Music Has the Right to Children

BoC are mechanistic, experimental, cerebral musique concrete with a very specific attitude as an art project. Late 90s Electronic music was Big Beat, danceable throbbing rave-oriented controlled chaos that required little to no cognitive effort on the listener's part. This is a completely different thing.

It is electronic music to be sure. Some bits also bear a resemblance to dance tropes of that era. Well-executed similarity to other forms of electronic music, serve as an entry point for something far more interesting, yet entertaining. From simple bass and drum grooves, they wash the whole with other colors that seem unintentional in their effect. Moods shift from joyous to anxious, naïve to wizened, celebratory to frosty boredom.

BoC create art that occupies an unnameable state of mind that existed in its past. Perhaps. I think I remember hearing this or that, I remember what it felt like (or I think I do), but that might only be because the sound suggests it. What you are hearing never actually existed. What exists is your memory of something similar, buried now because it's unimportant or unused. There is a way to dive into how this fits into postmodernism in a way that I won't go into today, but it can spin off in an epistemological direction for sure. What do you really remember? Is memory a real thing in the world? We probably invent an abstraction of the past so that the world has some structure., even though the "world" is just complete uncontrolled chaos. It's why we invented God, or maybe music This music works in that role for me really well. A structure where the mind can wander down weird little paths of memory and emotion, some I've seen before, some remind me of places I've been or people I've heard in other rooms while multiple TVs play various indecipherable and unimportant things.

"Music Has the Right to Children" is accidentally popular, it seems. Kind of divisive, looking at the reviews here. I love it, but you don't have to. Give it a chance if you want something to think about.

Excellent downtempo electronic music. I greatly enjoyed this. One knock is I think it’s a little long, I kind of struggle with focusing with albums over an hour.

This feels like the ancestor of better music. It's almost there, but the sounds can be refined and applied more melodically. Izioq could not exist without this work, but this work is not there yet.

I know this is probably the opposite of what many who love this album would want to hear, but someone please rap over this album, I beg of you! The drums, the bass, the samples, the mixes, it all beckons even the most simple minded, creatively stricken individual to start perusing his mind for a simple bar or two that would fit just right between the man and woman saying orange back and forth.

Otherwise, this album has an incredibly solid foundation that sadly is rarely built upon in a manner to warrant its egregious run time, both as a whole album, and on a song by song basis. This songs can be funky, cosy, hell, half the tracks can be downright creepy, but the feeling almost always abandons the listener by the end of the track because each song seems determined to either be too short to process, or too long to remember any important changes. Its a shame, because I would often get into every track, but the feeling of grooving along or just chilling would go away, and then I'd realize I still have three minutes of song left. Boards of Canada must be aware of this issue too, as the best song, Roygbiv, isn't even three minutes long, and takes full advantage of this time. I think were this to be produced outside of the CD era, it would be more efficient in its production, and this thing really does sound like its from the future, so this releasing even a decade later wouldn't hurt it at all. It really is crazy that this is 1998, but it either needs more to the songs, or less of them.

Bit overrated and a little of it's time, but can't be too critical - a lovely listen

Not unpleasant but a bit tedious to pay full attention to. Fine as background music. “Telephasic Workshop” “Roygbiv” and “Turquoise Hexagon Sun” are highlights.

Another one of those "in the right setting, this'll be awesome" type of albums. More of a late night after-party feel to it, not a Tuesday morning workday.

Although I think Aphex Twin does it better I cant deny the influence and the surprising Hiphop beats carried it to 4 stars for me

The music of my dreams. Precisely the hazy world I want to stay lost in forever. Ideal for introverted headphone rides late at night. Rich, deeply textured, evocative, and hypnotic, to the point of practically being intoxicating - all without ever being overbearing. An exquisite example of what electronic music can do when freed from a purely dance oriented context.

Classic of the IDM genre. Personally I'd put Geogaddi above it but they're both fantastic. This album is such a vibe.

First “hauntology-esque” record

Kind of a strange way to listen to an album: a few songs on the way to work, and the final few on the way back home after barhopping with coworkers.
I really think this album is special as listened to in its entirety (rather than in the individual beats/songs)- although each time I returned to the album it took me to a similar contemplative mood.

HL: “Turquoise…”, “Rue the Whirl”, “Aquarius”, “Pete Stands Alone”

February 1, 2023

One of my all time favourite electronica albums! This was so original when it came out and still sounds fresh to this day. Essential listening in my opinion.

I have always found it hard to rate Boards Of Canada because there is a huge discrepancy between my knowledge of how clever and good this is and my enjoyment of listening to it. I understand the warmth and everything, but the ambient soundscapes of this album just don't do anything for me.

Personal Enjoyment: 6/10
1001 Album List-worthy: 10/10

Good background music, no more and no less. An extra point for being (very surprisingly) Scottish!

listen-again-another-time