Happy 16th Birthday, The Campfire Headphase

Everything related to our favorite Scottish duo.

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Eagle Minded
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I was just coincidentally listening to The Campfire Headphase and also reading a little bit about it (a bad habit when I sometimes listen to albums [it takes away from the experience]), and I noticed it was released on October 17, 2005.

So Happy 16th to TCH!

(It's also my cat's fifth birthday today [who knew they shared? {now you do, dear reader}] ... we planted a small blue candle in his wet food and sang to him.)

I know TCH is sometimes a controversial album among BoC Scholars, and it's even trite to acknowledge its controversy but (as a listener for over a decade now, and I consider BoC number one for me vis-a-vis influence on me, etc.), it has always held a dear place in my heart. My Favorite BoC list is an ever-changing thing, but Campfire Headphase is always near the top. (A passing temptation to write something like, 'Fight me!' [but why would I do that? It's just an opinion.])

I mean coooooome ooooon: Satellite Anthem Icarus? Peacock Tail?? Sherbet Head??? Oscar See Through Red Eye???? Constants Are Changing????? Tears From the Compound Eye?????? I love every song but these ones are certified Painful (hurting my heart and also healing it). I think the album has aged wonderfully.

"Chromakey Dreamcoat" is fading into that delightful, murky outro in my AudioTechnicas as I type these very words.
"Fall in love with some activity, and do it! Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough." - Richard P. Feynman

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Eagle Minded
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Commenting on my own post just moments later to note that "Peacock Tail" just came on (I'm not going to live blog TCH, don't worry [I have an essay to write]) and it is just perfect. Simple, gorgeous, and so evocative. That little string whine/scratch that sounds like a teeny dog yapping has always fucked me up big time.
"Fall in love with some activity, and do it! Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough." - Richard P. Feynman

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Dayvan Cowboy
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b0qurant wrote:. I think the album has aged wonderfully.



Like most BOC albums it could have been released today. Can't think of one element that dates it at all.

I've never gotten the critics and especially Pitchfork's dismissal of it. It's a beautiful, heartfelt album and like all the others, they really put a lot of effort into it. It was the shortest time we ever got a follow up album too. Three years is nothing compared to these last two waits. TCH was truly a present :D
Warning: This numerology post is not to be taken 2 seriously.

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Dayvan Cowboy
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Ah yes, my introduction to BoC. One of the albums that got me to actually start actively seeking new music, next to Grizzly Bear's "Yellow House" and Blockhead's "Music by Cavelight".

Now I'm picturing the albums as siblings: MHTRTC is on a caravan trip going cross country, Geogaddi just went to college to study psychology/philosophy, and TCH is arguing with its parents while TH is a reclusive child.
"It's not just a headphase, mom!" :lol:
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In here is a tragedy, art thou player or audience?
Be as it may, the end doth remain:
all go on only toward death.
...
There is nothing which cannot become a puppet of fate
or an onlooker, peering into the cage.

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Dayvan Cowboy
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TCH is my most played BoC album, I once tried skimming stones on a beach with a few selected tracks from it. Oscar see through red eye, dayvan cowboy, satellite anthem icarus & chromakey dreamcoat.
It was Boxing Day but a great boards experience never the less.
I also try to listen to BoC albums in weird locations for good mental images in future listens, geogaddi in a graveyard was terrifying :wink:
TCH is one of those albums made for ether a morning sunrise train travel OR a deckchair park listen. It just wants you to listen in a sunny environment.
There are other non-BoC albums that do that but nothing like headphase.
These repeat listens are rewarding when it comes to boards.
Happy 16th TCH!

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It didn't age well. It aged perfectly, like fine wine. With something so ahead of it's time, it holds up even better nowadays.
Fly!

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Dayvan Cowboy
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Orbited insanitarium wrote:I also try to listen to BoC albums in weird locations for good mental images in future listens, geogaddi in a graveyard was terrifying :wink:
TCH is one of those albums made for ether a morning sunrise train travel OR a deckchair park listen. It just wants you to listen in a sunny environment.
There are other non-BoC albums that do that but nothing like headphase.
These repeat listens are rewarding when it comes to boards.
Happy 16th TCH!

