History Music / BoardsOfCanada

Boards of Canada ([=BoC=] for short) are an electronic music duo formed of Scottish brothers[[note]]For a while they pulled a move akin to Music/TheWhiteStripes and pretended they were just friends; when asked why, they explained that they didn't want to attract needless comparisons to Music/{{Orbital}}, another SiblingTeam electronic band[[/note]] Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin, known for their psychedelic, trippy style of downtempo-type music as well as the unique pastoral aesthetic that helped differentiate them from the more synthetic contemporaries of their time.

* NonappearingTitle: Few of their albums or [=EPs=] feature the album title in a song, ''In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country'', ''Twoism'', and ''Boc Maxima'' being exceptions.

* ElectronicMusic '

** Though they have never been heard publicly, some of the songs on their earliest albums could be quite long."Tends Towards" from "Closes Vol. 1", was 8 minutes long, "Infinite Lines Of Colourful Sevens", from "Play By Numbers", was 9 minutes and 18 seconds long, and "Line Two" and "Visual Drone 12", both from "Catalog 3", were ''10 minutes'' and ''13 minutes long'', respectively.

* ElectronicMusic

* ArcNumber: 70. "Sixtyten" is based on how "70" is said in French. ''Geogaddi'' features a song called "The Smallest Weird Number," which happens to be 70. Before being signed to Warp, they were on their own independent label called [=Music70=], which is still co-credited as the label on BOC albums.

* RefrainFromAssuming: "Sunshine Recorder" contains the LoopedLyrics "an eagle in your mind... a beautiful place." The band seems to have been deliberately [[{{Troll}} trolling]] here, because this makes the song very easy to confuse with the previous BOC songs "An Eagle in Your Mind" and "In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country".

* NumberOfTheBeast: ''Geogaddi'''s last track "Magic Window" is 1:46 minutes of silence, and was added in order to make the final album length add up to 66:06. WordOfGod claims this was done ForTheLulz after a suggestion from Warp Records president Steve Beckett, to troll the stupid listeners who were scared off by their [[SubliminalSeduction reversing]] and sample manipulation. This joke doesn't work on the Japanese version of the album, whose bonus track "From One Source All Things Depend" pushes the length to 68:14.

Their music often uses a combination of electronic and traditional instrumentation, heavy analogue sound manipulation and processing, trip hop-influenced beats, and frequent {{sampling}}, usually taken from field recordings and old [[TheSeventies seventies]] media. (Their name is actually a nod to such media through the documentaries produced by the Creator/NationalFilmBoardOfCanada, which they were heavily influenced by as their family moved to Canada during their childhood.) While the mood evoked by [=BoC=] music is usually sunny, optimistic, soothing, and vaguely nostalgic, the brothers have been known to dip into [[NightmareFuel darker territories]] well every now and then, especially on ''Geogaddi'' and ''Tomorrow's Harvest.''

Creator/DavidFirth]] loves them. [[Music/{{Autechre}} Sean Booth]] is also a fan, as he signed them to his label Skam Records and had them open for a few Autechre shows.

[[WebAnimation/SaladFingers David Firth]] loves them. [[Music/{{Autechre}} Sean Booth]] is also a fan, as he signed them to his label Skam Records and had them open for a few Autechre shows.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/boc.jpg]]

Boards of Canada are an electronic music duo formed of Scottish brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin. [[note]] For a while they pulled a move akin to Music/TheWhiteStripes and pretended they were just friends; when asked why they explained that they didn't want to attract needless comparisons to Music/{{Orbital}}, another SiblingTeam electronic band. [[/note]] They are known for their psychedelic, trippy sound constructed by a combination of electronic and traditional instrumentation, heavy sound manipulation and processing, achieved mainly with analogue equipment, trip hop-influenced beats, and frequent [[{{Sampling}} samples,]] usually drawn from old [[TheSeventies seventies]] media (their name is a nod to the documentaries produced by the Creator/NationalFilmBoardOfCanada, which they were heavily influenced by as their family moved to Canada during their childhood) and field recordings. This gives their music a more pastoral and human character compared to other purely synthetic electronic artists. A frequent metaphor / comparison among reviewers is that their music sounds like "the last sounds of a dying machine from TheSeventies that just got recently excavated," or something along those lines.

Despite the generally sunny, optimistic and vaguely nostalgic character of their music, the brothers have been known to dip into the NightmareFuel well every now and then, especially on ''Geogaddi'' and ''Tomorrow's Harvest.''

