Exai vs Tomorrow's Harvest

  On 12/5/2013 at 4:59 PM, Joyrex said:

 

  On 12/5/2013 at 4:19 AM, jules said:

they are really different beasts but if I really had to compare on just creative levels, exai wins by a landslide. exai sounds like ae doing what they do with yet another twist. it sounds like ae creating stuff for themselves where th sounds like boc creating stuff for fear of failure or living up to expectations.

 

 

for me, if th has a downfall, it's just too repetitive or formula driven. even by boc standards. so many arpeggios. so many drop outs with a chopped vocal addition when it kicks back in. this is not to say I don't love th, I really do. but for art's sake, exai is pure creativity with no expectations. and for that, it's a win in my book.

I think the biggest thing that affects how people perceive/receive Tomorrow's Harvest is the fact there was 7+ years of waiting, expectations, anticipation - all released in 1 album. I don't think BOC could ever meet the minority of expectations for their latest release, let alone the majority.

 

BOC made the album they wanted to make - I don't think the fans expectations ever played a role in it's creation, and certainly not in when it was released.

 

Autechre, I feel is all about pushing musical boundaries - sometimes the results are fantastic (Exai), other times not so much (Quaristice, IMO) - if Exai wasn't as groundbreaking as it is, I think we'd be looking at it like Tomorrow's Harvest is being viewed, as somewhat formulaic - but, I think if BOC did something unexpected (like the guitar bits on TCH), the backlash from the fans would be severe and not praised by most, unlike Autechre.

 

100% agree about the anticipation. to be clear, i absolutely adore both albums, but if i had to pick one, it would be the one i find more creative imo.

this whole poll is like saying michael jackson vs prince, its makes absolutely no sense what so ever, no n sense i tell u!!

  On 12/5/2013 at 4:19 AM, jules said:

they are really different beasts but if I really had to compare on just creative levels, exai wins by a landslide. exai sounds like ae doing what they do with yet another twist. it sounds like ae creating stuff for themselves where th sounds like boc creating stuff for fear of failure or living up to expectations.

 

 

for me, if th has a downfall, it's just too repetitive or formula driven. even by boc standards. so many arpeggios. so many drop outs with a chopped vocal addition when it kicks back in. this is not to say I don't love th, I really do. but for art's sake, exai is pure creativity with no expectations. and for that, it's a win in my book.

Thought this was a cool post because I can relate to almost everything you're saying, but still I experience/interpret it differently.

Your description of Exai looks spot-on to me but, for the reasons you describe, it's also an album that I almost love more for its spirit than for the actual music. There are plenty of standout moments and tracks, stuff that works for me at an emotional and cerebral level, but also a lot that's only weirdly awesome or awesomely weird but doesn't exactly click with me (yet). "Pure creativity with no expectations" might as well be a euphemism for fooling around. I know there's more to it than that from the tracks I 'get', but I want to feel it too, and half the time that's not yet happening.

Tomorrow's Harvest indeed has a sparse monotony (that one might call boringness) to it that I feel is completely deliberate and not a sign of them running out of ideas, or holding back to avoid sounding too different or whatever; it's used in a purposeful way to deliver a message, or a mood. This seems like a rather minimal and therefore daring Boards Of Canada album, but also a deceptively simple one. For instance, I do believe their claim that there's more hidden bits in this one than any other Boards album, and I haven't even scratched the surface in that regard. But I've definitely already "grokked" it in a way I haven't Exai. I sort of get what it's saying and it moves me, even if I don't necessarily agree with it.

  On 12/5/2013 at 6:04 PM, pyramidpanes said:

this whole poll is like saying michael jackson vs prince, its makes absolutely no sense what so ever, no n sense i tell u!!

Michael Jackson, obviously.

I love TH

You people are fucking mental

where do u want to meet?

edit: to anyone who wishes to resolve this with punching

dumbest poll ever, to be honest

  On 12/5/2013 at 6:04 PM, pyramidpanes said:

this whole poll is like saying michael jackson vs prince, its makes absolutely no sense what so ever, no n sense i tell u!!

yeah but who do you prefer? Personally I prefer MJ to Prince.

If this poll is dumb, don't vote. I'm surprised TH has been thoroughly trounced by Exai. I knew Exai was loved, but thought the poll would turn out more even.

