History Music / BoardsOfCanada

* DaylightHorror: ''Geogaddi'' feels like this, due to the use of bright, happy synths and samples contrasted with SubliminalSeduction, distorted vocals and references to cults.

* 1994 - ''Hooper Bay''

* LongTitle: Their debut album ''Music Has The Right to Children'' and the EP ''In a Beautiful Place Out in The Country''.

+The Incredible String Band, Music/JoniMitchell, Music/TheBeatles, Music/MyBloodyValentine, Music/{{Ween}}, Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/{{Devo}}, Music/AphexTwin, Music/TheBeachBoys, Music/{{cLOUDDEAD}}]

** The title of ''Tomorrow's Harvest'' is often suspected to be a reference to ''Deadly Harvest'', an obscure 1977 Canadian film starring a young Creator/KimCattrall about a catastrophic climate change that results in widespread crop failures across North America. This is seemingly reflected further by many of the song titles on the album, such as "Cold Earth," "Sick Times" and "New Seeds."

* 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."

+The Incredible String Band, Music/JoniMitchell, Music/TheBeatles, Music/MyBloodyValentine, Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/{{Devo}}, Music/AphexTwin, Music/TheBeachBoys, Music/{{cLOUDDEAD}}]

While the mood evoked by [=BoC=]'s 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.''

The first five have more or less only been heard by the band and their friends; the last four were never released but all tracks are easily found on the Internet. Twoism is the only one that was officially released, though several Boc Maxima tracks made it onto Music Has The Right To Children.

** By extension, 69 ([[{{LOL69}} despite its usual connotations]]) is another number which appears frequently in their song titles. "Sixtyniner", "1969" and "June 9th", which would be written in numbers as '6-9'.
* AuthorAppeal: Mike and Marcus are very interested in subliminal messaging, numbers, and cults. Expect references to these, especially on ''Geogaddi.''

* DaylightHorror: ''Geogaddi'' feels like this, due to the use of bright, happy synths and samples contrasted with SubliminalSeduction, distorted vocals, and references to cults.

** "Seven Forty Seven", an unreleased song which appeared on [=Warp20=] (Unheard), clocks in at 6:44.

** "XYZ", from their radio session with Creator/JohnPeel, is ''8 minutes long''.
** 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.

* FadingIntoTheNextSong: "Wildlife Analysis" into "An Eagle In Your Mind".
** "Bocuma" into "Roygbiv".
** "The Beach at Redpoint" into "Opening the Mouth".
** "The Devil is in the Details" into "A is to B as B is to C" into "Over the Horizon Radar".
** "Ready Lets Go" into "Music is Math".

* GratuitousPanning: Done with the synth lead in "Seven Forty Seven", which only serves to make the whole song more psychedelic.
* LastNoteNightmare: Inverted in their remix of Slag Boom Van Loon's "Poppy Seed", beginning with a dark and ominous synth and progressing into a more mellow composition.

* 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.

* RecurringRiff: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTXDxmp2BYI Track 3]] from "All Tomorrow's Parties" has appeared in several of their songs. Namely "Sixtyniner", "A is to B as B is to C", and in the music used in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7zDh9ftfRY "Quiet"]] commercial.[[note]]And yes, that ''is'' Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio.[[/note]]
* 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".
* {{Sampling}}: Heavy use of this, especially from field recordings, movies, ''Series/SesameStreet'' (yes, really), Creator/NationalFilmBoardOfCanada documentaries, NumbersStations (especially on ''Geogaddi'') and lots and lots of children's voices, as well as more "normal" sampling of other songs ("Aquarius", for instance, is driven by a sample from the ''Theatre/{{Hair}}'' soundtrack). Children's voices were deliberately removed from ''Headphase'', with Marcus explaining that it was meant to avoid being pigeonholed:

** They themselves were sampled twice by [[Music/DestinysChild Solange Knowles]] on her tracks "[[CoverVersion Left Side Drive]]" and "This Bird".