Boards of Canada has existed since 1986, when Marcus joined Mike's band, but ever since 1989 the band consists solely of the Sandison brothers. Their early songs were released through self-financed cassette releases on their [=Music70=] label, but since 1998, their albums have appeared through Warp Records. Among their influences, the brothers have cited The Incredible String Band (claiming shared pastoral sensibilities), Music/JoniMitchell, Music/TheBeatles and Music/MyBloodyValentine. They are also professed fans of Music/{{Radiohead}}.

* AfterTheEnd: [[spoiler: Tomorrow's Harvest]] is (probably) about this and the events directly preceding it.
* AlternateRealityGame: Sums up their mysterious trail of clues leading up to the announcement of their most recent album ''Tomorrow's Harvest''.

* DownerEnding: "Semena Mertvykh" gives vibes of this in ''Tomorrow's Harvest.'' [[note]]The track's name is Russian for "Seeds of Dead Ones", which rather cruelly reverses the optimism of the earlier song title "New Seeds".[[/note]]

* InTheStyleOf / {{Pastiche}}: Much of ''Tomorrow's Harvest'' is an homage to 1970s electronic horror film scores such as those by Creator/JohnCarpenter, Music/{{Goblin}}, Music/WendyCarlos, and [[Film/Zombi2 Fabio Frizzi]].

* 1998 - ''Music/{{Music Has the Right to Children}}''

* 2013 - ''Tomorrow's Harvest''

** Likewise, ''Tomorrow's Harvest'' tones down the band's trademark warbly synths for a much colder palette akin to the soundtrack work of Creator/JohnCarpenter and Music/{{Vangelis}}.

** Likewise, ''Tomorrow's Harvest'' tones down the band's trademark warbly synths for a much colder palette akin to the film soundtracks of Creator/JohnCarpenter and Music/Vangelis.

** Likewise, ''Tomorrow's Harvest'' tones down the trippy, warbly synth sounds of old for a much colder palette reminiscent of 1970s film soundtracks, akin to the work Creator/JohnCarpenter and Creatror/Vangelis.

* NewSoundAlbum: ''The Campfire Headphase'' shifted Boards of Canada's sound into a more guitar, pastoral sound driven direction, mainly to avoid pigeonholing. Fans and critics are divided on whether or not this is for the better.

** Most tracks on Geogaddi either "work" equally well reversed, or were clearly written to be reversed in the first place (like "Dandelion" and "I Saw Drones").

Pre-Warp releases (generally unavailable unless you really dig after them; the last two are somewhat easier to get a hold of):

** "Kaini Industries" is a misspelling of Kainai Industries, a Canadian company set up in July 1971 (the month Mike was born) to provide employment for a Kainai (Blood Nation) reserve.

* {{Pastiche}}: Much of ''Tomorrow's Harvest'' is an homage to 1970s electronic horror film scores such as those by Creator/JohnCarpenter, Music/{{Goblin}}, Music/WendyCarlos, and [[Film/Zombi2 Fabio Frizzi]].

Boards of Canada are an electronic music duo formed of Scottish brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin. [[note]] For a while they pulled a move akin to Music/TheWhiteStripes and pretended they were just friends; when asked why they explained that they didn't want to attract needless comparisons to Music/{{Orbital}}, another SiblingTeam electronic band. [[/note]] They are known for their psychedelic, trippy sound constructed by a combination of electronic and normal instrumentation, heavy sound manipulation and processing, trip hop-influenced beats, and frequent [[{{Sampling}} samples,]] usually drawn from old [[TheSeventies seventies]] media (their name is a nod to the documentaries produced by the Creator/NationalFilmBoardOfCanada, which they were heavily influenced by as their family moved to Canada during their childhood) and field recordings. This gives their music a more pastoral and human character compared to other purely synthetic electronic bands. A frequent metaphor / comparison among reviewers is that their music sounds like "the last sounds of a dying machine from TheSeventies that just got recently excavated," or something along those lines.

* ElectronicMusic

** While not an explicit shout-out, "White Cyclosa" is highly reminiscent of John Harrison's score for ''Film/DayOfTheDead''.

* DownerEnding: "Semena Mertvykh" gives vibes of this in ''Tomorrow's Harvest.'' [[note]]The track's name is Russian for "Seeds of Death", which rather cruelly reverses the optimism of the earlier song title "New Seeds".[[/note]]

* {{Pastiche}}: Much of ''Tomorrow's Harvest'' is an homage to 1970s electronic horror scores such as those by Creator/JohnCarpenter, Music/{{Goblin}}, Music/WendyCarlos, and [[Film/Zombi2 Fabio Frizzi]].

* NonIndicativeName: They are from Scotland, not Canada. However they did move to Canada at a young age.

** "Kaini Industries" is a misspelling of Kainai Industries, a Canadian company set up in July 1971 (the month Mike was born) to provide emplyoment for a Kainai (Blood Nation) reserve.