Your controversial BoC opinions.

[boredoms]

Tomorrow's Harvest is their best official LP.

And MHTRTC is their weakest (still great of course).

I've listened to TH, like all the BOC albums, dozens upon dozens of times over the years, and it just gets better and better with time. The themes are prescient and relevant to this present moment in particular in a way that I didn't see back in 2013. And sonically it's just their most impressive from a production standpoint.

I love it all tho. Old Tunes era still might be my personal favorite BOC but I was being technical above by only including the "official"/studio LPs.

Man we really need a new album don't we lol. Still, I'd die happy even without one, that's just how much I love the music they have given us.

Here's a possibly controversial opinion - I think I like Macquarie Ridge more than anything else on Campfire. Reaaaally wish that track was included either on the album proper, or on the TCH EP.

[dana]

Tomorrow's Harvest is the most depressing album they have made, makes a Radiohead album sound happy in comparison.

Its not an album i would put on to enjoy listening to.

[Burning Shadow]

The MDG message to babylulu about “a new album is on its way” could also accurately refer to Orangutang by the Sexual Objects

[Fredd-E]

The MDG message to babylulu about “a new album is on its way” could also accurately refer to Orangutang by the Sexual Objects

Nope. Babylulu's message to MDG clearly asked about BoC:

just wondering if there are any updates you can share? just about any BOC news or releases or boxset updates in general. much love from the states! <3

To which MDG responded:

"Thanks for your message. Nothing specific I'm allowed to share yet unfortunately, just that a new album is on its way. Sorry I can't give you any more right now!".

Furthermore, The Sexual Objects new record obviously has not really much to do with BoC. In fact Mike and Marcus produced three songs, sonically and technically far from their Boards of Canada project.

[llydia]

Tomorrow's Harvest is the most depressing album they have made, makes a Radiohead album sound happy in comparison.

Its not an album i would put on to enjoy listening to.

I agree. Its like jeez, is this really the fruits of our labor? Tomorrows harvest, more like disco night at the cemetery.

[bleak.]

I also find Tomorrow's Harvest a somewhat depressing listen, which is why it's my least favorite release from the brothers.

During the era of The Campfire Headphase, there was a distinct sense of hope and quiet optimism in both their music and their interviews - a feeling of stepping away from the noise and chaos of the modern world to find something serene and meaningful. That quality, that gentle beauty, still lingers beneath the surface, and it's something I truly value.

I'm hopeful that their next release reconnects with that more uplifting spirit. I understand that the world can often seem bleak, especially when viewed through a certain lens - but music, especially theirs, has the power to illuminate even the darkest corners. It would be heartening to hear that sense of wonder and subtle joy return

[Frindia]

Tomorrow's Harvest is the most depressing album they have made, makes a Radiohead album sound happy in comparison.

Its not an album i would put on to enjoy listening to.

I agree. Its like jeez, is this really the fruits of our labor? Tomorrows harvest, more like disco night at the cemetery.

It grew to be my favorite release next to Geogaddi. The aesthetic is perfect. How about desolate disco in the desert?

[mGardener]

Tomorrow's Harvest is the most depressing album they have made, makes a Radiohead album sound happy in comparison.

Its not an album i would put on to enjoy listening to.

lmao i personally think that a radiohead album (*cough* A Moon Shaped Pool *cough*) is more depressing.

TH sounds too much like terminator, its easily their most forgettable imo

(also im on that radiohead grind, please listen to the minidiscs and ok outtakes, they're peak)

[dana]

lmao i personally think that a radiohead album (*cough* A Moon Shaped Pool *cough*) is more depressing.

"personal heartbreak" vs "the world is ending"

[WATER_CAN-_-]

Boards of Canada are kinda post-punk


some seem to think too one dimensionally about Tomorrow's Harvest

[tonx]

I don't think this is a controversial opinion necessarily and others have expressed similar but:

Trans Canada Highway is an S-tier EP if you remove the Dayvan bookends. Dayvan Cowboy was already on an album, had a video, etc... feels like a commercial decision to have it be the lead off track on the EP. And, without weighing in on the merits of Odd Nosdam's divisive remix, a track remixed by another artist will never have the right magic. But remove them both and the listening experience is sublime.

