Hypothetical retirement

[egbdf]

Mike: "The next album shall come as a shock to everyone. Nobody will expect this from us."

I don't think TH actually is that unexpected and shocking album, I'm wondering if it might rather be the fully acoustic album that they've mentioned working on a few times. However IIRC they said in some interview that they weren't pleased with the result and decided not to release it. But I'm relying on my memory here, I should go through the old interviews for verification.

Is your username based on the computer game Otto Matic by any chance?

[arvy]

I think we can be very hopeful... they knew back then the next album will be "a shock", it was... but then I think it doesn't mean that their natural nihilism will affect also next albums...

They knew this will be the theme back in 2005 - state of the world, too much of human and unnatural life in many aspects (population size, urbanism, globalization, technology, crowds noise pollution etc.), they gave some glimpse on Geogaddi in 2002 already, it was... but they love music, they listen to everything as they still show with Societas X (moody, uplifting, dark, strange, dreamy - everything) and maybe they'll just jump on another theme and that's it...

But at the same time as in my life, I don't want to underestimate the seriousness of the last theme (if only the coronavirus would be sufficient for the change - clean air, water, soil, more natural life, working time, for family, friends, common good, no infinite GDP etc.)...

After Gemini were destroyed and (Cold) Earth almost depleted, there were Sick Times (hopefully "just" the coronavirus) leading to the moment of Collapse, the last dance of apocalypse (Palace Posy), then we knew we have to Split Your Infinities (confusion and always illusion of infinite GDP etc.) because of it Nothing Is Real, it will fade away (Sundown), we will try once more (New Seeds), but be careful - it can Come to Dust anyway... and the rest will be history...

What is the difference between Collapse and Apocalypse?

Good question... I think it could be the same, on the album it's likely divided - Collapse could be moments before the apocalypse, some ultimate event which leads to it, there's something coming at the end of the track (I suppose there are more possibilities than "a falling a-bomb", maybe also some sort of "Earth event", weather etc.), "the last event of collapsing civilization" and then there is exact "breaking point" Palace Posy, the exact moment (the track is 4 minutes long, the real time of the moment can last 4 days) when the old human world definitely ends what we see on the "less human" second half of the album... but I don't know everything of course, maybe BOC will give us the right fully clear interpretation sometimes (I still can't 100% understand the narrative chronology of the album personally)...

Thanx to everyone for interesting discussion...

Thanks in advance, as for official wiki page;

collapse - Societal collapse is the fall of a complex human society. Such a disintegration may be relatively abrupt, as in the case of Maya civilization, or gradual, as in the case of the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Apocalypse is the Greek term for revelation.

As for me thinks, collapse is more human thing and apocalypse a mythological, byblical tale about the end of the worrld.

What is interesting how it presented in the album. It could be that collapse is literally abrupts, with that I hear is moment of impact. Or it could be the beginning of something completely new. What's why the tittle and track is so offputing. I also like your descriptiion of palace posy as the last dance. I remember some time ago someone from twoism posted, that party like where's no tomorrow. As the worlds ends outside.

what is it from me

[Ottomatik]

Mike: "The next album shall come as a shock to everyone. Nobody will expect this from us."

I don't think TH actually is that unexpected and shocking album, I'm wondering if it might rather be the fully acoustic album that they've mentioned working on a few times. However IIRC they said in some interview that they weren't pleased with the result and decided not to release it. But I'm relying on my memory here, I should go through the old interviews for verification.

Is your username based on the computer game Otto Matic by any chance?

No sorry it is a coincidence, I didn't know this game. Looks like a fun one though!

There's sadly nothing left to do as a BOC fan but have faith. I still hope if they resurface, they do it now, while so many people are questioning the world. We need their kind of insight about life.

I can't help but wonder what their next album's theme is going to be. To me TH felt like a witness of the brother's growing wiseness and maturity, as they got older. It is, to me, their most "adult" album.
From there it's difficult to predict where they'll go: more nihilism and darkness with some sort of mix between TH and Geogaddi? or will they make a comeback to more psychedelic and optimistic tracks? or will they do both?
Before TH was released, I was thinking that a bleak album was kinda likely to happen. I wasn't that surprised by the theme of it as it was still unexplored. But right now I have absolutely no predictions on what path they might have chosen to follow. Did they get away from nihilism? Is it going to remain present, but more balanced? Is it going to reflect the world we're living on since 2013 or is it going to be totally different and unexpected?

