Today's Review: Campfire Headphase
I received two CD's in the post on Saturday morning, one was a lovely surprise from Helen which I really wasn't expecting, but have wanted for a while. I've been so skint, I haven't been able to justify a purchase. That was Amorphous Androgynous' new album, Alice in Ultraland. Amorphous Androgynous are The Future Sound of London in a psychedelic mood, I've loved the former since the musical discovery days of my late teens, early twenties and thought the latter's 2003 offerings The Isness and The Otherness were quite superb. I think it was Rich who introduced me too FSOL, so I owe him a debt of thanks, but that's OK, coz before I set him straight he was listening to Iron Maiden, so we're probably even stevens. I've only spun this platter a few times, but so far it seems as rich and multilayered as the previous psychedelic offering and oddly, seems to have some sort of chronological logic to it, sounding more early 70's than late 60's - it even has what can only be described as a 'funk track' on it. So multilayered is it, that I don't feel it fair to review it just yet, it will take quite a few listens before I'm back with an opinion.
The second CD to ejaculate through my letterbox, was Campfire Headphase by Boards of Canada. Boards of Canada really are my cup of tea, hovering somewhere in my top 5 all time favourite bands. When I bought there first full album Music has the Right to Children I distinctly remember thinking 'fuck it, someone's got there before me', it really was like that.
Let me describe their music; its ambient in the loosest sense, but its real trick is to describe a time rather than a place. There's a wonderful sense of nostalgia about what they do, everything sounds, somehow, like it was lifted directly from your own childhood. Part of their sound is a kind of' broken old tape recorder' aura, everything wobbles, everything has hiss. Its electronica with a real warmth and soul to it. Imagine, over the top of this, a very subtle hip hop beat, add to that a bunch of voice samples, with a predilection for talking about cults, mysticism, religion or spirtitual matters, and you've probably got a fair idea of what I'm talking about. Their tracks are also loaded with messages for those with the time on their hands to look for them.
Anyway, moving swiftly on, suffice to say I think they're bloody good, and will fight anyone who disagrees with me, 5 rounds of Queensbury.
So, the new album - the sleeve is promising, but not exactly 'out there'. Its a really lovely sleeve,
but it uses the same theme and even colour as Music Has the Right to Children, a shame after Geogaddi's bright red hexagon affair. Moving on though, its the music that counts, so what's it like...?
Well, its OK....
Its very BOC, all the boxes are ticked, and this albums angle is to use far more acoustic elements, so there's a lot of guitar in there basically. But it just sounds like the band are coasting a bit. Don't get me wrong, it is a good album, by anyone's standards, but maybe the problem is that they have set the bar so high, but there is certainly no innovation here, which was very much evident in the last album Geogaddi, just 2 years ago.
The second thing to note is the production, yes its smooth, yes, its well done, but it actually seems to be lacking layers and depth. It all sounds a bit too clean. Apparently, the 2 BOC members have been producing material since their childhood. I suspect that much of that wobbly sound, and the naivete is a direct result of sampling from past childhood works, and I wonder if that supply is now drying up a bit. The most naive, uncomplicated stuff must surely come from the mind of an innocent who wouldn't be thinking of an audience, or paralysed by adult concerns of whether what they were doing was any good or not.
More importantly though, and perhaps more worrying for the future of the band is a lack of solid choons. I take that back, there are maybe 6 of the 15 tracks on here with really beautiful melodies, one of them is a genuine departure for them, Dayvan Cowboy, which is seemingly produced with an electric guitar, but that's only 40% of the album, what about the rest? Again, not bad tunes, just a bit feeble by their, admittedly high standards.
I suppose for a band like BOC, they're almost hoist by their own petard, they have such a recognisable sound that to deviate from it would be to alienate fans, to stay the same would be to bore fans, to do something totally new wouldn't be Boards of Canada, so I do sympathise, but I also wonder if its time to add some new blood into the mix.
So, in summation - not a bad album, an album that will be perfect for the winter evenings which are now drawing in, but I will happily wait a little longer for the next BOC masterpiece if it means we get a genuine masterwork.
Maybe I need to listen to it some more, tell you what, give me a week, and I'll let you know if I've changed my mind....
Let me describe their music; its ambient in the loosest sense, but its real trick is to describe a time rather than a place. There's a wonderful sense of nostalgia about what they do, everything sounds, somehow, like it was lifted directly from your own childhood. Part of their sound is a kind of' broken old tape recorder' aura, everything wobbles, everything has hiss. Its electronica with a real warmth and soul to it. Imagine, over the top of this, a very subtle hip hop beat, add to that a bunch of voice samples, with a predilection for talking about cults, mysticism, religion or spirtitual matters, and you've probably got a fair idea of what I'm talking about. Their tracks are also loaded with messages for those with the time on their hands to look for them.
Anyway, moving swiftly on, suffice to say I think they're bloody good, and will fight anyone who disagrees with me, 5 rounds of Queensbury.
So, the new album - the sleeve is promising, but not exactly 'out there'. Its a really lovely sleeve,
but it uses the same theme and even colour as Music Has the Right to Children, a shame after Geogaddi's bright red hexagon affair. Moving on though, its the music that counts, so what's it like...?Well, its OK....
Its very BOC, all the boxes are ticked, and this albums angle is to use far more acoustic elements, so there's a lot of guitar in there basically. But it just sounds like the band are coasting a bit. Don't get me wrong, it is a good album, by anyone's standards, but maybe the problem is that they have set the bar so high, but there is certainly no innovation here, which was very much evident in the last album Geogaddi, just 2 years ago.
The second thing to note is the production, yes its smooth, yes, its well done, but it actually seems to be lacking layers and depth. It all sounds a bit too clean. Apparently, the 2 BOC members have been producing material since their childhood. I suspect that much of that wobbly sound, and the naivete is a direct result of sampling from past childhood works, and I wonder if that supply is now drying up a bit. The most naive, uncomplicated stuff must surely come from the mind of an innocent who wouldn't be thinking of an audience, or paralysed by adult concerns of whether what they were doing was any good or not.
More importantly though, and perhaps more worrying for the future of the band is a lack of solid choons. I take that back, there are maybe 6 of the 15 tracks on here with really beautiful melodies, one of them is a genuine departure for them, Dayvan Cowboy, which is seemingly produced with an electric guitar, but that's only 40% of the album, what about the rest? Again, not bad tunes, just a bit feeble by their, admittedly high standards.
I suppose for a band like BOC, they're almost hoist by their own petard, they have such a recognisable sound that to deviate from it would be to alienate fans, to stay the same would be to bore fans, to do something totally new wouldn't be Boards of Canada, so I do sympathise, but I also wonder if its time to add some new blood into the mix.
So, in summation - not a bad album, an album that will be perfect for the winter evenings which are now drawing in, but I will happily wait a little longer for the next BOC masterpiece if it means we get a genuine masterwork.
Maybe I need to listen to it some more, tell you what, give me a week, and I'll let you know if I've changed my mind....
posted by Bob at 5:10 pm
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