Left Side Drive and Skyliner are among the best tracks they ever made. I hope LP5 sounds like those.

[Flory]

That when (not if) the true meaning of many of the BoC songs are found out or reveled, that we will have a completely different and somewhat worrisome view on the bros.

The hints in the songs are so obvious, I feel as if everyone likes to just, pretend they don't exist to keep their perception of BoC clean and only seek out the "nostalgia" in the music.
I don't really buy the whole "irony/post irony/post modern" idea of the hints being just "aesthetic".

Ngl I am afraid to vocalize this too much here. I don't want to come off ass speaking negatively of BoC, I only speak of this out of worry for them.

All I will say is, the songs, they have a reason, they have a logic. A logic and world view that might be incongruent with a healthy relationship with a social contract between citizens and a federal government and is unaligned with objective reality.

Just don't be surprised if something leaks out and there is a whole scandal of some sorts.

[WATER_CAN-_-]

That when (not if) the true meaning of many of the BoC songs are found out or reveled, that we will have a completely different and somewhat worrisome view on the bros.

The hints in the songs are so obvious, I feel as if everyone likes to just, pretend they don't exist to keep their perception of BoC clean and only seek out the "nostalgia" in the music.
I don't really buy the whole "irony/post irony/post modern" idea of the hints being just "aesthetic".

Ngl I am afraid to vocalize this too much here. I don't want to come off ass speaking negatively of BoC, I only speak of this out of worry for them.

All I will say is, the songs, they have a reason, they have a logic. A logic and world view that might be incongruent with a healthy relationship with a social contract between citizens and a federal government and is unaligned with objective reality.

Just don't be surprised if something leaks out and there is a whole scandal of some sorts.

Call it folk, nostalgia, pagan - it all comes down to the rustic/rural settings of your music, doesn't it? The music being dreamt up and worked out In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country, the land we inherited from our ancestors and haven't yet ruined completely. Being isolated from The City, Modern Life and the delusion of Ongoing Progress. How does that show in your music, you think?

Marcus: We're very much anti-globalization. One think that disturbs me is a trend today for technology to be created and used just for it's own sake. I recently heard a politician in the UK saying that population decline was a terrible thing and that if we don't build more houses then quality of life and the economy would suffer. It's such a naive and ignorant approach to the world. Where exactly do they stop? Once there is no land left, just industrial estates and housing? I think it's the saddest thing in the world that we have all the space and resources to give everyone a decent life, but it doesn't happen. George Bush is right in that there is an "axis of evil", but it lies at the door of big business and government. We try to support the idea of a less urbanized lifestyle in our music, but I don't want to preach to anyone.

https://bocpages.org/wiki/Play_Twice_Before_Listening

Interviewer: "Do you sympathize with the idea held by many ancient cultures, like the Celts and Native Americans, that nature belongs to no one"?

Marcus: "Yes. This nature and environment have existed longer than you, me, any government, country, or generation. It should continue to exist, but that requires us to treat it with respect."

https://bocpages.org/wiki/We%27re_makin ... e_and_time

[Flory]

That when (not if) the true meaning of many of the BoC songs are found out or reveled, that we will have a completely different and somewhat worrisome view on the bros.

The hints in the songs are so obvious, I feel as if everyone likes to just, pretend they don't exist to keep their perception of BoC clean and only seek out the "nostalgia" in the music.
I don't really buy the whole "irony/post irony/post modern" idea of the hints being just "aesthetic".

Ngl I am afraid to vocalize this too much here. I don't want to come off ass speaking negatively of BoC, I only speak of this out of worry for them.