[ryetronics]

Reading through this thread I'm actually glad MDG has gone dark on us. That account offered some interesting info at the time but it seems to me it's mostly been stuff that hasn't happened. The website. The boxset. You name it. All it did was whip everyone into a frenzy and then foster a grudge amongst fans since it most often lead to literally nothing.

Again, just another reason why I believe the best way to be a BOC fan is to go dark on them until they make the first move. Enjoy what they've released but don't put any time into wondering if/when they return. Otherwise it's just an exercise in disappointment.

[♄ope keeper]

Thank you Echelon... also for some precious info addition...

I agree arvy, thank you for the comment...

ryetronics I think I understand what you mean, they're just people as we are, there can be anything, family matters (as officially said in an interview, I remember Mike was maybe to New Zealand because of his wife's art job, Marcus maybe in Asia etc., parts of TH were written here and back again), a personal crisis, depression, in short anything what slows things down, in many times just naturally...

But from everything I read here and there one thing I'm sure about - they're working all the time, the question is - when there's something consistent what works as a proper thing ready for a release? One can think if they don't release for years, there's nothing written/prepared, or too little... but in BOCs case it's an opposite I believe and so they could surprise the most, they could release multiple albums just from the trax that didn't make it to the first 4 albums, they've said it many times, but it has to have that consistency...

And then there's maybe twitter as a (more personal) "website" and releasing a multiple CD boxset is just a waste of money/material in today's culture, there are no discmans anymore, no computers laptops with a CD drive, and plenty of smartphones which are maybe "too smart"...

mdg said:
"The tracks are out there now, nothing can be done about that, they've been circulating for a while and fans have them, so the decision was taken to at least consider tidying them up and repackaging them with decent exclusive artwork & more rarities. BOC never wanted these tracks presented this way, mislabelled and as poor-quality MP3 files."

So as with Old Tunes, they're maybe not so upset it's out as with the fact it's out in low quality... they want to give fans and people for inspiration the best sounding pearl for headphones, Old Tunes were just early made tapes for friends/family in that time with private booklets, very good unique diverse music indeed, I love it I play it often, but obviously it just wasn't mastered and approved for a proper public release... also maybe they wish to release just a part of it and without legal sample issues (for example "The Way You Show" with the "Celebration" sample) etc.

And so regarding BOCs next album - I agree they're definitely more matured (naturally, they are 48 and 46 probably), but then again they just love music, they reminded that to us with Societas X which is obviously very far from TH... 15 years ago they wanted to do a TH-themed album (also technically, sound source - old dark-themed VHS films, as TCH was about real guitars) and that's about it... as they said in the recent interviews they still write more melodic music, but every released album has to be "something different from the previous ones", so it can be anything really... I can be wrong, but I hope so...

[Echelon]

I can't help but wonder what their next album's theme is going to be. To me TH felt like a witness of the brother's growing wiseness and maturity, as they got older. It is, to me, their most "adult" album.
From there it's difficult to predict where they'll go: more nihilism and darkness with some sort of mix between TH and Geogaddi? or will they make a comeback to more psychedelic and optimistic tracks? or will they do both?
Before TH was released, I was thinking that a bleak album was kinda likely to happen. I wasn't that surprised by the theme of it as it was still unexplored. But right now I have absolutely no predictions on what path they might have chosen to follow. Did they get away from nihilism? Is it going to remain present, but more balanced? Is it going to reflect the world we're living on since 2013 or is it going to be totally different and unexpected?

The thing with BOC is that they seemed to be very intelligent balanced people (at least from what we know, they could be total wingnuts ) and they don't limit themselves to a single emotion in their music. There's always an emotional richness and ambiguity to it. They seem to go between phases of darkness and optimism like any thinking human being would. Hence why we get the total bleakness of Tomorrow's Harvest but later got Sometimes which is one of the sweetest, happiest tracks they've done in years. I personally feel we're in for an optimistic album that's tempered by the nihilism and darkness of Harvest. Maybe a true album that celebrates the collapse while remembering the sweetness of the past. Maybe a Societas X Tape but with original tracks instead.

