INFERNO SESSIONS (WRITE HERE FROM MAY 22-29)

[Skyraider]

Full London on YT a few hours ago… that didn’t take long

Does anyone know WHICH of the London sessions it came from?

[detit tani]

Inferno is EPIC

[el Cerebro]

Reporting back from the first New York session. I loved how they stamped all of our hands with a hexagon for seemingly no purpose other than to stamp our hands with a hexagon. The merch table was visibly empty - the people working were wearing the shirts themselves, and the cassettes weren't physically present. No atmosphere of aggressive commerce (also, it was great to meet Lincolnshire Poacher while waiting in line). You could walk around the church freely.

The lights shifted to announce the beginning without fanfare. Cue disclaimer that we were about to take part in MBI’s mass behavioral initiative. In a sense, the session felt like an experiment because, unusually, we weren’t listening to the album alone, or with a few close friends, but with hundreds of people.

I was sat behind a wanker that kept using his phone and talking over the music. I immediately questioned my decision to sit a few rows back (to avoid being too close to the PA). I want to say that witnessing people in a state of ‘checking’ as the album played felt profoundly sad and uncivilized. While caught in this internal narrative throughout Prophecy At 1420 Mhz, I thought about my own apathy to the way that screen addiction has become normalized in my life and how I am not willing to accept this as a path forward.

Instead of taking vengeance, I dropped the tension, closed my eyes for almost the entirety of the session, and opened up to the music without holding onto any expectations. I’d occasionally open my eyes - glasses off - and look into the electric candle on the floor, which produced astigmatic light effects. I thought there was a bit of a lack of clarity in the PA, or this was just the acoustics of the space. The bass and drums sounded massive.

The session itself - and this also relates to the experimental nature of hearing the album in this setting - had an oneiric effect on my listening experience (I learned this word from a BOC interview). There is a unique shape to the album that I cannot yet articulate.

Here are my impressions from memory.

The vocals throughout Age of Capricorn and Father And Son are insane. There was also a vocal part somewhere that shockingly sounded like clear singing.

I had to restrain myself from laugh-crying during Naraka. Astounding.

I agree with edgbf, I’m always wanting more Mike right hand keyboard moments. I think they established their approach to the melodies on Inferno with Prophecy At 1420 Mhz - they’re still fully formed, there’s just so much space in every phrase. Another example of this is the song with the sitar melody. It stunned me. The way everything comes to a rest, and then returns from the top, and cycles around again and again is so powerful. I was hit with a totalizing feeling of - and I think there will be a moment like this for everyone here on the record - “this was made for me as a listener.” I felt tuned into my instincts too because I’d predicted a few weeks ago that we’d hear some Hindustani instruments.

There was a track with guitar that felt like a call to Mogwai. I loved it.

The description above of Arena Americanada as a “flex” of harmony is so on point. An apt title because one can hear this playing in a stadium.

I did not think the Tape 05 music would be on the record because it didn’t feel at home sequenced early - it clicks in its position as Deep Time. I still think there is a mixtape quality to the album, although it’s not as collaged as I’d expected initially after hearing Prophecy At 1420 Mhz.

There are a few tracks that come to total silence beautifully.

After one listen You Retreat In Time And Space sounded like a Japanese Bonus Track for The Campfire Headphase to me. Or a song they made for Campfire that didn't quite fit on the album. Before the song began, I felt lost in the dark. I wanted one more moment of wide open music before the album's end, and out of nowhere the fire inside the hexagon cut to an intimate Super 8 montage of a family in the outdoors. The effect of the melody and instrumentation (chimes, vibraphone/marimba, bass guitar) in contrast to the music that precedes it is extremely moving. I thought of the question they’re always asking, “how can things be different?” Then, I Saw Through Platonia.

Great post Den, thanks for the well-crafted and insightful review, man BoC fans are such great writers! Is it because we’re smart? Charming? Likely both I reckon

[el Cerebro]

I am literally salivating and trying not to get hit by a meteor or space junk…

[Negamuse]

Full London on YT a few hours ago… that didn’t take long

Does anyone know WHICH of the London sessions it came from?

Didn't see the upload but someone in ours looked like they were filming the whole thing (subtly, with the screen off,) from the balcony and the staff weren't exactly checking so I'm gonna say it could've been any of them.

