Boards of Canada: Subliminal Dream Machine

Boards of Canada (1986-present)
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reviewed by J. Kane
Trip-o-meter: 10/10

I lost my virginity to Boards of Canada. Metaphorically, of course.
Every song is drowning in analogue goodness, which will remind you of your childhood when you listened to the same damn "Kiddie Songs" cassette tape over and over. Then you poured soap into the gears just to hear what it sounds like.
Or, maybe that was just me. Then again, BoC has that rare musical power purely associated with a wide-range of personal interpretations.
Dabbling deep in subliminal messaging and cult religions, nothing you hear is what it seems. It feels familiar, but it isn't. Few bands can hope to aspire to the amount of mindfuckery BoC are capable of. Some of their songs come straight from creators Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin' dreams, like they've peeled back your scalp and played back your own memories.
Many people have a problem with the slow, warped feelings, but under the grip of the right hallucinogen, you'll enter into an endless kaleidoscope of fucked-up. It's music that moves you til you're immobile.
Geogaddi is possibly their best release, but Music Has The Right To Children gets the most attention. "Aquarius" will totally screw you up for life, as will "Happy Cycling," "Julie and Candy" (below), "Sunshine Recorder," "Melissa Juice," "You Could Feel The Sky" and "Dawn Chorus."
But don't take my word for it. Hear for yourself:




Read some of the YouTube comments and you'll understand that "personal interpretation" thing. For example:
Killadelphi420 ..had a pretty crazy trip the other day and a godly figure was saying that life exists in a thought or in a balloon and he kept telling me to let the balloon pop....
fpsekond I dont think Boc realise how much people connect with there music,for me listening to there music is a part of my life for the calming effect it has on me and the overwhelming sense of nostalgia it has.
21stcenturyphantom Oh, Boards of Canada; if only you knew you were the soundtrack to my life. In every pitfall and in every high, I turn to you, and you turn back, with comforting sound I would not find anywhere else.