I completely agree with listening to TCH during an early morning commute. I used to listen to it a lot when I would take the morning bus to school, and during the early fall/late summer times it would still be pretty dark out during the ride. It fits greatly when you rest your head against the window on a cold and rainy morning bus ride. Geogaddi fit pretty well when I was driving to work during the beginning of quarantine last year when all the streets were barren and the sun was still setting.
Image
In here is a tragedy, art thou player or audience?
Be as it may, the end doth remain:
all go on only toward death.
...
There is nothing which cannot become a puppet of fate
or an onlooker, peering into the cage.

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Eagle Minded
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TCH pairs so incomparably well with a particular drug experience that it borders on paranormal. An absolutely transcendent work that will be revered for generations into the future should our species manage to survive.
preparation for a dive.

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Eagle Minded
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TCH is BOC's Summer album for me. MHTRTC is spring, Geogaddi is autumn and TH is winter. But TCH is the album I want to listen to outside on a hot summer day just enjoying the weather and being happy.

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Dayvan Cowboy
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IronMark wrote:TCH is BOC's Summer album for me.


Absolutely. It's always one of the first CDs I have in the car for a holiday.

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Dayvan Cowboy
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jcnporter wrote:Absolutely. It's always one of the first CDs I have in the car for a holiday.


Road tripping to campfire headphase all the way!

Dare I say it but TCH is probably the best mixed album in BOCs catalog for me, the warmness in its production is off the scale!
Sharp, layered, and clear lush soundscapes.
A great feat of superb engineering.
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Eagle Minded
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Fantastic record. Oscar See Through Red Eye is one of my favorite songs of theirs period.

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Happy Cycler
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phase
Okay...now...wait for fog machine.

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Dayvan Cowboy
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Any love for Macquarie Ridge? The reversed drum pattern and deep bass tones kinda feel like remnants of Geogaddi. It makes such a nice epilogue to the whole album after Farewell Fire finally closes, and almost a harrowing lead into the following years of silence and then the more bleak Tomorrow's Harvest. Macquarie Ridge, FOSATD, and Happy Cycling may as well be part of their original track listings to me; they tie a nice little bow onto the album's endings, like the company logo after the credits of an old TV show.
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In here is a tragedy, art thou player or audience?
Be as it may, the end doth remain:
all go on only toward death.
...
There is nothing which cannot become a puppet of fate
or an onlooker, peering into the cage.

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Dayvan Cowboy
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NTFMTS wrote:Fantastic record. Oscar See Through Red Eye is one of my favorite songs of theirs period.


Oscar See Through the Red Eye is a band still running on all four cylinders. It reminds me of swimming underwater and seeing all kinds of colorful things pop out at you from the murky currents.

If progressive music is music that searches out new and brilliant ideas, then Oscar See Through The Red Eye is progressive music of the highest order.
Warning: This numerology post is not to be taken 2 seriously.

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Eagle Minded
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That's a great way to describe it!

All the slow reverse delay ramping stuff and the introduction of sounds slowly throughout as the atmosphere builds is so alluring

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Dayvan Cowboy
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Perfect autumn album, to chillout and relax, remembering past funny summer days. Very nostalgic with some very psychedelish pieces like peacock tail. A complete opposite to Tomorrow;s Harvest. I was wondering, what a complete opposite from Tomorrow's Harvest may be? Campfire Headphase part 2, only 20 years later.
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Dayvan Cowboy
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ROAD TRIP!

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Eagle Minded
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I'm listening to that endlessly memed (but also actually helpful) "lofi hip hop radio - beats to relax/study to" YouTube channel (yes with the anime girl [she's wearing a witch's hat right now {Halloween themed}]) to help me limp through some master's degree readings and realizing it all sounds like B-list Campfire Headphase tunes.
"Fall in love with some activity, and do it! Nobody ever figures out what life is all about, and it doesn't matter. Explore the world. Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough." - Richard P. Feynman

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Dayvan Cowboy
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b0qurant wrote:I'm listening to that endlessly memed (but also actually helpful) "lofi hip hop radio - beats to relax/study to" YouTube channel (yes with the anime girl [she's wearing a witch's hat right now {Halloween themed}]) to help me limp through some master's degree readings and realizing it all sounds like B-list Campfire Headphase tunes.


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