I'm trying to rid myself of that whole OMG IT'S BOC-expectation-thing and just listen to the album for what it is ... and I think there's a good number of tracks on there, had I heard them not knowing that it was in fact BoC, I might not even have linked it to them. Telepath is a vintage BoC-track, but White Cyclosa (which is one of my favorites, actually!) I might never have linked to them. Which is fine, really.

The only "problematic" aspect of the album, imo, are tracks like Cold Earth - those are instant-like-tracks that have the trademark BoC-signature, very much in the same spirit as Sunshine Recorder or 1969 (you know, tracks that could have been on a single) - yet it's these tracks that feel like they 'lack' something, I guess it's the soul and vividness of their familiar output. They sound so cleanly produced, and it can't be just down to less compressor or tape hiss or whatever (I'm not familiar with these terms). When I listen to Cold Earth, I'm like "Oh yeah guys, this is pretty lush alright, I can hop around to that, and oooh here come the voice-bits, it's proper BoC I guess!" But there's something it's missing. Skeletal is a good adjective to describe these tracks, I guess. They're everything but bad, yet they feel like they have either not worked on them as meticulously as they have on Geogaddi and associates, OR they have twiddled the knobs for too long, trying to squeeze yet another detail in there, ultimately resulting in a track that sounds rather blunt to most people, including myself.

Wow that sounds much more harsh than it should. It's a great album, still, but these were a few negative things I thought I noticed. There's a very distinct possibility that it will 'click' with me at some point though, making me ashamed of what I just wrote! It took me 6 years to get LP5, so I'm not that worried.

PS:

https://vimeo.com/69123027

I try to respect everyone's opinions when it comes to music, but if you don't like this, you're wrong and have bad taste in music. Just stating facts.