Duo Boards Of Canada, brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin, is among the most respected and the most original authors of electronic music and wonderful world of ambient. Ambient electronic music exists in magical, exotic and extraterrestrial space, often utopian/dystopian in its core. In these less visited and less mentioned places lives Boards of Canada. With the first notes of their melodies, you can notice that their work is closely related to techno. Contrary to pure and sterile modern techno production, their instrumentals are deliberately left unfinished and raw. This duo also implements psychedelic elements so the listener's journey through lo-fi filters is full of purposefully degraded sounds. Such a process can be long, and the final result would often be modern structure that sounds like it was made in the far past. Another fact that makes Board of Canada intriguing is their music interpretation of golden childhood years; lying in the grass and searching for animals in the clouds. Special type of Zen.
Boards of Canada started recording when they were really young. Their first cassettes were made in the mid 80s, although it wasn't until 1995 that their official debut Twolsm came out, a record that was followed by EP HI Scores (1997). These first recordings were majorly influenced by music backgrounds of documentary Canadian Film Board, a movie brothers were obsessed with as kids. Considering all of this, logical continuation of their music journey was their first essential album Music Has The Right To Children (1998) that was released under cult label Wrap Records. The album made a big impact on underground scene, and it went on to become one of the most important Wrap releases...and that was only a beginning. Without any pressure to satisfy built expectations with new material, EP A Beautiful Place Out In The Country (2000) offered different melodic concept and was immediately put on the top of ambient techno lists. I would mentioned remarkable track Kid For Day which was an indicator of the path their music is going to take from that point. Before Geogaddi (2002) came out, their music already earned a cult status in electronic circles. Additional hysteria generated around the duo themselves, as not much was known about them. When Geogaddi arrived, it was received with hype, but it also created a plethora of negative comments that usually come with the material that follows incredible album. Besides mixed reactions, what was obvious was maturity in production. It marked the most complete work of their career. Numbers Music Is Math and Sunshine Recorder are perfect examples of progression from Music Has The Right To Children. Personal signature of the duo was set with twisted samples of child voices, and especially produced pianos that sounded like they were toys.
After Geogaddi, the duo didn't rush. They released The Campfire Headphase in 2005. Contrary to previous works, this was the first time we could witness their experimentation with live drums, rhythms and guitar samples. There were also processed lo-fi notes and sampled children's voices, only everything was wrapped up in positive tone. Yet, they have stayed loyal to their recognizable sound. Trans Canada Highway EP spawned their first music video. It was for a song Dayvan Cowboy.
After this EP, Boards Of Canada went on sabbatical for seven years. Meanwhile, their influence had spread, with many artists trying to emulate the signature sound of the duo. But there will always be only one Boards of Canada.
