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Boards of Canada is a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Michael Sandison (born 10 June 1969) and Marcus Eoin Sandison (born 21 September 1970). They have released a number of works, most notably Music Has the Right to Children and Geogaddi, with little advertising and few interviews. Their music is reminiscent of the warm, scratchy, artificial sounds of 1970s television. Their music contains recurring themes of childhood and nostalgia. Michael and Marcus admit to being inspired by the documentary films of the National Film Board of Canada, from which the group's name is derived. The duo has recorded a few minor works as Hell Interface. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... For other uses, see Edinburgh (disambiguation). ... This article is about the country. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Intelligent dance music (commonly IDM) is a genre of electronic music derived from dance music of the 1980s and early 1990s which puts an emphasis on novel processing and sequencing. ... Ambient music refers to a kind of music that envelops the listener without drawing attention to itself [1] // The term ambient music was first coined by Brian Eno in the mid-1970s to refer to music that can be either actively listened to with attention or as easily ignored, depending... Downtempo (or Downbeat) is a laid-back electronic music style similar to Ambient music. ... Psychedelia in music (or also psychedelic music, less formally) is a term that refers to a broad set of popular music styles, genres and scenes, that may include psychedelic rock, psychedelic folk, psychedelic pop, psychedelic soul, psychedelic ambient, psychedelic trance, psychedelic techno, and others. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. ... Warp Records is a pioneering independent UK record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the most enduring artists in electronic music. ... Skam Records, based in Manchester, is an Electronic/IDM record label founded by Andy Maddocks around 1990. ... Music70 is a record label run by Boards of Canada. ... This article is about the country. ... For other uses, see Electronic music (disambiguation). ... is the 161st day of the year (162nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... is the 264th day of the year (265th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This articles section on Miscellanea does not cite any references or sources. ... Geogaddi is the second album of Boards of Canada. ... The National Film Board of Canada (usually National Film Board or NFB) is a Canadian public filmmaking organization established to produce and distribute films that inform Canadians and promote Canada around the world. ...

History

Early years (1980s–1995)

Growing up in a musical family, brothers Michael and Marcus Eoin began playing instruments at a young age. They experimented with recording techniques at around the age of 10, using tape machines to layer cut-up samples of found sounds over compositions of their own. In their teens they participated in a number of amateur bands, however, it wasn't until 1986 when Marcus was invited to Michael's band that Boards of Canada was born. Sony reel-to-reel tape recorder. ... This article is about reusing existing sound recordings in creating new works. ...

We began writing and playing music in a more serious way at some point around 1987. At first, we experimented without setting ourselves any questions, with whatever means were available to us, then we worked a lot with other musicians and with real instruments, which brought more complexity into our music. Five years ago [1993], we sounded a lot more gothic, much closer to experimental rock, with the occasional vocal. Though, it was heading for electronic music; already we were sampling our own instruments. Then we went back to something closer to our original spirit: simple and instinctive, the only difference being that from then on, we could use all the wonders of digital technology, and so it was a lot easier to experiment and to get what we wanted. Gothic rock (sometimes called goth rock or simply goth) is a genre of rock music that originated during the late 1970s. ... A digital system is one that uses discrete values (often electrical voltages), especially those representable as binary numbers, or non-numeric symbols such as letters or icons, for input, processing, transmission, storage, or display, rather than a continuous spectrum of values (ie, as in an analog system). ...

– ^[1] (Sandison & Eoin)

By 1989, the band had been reduced to Sandison and Eoin.^[2] In the early 1990s, a number of collaborations took place and the band put on small, fairly regular shows among the "Hexagon Sun" collective. Hexagon Sun is an artistic collective based in the Pentland Hills, Scotland. ...

In early 2000, the official website for the band, Music70.com, removed the early discography of Boards of Canada, although some information has been preserved by fans. Early tape releases by Boards of Canada include Play By Numbers, Acid Memories, Hooper Bay, and the earliest known release by the band is titled Catalog 3. None of the material from those days is readily available, and since official Boards of Canada sources ignore the existence of this material, there seems to be little chance for this early material ever to resurface. Play By Numbers is a CD produced and created by Boards of Canada. ... Acid Memories is a cassette created by Boards of Canada under their self-label Music70. ... Hooper Bay, not to be confused with the city of the same name in Alaska, is a 12 EP created by Boards of Canada. ... Catalog 3 was produced and created by Boards of Canada. ...

