- TWOISM
In electronic music today, I find so many sounds that fascinate
and so many beats that go here there and everywhere. This record shop I went
into actually had subgenres written underneath a band or artist's name in the
electronica section so as to guide beat seekers into the directions they would
wish to musically travel. How helpful of them! "Mutilated Beats" is what the
sticker read underneath Scots duo Boards of Canada's name. Damn, that sounds
downright sinister, I thought. It was also written underneath Autechre and Aphex
Twin. I guess "mutilated" would suggest that the beat patterns are irregular
or chopped up, and thus would make the music hard to dance to. Who knows what
these ecstacy junkies were thinking when they created these stickers?? Perhaps
it wasn't their decision. This was a big chain store, so maybe a board of marketing
directors brainstormed over lunch and came up with this term to move the electronic
product "other than those booty shaking club cutz albums that the kids like
so much." Or something like that.
When BOC released this EP in 1995, nobody really seemed to notice, at least
not anyone outside of electronic music circles. It wasn't until their debut
album, 1998's "Music Has The Right To Children", when people were actually becoming
interested in electronic music again, that they were heralded as new and exciting
progressive artists in an expanding genre. Radiohead's Thom Yorke wouldn't shut
up about them, which might explain why the hype circulated among new fans and
curious industry insiders.
I recently picked up the remastered and "retooled" or remixed version released
late in 2002, and I'm not really sure how it differs from the original. Being
an EP, and just under 40 minutes, it is easier to focus on their trademark chilly
atmospherics and drugged out beats, but the music itself is no less complex
than their subsequent two albums.
The opening track "Sixtyniner" contains a simple, almost hip-hop style beat.
There's nothing really funky about it, especially with the high-pitched cold
keyboard synths in the background. Pretty gloomy stuff in an almost Joy Division-like
way. BOC favour a sound that on an old keyboard would be considered the "vibraphone"
feature. It doesn't really sound like an actual vibraphone, but it's very spacey
sounding and kind of like what you'd hear if you were lost in a cave and someone
was playing a flute which echoed for miles. "Oirectine", track two, feels even
more claustrophobic and features another unfunky death march beat and some truly
unnerving sounds in the background. Ever heard a guitar out of tune? These synths
sound like something has gone horribly wrong with them. "Iced Cooly" has an
80's electro sound to it, kind of like mid period Roxy Music or Cabaret Voltaire.
Must've been an experiment, as BOC didn't make any further tracks sounding like
this.
"Basefree" sounds truly evil and approaches industrial music territory. There's
a sound in the background that resembles either a chair scraping on a metal
floor or a sick dog howling or both. Scary. "Twoism" continues the hip-hop beats
of the first two tracks, but couldn't be further away from sounding like hip-hop.
Imagine if aliens kidnapped Eminem and invaded his recording studio to lay down
their own tracks...this is what I'm getting at. "Seeya Later" has a cool sounding
twisting and turning bassline, and "Melissa Juice" is a quieter interlude. "Smokes
Quantity" closes the EP and more or less sounds the same as the first two tracks.
If drones and repetitive dissonant loops are your preference, then BOC will
have you hooked from the very beginning. This should wet your appetite for the
more exhausting and epic next two records to follow.
Any comments or reviews to grant us with?