{"product_id":"boards-of-canada-the-campfire-headphase","title":"Boards Of Canada – The Campfire Headphase","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBoards Of Canada’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ethird album for Warp Records, \u003cem\u003eThe Campfire Headphase\u003c\/em\u003e, was originally released in 2005. The album featured fifteen tracks, including \"Peacock Tail\", \"Chromakey Dreamcoat,\" and \"Dayvan Cowboy\". \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e—\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn inimitable late-night take on psychedelia that swirls between rock and techno.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eReach a certain age and you notice a peculiar thing: your thoughts frequently get interrupted by non sequitur memory images, seemingly insignificant but disconcertingly vivid. It's as if your overstuffed brain is calling up ancient files with a view to deleting for space.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoards of Canada offer a more benign version of this temps perdu recovery process. Somehow the Scottish duo's signature sounds - those glistening melody trails and misty-around-the-edges textures - trigger buried memories. I'd almost say that listening to Boards of Canada is a form of therapy, except that the emotions stirred up-painful beauty, sweet sorrow - do not deserve a term that now has such glib feelgood associations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoC have ploughed this 'memory-work' terrain on their previous two albums, the home-listening electronica landmark \u003cem\u003eMusic Has the Right to Children \u003c\/em\u003e(1998) and its only-slightly-less-fabulous sequel \u003cem\u003eGeogaddi \u003c\/em\u003e(2002). \u003cem\u003eThe Campfire Headphase\u003c\/em\u003e pursues the same effect but with slightly different means. For the first time the group have incorporated acoustic and electric instruments, like guitars, alongside their customary array of vintage analogue synths and digital samples. So they're no longer making electronic music but an unclassifiable hybrid.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOccasionally the new hues don't seem as idiosyncratic as their patented faded Super8-film synth tones, but then again, there's a thin line between developing your own vocabulary and coining your own set of cliches, and we should probably applaud BoC's attempt to extend their palette.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf the gorgeous mind-ripples of 'Satellite Anthem' and the dewy-eyed dreamwalk of \"84 Pontiac Dream' represent classic BoC almost to the point of redundancy, 'Dayvan Cowboy' steps off the group's beaten path. The track risks bombast with its stirring strings and crashing cymbal rolls (which dazzle the ear, as if the sticks are splashing into a pool of mercury) but stays just the right side of overblown.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBlurring the boundaries between rock and techno is a smart move, because BoC have always made music that deserved to appeal beyond the electronic audience. You can imagine fans of My Bloody Valentine\/Cocteau Twins-style dreampop falling head over heels for \u003cem\u003eThe Campfire Headphase\u003c\/em\u003e, or devotees of the Cure and Radiohead wallowing in its exquisitely textured melancholy. BoC can also be seen as heirs to the psychedelic tradition, grandchildren of Syd Barrett and the Incredible String Band. The connection comes through not just in the duo's obsession with childhood or their frankly goofy song titles, but also in the stereophonic delirium of their production. On 'Oscar See Through Red Eye' and 'Slow This Bird', sounds pan back and forth across the speakers, the drift and swirl making you melt into a voluptuous disorientation. — (via \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/lifeandstyle\/2005\/sep\/18\/shopping3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e—\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe story of how I discovered Boards of Canada isn’t very romantic or memorable, but I still remember it. Their track “Roygbiv” from 1998’\u003cem\u003es Music Has the Right to Children\u003c\/em\u003e was placed on the Matador Records compilation \u003cem\u003eEverything Is Nice\u003c\/em\u003e between songs by Cat Power and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and that first listen stopped me in my tracks. What struck me about the band is how familiar they sounded. They had a quality about them that immediately struck me as warm, childlike and nostalgic. They were an electronic act that felt unusually organic; they weren’t restricted solely to the dancefloor or the laptop, instead creating something altogether inviting and personal and oddly eerie at times. Inspired by educational film soundtracks (from which they took their name), you could almost see photosynthesis taking place while you listened. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Campfire Headphase\u003c\/em\u003e contains essentially the same qualities that made the group’s earlier records \u003cem\u003eMusic Has the Right to Children\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eGeogaddi\u003c\/em\u003e as captivating as they were. The songs themselves have an immediacy and warmth not often found in IDM, the beats are never too overbearing, and the between-song interludes are frequently as fascinating and mysterious as the tracks themselves. But Headphase doesn’t have quite the same immediacy, opening up in slo-mo, like the visualized plant bud emerging from the soil.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy no means a “difficult” record, \u003cem\u003eThe Campfire Headphase\u003c\/em\u003e is something of a sideways progression for the duo. While there are no glaring differences between this and the previous two full-lengths, there is a more pronounced guitar presence this time around, which makes for an interesting change in tone and palette. Part of what makes \u003cem\u003eThe Campfire Headphase\u003c\/em\u003e seem a little strange at first is that guitar; it’s such a central part of the first proper “song” on the record (“Chromakey Dreamcoat”), that it almost seems like a different group. It doesn’t take long to get used to, however, and it brings added dimension to the Scottish duo’s sound.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn two of the album’s best tracks, “Satellite Anthem Icarus” and “Dayvan Cowboy,” the music draws similarities to the symphonic art funk of Serge Gainsbourg’s \u003cem\u003eHistoire de Melody Nelson. \u003c\/em\u003e“Dayvan” in particular stands out for its suspenseful buildup and heightened drum progression. Much of the album, however, still retains the analog dreamscape of \u003cem\u003eMusic Has the Right to Children\u003c\/em\u003e, at times floating in an ambient abyss, others grooving on an Air-like trip-hop haze.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoards of Canada are clearly still among the best electronic producers out there right now, and \u003cem\u003eThe Campfire Headphase\u003c\/em\u003e is yet another hour of blissful, dreamy IDM. After a few listens, it reveals its subtle and crackly charms, its digital-meets-analog progression a new, immersive chapter in the group’s consistently fascinating body of work. — (via \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.treblezine.com\/boards-of-canada-campfire-headphase-review\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003eTrebleZine\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/6uO5B6km2Dco28tOBmZtSU?utm_source=generator\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e↓\u003cbr\u003eLabel: Warp Records\u003cbr\u003eFormat: 2x Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo\u003cbr\u003eReissued: 2013 \/ Original: 2015\u003cbr\u003eGenre: Electronic\u003cbr\u003eStyle: Ambient, IDM, Leftfield\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFile under: Leftfield\u003cbr\u003e⦿\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Warp Records","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41456473079966,"sku":"801061812317","price":60.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0584\/5434\/3838\/files\/a0608755357_10.jpg?v=1705562852","url":"https:\/\/theanalogvault.mom\/products\/boards-of-canada-the-campfire-headphase","provider":"The Analog Vault","version":"1.0","type":"link"}