LP5 - Inferno

[Wildfire]

For some reason I am really really looking forward to Acts of Magic, purely since its the only album track under 2 minutes.

Man, same. I noticed it was the only mini vignette, very unusual for them.

[mechanismj]

I wonder if they are tacking the vignettes onto the ends of the listed tracks.

[TaoTapeTao]

I wonder if they are tacking the vignettes onto the ends of the listed tracks.

I would think so, this corresponds with the rest of their output

[dr:0n3]

sund0wn wrote:
BoC feel stuck in creative stagnation. They peaked early and everything since then points to late-career decline. TH already leaned into a partly failed reinvention: cinematic, ambient, hevy on apocalypse nostalgia. Fans (and critics) wrapped it in so much artsy interpretation (in line with strategic promotion of the album) that the discourse covered this view obvious for non-fans.

What makes t worse is how disconnected they seem from modern music. While techno and dance music have exploded globally (people meeting, dancing & sweating together) BoC sound like they exist in a parallel universe. Their music increasingly feels like it's made for isolation, headphones on, lights off, rather than for being alive among other people. Old men music basically: withdrawn and hermetic, telling listeners to retreat and be fearful instead of engaging (the WORLD).

If Inferno continues this ambient-cinematic drift, it likely be a deeper slide into legacy and failed reinvention. Inferno will be a major disappointment to fans but they will buy it anyway and they will fool themselves it's actually good. Inferno will be legacy bias for sure. It will be the last album before the inevitable cashing in by selling boxes and collections (what we've already seen happening last year).
Inferno will be a negative dark smear in their legacy and likely provide a case of failed innovation at best. You could describe it as a Tutu or You're under Arrest compared to the free spirit of Bitches Brew or On (the corner).

Please prove me wrong BoC. I get the nihilism and dystopian view on the world but the world really needs more lightheartedness and waaayy more positive vibes. I really hope Inferno isn't as hellish as it sounds. I won't wait for it and it will most likely be the last album I'll ever buy from them.

Wait until they find out its been I Monster all along!

[magrathea_ultima]

Pretty funny to see people say the band has peaked (they have with Geogaddi) and that they are stale (they are not) that they are disconnected ( they always said they write music for them and friends and no one else in mind) so yeah I think there is a diseased thinking that this can be analyzed by anything systemic.

BoC is art, art’s purpose is to create reactions.

I’d say, good or bad they certainly hit the bullseye consistently, even the naysayers and doom mongers are reacting.

Well done

[WATER_CAN-_-]

phpBB [media]

[Negamuse]

Pretty funny to see people say the band has peaked (they have with Geogaddi) and that they are stale (they are not) that they are disconnected ( they always said they write music for them and friends and no one else in mind) so yeah I think there is a diseased thinking that this can be analyzed by anything systemic.

To suggest there's one peak and they've passed it does kind of center your own opinion of their work as the "correct" one, doesn't it.

Even if there really were an objectively "best" album, there's nothing to suggest there's not something even better yet to come.

I see this kind of attitude a lot with younger people, where they're almost crowd sourcing their opinions of things based on their perceived popularity and status. "Such and such is over now, it's cringe". I don't mean this to sound like generational warfare (I'm gen x, we created irony, aka the most boring force in the universe).

But listen with your ears, love what you love, and you'll never run out of great things to listen to. It's like an abundance mindset. Your favourite thing might still be out there ready to be made, by someone you've already decided has peaked.

[green calx]

What makes t worse is how disconnected they seem from modern music. While techno and dance music have exploded globally (people meeting, dancing & sweating together) BoC sound like they exist in a parallel universe. Their music increasingly feels like it's made for isolation, headphones on, lights off, rather than for being alive among other people. Old men music basically: withdrawn and hermetic, telling listeners to retreat and be fearful instead of engaging (the WORLD).

Yes.
That's true. That's the purpose and the reason people listen to them.
My question, why are you not going to listen to some modern techno instead of looking for what you cannot find for yourself in the genre and style that BOC represents? It's like bringing the same arguments against atmospheric black metal bands, that they are disconnected from modern music because people do not dance & sweat together to it. Totally missing the point of the purpose of the existence of that genre and contrasting it with some mainstream crap just to show that I'm not like you all here . We get it.

Also bitching already on the album that's yet to come and we had like 5% shown of it to the public seem like tryharding to go upside the stream. Fortunately not as many people expect them to invent the wheel again, and just exploring the same style while adding maybe a few new elements will keep the project fresh for the non demanding God knows what majority.

Do I hope it's their last album? Absolutely no, because why would I?
Would I accept this as their last? I think I would, because there's a lot of replayability with each LP they've created that I won't get bored in my life and I will always keep coming back.

I don't know what's here to discuss further about.

[razlomlogic]

It takes 100 years to understand the Painters art

[gestell]

While techno and dance music have exploded globally

What, like 25 years ago?