Modern world though, innit, someone's always going to be filming. I was actually surprised that I didn't see more phones lighting up in the thing, I guess if you were there it was cos you wanted to be, right? Mostly people were just enjoying the experience they'd laid on for us. It was a really good vibe:)

[Omikron]

Reporting back from the first New York session. I loved how they stamped all of our hands with a hexagon for seemingly no purpose other than to stamp our hands with a hexagon. The merch table was visibly empty - the people working were wearing the shirts themselves, and the cassettes weren't physically present. No atmosphere of aggressive commerce (also, it was great to meet Lincolnshire Poacher while waiting in line). You could walk around the church freely.

The lights shifted to announce the beginning without fanfare. Cue disclaimer that we were about to take part in MBI’s mass behavioral initiative. In a sense, the session felt like an experiment because, unusually, we weren’t listening to the album alone, or with a few close friends, but with hundreds of people.

I was sat behind a wanker that kept using his phone and talking over the music. I immediately questioned my decision to sit a few rows back (to avoid being too close to the PA). I want to say that witnessing people in a state of ‘checking’ as the album played felt profoundly sad and uncivilized. While caught in this internal narrative throughout Prophecy At 1420 Mhz, I thought about my own apathy to the way that screen addiction has become normalized in my life and how I am not willing to accept this as a path forward.

Instead of taking vengeance, I dropped the tension, closed my eyes for almost the entirety of the session, and opened up to the music without holding onto any expectations. I’d occasionally open my eyes - glasses off - and look into the electric candle on the floor, which produced astigmatic light effects. I thought there was a bit of a lack of clarity in the PA, or this was just the acoustics of the space. The bass and drums sounded massive.

The session itself - and this also relates to the experimental nature of hearing the album in this setting - had an oneiric effect on my listening experience (I learned this word from a BOC interview). There is a unique shape to the album that I cannot yet articulate.

Here are my impressions from memory.

The vocals throughout Age of Capricorn and Father And Son are insane. There was also a vocal part somewhere that shockingly sounded like clear singing.

I had to restrain myself from laugh-crying during Naraka. Astounding.

I agree with edgbf, I’m always wanting more Mike right hand keyboard moments. I think they established their approach to the melodies on Inferno with Prophecy At 1420 Mhz - they’re still fully formed, there’s just so much space in every phrase. Another example of this is the song with the sitar melody. It stunned me. The way everything comes to a rest, and then returns from the top, and cycles around again and again is so powerful. I was hit with a totalizing feeling of - and I think there will be a moment like this for everyone here on the record - “this was made for me as a listener.” I felt tuned into my instincts too because I’d predicted a few weeks ago that we’d hear some Hindustani instruments.

There was a track with guitar that felt like a call to Mogwai. I loved it.

The description above of Arena Americanada as a “flex” of harmony is so on point. An apt title because one can hear this playing in a stadium.

I did not think the Tape 05 music would be on the record because it didn’t feel at home sequenced early - it clicks in its position as Deep Time. I still think there is a mixtape quality to the album, although it’s not as collaged as I’d expected initially after hearing Prophecy At 1420 Mhz.

There are a few tracks that come to total silence beautifully.

After one listen You Retreat In Time And Space sounded like a Japanese Bonus Track for The Campfire Headphase to me. Or a song they made for Campfire that didn't quite fit on the album. Before the song began, I felt lost in the dark. I wanted one more moment of wide open music before the album's end, and out of nowhere the fire inside the hexagon cut to an intimate Super 8 montage of a family in the outdoors. The effect of the melody and instrumentation (chimes, vibraphone/marimba, bass guitar) in contrast to the music that precedes it is extremely moving. I thought of the question they’re always asking, “how can things be different?” Then, I Saw Through Platonia.

Beautifully worded. Do you write for a living? Also, 342 posts in 6 weeks must surely be a new record! (Not the vinyl kind…)

[CDcaseMemories]

Reporting back from the first New York session. I loved how they stamped all of our hands with a hexagon for seemingly no purpose other than to stamp our hands with a hexagon. The merch table was visibly empty - the people working were wearing the shirts themselves, and the cassettes weren't physically present. No atmosphere of aggressive commerce (also, it was great to meet Lincolnshire Poacher while waiting in line). You could walk around the church freely.

The lights shifted to announce the beginning without fanfare. Cue disclaimer that we were about to take part in MBI’s mass behavioral initiative. In a sense, the session felt like an experiment because, unusually, we weren’t listening to the album alone, or with a few close friends, but with hundreds of people.

I was sat behind a wanker that kept using his phone and talking over the music. I immediately questioned my decision to sit a few rows back (to avoid being too close to the PA). I want to say that witnessing people in a state of ‘checking’ as the album played felt profoundly sad and uncivilized. While caught in this internal narrative throughout Prophecy At 1420 Mhz, I thought about my own apathy to the way that screen addiction has become normalized in my life and how I am not willing to accept this as a path forward.

