Boards of Canada
Mysterious Scottish electronic duoA true headphone band if there ever were one.
There are few artists who manage to create a musical cosmos distinctly and completely their own, but Scottish duo Boards of Canada have managed to do just that. Other than perhaps Aphex Twin, no one in the world of electronic music creates sound so distinctively and immediately recognizable. A true headphone band if there ever were one, Boards of Canada are more interested in soundtrack-inspired atmosphere than dancefloor beats. (The duo's abstract name was inspired by the National Film Board of Canada, purveyors of earnest documentaries.) Gentle soundscapes abound, quietly augmented by simple beats and minimalist electro flourishes. On albums such as Music Has The Right To Children and The Campfire Headphase, the music is at once futuristic and decidedly retro. Boards of Canada's songs could either be the soundtrack from some long-lost science documentary circa 1970 or music being beamed back at us from a decidedly chilled-out future. Their songs have the same fuzzy, abstract feeling of a remembered dream and are, at times, as scary and weird as they are beautiful.
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