More like 35 years ago. Personally I stopped going to techno parties/raves in 1997.

So I'm perfectly fine with BoC doing their own thing.

[Wildfire]

More like 35 years ago. Personally I stopped going to techno parties/raves in 1997.

So I'm perfectly fine with BoC doing their own thing.

Ha, well 35 years ago I'd say techno was very much still fairly niche and underground, I was a regular at PURE in Edinburgh, enjoying the likes of Richie Hawtin and Weatherall around that time. But I wouldn't say it 'exploded globally' til a good few years after that, when it all became about mega raves and money.

[μasch]

BoC feel stuck in creative stagnation. They peaked early and everything since then points to late-career decline. TH already leaned into a partly failed reinvention: cinematic, ambient, hevy on apocalypse nostalgia. Fans (and critics) wrapped it in so much artsy interpretation (in line with strategic promotion of the album) that the discourse covered this view obvious for non-fans.

What makes t worse is how disconnected they seem from modern music. While techno and dance music have exploded globally (people meeting, dancing & sweating together) BoC sound like they exist in a parallel universe. Their music increasingly feels like it's made for isolation, headphones on, lights off, rather than for being alive among other people. Old men music basically: withdrawn and hermetic, telling listeners to retreat and be fearful instead of engaging (the WORLD).

If Inferno continues this ambient-cinematic drift, it likely be a deeper slide into legacy and failed reinvention. Inferno will be a major disappointment to fans but they will buy it anyway and they will fool themselves it's actually good. Inferno will be legacy bias for sure. It will be the last album before the inevitable cashing in by selling boxes and collections (what we've already seen happening last year).
Inferno will be a negative dark smear in their legacy and likely provide a case of failed innovation at best. You could describe it as a Tutu or You're under Arrest compared to the free spirit of Bitches Brew or On (the corner).

Please prove me wrong BoC. I get the nihilism and dystopian view on the world but the world really needs more lightheartedness and waaayy more positive vibes. I really hope Inferno isn't as hellish as it sounds. I won't wait for it and it will most likely be the last album I'll ever buy from them.

First of all, maybe wait to listen to the actual album before being so judgmental? The irony is that the only one being doom and gloom right now is you


As for the issues you are raising, Tomorrow's Harvest was indeed very left-field for BOC, and a lot of people didn't like that they tried something very alien from the usual feel-good nostalgia (even tho that was the case since Geogaddi) with more desolate and cinematic sounds... but so which is it then? Are you complaining about creative stagnation, or are you complaining that they are too creatively far from their roots? It can't be both.

Imo Boards of canada would have been in creative stagnation if they kept releasing clones of MHTRTC. And how exactly is being isolated from the rest of modern music a bad thing? That's the whole point of left-field music.

While techno and dance music have exploded globally (people meeting, dancing & sweating together), BoC sound like they exist in a parallel universe. Their music increasingly feels like it's made for isolation, headphones on, lights off, rather than for being alive among other people.

My friend, you are literally describing the Warp/IDM scene that has always co-existed like this in parallel with the EDM scene. Not every electronic genre has to revolve around rave culture. Artists like Burial, Aphex Twin, BoC, Autechre, etc., have always made music that you can enjoy on your own with headphones, and with a little bit of melancholy. Not to say i agree with the way some people describe IDM as a closed genre with no bridges with edm and raves, the "stay at home and lsiten" factor is still true and mostly due to the influence of ambiant music. And being on a creative island doesn't mean you're out of touch, simply because you're not following trends and "happy vibes." LEft field and outsider music is as important as the rest.

And I'm sorry, but really ? "Old men music" ? Now THAT is an out-of-touch statement. The IDM and hauntological scene is a major contributor to the modern internet alt styles and arts that are popular in online Gen Z's culture. Liminal spaces, analog horror, vaporwave aesthetics, Frutiger Aero/2000 nostalgia, dreamcore... all of this is stuff influenced by works from The Caretaker, Aphex Twin,, Oneohtrix Point Never and... boards of canada. So clearly its influences are much more than some "old men music" (plus what's wrong with old guys ).

What I'm getting from your post is that you are frustrated that Inferno is not a breath of optimism in a very uncertain and anxious time. That's what you wanted and I get it; not every artistic recreation needs to be negative. But artists are not here to give you what you want. They are here to give you what you need. As mystical and abstract as they can be, Boards of Canada is clearly not a politically neutral project and, since Geogaddi, they have always been reactive to modern geopolitical developments. In times of crisis, art has a duty to deconstruct and make people think about their condition. An art that makes you look at your society in a mirror, even with all its ugliness, is an art that makes you think. An art that puts you asleep with nostalgia and fake optimism is an art that makes you compliant. And i for one, am very glad that BOC understands that and didn't fall into the mainstream 80s watered-down nostlagia that gets forced into some movies.