Instead of taking vengeance, I dropped the tension, closed my eyes for almost the entirety of the session, and opened up to the music without holding onto any expectations. I’d occasionally open my eyes - glasses off - and look into the electric candle on the floor, which produced astigmatic light effects. I thought there was a bit of a lack of clarity in the PA, or this was just the acoustics of the space. The bass and drums sounded massive.

The session itself - and this also relates to the experimental nature of hearing the album in this setting - had an oneiric effect on my listening experience (I learned this word from a BOC interview). There is a unique shape to the album that I cannot yet articulate.

Here are my impressions from memory.

The vocals throughout Age of Capricorn and Father And Son are insane. There was also a vocal part somewhere that shockingly sounded like clear singing.

I had to restrain myself from laugh-crying during Naraka. Astounding.

I agree with edgbf, I’m always wanting more Mike right hand keyboard moments. I think they established their approach to the melodies on Inferno with Prophecy At 1420 Mhz - they’re still fully formed, there’s just so much space in every phrase. Another example of this is the song with the sitar melody. It stunned me. The way everything comes to a rest, and then returns from the top, and cycles around again and again is so powerful. I was hit with a totalizing feeling of - and I think there will be a moment like this for everyone here on the record - “this was made for me as a listener.” I felt tuned into my instincts too because I’d predicted a few weeks ago that we’d hear some Hindustani instruments.

There was a track with guitar that felt like a call to Mogwai. I loved it.

The description above of Arena Americanada as a “flex” of harmony is so on point. An apt title because one can hear this playing in a stadium.

I did not think the Tape 05 music would be on the record because it didn’t feel at home sequenced early - it clicks in its position as Deep Time. I still think there is a mixtape quality to the album, although it’s not as collaged as I’d expected initially after hearing Prophecy At 1420 Mhz.

There are a few tracks that come to total silence beautifully.

After one listen You Retreat In Time And Space sounded like a Japanese Bonus Track for The Campfire Headphase to me. Or a song they made for Campfire that didn't quite fit on the album. Before the song began, I felt lost in the dark. I wanted one more moment of wide open music before the album's end, and out of nowhere the fire inside the hexagon cut to an intimate Super 8 montage of a family in the outdoors. The effect of the melody and instrumentation (chimes, vibraphone/marimba, bass guitar) in contrast to the music that precedes it is extremely moving. I thought of the question they’re always asking, “how can things be different?” Then, I Saw Through Platonia.

Beautifully worded. Do you write for a living? Also, 342 posts in 6 weeks must surely be a new record! (Not the vinyl kind…)

It was nice watching Warp/theater staff at Shibuya persistently restrict phones altogether. Everyone was a stone for the whole show. I laughed a bit when everyone started shifting upwards for “You retreat in time and space”. This super mousey Japanese girl next to me had a big smile on her face.

[Negamuse]

Yeah. I had my eyes shut for a lot of the show, admittedly. Just drinking it in. But couldn't resist the urge to people-watch a bit whenever anything surprising happened. Registering the looks of "Oh my god are you hearing this?" on people's faces.

There was a real sense of recognition when Tape 05 played, and a surprise when it continued beyond what we'd heard.

I remember thinking, not realising I had a track listing in my hand, and with the tracks fading down to silence, "will it be obvious when it's the end of the album?" Then that beautiful track played, and people just knew where we were. Followed up by the closer, and the applause.

[CDcaseMemories]

Shibuya

[CDcaseMemories]

[robotanalysis]

Reporting back from the first New York session. I loved how they stamped all of our hands with a hexagon for seemingly no purpose other than to stamp our hands with a hexagon. The merch table was visibly empty - the people working were wearing the shirts themselves, and the cassettes weren't physically present. No atmosphere of aggressive commerce (also, it was great to meet Lincolnshire Poacher while waiting in line). You could walk around the church freely.

The lights shifted to announce the beginning without fanfare. Cue disclaimer that we were about to take part in MBI’s mass behavioral initiative. In a sense, the session felt like an experiment because, unusually, we weren’t listening to the album alone, or with a few close friends, but with hundreds of people.

I was sat behind a wanker that kept using his phone and talking over the music. I immediately questioned my decision to sit a few rows back (to avoid being too close to the PA). I want to say that witnessing people in a state of ‘checking’ as the album played felt profoundly sad and uncivilized. While caught in this internal narrative throughout Prophecy At 1420 Mhz, I thought about my own apathy to the way that screen addiction has become normalized in my life and how I am not willing to accept this as a path forward.