From Twoism onwards (1995–present)

Samples

"Telephasic Workshop"
from Music Has The Right To Children (1998)
Problems listening to the file? See media help.

"Aquarius"
from Music Has The Right To Children (1998)
Problems listening to the file? See media help.

"Happy Cycling"
from Music Has The Right To Children (1998)
Problems listening to the file? See media help.

"Julie And Candy"
from Geogaddi (2002)
Problems listening to the file? See media help.

"Dawn Chorus"
from Geogaddi (2002)
Problems listening to the file? See media help.

In 1995, the band made their first Hexagon Sun studio release, the EP Twoism. Like earlier Music70 releases, it was produced in a self-financed limited run and was privately distributed, primarily to friends and labels. Unlike previous releases, however, a small number of copies were also released to the public through the IDM mailing list. Though not a widespread commercial release, it was considered of sufficient quality and worth to be subsequently re-pressed in 2002, and serves as a demarcation point into more professional releases. Image File history File links Boards_of_Canada_-_Telephasic_Workshop. ... This articles section on Miscellanea does not cite any references or sources. ... Image File history File links Boards_of_Canada_-_Aquarius. ... This articles section on Miscellanea does not cite any references or sources. ... Image File history File links Boards_of_Canada_-_Happy_Cycling. ... This articles section on Miscellanea does not cite any references or sources. ... Image File history File links Boards_of_Canada_-_Julie_And_Candy. ... Geogaddi is the second album of Boards of Canada. ... Image File history File links Boards_of_Canada_-_Dawn_Chorus. ... Geogaddi is the second album of Boards of Canada. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... Twoism was released by Boards of Canada in 1995 on their own Music70 label. ... Music70 is a record label run by Boards of Canada. ... Intelligent dance music (commonly IDM) is a genre of electronic music derived from dance music of the 1980s and early 1990s which puts an emphasis on novel processing and sequencing. ...

The band made another release in 1996; titled Boc Maxima, it was a semi-private release that notable for being a full-length album, and was the precursor to Music Has the Right to Children, with which it shares many tracks. Boc Maxima was released by Boards of Canada on Music70 in 1996. ...

Boards of Canada's first commercial release occurred after attracting the attention of Autechre's Sean Booth, of the English label Skam Records, one of many people sent a demo EP. Skam issued what was considered Boards of Canada's first "findable" work, Hi Scores, in 1996. Music has the Right to Children was subsequently released in 1998. John Peel featured Boards of Canada on his BBC Radio 1 program in January of that year. The session featured two remixes from Music Has the Right to Children — "Aquarius (Version 3)" and "Olson (Version 3)" — along with the tracks "Happy Cycling" and "XYZ". Excluding "XYZ", the set was released on a Warp Records CD titled Peel Session TX 21/07/1998. Autechre are an English electronic music group consisting of Rob Brown (born c. ... Autechre are an English electronic music group. ... Skam Records, based in Manchester, is an Electronic/IDM record label founded by Andy Maddocks around 1990. ... Hi Scores is an EP and CD released by Boards of Canada in 1996. ... “Peel Sessions” redirects here. ... BBC Radio 1 (commonly referred to as just Radio 1) is a British national radio station operated by the BBC, specialising in popular music and speech and is aimed primarily at the 14-29[1] age group. ... A compact disc or CD is an optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio. ... Peel Session TX 21/07/1998 is an EP by Boards of Canada of their 21 July 1998 broadcast on BBC Radio 1. ...

Though never an actively touring band, Boards of Canada did perform a handful of shows. Early shows saw them supporting Warp labelmates Seefeel and Autechre in a handful of UK dates. They also participated in a few festivals and multi-artist bills, including two Warp parties: Warp's 10th Anniversary Party in 1999, and The Incredible Warp Lighthouse Party almost one year later. They made their most prominent showing in 2001 as one of the headliners at the Tortoise-curated All Tomorrow's Parties festival. They have not performed a live show since. Seefeel are a British music group. ... Autechre are an English electronic music group consisting of Rob Brown (born c. ... Live @ Warp10 is a collection of songs recorded during the performance of Boards of Canada at Warp Records 10th anniversary. ... Live @ Lighthouse is a collection of songs recorded during the perfomance of Boards of Canada at the Warp Records lighthouse party. ... Tortoise, an instrumental rock band, formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1990. ... Live @ ATP is a collection of songs recorded during the performance of Boards of Canada at All Tomorrows Parties. ...

