Customer Reviews

Hi Scores

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

BOC's Hi-Scores, starts off poppy, ends on the dark side. And the latter is definetly what makes their sound so appealing. While their style is not as musically complex as Aphex or Autechre, their ability to stick with the rich beats and airy melodies without adding anymore useless noises is what propels them ahead of the game. None of this is compromised on this album, as is the case with anything they put out. This six track album is definetly worth picking up, although if you own Twoism and MHTRTC, it is only four new tracks. However, the last track alone, dripping with lushious beats and melody, is worth the price. While not quite up to par with IABPOITC or Twoism, no fan can be complete without this gem.

Twoism was a sign of great things to come from Boards of Canada. It was good, very good in fact, but it wasn't quite complete. There was something missing. That missing element is found here on Hi Scores, and even more so on BoC's first full-length album, Music Has the Right to Children. Hi Scores completes the preview to MHTRTC. The EP begins with "Hi Scores," which is a blissfully gentle piece. It continues with "Turquoise Hexagon Sun," which is also on MHTRTC, and is one of my favorite songs from BoC, if not my favorite. "Nlogax" is one of BoC's more individualistic and most psychedelic (if that is at all possible, when considering the psychedelic adventure that is Geogaddi) song. It is a bit rough on the edges and takes some time to get listening to, but just like Autechre's "Piezo" it becomes very addicting despite its flaws. The album begins to tone down after the peak ("Nlogax") with "June 9th" and "Seeya Later," and finally ends with the wonderfully atmospheric "Everything You Do is a Balloon." Overall the album is probably BoC's most down-tempo album, and their most consistent EP. It combines the psychedelic and atmospheric sounds that makes their music so mysterious, nostalgic, and blissful. I definately recommend Hi Scores to any Boards of Canada fan, as Music Has the Right to Children and Geogaddi just barely top it in my opinion. I guess you could call Hi Scores a mini or pre-Music Has the Right to Children, which is giving it a lot of credit.

Talk about your short but sweet EP's. It's no wonder Boards of Canada are one of the greatest downtempo electronic artists of today. To say they're the best is probably not much of a stretch either. This cd is a few years old, but still better than some of the current music that is being released today. I would venture to say that Boards of Canada will be releasing classic albums for years to come. They certainly have produced some great music here.

The first track, "High Scores" to me is the epidome of what the group sounds like. The keyboard reminds me of the Twin Peaks TV series soundtrack opener. Following is "Turquoise Hexagon Sun" which is just an incredible song. There really isn't a weak song on the whole EP. There are some great beats on this album as well. Some distorted, some "casio-esque", and some stratight forward. Each song is it's own individual entity to the overall product. You can't go wrong with this cd. You can't really go wrong with any of Boards of Canada's albums for that matter.

Purchase it and enjoy. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

I found this hidden in the miscellaneous "T's" in my local indie store in it's non-descript cardboard sleeve for $10.99. It starts off slow, dreamy and beautiful, gets funkier and ends with a stunning track "Everything You Do is a Balloon" that's quite unlike anything else they've done. Not unlike an orchestral recording, with pillars of dark tones that sound like double basses coming out of the left channel interwoven with a beautiful, subtle melody. "Seeya Later" is on Twoism but the other tracks are otherwise unavailable. More interesting than "Twosim" in my opinion, and "Balloon" is really a superb piece. If you'rea BOC fan, don't hesitate.

This EP contains some of BoC's rarer (and more exceptional) songs. Their usual style of dark, sometimes hip hop influenced beats contrasting against ambient background melodies is definitely present here, and they do it as well as ever. Everything You Do is a Balloon is possibly BoC's greatest song of all time, and the extraordinarily innovative rhythms of Hi Scores and Turquoise Hexagon Sun coupled with the wonderfully dark See Ya Later and the fast paced June 9th make this a fantastic album. Although some of the tracks can be found on other releases (Twoism, MHTRTC), it's well worth the purchase, if you can find it.

Very nice cut....enjoy it very much in my down time.... The tracks on this EP are...
1. "Hi Scores" - 4:57
2. "Turquoise Hexagon Sun" - 5:09
3. "Nlogax" - 6:54
4. "June 9th" - 5:18
5. "Seeya Later" - 4:12
6. "Everything You Do Is a Balloon" - 7:03

Here's a frothy precursor to the enjoyable Music Has a Right to Children. After having it on repeat for a while last night, then resampling the horrid "Double Figure" by Plaid, blasé "A Beautiful Place Out in the Country," and considering my other recent sour music samplings, I decided to review this CD and up its otherwise four plus stars to five. It's getting darn hard to find worthwhile music these days, and people need to be pointed somewhere!! "Everything You Do Is A Balloon" is the killer; every one is precious. Wait a second ... you're wondering what Boards of Canada generally sound like? This is for electro-loving head folks, fitting the mellow end of the IDM spectrum with intricately atmospheric melodies that haunt and please.