[rd1994]

I feel like Warp REALLY underestimated the demand for this album. Wherever you buy the red vinyl it now says "release date: September 18th 2026" and mind you its only for that version...so uh YIKES?

[μasch]

I feel like Warp REALLY underestimated the demand for this album. Wherever you buy the red vinyl it now says "release date: September 18th 2026" and mind you its only for that version...so uh YIKES?

What, you didn't know there's ddr5 inside the limited edition LP ?

[magrathea_ultima]

Pretty funny to see people say the band has peaked (they have with Geogaddi) and that they are stale (they are not) that they are disconnected ( they always said they write music for them and friends and no one else in mind) so yeah I think there is a diseased thinking that this can be analyzed by anything systemic.

To suggest there's one peak and they've passed it does kind of center your own opinion of their work as the "correct" one, doesn't it.

My signature should provide every answer required for context.

jk of course, but perhaps my wording was inadequate (secondary language) I meant to show my appreciation for Geogaddi as that release being so far above everything else they crafted before or since that I believe there's no way it can be topped IMHO.

[outhudd]

Don't forget bleep isn't the only shop selling the red deluxe edition.

Plenty other stores are selling the same version and still have stock for May, eg; https://www.piccadillyrecords.com/16737 ... rp-Records

[b0qurant]

I have'not been all that active on the board since the announcement (my daughter was on school break, my parents stayed with us, etc.).

but it has been fascinating to me, lurking around and reading replies!

seems like a "break up with her before she can break up with me" mentality dominates among some of our compatriots. i.e., are people afraid the album will not meet their expectations, so they are jumping to negative conclusions before even hearing a millisecond of the album to protect their own experience ? (I believe, with no more evidence than your average Sapien, that Tape 05 and the announcement video are not audio from the album.)

"we'll see" (hear, rather) predominates on my end.
I know one thing for sure: I am going to be out of work, quite "ill," on May 29th, and I am hoping the hallowed headphone cure will bring me back to my senses.

[happy]

BoC feel stuck in creative stagnation. They peaked early and everything since then points to late-career decline. TH already leaned into a partly failed reinvention: cinematic, ambient, hevy on apocalypse nostalgia. Fans (and critics) wrapped it in so much artsy interpretation (in line with strategic promotion of the album) that the discourse covered this view obvious for non-fans.

What makes t worse is how disconnected they seem from modern music. While techno and dance music have exploded globally (people meeting, dancing & sweating together) BoC sound like they exist in a parallel universe. Their music increasingly feels like it's made for isolation, headphones on, lights off, rather than for being alive among other people. Old men music basically: withdrawn and hermetic, telling listeners to retreat and be fearful instead of engaging (the WORLD).

If Inferno continues this ambient-cinematic drift, it likely be a deeper slide into legacy and failed reinvention. Inferno will be a major disappointment to fans but they will buy it anyway and they will fool themselves it's actually good. Inferno will be legacy bias for sure. It will be the last album before the inevitable cashing in by selling boxes and collections (what we've already seen happening last year).
Inferno will be a negative dark smear in their legacy and likely provide a case of failed innovation at best. You could describe it as a Tutu or You're under Arrest compared to the free spirit of Bitches Brew or On (the corner).

Please prove me wrong BoC. I get the nihilism and dystopian view on the world but the world really needs more lightheartedness and waaayy more positive vibes. I really hope Inferno isn't as hellish as it sounds. I won't wait for it and it will most likely be the last album I'll ever buy from them.

Controversial take for sure. But can you really level these criticisms at a band who've crafted their entire sound around not chasing contemporary trends? In a world full of throwaway electronic music, is it not refreshing and necessary to have artists who don't just serve up a different brand of the same regurgitated noise...

"Music made for isolation"... Wait a sec while I cue up Bucephalus Bouncing Ball for the next kitchen disco...

Pre-empting Inferno a failure before hearing a note is a tad premature..... Whether it continues the cinematic drift (Tape 05 ended with hope) or dystopian hellish soundscape, or a mixture of both, then it confirms to me that BoC are still uninterested in being “relevant” on anyone else’s terms.

Art doesn’t have an obligation to mirror social optimism, especially when the world itself doesn’t. BoC have never been purveyors of lighthearted uplifting positivity, so judging them for not becoming something they never aimed to be isn't really a valid take.

If Inferno misses the mark, by all means criticise it for what it is, but let's not write its obituary in advance.

[ColinWallis]

Genuine question:

How much crack do you have to smoke to think BoC wants people to stop engaging with the world, and be reclusive and fearful??

[Soul_Slip]

Genuine question:

How much crack do you have to smoke to think BoC wants people to stop engaging with the world, and be reclusive and fearful??

Genuine counter question: Who is making that assertion? And how is it relevant to what anyone in this thread has been saying?