The band released a four-track EP, In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country, in November 2000, their first original release in two years. The LP edition was pressed on sky blue vinyl. A full-length album, Geogaddi, was then released in 2002. It was described by Sandison as "a record for some sort of trial-by-fire, a claustrophobic, twisting journey that takes you into some pretty dark experiences before you reach the open air again."^{[citation needed]} In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country was released by Boards of Canada on November 17th, 2000 on CD (WAP144CD) and 12 (WAP144) on Warp Records. ... Geogaddi is the second album of Boards of Canada. ...

Throughout most of their career, Mike and Marcus chose not to publicize their brotherhood and were simply portrayed as childhood friends. Their kinship was finally revealed in a 2005 Pitchfork interview.^[3] Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork and occasionally shortened to P4K or pfork,[1] is a United States-based daily Internet publication devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. ...

Their third album for Warp Records, The Campfire Headphase, was released on 17 October 2005 (18 October in the United States). The album featured fifteen tracks, including "Peacock Tail", "Chromakey Dreamcoat," and "Dayvan Cowboy." Two versions of "Dayvan Cowboy" — the original and a remix by Odd Nosdam — are on the six-track EP, Trans Canada Highway, which was released on 26 May 2006. The Campfire Headphase is the third full-length album from the electronica duo Boards of Canada, released in October 2005. ... is the 290th day of the year (291st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 291st day of the year (292nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Odd Nosdam, real name David Madson, visual artist, DJ, record producer and member of the anticon. ... Trans Canada Highway is an EP by the Scottish duo Boards of Canada. ... is the 146th day of the year (147th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

On 23 July 2007, a member of Hexagon Sun confirmed on the Boards of Canada Yahoo Groups that a new major release by the band is coming up. The post was made under the username "hex_official", and stated that an announcement would be made via the official Boards of Canada website closer to the release date. is the 204th day of the year (205th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st Century. ... Hexagon Sun is an artistic collective based in the Pentland Hills, Scotland. ... Yahoo! Groups is an electronic mailing list service provided by Yahoo!. Yahoo! has over the years bought many other mailing list providers, including the popular eGroups, and combined them into one system. ...

Pop culture references

In Season 2, episode 6 of the TV Drama series "Kyle XY", the main character, (Kyle), decides he wants to find clarity through music. He inserts a CD into a boom box and "Dayvan Cowboy" by Boards of Canada is played as he begins to relax.

"Happy Cycling" is played when Brenda meets up with two teenage boys in episode 25 of "Six Feet Under".

"Beware Friendly Stranger" is the background music to the popular flash cartoon Salad Fingers. Salad Fingers is a popular Flash cartoon series created by David Firth. ...

Director Chris Cunningham used several BoC soundtracks in his commercials for BMW, Nissan, and Italian Telecom.

A poster for The Campfire Headphase has been visible in the british sitcom The IT Crowd, on the walls of the IT department office.

Sound and methods

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Boards of Canada

Boards of Canada's unique sound is a product of their strong use of analogue equipment, mix of electronic and conventional instrumentation, use of distorted samples as well as live and radio or film lyrics, and their layering and blending of these elements.^[4][5] Their deliberate eschewal of a purely synthetic sound gives their music a warmer, emotive quality, often meant to inspire nostalgia. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is a sister project of Wikipedia, using the same MediaWiki software. ... For the Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact publication, see Astounding Magazine. ...

Brief interludes or "vignettes" feature prominently in their music. Such songs are often weaving melodies or speech accompanied by atmospherics to capture a specific moment or mood. They often last less than two minutes, but, as Sandison says, "those short tracks you mention, we write far more of those than the so-called 'full on' tracks, and, in a way, they are our own favorites".^[6]

Boards of Canada have written an enormous number of song fragments and songs, most of which will never be released. It does not appear that their music is made exclusively for commercial release; rather, albums seem to be the result of selecting complementary songs from current work. For instance, Geogaddi's development involved the creation of 400 song fragments and 64 complete songs, of which 22 were selected (not 23, as one of the tracks on the CD is complete silence).^[6] Says Eoin: "The idea of the perfect album is this amorphous thing that we're always aiming at […] the whole point of making music is at least to aim at your own idea of perfection."^[6] Geogaddi is the second album of Boards of Canada. ...