Reading through this thread I'm actually glad MDG has gone dark on us. That account offered some interesting info at the time but it seems to me it's mostly been stuff that hasn't happened. The website. The boxset. You name it. All it did was whip everyone into a frenzy and then foster a grudge amongst fans since it most often lead to literally nothing.

Again, just another reason why I believe the best way to be a BOC fan is to go dark on them until they make the first move. Enjoy what they've released but don't put any time into wondering if/when they return. Otherwise it's just an exercise in disappointment.

Even without MDG, they've made plenty of statements in interviews that turned out to be false. But like I said, they're artists and artists can be very finicky with their art. Especially when it's consumed by thousands.

Anyway, I've got no grudges and honestly, in this day and age, waiting it out is the only thing I can do! I know things are ripe for disappointment but I can't help but think that something may be released in these uncertain times. I doubt they will remain entirely dark during this mess.

[♄ope keeper]

Plus to all useful comments you've written here guys, the first released track-remix after TH (2.5 years - 2016)... isn't this like BOC saying "we won't stuck with TH forever"? (I can hear nothing there that is near the dark mood of TH)

phpBB [media]

[Echelon]

Plus to all useful comments you've written here guys, the first released track-remix after TH (2.5 years - 2016)... isn't this like BOC saying "we won't stuck with TH forever"? (I can hear nothing there that is near the dark mood of TH)

phpBB [media]

Remix's have been the best predicters of where BOC will go next. Think Poppy Seed, which showcased the darkness of Geogaddi a year before it happened. Last Walk Around Mirror Lake which predicted the acoustic guitars.

Prime Audio Soup had a bit of 1969 in it too!

In fact, I daresay that the remixes are more accurate in predicting directions than MDG (no offense buddy).

Sisters kind of sounds like a Societas X Tape track. It sounds like another Hell Interface combination of music and samples like the Grace Jones mashup. Maybe we'll be getting a Hell Interface album instead of the regular BOC album. That never crossed my mind but I kind of like the idea

[arvy]

Plus to all useful comments you've written here guys, the first released track-remix after TH (2.5 years - 2016)... isn't this like BOC saying "we won't stuck with TH forever"? (I can hear nothing there that is near the dark mood of TH)

phpBB [media]

This video is kind of dark. If you look closely. Why these people doing all these weird dance and carnaval. And that guy flying with the chainsaw...lol

I honestly never seen anything like this in my life.

[SocietasXMate]

I can't imagine them ever retiring, no. I think deep down they just want to release an album with an interesting, relevant narrative and this takes time, also relevancy is affected by how society changes. Actually there may have been several album projects since 2013 but they stayed at the project stage. "Few, but ripe" was the motto of C.F. Gauss, the "prince of mathematics" and I just think they are in the same mindset.

[Echelon]

I can't imagine them ever retiring, no. I think deep down they just want to release an album with an interesting, relevant narrative and this takes time, also relevancy is affected by how society changes. Actually there may have been several album projects since 2013 but they stayed at the project stage. "Few, but ripe" was the motto of C.F. Gauss, the "prince of mathematics" and I just think they are in the same mindset.

Tbh, if they released Son of Campfire Headphase I'd be totally cool with it. Or electronic music as optimistic as most of OTV2. That's really what we need in this time, personally. But then again, I'm not nihilistic and never will be

[Soul_Slip]

I can't imagine them ever retiring, no. I think deep down they just want to release an album with an interesting, relevant narrative and this takes time, also relevancy is affected by how society changes. Actually there may have been several album projects since 2013 but they stayed at the project stage. "Few, but ripe" was the motto of C.F. Gauss, the "prince of mathematics" and I just think they are in the same mindset.

