GENERAL NEW RELEASE SPECULATION TOPIC

[Mozart]

Definitely agree with 2020. Although I'd gladly accept a new album tomorrow, lol. Societas X will tide me over for quite some time, and if anything that mixtape was direct evidence that they are just as alive as ever. Really interested to see what direction the next album will go in

[Echelon]

My latest prediction of where BOC are going to go next: a BOC rock album.

One of the most notable things about the Sometimes remix is the straightforward drums where the technophilic IDM drum sound is entirely absent. There are fills, authentic sounding drums and even a triangle ting sound. Couple this with the Societas X Tape where there is no IDM type music as far as I know, just lots of non-techno drum beats and even a rock influence in a lot of the tracks.

The last indication might be how BOC has always talked about in interviews how they've done stuff that doesn't fit the Boards name. Lots of rock and guitar type music. (One of them commented that the other was an excellent guitarist but he never got to showcase it.)

What's my thoughts on this potential direction? I'm all for it! Just as long as they keep their melodic sensibilities, I'm fine with anything they do. Hey, this might even be a grown up version of Play By Numbers and what could be better than that?


...Or I could be completely wrong about all of this. But still, I'm willing to bet that there will be a hint of this in their next album.

[arvy]

My latest prediction of where BOC are going to go next: a BOC rock album.

One of the most notable things about the Sometimes remix is the straightforward drums where the technophilic IDM drum sound is entirely absent. There are fills, authentic sounding drums and even a triangle ting sound. Couple this with the Societas X Tape where there is no IDM type music as far as I know, just lots of non-techno drum beats and even a rock influence in a lot of the tracks.

The last indication might be how BOC has always talked about in interviews how they've done stuff that doesn't fit the Boards name. Lots of rock and guitar type music. (One of them commented that the other was an excellent guitarist but he never got to showcase it.)

What's my thoughts on this potential direction? I'm all for it! Just as long as they keep their melodic sensibilities, I'm fine with anything they do. Hey, this might even be a grown up version of Play By Numbers and what could be better than that?


...Or I could be completely wrong about all of this. But still, I'm willing to bet that there will be a hint of this in their next album.

Good idea. Some "New Seeds" type of album

[Echelon]

My latest prediction of where BOC are going to go next: a BOC rock album.

One of the most notable things about the Sometimes remix is the straightforward drums where the technophilic IDM drum sound is entirely absent. There are fills, authentic sounding drums and even a triangle ting sound. Couple this with the Societas X Tape where there is no IDM type music as far as I know, just lots of non-techno drum beats and even a rock influence in a lot of the tracks.

The last indication might be how BOC has always talked about in interviews how they've done stuff that doesn't fit the Boards name. Lots of rock and guitar type music. (One of them commented that the other was an excellent guitarist but he never got to showcase it.)

What's my thoughts on this potential direction? I'm all for it! Just as long as they keep their melodic sensibilities, I'm fine with anything they do. Hey, this might even be a grown up version of Play By Numbers and what could be better than that?


...Or I could be completely wrong about all of this. But still, I'm willing to bet that there will be a hint of this in their next album.

Good idea. Some "New Seeds" type of album

I'd love to hear an album of Boards jamming. Sort of like Autechre's Quaristice.

[Mozart]

Yeah, that's right! I would be down for that. Almost any idea they land on, I'll gladly welcome. In the spirit of speculative thought, it'll most likely be a collection of different signature BoC sounds that contribute to an overall theme, akin to how the other studio albums flow. If they wanted to do a wholly ambient album, count me in. If they somehow went the route of symphonies, count me in. If they decide on Mongolian throat singing, count me... well okay that'd be a bit too much. But you get the point. Any direction they pursue will be of interest to us fans. Since they are the opposite of prolific artists such as the two fantastic members of Autechre, I've always felt that each BoC piece carries a lot of weight, even though music is subjective in nature. I guess I personally assign each BoC piece from their studio albums with a lot of meaning/significance and sentimental value. When you are left with a select bunch of tracks, it feels like a whole different ballgame than having/getting to comb through a massive oeuvre like Schubert's, Beethoven's, or Haydn's. That is precisely why I feel like the next album is going to be incredible and everything we could hope for as BoC fans. I'm curious what others think BoC will decide on as far as the overall mood of the album: is it going to contain more uplifting vibes (like what we witnessed with The Campfire Headphase) and we will see a slight stray from their darker side? Will we return to the "inevitable stage that lies in front of us" like what we gathered from Tomorrow's Harvest? I'm so curious!