** "Turquoise Hexagon Sun" and "Orange Hexagon Sun" reference the Hexagon Sun artistic collective, which supposedly includes the band, Iain Campbell, Simon Goderich, Mark Garrett, Rachel Stewart, Alan Mackenzie, and Andrew Wilson. The band also use "Hexagon Sun" as the name of their recording studio.

** "Telephasic Workshop", among other things, is suggested by [[http://bocpages.org/wiki/Telephasic_Workshop_(song) the BoCpages fansite]] to be a reference to the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, best known for its contributions to ''Series/DoctorWho''.

** "Aquarius" is named that because its primary sample comes from "Aquarius" by Galt [=MacDermot=], from the ''Theatre/{{Hair}}'' soundtrack (specifically, the 1979 soundtrack). This is a bit more noticeable on the ''Aquarius'' EP version (pay attention for the slap bass riff), as the ''Music Has the Right to Children'' version runs the sample through some heavier EQ'ing and processing. The song also uses samples from vintage ''Series/SesameStreet'' episodes (the man saying "orange", kids laughing and saying "yeah, that's right").

** ''Geogaddi'''s title is usually considered to be a {{Portmanteau}} of "Geo-" (Greek for "earth") and "Gaddi", the name of a pacifist, nomadic Hindu tribe from Himachal Pradesh in northwestern India. Its references lean more towards religious symbolism and mathematics ("A Is To B As B Is To C", "The Smallest Weird Number", "Music Is Math.")
** The title of ''Tomorrow's Harvest'' is often suspected to be a reference to ''Deadly Harvest'', an obscure 1977 Canadian film starring a young Creator/KimCattrall about a catastrophic climate change that results in widespread crop failures across North America. This is seemingly reflected further by many of the song titles on the album, such as "Cold Earth", "Sick Times", and "New Seeds".
* SiameseTwinSongs: Lots, due to Boards of Canada albums often being very conceptual and designed to be played in a certain order: "In the Annexe"/"Julie and Candy", "Energy Warning"/"The Beach at Redpoint", and "The Devil is in the Details"/"A is to B as B is to C/"Over the Horizon Radar".

* SubliminalSeduction: All of their albums employ heavy use of reversing, which sometimes has landed them in hot water. Notably, some of their shorter songs like "Dandelion" and "Over the Horizon Radar" are made almost entirely of this. [[note]] If re-reversed to hear the original, "Dandelion" turns out to sound a bit like a {{Chiptune}} and "Over the Horizon Radar" is... well, still hauntingly beautiful, but it becomes clearer that its melody is played on a Rhodes keyboard. [[/note]]
** 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"). "Corsair" appears to have been reversed *and* slowed down.
** The other albums are not as reverse-friendly, but reversed vocal samples are common. In addition, at least three songs ("Rue the Whirl", "Satellite Anthem Icarus", and "New Seeds") have a bonus mini-song jammed at the end of the track and reversed.

* TitleTrack: "In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country", "Twoism", and "Boc Maxima".

** Possibly one of the most guessed-about bands ever, especially since they love using cryptic song titles, obscure and distorted samples, and references to [[NumerologicalMotif numbers]] and cults.

* 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.

* 2005 - ''The Campfire Headphase''

* BreatherEpisode: ''The Campfire Headphase'' is a joyful, happy little album sandwiched between the nightmarish ''Geogaddi'' and the eerie ''Tomorrow's Harvest.''

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

* EasterEgg: "Farewell Fire" seems to gradually fade out and end ''The Campfire Headphase'' with 4 minutes of silence. Turning up the volume at this point reveals the song just keeps going at barely audible volume.

+The Incredible String Band, Music/JoniMitchell, Music/TheBeatles, Music/MyBloodyValentine, Music/{{Radiohead}}]

* {{Homage}}: While not an explicit homage, "White Cyclosa" is highly reminiscent of John Harrison's score for ''[[Film/DayOfTheDead1985 Day of the Dead]]''.