Instead of taking vengeance, I dropped the tension, closed my eyes for almost the entirety of the session, and opened up to the music without holding onto any expectations. I’d occasionally open my eyes - glasses off - and look into the electric candle on the floor, which produced astigmatic light effects. I thought there was a bit of a lack of clarity in the PA, or this was just the acoustics of the space. The bass and drums sounded massive.

The session itself - and this also relates to the experimental nature of hearing the album in this setting - had an oneiric effect on my listening experience (I learned this word from a BOC interview). There is a unique shape to the album that I cannot yet articulate.

Here are my impressions from memory.

The vocals throughout Age of Capricorn and Father And Son are insane. There was also a vocal part somewhere that shockingly sounded like clear singing.

I had to restrain myself from laugh-crying during Naraka. Astounding.

I agree with edgbf, I’m always wanting more Mike right hand keyboard moments. I think they established their approach to the melodies on Inferno with Prophecy At 1420 Mhz - they’re still fully formed, there’s just so much space in every phrase. Another example of this is the song with the sitar melody. It stunned me. The way everything comes to a rest, and then returns from the top, and cycles around again and again is so powerful. I was hit with a totalizing feeling of - and I think there will be a moment like this for everyone here on the record - “this was made for me as a listener.” I felt tuned into my instincts too because I’d predicted a few weeks ago that we’d hear some Hindustani instruments.

There was a track with guitar that felt like a call to Mogwai. I loved it.

The description above of Arena Americanada as a “flex” of harmony is so on point. An apt title because one can hear this playing in a stadium.

I did not think the Tape 05 music would be on the record because it didn’t feel at home sequenced early - it clicks in its position as Deep Time. I still think there is a mixtape quality to the album, although it’s not as collaged as I’d expected initially after hearing Prophecy At 1420 Mhz.

There are a few tracks that come to total silence beautifully.

After one listen You Retreat In Time And Space sounded like a Japanese Bonus Track for The Campfire Headphase to me. Or a song they made for Campfire that didn't quite fit on the album. Before the song began, I felt lost in the dark. I wanted one more moment of wide open music before the album's end, and out of nowhere the fire inside the hexagon cut to an intimate Super 8 montage of a family in the outdoors. The effect of the melody and instrumentation (chimes, vibraphone/marimba, bass guitar) in contrast to the music that precedes it is extremely moving. I thought of the question they’re always asking, “how can things be different?” Then, I Saw Through Platonia.

Thanks for the detailed account. Not sure if I ran into you, but I was 3 rows back on the left side. I didn't view the track list at all - simply had my eyes closed for most of it, actively listening in a way not normally reserved for a full listen.

[Buckie High]

I was fortunate enough to secure a ticket for the first session in New York. Boards of Canada has been the most important band in my life since I first heard them about 18 years ago. My anticipation for Inferno could not have been higher. Unfortunately, I left Judson Memorial Church with an enormous sense of sadness, emptiness, and bitter disappointment.

Firstly, the listening environment was shocking, but not in a good way. The system sounded overpowered and poorly time-aligned for the space. The mid-room delay speakers appeared to introduce comb filtering and localization problems rather than improving coverage, while the church’s reverberant architecture exaggerated the lack of clarity. For music where texture, stereo field, and subtle spatial detail are central, the presentation felt fundamentally compromised. I look forward to listening to the digital, vinyl, and cassette versions of Inferno on my hi-fi systems once released before concluding on the overall sonic quality and mix of the album.

Secondly, the Circle-esque, muffled noise that played before the album began was torturous. In fact, at the volume it played at in New York, it was essentially a sonic weapon deployed against the listeners for 30+ minutes. The excessive low-frequency, distorted "hum" could easily cause vestibular and/or psychological distress. I read someone's earlier comment who asked a Warp employee regarding the pre-show audio who confirmed it was created by BoC specifically for these listening sessions. Subjecting fans to this intentionally is sinister.

Thirdly, I would have preferred no visuals rather than the "flaming, rotating, Hexagons of hell" for 60+ minutes. When they changed the visual to the nostalgic "life flashing before your eyes" film clips, it felt lame.

With respect to the album itself: It is impossible to have a properly informed opinion after only one listen in a problematic acoustical environment on a wretched PA system. However, there were only a few fleeting moments that really hit me in a way that their best music over the years has.

