Boards Of Canada - In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 17 / 12 / 2001

Label: Warp Records
Format: CDS

intro

Chances are that if you haven't heard Boards Of Canada for yourself that you will of heard of them. They are definitely a buzz band, tipped to take over the reigns of Aphex Twin as leaders in the scho

Chances are that if you haven't heard Boards Of Canada for yourself that you will of heard of them. They are definitely a buzz band, tipped to take over the reigns of Aphex Twin as leaders in the school of electronic music. This EP, the follow up to their outstanding debut album 'Music Has A Right To Children', is step one in a campaign this year which will feature a new album and also a headline slot at the popular All Tomorrow's Parties Festival. Aphex Twin is a good a reference point as any for this duo's sound, although they have less discordant clashes and violent rhythms. Boards Of Canada instead create the sleepy, hazy atmosphere that the title of this record implies. The tracks are slow and drawn out. Little appears to happen over each track's duration, yet they never become boring. Wheras Aphex Twin or Bogdan Raczynski constantly introduce new ideas and add new textures to their tunes, Boards Of Canada create simpler, more direct songs. The speech samples added on the title track enhance this atmosphere rather than countering it and for this reason Boards Of Canada are one of the most accessible electronic acts around.That doesn't mean though that they are not as ggod as either of the above. Long term fans of Electronica will adore Boards Of Canada, if they don't already. Those of you who already have the album may feel that a Boards Of Canada EP wouldn't work, as one of the album's main strengths was the drawn out nature of its songs. This was my impression, but with twenty five minutes for four tracks they are able to create a similar setting. The EP in fact probably features stronger material, and a brilliant way to start the year off would be to start listening to Boards Of Canada before they become properly famous!

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