Post-WXAXRXP Societas X Tape Tracklist & Discussion

[Wildfire]

excited to post this, i dont think this specifically has been identified yet, or at least the link isnt correct on bocpages, it comes with a small story:

#20 seems to be correctly identified as "Non Passa Piu" HOWEVER the original source of the actual sample itself is much more interesting.

in late 2015 an internet archive user uploaded a K-mart in store audio tape archive here: https://archive.org/details/attentionkm ... ?tab=about

these tapes are actual rips of real in store audio that was played in actual K-mart stores. its a super cool treasure trove of muzak mixes from the late 80s and early 90s and myself and some friends got totally obsessed listening to all of them. a online microscene also popped up of people who sampled the tapes to make albums. i ended up making this: https://curatorbeats.bandcamp.com/album/k-m-r-t and you can find other related stuff on bandcamp with the kmart tag: https://bandcamp.com/discover/kmart

ANYWAYS i know a lot of these tapes inside and out and there were some pretty amazing samples that i never got around to using. one of them is the exact sample that ended up as #20 on societas! blew my mind when i first listened to this tape, i couldnt believe they had picked out one of the samples i had tried to work with. its a strange dark muzak version of Non Passa Piu!

you can hear it at about 48:00 on the august 1990 tape: https://archive.org/details/KmartAugust1990

and, funny enough, you can hear it isolated on this youtube video that doesnt know the name of the song (you guys did!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dauE9JhPmKg

it doesnt surprise me at all to learn that BOC also listened to the kmart tapes, totally in line with their style. in some ways the whole of societas is even in the style of a kmart tape (also not surprising). i encourage you all to check out the kmart tapes collection if you got the time they are totally worth it. thank you for reading!

God damn that is niche, what a find!

[momatt]

these tapes are actual rips of real in store audio that was played in actual K-mart stores. its a super cool treasure trove of muzak mixes from the late 80s and early 90s and myself and some friends got totally obsessed listening to all of them. a online microscene also popped up of people who sampled the tapes to make albums. i ended up making this: https://curatorbeats.bandcamp.com/album/k-m-r-t and you can find other related stuff on bandcamp with the kmart tag: https://bandcamp.com/discover/kmart

Fascinating stuff! Downloading your album now...

Do you ever watch the videos made by TechMoan?
He collects loads of old mad obsolete music formats, including many long-play tape machines used for shops/factories (background music systems).
Well worth a look if you're into this stuff. I didn't know there was a 'scene' around it!

Here's a few videos of his, well worth a watch!
At last it’s the first Reditune Background Music System
BMS2600 : The last Philips tape-based Background Music System
The AEI Foreground Music Machine

[Negamuse]

Techmoan is peak dad content but I love it.

There is a whole scene with buying old non-prerecorded VHS tapes and cassettes and whatnot and scanning them for lost media. Not usually released things but ephemera, the kind of things that were just made and thrown away like adverts, bumpers, jingles, continuity... absolute time capsules some of these things.

[TaoTapeTao]

In hindsight, the Vernal Equinox "Warc" Voice sounds extremely similar to the Warp Voice at the end of Societas.

[Redd Panderson]

I have to say

The Societas X Tape led me to grabbing vinyl copies of Severed Heads' City Slab Horror and Doxa Sinistra's Conveyor Belt. They did not disappoint, I'm really glad to have them in my collection.

Thanks for the great reccs, Boards of Canada!

[sowhereareyouliving?]

New (and somehow increased) appreciation for SxT now that Inferno's here. Definitely orbiting similar planets

[Redd Panderson]

Just popping into say that in April when the album cover dropped, I put it on my TV and stared at it while listening to SXT and it fit like a glove. Solidified the artistic direction for me. Having now heard Inferno, well, yeah, they had every right to go this direction with the visual side, to say the least.

[sowhereareyouliving?]

Definitely - the more I (re)listen to SxT the more clear the path between them, esp the last 30mins (and within that, the highlight has to be One Foundation - Dance With Us Lord: a classic earworm and just perfect in tone, mood etc). The full set is all I want to listen to in the mornings.

I initially called Inferno a bit of a beat-tape, and that was definitely wrong, but it does feel a bit like a mixtape. A perfectly sourced and sequenced mixtape of solid-gold rarities that just so happen to be among BOC's finest work.

[Den]

Tape 05 was another sign, because after hearing Prophecy At 1420 Mhz it was hard to imagine the Tape 05 music being on Inferno unless there was a mixtape quality to the album. Even You Retreat In Time And Space sounds connected to Societas X Tape with its classic melody over the funk groove.

[Waterbagel]

SxT came out while I was in the muck of some heavy life stuff for a few years (incl. covid not long after) so I really honestly completely missed the boat on this! it was something i was aware of, but wasn't sure of its place in the fandom zeitgeist here. now that a lot of folks are bringing it up in the context of infero, i think i'm going to listen to it today! was there a big leadup? how was the forum vibe coming up on its release? i don't see much about that in the bocpages page for it (not that i'd necessarily expect it there, just one of the only places i could think to look)

[Den]

It was really exciting, and the board was alive. Artists on Warp presented special programming for the label’s 30th Anniversary on NTS throughout the course of a few days. There was a radio schedule, but we didn’t know what we’d be hearing exactly. I remember anticipating the two hour slot for BOC, listening live, and feeling exhilarated as the first song began while realizing we were hearing a special mixtape collaged by the band.

[sowhereareyouliving?]

Listening over & over to SxT and pulling out new bits... that last 30mins is a such primer for Inferno! The mood is incredible

Starting from (thanks bocpages):
1:29:17 Francis Rimbert & Frederick Rosseau - First Emotion
1:31:28 Carl Matthews - Gura Ma

.. who knew, eh.

[paultomba]

I have to say

The Societas X Tape led me to grabbing vinyl copies of Severed Heads' City Slab Horror and Doxa Sinistra's Conveyor Belt. They did not disappoint, I'm really glad to have them in my collection.

Thanks for the great reccs, Boards of Canada!

Severed Heads are such an innovative (& unsung!) band. Way ahead of their time. Most of their albums feature their fair share of experiments, but generally include a few polished gems. Kinda like an Australian version of Throbbing Gristle, but without ever receiving the same level of recognition.

It blows my mind that 'A Million Angels' (to choose one track of many) came out in 1983.
To lock you into the year.... in the charts were "Africa" by Toto, "Billie Jean" by MJ and "Down Under" by Men at Work.
It could plausibly be a 2026 BoC b-side.

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