I don't buy this idea that you can compare music/albums/artists etc. I appreciate it can change over time though and depends a lot on your current mood.

  On 12/5/2013 at 8:53 PM, Alcofribas said:

where do u want to meet?

 

edit: to anyone who wishes to resolve this with punching

Novosibirsk, no knives allowed

sure

*surreptitously slides knife up shirt sleeve*

I'll be there

To all those saying how ridiculous it is to compare two albums which are different:

Have you never made a "top 5 albums of the year/all time" list?

Comparing and ranking albums which aren't exactly similar is a fairly common thing.

prince wins you deaf quails

  On 12/5/2013 at 5:47 PM, Ceerial said:

I seriously can't compherend how it's possible to not like TH.

expectations

  On 12/5/2013 at 5:52 PM, Alcofribas said:

TH is not winning bc it is a letdown whereas Exai is an inspired and incredible album.

 

please let me know if you have any other questions.

  On 12/5/2013 at 5:53 PM, Ceerial said:

Fuck this, let's have a fight.

Ceerial the Snowborn Nord vs Alco the Chi-Town Capone

ROUND ONE - FIGHT!

*hadoukens*

  On 12/5/2013 at 9:04 PM, jhonny said:

 

  On 12/5/2013 at 6:04 PM, pyramidpanes said:

this whole poll is like saying michael jackson vs prince, its makes absolutely no sense what so ever, no n sense i tell u!!

yeah but who do you prefer? Personally I prefer MJ to Prince.

 

If this poll is dumb, don't vote. I'm surprised TH has been thoroughly trounced by Exai. I knew Exai was loved, but thought the poll would turn out more even.

 

I don't buy this idea that you can compare music/albums/artists etc. I appreciate it can change over time though and depends a lot on your current mood.

 

just find the poll funny in a awkward way, .....now back to listening to 1999 on repeat

Kickass laser deep space Robocop gangsta shit vs. the plain bowl of oatmeal.

jk, jk

  On 12/5/2013 at 10:41 PM, Alcofribas said:

*hadoukens*

*takes off coat*

*takes hadouken to face*

*throws first punch back*

*misses*

  On 12/5/2013 at 10:54 PM, Candiru said:

Kickass laser deep space Robocop gangsta shit vs. the plain bowl of oatmeal.

 

jk, jk

lol

I really enjoyed the TH hype. I missed out on most of it but I love what they did. Wasn't let down in the least.

Flep though...

I would have prefered more <2 minute tracks on Exai, lol.

I bought both on vinyl and listened to both on vinyl through these speakers and these speakers only, and have derived equivalent amounts of enjoyment from those experiences:

  On 12/5/2013 at 4:26 AM, zaphod said:

i dunno, exai is pretty tedious to my ears.

Basically. But something more profound than tedious, like by the time I got to Flep I had to stop because I was seriously rattled. I was sort of napping on that first listen and Flep felt like there was some kind of portal opening under me. It's hazardous listening.

Exai for me, but I love the fuck out of Harvest.

  On 12/5/2013 at 6:04 PM, pyramidpanes said:

this whole poll is like saying michael jackson vs prince, its makes absolutely no sense what so ever, no n sense i tell u!!

i totally agree it's an unfair comparison because exai is actually good and th isn't

  On 12/6/2013 at 9:07 PM, Nebraska said:

 

  On 12/5/2013 at 6:04 PM, pyramidpanes said:

this whole poll is like saying michael jackson vs prince, its makes absolutely no sense what so ever, no n sense i tell u!!

 

i totally agree it's an unfair comparison because exai is actually good and th isn't

 

nah

they are both very very awesome albums but hey if i have to choose pliss execute boc

  On 12/5/2013 at 4:59 PM, Joyrex said:

but, I think if BOC did something unexpected (like the guitar bits on TCH), the backlash from the fans would be severe and not praised by most, unlike Autechre.

 

The backlash from the guitar on TCH was because they aren't very good at playing guitar, and throwing simple acoustic guitar melodies into electronic music wasn't at all innovative when TCH rolled around. It's not because it was so groundbreaking people couldn't comprehend it.

This is definitely true because the 7 year hiatus all but shows that BoC doesn't give a fuck about their fans.

Flep is an incredible track