Influences

Interviews with Sandison and Eoin provide some insight into the duo's creative inspiration. They have cited several acts that have influenced their work, including Joni Mitchell, The Incredible String Band ("we have all the String Band records […] our rural sensibilities are similar"),^[6] The Beatles ("[they] really became enthralling to us through their psychedelism")^[1] and My Bloody Valentine ("even if we don't sound like them, there's a connection in terms of the approach to music").^[3] Joni Mitchell, CC (born Roberta Joan Anderson on November 7, 1943) is a Canadian musician, songwriter, and painter. ... The iconic cover of the bands 2nd album designed by The Fool The Incredible String Band were (and are) a Scottish acoustic band who way back in the 1960s built a popular following among the British counter culture, and are considered psych folk music pioneers. ... The White Album, see The Beatles (album). ... My Bloody Valentine were an Irish-British shoegazing band best known for their creative use of guitar distortion, tremolo, and digital reverb. ...

Themes

I've always been fascinated by the connection between music and numbers. Psychedelic experiences lead in this direction; they help us to see things in terms of numbers and their forms, of structures, as if the music was made out of crystals.

– ^[1] (Sandison)

We've touched upon the theme of lost childhood a few times because it's something personal to me that gives me real inspiration through its sadness. I think sometimes the best way to get inspiration is to face up to the things that make you very sad in your life, and use them.

– ^[6] (Sandison)

[On The Campfire Headphase] "We usually imagine our music to have a visual element while we're writing it, so we were picturing this character losing his mind at the campfire and compressing weeks of events into a few hours, in that time-stretching way that acid fucks with your perception." The Campfire Headphase is the third full-length album from the electronica duo Boards of Canada, released in October 2005. ... Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly called LSD, LSD-25, or acid. ...

– ^[7] (Sandison)

Subliminal messages, symbolism and religion

Marcus and Michael have both expressed a strong interest in the power of subliminal messaging and their work is full of cryptic messages,^[8] including references to David Koresh and the Branch Davidians, occult symbols and numerology amongst others.^[9] A subliminal message is a signal or message embedded in another object, designed to pass below the normal limits of perception. ... David Koresh (August 17, 1959 – April 19, 1993), (born Vernon Wayne Howell), was the leader of the Branch Davidians religious sect, believing himself to be the final prophet, until a 1993 raid by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and subsequent siege by the FBI ended... The Branch Davidians are a religious group originating from the Seventh_day Adventist church. ... The word occult comes from the Latin occultus (clandestine, hidden, secret), referring to knowledge of the hidden.[1] In the medical sense it is used commonly to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e. ... Numerology is any of many systems, traditions or beliefs in a mystical or esoteric relationship between numbers and physical objects or living things. ...

We're not Satanists, or Christians, or Pagans. We're not religious at all. We just put symbols into our music sometimes, depending on what we're interested in at the time. We do care about people and the state of the world, and if we're spiritual at all it's purely in the sense of caring about art and inspiring people with ideas. Satanism is a term which has been used since the end of the Middle Ages to describe a number of different belief systems in a number of contexts. ... For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... Pagan and heathen redirect here. ...

– ^[6] (Sandison)

I do actually believe that there are powers in music that are almost supernatural. I think you actually manipulate people with music, and that is definitely what we are trying to do. People go on about hypnotizing people with music, or subliminal messages and we have dabbled in that intentionally. Sometimes that's just a bit of a private joke, just to see what we can sneak into the tracks.

– ^[10] (Eoin)

Discography

"A Few Old Tunes"

Main article: Boards of Canada discography

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... This page contains a comprehensive collection of information related to recordings made by electronic music duo Boards of Canada. ...