The overuse of vocal samples throughout was curious. The drums and synths on many songs were far too harsh and "in your face". The overall soundscape was cold, digital, compressed, and generic. Virtually every chord progression and melody ended in a bizarre, unsettling, and unsatisfying manner. Deep Time (aka "Tape 05") is one of the few examples where a melody resolves in a semi-satisfying way.

I know that many other fans who listened must have had similar thoughts. Many are not willing to allow themselves to admit it, though.

[el Cerebro]

It really does seem that the various environments allocated at the listening parties had unique audio challenges, oversights really, probably due to no testing whatsoever, and I wonder about how this impacted first impressions. I am hoping that the smaller spaces next week at the record stores will provide a less harsh, more intimate and nuanced sound quality.

[Buckie High]

To add more context to my earlier impressions:

• the album lacks the nuanced “light touches” that make their best music so unique.

• the explicit themes of the album (album name, artwork, visuals, song titles, and vocal samples/lyrics) leaves very little room for the listener to interpret the music in a personal way.

• my favourite thing about Boards of Canada’s music is that I can always curate a playlist or mix to suit whatever I’m doing and act as a soundtrack to my life. Whether that is to help me focus for deep, productive work sessions; to uplift and motivate me through a workout; to sink into a deep state of relaxation, meditation, and sleep; to keep me engaged on a long road trip; or to inspire and comfort me during remote, wilderness adventures in nature. The songs on Inferno do not seem to sit comfortably in a mix or playlist for any of these purposes.

• Boards of Canada’s best music always felt like it revealed beauty and order against a backdrop of decay and chaos. For me, Inferno leaves me feeling only confused, unsettled, and disjointed.

• simply put, Inferno is missing that “je ne sais quoi” that I was desperately hoping it would have.

[North by North]

Full London on YT a few hours ago… that didn’t take long

Does anyone know WHICH of the London sessions it came from?

Didn’t say, but the audio was very good and the full visuals were included as well.

[lyrical]

Full London on YT a few hours ago… that didn’t take long

Does anyone know WHICH of the London sessions it came from?

3:30pm.

[thedisavowed]

I'm so conflicted.

I have a session near me on May 28th in Dallas. It's coincidentally my son's 11th birthday, and his party and the listening session happen at nearly the same time. The party couldn't be any further away from the Inferno session. I'm also supposed to grill for the party, so it's not like I can duck out even if I wanted to. I'm a suburban dad now. I'm old.

To complicate things further, while I'd love to meet other BoC fans, get the merch, and create a memory, I'm not 100% sure I want my first experience with the first BoC record in 13 years to be standing in a record store with no control over the system or my environment.

It's the weird paradox of being a BoC fan. On some level you crave community (hence places like Twoism), but the music is very much isolationist in nature. It would make just as much sense to be alone in the desert as it would to be at an event with like-minded heads.

I don't know what to do, but I'm predicting my sense of responsibility will win out here. I'll keep enjoying this vicariously through this thread. Keep the stories and reactions and photos coming.

[Lifewoorld]

Yello everyone. I attended the late NYC session. Sat in the front, luckily I brought hearing protection. Didn't hear the singles before so the whole thing left me in awe. I recollect Friday night as blur honestly. Can anyone help me connect the dots for track names...

The words of Peter or Parker being repeatedly, remind me of the last half of Telephasic Workshop.

Short track where it mentions something about a fetus

And lastly, this track being played reminded me of Peacock Tail and the self-titled track In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country. Bass guitar strings being plucked are very prominent with a hint of Moog synthesizer bass that is barely noticeable.

Also shoutout to the attendee that handed out the blue wooden hexagons. Thank u so much.

[Skyraider]

“Into the Magic Land” was the closest to “Dayvan Cowboy” vibes, with shimmering guitars and uplifting chord progs.

I got major “western movie soundtrack” vibes from that one. I scribbled down impressions over the course of the listen (New York 7:00) and my notes for that track were “Paris siren” for the very beginning and “The Sheriff” for the rest of it.

[Skyraider]

A track with a man spelling out “you are marvelous”??

I think it’s “Age of Capricorn”.

What I heard was:

U S A M A
M double A U S
U R (or “you are”) M A B U S
MABUS. MABUS.

This then repeats a few times.

USAMA might be a reference to Osama Bin Laden.

The only reference I’ve found to MAAUS is an architecture/design group. I also thought of MAUS, Art Spiegelman’s famous graphic novel about the Holocaust.

MABUS is a reference to one of Nostradamus’s prophecies. It’s thought to pertain either to the Third Antichrist or a close predecessor. The speech reminded me of the Omen movies, where Damien has a whole cult of satanic acolytes who protect him and tell him about his destiny…