[Echelon]

Here's an idea I just thought of as far as archival releases. A long time ago, MDG teased that the "Bocset" might come out in installments. What if the installments are meant to mimic the kinds of tapes Boards of Canada would make for people and give out in extremely limited quantities (See DJ Food's BBC sessions tape for example) but these releases are brand new combinations of cleaned up work? It would definitely give it a personal feel i.e. "Here's a gift from Music 70."

Then it got me thinking, what if the X in Societas X Tape means it's the 10th tape in a series of installments? This one was just to "test the market" so to say. Maybe we might see Societas I Tape in the Warp Bleepstore one day. The Societas Tape series does have a good ring to it, does it not?

Again, this is mostly baseless speculation, but tell me that's not a really cool idea!

[Echelon]

I figure I can share this and Odd Nosdom (he's a really nice guy btw, I'm happy BOC introduced me to his work) won't mind since this was public, but even Odd doesn't know what Boards are up to these days. One can only guess. To misquote Tom Waits: "What're they building in there?"

https://imgur.com/a/WYuhDG2

[Casiotone]

idk if this is really the right thread to say all this, but its been bugging me forever and i just wanted to get it out there

plenty of people always say the reason the duo havent released early albums is because theyre of too low quality, and wouldnt even be worth listening. but everyone seems to forget a lot of their best/strongest works have come from leaked old tapes. songs like whitewater, 5-9-78, red moss, sequoia, and "5D", all came from early unreleased compilations. clearly their early work should still stand well today, especially considering theyve even reused some of the songs themselves on official releases!

[Mexicola]

Perhaps they don't agree.

[GeoDose]

Perhaps they don't agree.

That's what I'm thinking. It's not uncommon for artists to prefer their newer creative output, which is understandable. They've put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into it more recently and probably like to think they're improving on their sound.

I personally love TH and would be stoked to hear more songs like New Seeds, Palace Posy, Come to Dust etc.

[Mozart]

The official BoC twitter account retweeted the following tweet regarding NASA/musical galaxy cluster:

https://twitter.com/TigNotaro/status/11 ... 0812662785

[drixlin]

The official BoC twitter account retweeted the following tweet regarding NASA/musical galaxy cluster:

https://twitter.com/TigNotaro/status/11 ... 0812662785

That's actually....pretty freaking cool!

Space-Geogaddi confirmed

[drixlin]

I'm starting to believe they're releasing music under an alias and we don't know who they are. It seems like they've abandoned Boards Of Canada.

I did a search on the forum to see if this has been mentioned before...

I was wondering (almost) this same thing. I don't think they've given up Boards (this was from 2012, lol) - but I wouldn't be shocked at all to find out that they had releases under another alias or two.

[Echelon]

I wonder what that Black Dog incident was all about last year. In response to a question about a new album they said they know something, but then later backpeddled and said "What new album? There's no new album."

Was it BOC coming to break their kneecaps? Or is there something happening that's not a new album, but possibly a new release?

What would some random IDM band know about BOC anyway? I don't recall BOC being close with any Black Dog members ever.

[Ottomatik]

What would some random IDM band know about BOC anyway? I don't recall BOC being close with any Black Dog members ever.

They're not that "random", they're signed on Warp Records since a long time and also released a Peel Sessions alongside Autechre and BoC. So they're in a position where they might know stuff we don't.

[OZYMANDIAS]

I wouldn't call The Black Dog a "random IDM band" as they are rightly considered pioneers in the movement. Starting out as a trio, (Ken Downie, Ed Handley, and Andy Turner) they've been active since the late '80s. In the mid-'90s Handley and Turner branched off and formed Plaid. Downie continues to release music as The Black Dog though I'm not sure if he is solo or if there are other members now.

[Echelon]

Looking into Black Dog further definitely proves what you guys are saying about them not being "random" but aside from being at Warp for BOC's whole career and the bbc sessions, I don't think there was ever a connection between them.

That said, listening to Spanners on youtube is killer. Definitely another Warp artist to dig into deeper.

[Ottomatik]

I don't think there was ever a connection between them.

Well there's also this. Even though it's probably never going to be released, it's still a sign that they might have had connections imo.

[Echelon]

I don't think there was ever a connection between them.

Well there's also this. Even though it's probably never going to be released, it's still a sign that they might have had connections imo.

Ah ok, that seems a lot more tangible. But man, that BD guy pulls no punches with his responses. Makes me miss the days where we used to get reassurances that things were going on.

I wasn't even there for that but I miss it.

[d3v3l]

Does anyone know if they are still "under contract" for more albums with WARP? Or are they at their own pace again?