Studio albums

• 1987: Catalog 3 – (Music70)
• 1989: Acid Memories – (Music70)
• 1992: Closes Volume 1 – (Music70)
• 1994: Play By Numbers – (Music70)
• 1994: Hooper Bay – (Music70)
• 1995: Twoism – (Music70)
• 1996: Boc Maxima – (Music70)
• 1996: Hi Scores – (Skam)
• 1998: Music Has the Right to Children – (Warp/Skam)
• 2000: In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country (Warp)
• 2002: Geogaddi – (Warp/Music70)
• 2005: The Campfire Headphase – (Warp)
• 2006: Trans Canada Highway – (Warp)

Catalog 3 was produced and created by Boards of Canada. ... Music70 is a record label run by Boards of Canada. ... Acid Memories is a cassette created by Boards of Canada under their self-label Music70. ... Closes Vol. ... Play By Numbers is a CD produced and created by Boards of Canada. ... Hooper Bay, not to be confused with the city of the same name in Alaska, is a 12 EP created by Boards of Canada. ... Twoism was released by Boards of Canada in 1995 on their own Music70 label. ... Boc Maxima was released by Boards of Canada on Music70 in 1996. ... Hi Scores is an EP and CD released by Boards of Canada in 1996. ... Skam Records, based in Manchester, is an Electronic/IDM record label founded by Andy Maddocks around 1990. ... This articles section on Miscellanea does not cite any references or sources. ... Warp Records is a pioneering independent UK record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the most enduring artists in electronic music. ... In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country was released by Boards of Canada on November 17th, 2000 on CD (WAP144CD) and 12 (WAP144) on Warp Records. ... Geogaddi is the second album of Boards of Canada. ... The Campfire Headphase is the third full-length album from the electronica duo Boards of Canada, released in October 2005. ... Trans Canada Highway is an EP by the Scottish duo Boards of Canada. ...

Old Tunes and other oddities

Main article: Old Tunes

Various Boards of Canada recordings have been found online, claiming to be original tracks from Catalog 3, Acid Memories, Hooper Bay and other pre-Twoism albums, but none have been officially acknowledged by Boards of Canada. Rumors persist that the duo will eventually re-issue their early albums as-is or as part of a special boxed set. Speculation regarding re-issues continues to be an intense subject amongst fans. Old Tunes refers collectively to several audio cassettes rumored to have been privately released by Scottish electronic music duo Boards of Canada between 1995 and 1996 [1] [2] [3]. Neither Boards of Canada nor Warp Records have confirmed or denied the existence of the Old Tunes tapes (comprising A Few...

See also

• Warp Records
• Skam Records
• Music70
• Matador Records
• Hexagon Sun Collective
• Boards of Canada discography
• Old Tunes

Warp Records is a pioneering independent UK record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the most enduring artists in electronic music. ... Skam Records, based in Manchester, is an Electronic/IDM record label founded by Andy Maddocks around 1990. ... Music70 is a record label run by Boards of Canada. ... Matador Records is a record label, famous for a roster of highly-respected indie rock artists and bands. ... Hexagon Sun is an artistic collective based in the Pentland Hills, Scotland. ... This page contains a comprehensive collection of information related to recordings made by electronic music duo Boards of Canada. ... Old Tunes refers collectively to several audio cassettes rumored to have been privately released by Scottish electronic music duo Boards of Canada between 1995 and 1996 [1] [2] [3]. Neither Boards of Canada nor Warp Records have confirmed or denied the existence of the Old Tunes tapes (comprising A Few...

References

Issue 102, November 2006 XLR8R (pronounced accelerator) is a magazine and website that covers music, culture, style, and technology. ...

External links

Official sites

• Boards of Canada
• Music70
• Hexagon Sun
• A Beautiful Place – MySpace

Record labels

• Warp Records
• Skam Records
• Matador Records

Discography sites

• Boards of Canada at Discogs
• Boards of Canada at MusicBrainz
• Discography at xltronic

Discogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about music recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and certain bootleg or off-label releases. ... MusicBrainz (MusicBrainz. ...

Unofficial/fan sites

• Unofficial Boards of Canada Resource Pages by Fredd-E
• Boards of Canada wiki
• Pre-2004 boardsofcanada.com Mirror
• Downloads of live performances, interviews, and radio broadcasts at WATMM

Articles

• In-depth article on Music Has the Right to Children