Thanks to everyone for their replies!!! I'll try to answer everything.
Good to see that you and some others had similar experiences. I don't
think I'll ever like it quite as much as MHTRTC but it's still growing on
me! As far as nostalgia goes, that's one of the primary draws that BoC has
on me. That, the complexity, the beauty, etc. I've noticed some people
mentioning 'Julie and Candy' and 'the devil is in the details'. the former
is quite good, but I especially like the latter. it's so eerie and
hallucinatory.. it reminds me of level 3, the forest on MickeyMousecapade
for the old Nintendo, if anyone recalls.. it doesn't have anything in
common, just reminds me of that. I also agree that as a whole, it's just as
emotional as the debut, but in a more anxious and sinister way.. very
interesting juxtaposition. My favorite song so far, and a perfect example
of what i was just talking about it 'sunshine recorder', track 6. It's so
gorgeous that it nearly brings me to tears, but it also makes me uneasy and
anxious. The eerie basslines, the reverbrant notes, and the little kid
saying 'it's a beautiful place'.. I don't know it just hits me in some
special way.
I, like you, also came into the album totally cold.. I'd never heard any
of it, cept the sample on the BoC website. So it was an interesting first
listen. :-)
I also wanted to respond to derek and Z's comments on my sophomoric
comment on the high sales ranking and idm elitism. Here's the best answer I
can come up with:
I love IDM, pure and simple. But for me, and some of my friends with
their own indiepopsnob sorta attitudes, it goes beyond the music itself and
starts to become a sort of lifestyle. It sounds terrible.. but I like to
think that since I discovered BoC on my own (as well as Aphex, Ae, etc)and
started to become enveloped in their wonderful psychadelic but intelligent
and nostalgic world, that I have some special connection to it. You know..
us IDM types 'get it'. We like to think that none of our classmates,
teachers, etc 'get it', and if by chance they 'liked' it, it would be on
some superficial level. As far as this specific example is concerned, I
suppose that I don't want the sales rankings to go up because I picture a
bunch of little junior high girls going and buying geogaddi because their
indiesnob boyfriend played it for them and they thought 'the sounds were
cool, kinda like that 'techno' stuff they hear by BT on the radio.' Either
that or the old fogies who like the more easylistening type tracks and buy
it thinking it's more adult alternative to listen to on an airplane.. like
late era tangerine dream. It may be a little selfish.. but it's also the
fact that (as bad as it sounds, I'm really not trying to be mean) I don't
want Boards of canada's hard work to be overexposed to people who aren't
going to appreciate it for all that it is. Like throwing pearls before
swine, or whatever the expression is. (no, I'm not saying the others are
swine, i'm simply using the example). As far as everyone listening to BoC,
and them getting repaid for their hard work, BoC themselves once said in an
interview that the reason they made their first releases in such a limited
quantity is because they didn't care who got them as long as their family
and friends heard it.
So i guess in conclusion, yes..it's partially selfish motives.. the need
to be special and seen as elitist.. but also because I genuinely don't want
them to be popularized and misinterpreted on a large level. I think it was
an xlr8r review that said something along the lines that BoC's sound is so
personal that you don't want to share it with anybody. i think, as far as
BoC goes, that this is the heart of the matter. hope that helped, and I'd
love to discuss it further if you want. thanks for listening!
Jonathan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Murphy" <kevin@eorbit.net>
To: "Jonathan Hierholzer" <ilovekid606@hotmail.com>
Cc: <idm@hyperreal.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2002 12:02 AM
Subject: Re: [idm] Happy Geogaddi Day!
quoted 42 lines On Wed, 2002-02-20 at 00:41, Jonathan Hierholzer wrote:
> On Wed, 2002-02-20 at 00:41, Jonathan Hierholzer wrote:
> > I got my copy of Geogaddi in the mail today and wanted to know
> > everyone's opinions (initial, of course). Right off the bat, I was
> > personally underwhelmed, but the second time through hit me as
> > brilliant.. I can't make up my mind yet.. it's gonna take me quite a
> > while probably.
>
> My experience was very similar. Much like the first time I listened to
> "Music Has A Right...", the first time through I kind of let it wash
> over me, and it didn't make a very strong impression. Then I put the
> headphones on and gave it a good listen.
>
> To paraphrase Beetlejuice, I've had it on repeat for about five hours
> now AND IT JUST KEEPS GETTIN' BETTER EVERY SINGLE TIME I HEAR IT!
>
> A few more first impressions:
>
> * A lot of the childish/nostalgic noises that gave "Music Has.."
> its sense of naivite seem to be twisted into something more
> anxious...more like the ghosts of children than the sounds of
> a schoolyard.
> * Is the manipulated vocal of the hypnotherapist on "The Devil
> Is In The Details" a tweak at every music reviewer who
> referred to BOC as "hypnotic", or is it just my overactive
> imagination?
> * "Julie and Candy" is *pretty*. :)
> * I'm really glad I didn't listen to bootlegs before I got the
> CD...It was kind of a letdown when I got the last Plaid album
> and realized that I'd already heard 90% of the tracks as mp3
> boots. Hooray for delayed gratification.
> * "Dandelion" and "Energy Warning" bug me a bit insofar as the
> vocal samples are really obvious and the tracks themselves
> don't really go anywhere. But a minor nit overall.
> * Has anyone figured out what the heck the vocorded voice on
> "1969" is singing (not the "1969 in the sunshine" portion...)?
>
> --
> Kevin Murphy
> "We buy junk and sell antiques."
> - sign on an antique store
>
>