Search - Boards of Canada :: Music Has the Right to Children

The best BoC album, with appeal beyond the usual IDM crowd

Mechrobioticon | Arkansas | 06/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Honestly, I don't even particularly like IDM (Intelligent Dance Music), but I find myself listening to this album constantly. From the title of the album and its various tracks ("Roygbiv," "Sixtyten," "Pete Standing Alone"), it's pretty clear that the major theme of the album is childhood. BoC juxtaposes warped and distorted sounds from old gradeschool documentaries from the 70's and 80's against hip hop beats to capture the feelings of uncertainty, mystery, and fear associated with childhood. Don't ask me how it works, but it does.



Music Has the Right to Children has the ability to recall vague, surreal memories of kindergarten playgrounds and all the polarized feelings the listener associates with that time in his or her life. At times the album is warm and inviting ("Telephasic Workshop" and "Aquarius" are two tracks that spring to mind), but for the most part the various tracks of the album have somewhat cold and sinister undertones (A little girl is sampled saying "I love you" in "The Color of Fire," and it always gives me the chills).



In my opinion, what is great about Music has the Right to Children is that it is able to so effectively conjure all the complex memories of childhood emotions without ever sounding like twee. At no point does this music ever remind me of the songs I learned when I was a kid. The music is deep, brooding, and at times even scary, but it never looses sight of its intention. Honestly, I think several tracks (namely "Rue the Whirl" and "Happy Cycling") are a bit repetitive and meandering, but for the most part the album definitely succeeds in the sheer range of feelings it is able to achieve.



My personal favorite tracks are the consecutive "Bocuma" and "Roygbiv". "Bocuma" is a distorted, swirling, ambient track that uses a simple documentary sound sample and turns it into the mystery of something like seeing a balloon drift in the sky for the first time or a dragonfly lighting on a dandelion. It is abruptly interrupted by the bold, sinister first strains of "Roygbiv," which first evokes a feeling of fear, but quickly becomes one of the most beautiful tracks on the album.



It's an album that takes a little effort to completely enjoy for what it is, a masterpiece, but it's also one that anyone should be able to understand. The buyer should bear in mind that BoC albums are often extremely hard to locate in chain stores, so it would probably be best to order this album online, at say, amazon.com, for instance. :)"

Very unique

M. Torres | Lawrence, KS United States | 03/10/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's easy to read all the great reviews of this CD and just go out and buy it based on hype. While this album definitely deserves recognition, here's a brief warning:



This is abstract electronica. If you abhor electronic music, theny ou will not like this album. I would recommend maybe borrowing from a friend before you purchase.



This isn't HORRIBLY abstract, it has beats and melodies. It's all just very layered and strange. The synths in the background are great. Their wobbly, almost lo-fi sound makes me think of cheesy sci-fi music from the 70's or something. It has a very organic feel to it somehow, though. The beats are interesting, hardly ever straight-forward thumping beats. Let me make that very clear: this is not trance. I'd say the beats have much more of a "groovy" feel to them. The recordings and voices used on the album are pretty interesting. I don't know what they all are, but the one with the little kid saying "Iiiii....llooooveee....youuuuu!!!" is so great and creepy. I was listening to that track the other night falling asleep and it kinda gave me the willies. In fact, I wouldn't recommend falling asleep to this CD. When I did it, parts of the songs would wake me up, and I'd see commonplace things in my room, not recognize them, and then panic for a moment before falling back asleep.



Overall, this is just really unique experimental electronic music. I gave the album 4 stars not so much because I enjoyed it that much, but just because I recognize how unique it is. I'd recommend listening with a decent pair of headphones so you can pick out all the percussion noises and synth parts. You can tell a lot of care and thought was put into the music. Also, I highly recommend this band's website (http://www.boardsofcanada.com/). It's one of the coolest websites I've ever seen."

Is there such a thing as life changing music? Maybe. Maybe n

B. Acevedo | New York | 08/19/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On vacation one year, i was in a local mom and pop record store, and saw this album, i didn't know who Boards of Canada was or even what style of music it was. i picked it up solely on the album cover, i thought it strange, all the faces blurred out in anonymity the whole picture washed in a relaxing hazy green color. Prior to Boards of Canada my only exposure to any form of electronic music was random songs i've heard throughout the years by the likes of Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, Chemical Bro., etc. None of these bands really pushed me into checking out electronic music. So when i popped this in, i was in for a pleasant surprise. i never thought electronic music could be so emotional (not in the pejorative 'emo' sense), i always thought dance music, techno, all the same crap. But this album really opened my eyes to a whole new world (and genre) of music.



From the opener, i knew this was something different the hazy washed out synths the vaguely hip hop beats, the melancholic warbling melodies . All culminated to a very strange sense of nostalgia, this album reminded me of being a child. Maybe it was all subliminal with the cover and title, but they are very fitting to the album. The album sways back and forth between short vignettes and longer pieces. From the chopped up vocals of Telephasic Workshop, to the detuned synths in ROYGBIV, this album has a little for everyone. My personal favorite on the album is one of the shorter songs, track 13 'Olson'. The synth and piano sound wonderfully decayed, like they are being played for the first time in decades after being forgotten in some attic.



i won't normally give an album 5 stars, unless i really think everyone could get into it at some level. This album is a must own for fans of electronic music, and even if you don't really like electronic music, check this album out, it may change your mind. It did for me."