Boards of Canada

It’s Friday but more importantly it’s release day for Boards of Canada, whose new album is their first in 13 years. Boards of Canada are two Scottish brothers – Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin – who started the project in the mid-’80s. The name comes from the National Film Board of Canada, whose public access documentaries they watched on TV growing up. The brothers combine heavily processed synthesizers, obscure samples, and hip-hop percussion to evoke curiosity and nostalgia. Their new record, Inferno, uses the wistful pads and lines familiar from their ‘90s records but, as the title warns, also features driving, menacing elements sometimes distorted beyond recognition. One could say that with Inferno their discography takes a darker turn, but already in 2013 they were telling The Guardian, “We’ve become a lot more nihilistic over the years.” Inferno isn’t all negative; its mood swings, with a track of panic preceding a track of acceptance. That’s our first reaction anyway – curious to hear yours once you listen. We’re also revisiting what we consider to be Boards of Canada’s magnum opus, Music Has the Right to Children, from 1998.

Inferno - Boards of Canada (69m, vocals on about half of the tracks)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Bandcamp / Tidal

Music Has the Right to Children - Boards of Canada (71m, occasional vocal samples)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Bandcamp / Tidal

Flow State is off next week. Have a great week.