Tbh, if they released Son of Campfire Headphase I'd be totally cool with it. Or electronic music as optimistic as most of OTV2. That's really what we need in this time, personally. But then again, I'm not nihilistic and never will be

I still wholeheartedly enjoyed the bleakness of TH and the mysteriousness of Geogaddi... so I say.... show me more! Haha XP what other darkness do they have in stock.... i would enjoy a more doomgazey album with guitars as like a guitar antithesis to CH... although, i also hope for something completely different from them all together... they also have some sick blues guitar riffs on R35TT and OT... a lofi bluesy album would be neat

[Echelon]

I still wholeheartedly enjoyed the bleakness of TH and the mysteriousness of Geogaddi... so I say.... show me more! Haha XP what other darkness do they have in stock.... i would enjoy a more doomgazey album with guitars as like a guitar antithesis to CH... although, i also hope for something completely different from them all together... they also have some sick blues guitar riffs on R35TT and OT... a lofi bluesy album would be neat

I'm down with either. If it's a combination of light and dark I'll be down with that too! Especially because that's life itself. Technically, a combo of light and dark would be a return to Music Has The Right To Children which had sinister tracks like Eagle In Your Mind and happy tracks like ROYGBIV coexisting with each other.

[SamuraiDrifter]

They've been liking tweets along the lines of "can't wait for a new BOC album!" for like a year and a half now. They aren't retired.

[IronMark]

We're just under 7 years since the last studio release and the previous gap was 8 years (albeit with an EP in between) but still. It's very common for the length between studio releases only increasing as a band's career gets longer.

Let's face it, none of us really knows much about BoC as people which is by design and IMO a very good and healthy thing. My suspicion is that Boards Of Canada musicianship isn't their only and full time occupation and they both have more steady sources of income to pay the bills. Even before the internet, touring was regarded as essential for a band to make a comfortable living while album sales were much higher so it would astound me if BoC was their only job. But then again, what do I know?

Maybe this current lockdown has unexpectedly given them more time to work on whatever they're planning to release next.

[Echelon]

I actually agree with everyone who says they're not done. Feelings of doubt cross my mind sometimes (which is the basis for this thread) but I really just wanted to ask everyone "Do you think they're done?"

Glad so many don't And honestly, I check in everyday hoping to wake up to some good news. Really keeps my mind off the nightmarish things happening right now.

[PresidentSquidward]

I've always wondered this myself. Would be sad if it's true, but they seem to have been pulling our leg with those past times of liking people's fan tweets about wanting BoC to return one day. Perhaps they're cooking something up or may do so one day. I lost hope though and currently into other IDM people. I definitely can understand if they did retire in some way though, but with stuff like the Societas X Tape (and even featuring someone's 2018 bandcamp), they do seem to still follow with music so there's always a possibility they're not retired.

[funnnnpng]

I really don't think they'll retire. They're taking long breaks in between releases because they want quality control, not because they're retiring. Sure, the first cycle has completed. But a second cycle will come anew. A return to old. Hopefully.

[mechanismj]

I really don't think they'll retire. They're taking long breaks in between releases because they want quality control, not because they're retiring. Sure, the first cycle has completed. But a second cycle will come anew. A return to old. Hopefully.

Agreed. I could understand a touring band retiring, but a band that takes nearly 10 years to release albums? Seems to me like they enjoy their process.

Maybe one day they will just get the itch to play around more and drop unreleased tracks like Richard D. James did. Who knows.

[funnnnpng]

I really don't think they'll retire. They're taking long breaks in between releases because they want quality control, not because they're retiring. Sure, the first cycle has completed. But a second cycle will come anew. A return to old. Hopefully.

Agreed. I could understand a touring band retiring, but a band that takes nearly 10 years to release albums? Seems to me like they enjoy their process.

Maybe one day they will just get the itch to play around more and drop unreleased tracks like Richard D. James did. Who knows.

Exactly! If they were retiring, I don't think they would disappear into thin air. They'd tell us. They wouldn't be as active as they are on social media. They may be mysterious but they still care about their fans.
And man, I hope they put out some unreleased tracks. Just dropping a high quality full version of Play by Numbers or Acid Memories would make me content enough. Or soundboards of ATP and Warp10!