All I will say is, the songs, they have a reason, they have a logic. A logic and world view that might be incongruent with a healthy relationship with a social contract between citizens and a federal government and is unaligned with objective reality.

Just don't be surprised if something leaks out and there is a whole scandal of some sorts.

Call it folk, nostalgia, pagan - it all comes down to the rustic/rural settings of your music, doesn't it? The music being dreamt up and worked out In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country, the land we inherited from our ancestors and haven't yet ruined completely. Being isolated from The City, Modern Life and the delusion of Ongoing Progress. How does that show in your music, you think?

Marcus: We're very much anti-globalization. One think that disturbs me is a trend today for technology to be created and used just for it's own sake. I recently heard a politician in the UK saying that population decline was a terrible thing and that if we don't build more houses then quality of life and the economy would suffer. It's such a naive and ignorant approach to the world. Where exactly do they stop? Once there is no land left, just industrial estates and housing? I think it's the saddest thing in the world that we have all the space and resources to give everyone a decent life, but it doesn't happen. George Bush is right in that there is an "axis of evil", but it lies at the door of big business and government. We try to support the idea of a less urbanized lifestyle in our music, but I don't want to preach to anyone.

https://bocpages.org/wiki/Play_Twice_Before_Listening

Interviewer: "Do you sympathize with the idea held by many ancient cultures, like the Celts and Native Americans, that nature belongs to no one"?

Marcus: "Yes. This nature and environment have existed longer than you, me, any government, country, or generation. It should continue to exist, but that requires us to treat it with respect."

https://bocpages.org/wiki/We%27re_makin ... e_and_time

Huh. Don't really know how to feel about this still. So it's more of an anti human oriented way of thinking? To respect what we've been "given" and not focus on the endless push through time that is "human technological development"? Kind of like a form of Anarcho-primitivism?

If that is the case then that's chill. But I can't help but feel that, maybe there is something more sinister, especially in Tomorrows Harvest. The sample from "Split your infinities" uses a HEAVILY distorted sample from the 1994 self published conspiracy documentary called "America Under Siege". And the sample used is specifically some 45 minutes into the doc and talks about a supposed "FEMA Camp" that is actually just the Beech Grove Shops, a maintenance shop for Amtrak trains. Maybe it's there for "aesthetic", but hear me out.

The America Under Siege "doc" was headed by a lawyer by the name of Linda Thompson. And her and those within her "foundation" that she herself founded called "American Justice Federation" not only produced this doc that claims that the federal government would enslave and holocaust style cremate most of the American population within these "FEMA camps" but also produced their more well known "docs" over the Waco TX Branch Davidans compound siege, and again peddled literal unfounded conspiracy theory's.

And here is what I'm getting at, maybe I am a little schizo for thinking this. But I think what BoC publicly discloses in their interviews is a HIGHLY sanitized version of their messaging. I'm sure there is much more nuance to the actually messaging within these amazing tracks of theirs but the general message I'm getting from the interviews and samples in their tracks is that federal governments that govern large populations and technological progress is not only seen as "wrong" but also should be actively fought against, perhaps by any means necessary.

The founder of the American Justice Federation; Linda Thompson, is literally a supporter of unauthorized militia movements within the US. People who wish to defy organized society and the social contract they live within.

Timothy Mcveigh when interrogated cited the Waco TX siege as the key motivation for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. He fell into the trap that he and many others did, that of these conspiracies. And this world view inevitably would lead to action, whether that be paper terrorism or actual real life violence.

Timothy Mcveigh might have actually seen one of the "docs" made by Linda Thompson's foundation.

These beliefs. They are not victimless beliefs. The complete REJECTION of governmental and scientific institutions has been show to ALWAYS lead to drastic consequences. Whether it be someone not vaccinating their kid to preventable diseases causing death all the way to literally storming the United States capitol.

