Article on Alain Clavier, the composer who inspired BOC
Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 9:18 pmhttp://music.cbc.ca/#/blogs/2012/2/Did- ... -of-Canada[url][/url]
This topic has been covered here before but I think it needs more merit. What's particularly haunting is the fact that Parks Canada commercials from the 80s could have been the single solitary sliver of momentary creation that might have inspired the Boards of Canada concept.
As I rediscovered this Parks Canada ad http://youtu.be/IXkm0oqKfKw I realized I had completely forgotten about the ad series, lost memories of my childhood just came back. The Parks Canada commercials were aired quite often during the day on CBC, so as I child, watching tv was daily routine, I suppose I've seen them all many times over. I actually remember finding the ads kind of dark, sad and boring. Like the Hinterland's Who's Who commercials.
But the music had been deeply drilled, so embedded within me, the entire aesthetic... when I watched the ad on youtube for the first time in 30 years, I understood where it all came from.... It felt like a immense surge of greatness and sadness. A haunting, beautiful memory that gives me more and more shivers with every listen.
"During the early 80's, Parks Canada commissioned a series of commercials featuring footage from our national parks, with music by Canadian film and television composer, Alain Clavier. This spot http://youtu.be/IXkm0oqKfKw I think is my favourite, as it bespeaks of the vastness of the Canadian wilderness, and captures the quality of solitude that a visitor may experience in the huge tracks of land set aside for however long we might exist as a nation.
And what's particularly interesting about this series of Parks Canada commercials is that they are very likely in part what inspired Boards of Canada to create their dreamy analogue synthscapes, over a decade later."
This topic has been covered here before but I think it needs more merit. What's particularly haunting is the fact that Parks Canada commercials from the 80s could have been the single solitary sliver of momentary creation that might have inspired the Boards of Canada concept.
As I rediscovered this Parks Canada ad http://youtu.be/IXkm0oqKfKw I realized I had completely forgotten about the ad series, lost memories of my childhood just came back. The Parks Canada commercials were aired quite often during the day on CBC, so as I child, watching tv was daily routine, I suppose I've seen them all many times over. I actually remember finding the ads kind of dark, sad and boring. Like the Hinterland's Who's Who commercials.
But the music had been deeply drilled, so embedded within me, the entire aesthetic... when I watched the ad on youtube for the first time in 30 years, I understood where it all came from.... It felt like a immense surge of greatness and sadness. A haunting, beautiful memory that gives me more and more shivers with every listen.
"During the early 80's, Parks Canada commissioned a series of commercials featuring footage from our national parks, with music by Canadian film and television composer, Alain Clavier. This spot http://youtu.be/IXkm0oqKfKw I think is my favourite, as it bespeaks of the vastness of the Canadian wilderness, and captures the quality of solitude that a visitor may experience in the huge tracks of land set aside for however long we might exist as a nation.
And what's particularly interesting about this series of Parks Canada commercials is that they are very likely in part what inspired Boards of Canada to create their dreamy analogue synthscapes, over a decade later."