These "people". Those who push unfounded lies. Those who sell a narrative that is not empirically supported, but just seem to be oh so "intuitive". And most importantly, those who are willing to organize and commit violence against institutions that are objectively keeping their own society alive. Those are the people that should have the LEAST amount of weigh in the decision making of any organized society, technological or not.

That is my take. That is my interpretation of BoC, Ideologically speaking wise at least. For gods sake they themselves practice the principle of leaving organized society to "a beautiful place out in the country". . It's literally a self made compound Waco TX style.

Violation of the social contract to live on your own is what ever (just never ask for help medically, technologically practically anything that requires specialized labor), but once you act violence to those who support and agree with the social contract. That's where, at the least, where I draw the line.

[♄ope keeper]

Just adding...

Do you think BOC's music is something that realizes a kind of utopia? If so, what kind of utopia is it?

Mike: "I hope our music presents an alternative to the current state of things. In other words, when I compose, I hope it's music that is detached from this monotonous reality of the real world. And maybe at that time, I'm envisioning my own personal utopia. I'm sure it would be a future where people, well-educated to embrace their differences, would challenge each other to games instead of resorting to violence. In that future, trees would grow to 30 feet tall in just 10 seconds, and ten suns of different colors would shine all day long."

In a capitalist society, would you agree that certain escapes or sabotages carry the most essential danger?
(No answer.)

That said, you’re rather pessimistic about the future of mankind? The crash is necessary because people, governments and industry are just not able to change their direction and thinking?

Mike: "Yes that’s part of it, humans are essentially selfish. So I feel that real radical change is more likely to come from external events rather than from within."

[Flory]

Just adding...

Do you think BOC's music is something that realizes a kind of utopia? If so, what kind of utopia is it?

Mike: "I hope our music presents an alternative to the current state of things. In other words, when I compose, I hope it's music that is detached from this monotonous reality of the real world. And maybe at that time, I'm envisioning my own personal utopia. I'm sure it would be a future where people, well-educated to embrace their differences, would challenge each other to games instead of resorting to violence. In that future, trees would grow to 30 feet tall in just 10 seconds, and ten suns of different colors would shine all day long."

In a capitalist society, would you agree that certain escapes or sabotages carry the most essential danger?
(No answer.)

That said, you’re rather pessimistic about the future of mankind? The crash is necessary because people, governments and industry are just not able to change their direction and thinking?

Mike: "Yes that’s part of it, humans are essentially selfish. So I feel that real radical change is more likely to come from external events rather than from within."

Ah so more of an intervention then a rebellion. Whether that be religious or meta-physical.

I'd never seen these interview snippets so thank you for showing them.

Still skeptical specifically with the American Justice Federation sample, none the less this does sooth some worries I had about their messaging, not all, but some.

[Samplehunter]

I can already say that Inferno is a bad and awfully unoriginal name for a Boards of Canada release. Coming from them, I expected something less generic.

[magrathea_ultima]

I can already say that Inferno is a bad and awfully unoriginal name for a Boards of Canada release. Coming from them, I expected something less generic.

Only if you associate Inferno with your own personal concept, yes? What if they have something completely different for an interpretation, and you get your mind pulverized to new depths of glory?

[zeoevil]

Lots and lots of words. I'm not going to quote them all to save space.

It's important to remember that we share this planet with seven billion other individuals. For you, me, or anyone else to think that our worldview is objectively the right one is the height of hubris. I'm not calling you out specifically, so don't take offense, but if two different people encounter the same real-world events from two entirely different perspectives, who's to say either of them is right or wrong given that they might not include the same elements or the same conclusions? People do not like to have their views relativized, so perhaps looking at these things subjectively might help us achieve a consensus between differing worldviews.

[Den]

I can already say that Inferno is a bad and awfully unoriginal name for a Boards of Canada release. Coming from them, I expected something less generic.

It almost seems like the title is meant to create this reaction because it’s so unexpected. The only one word album titles they’ve chosen are both words they created. I still think there is a double meaning though with the word ‘fern’ in between the ‘in’ and ‘o’.