Customer Reviews

In a beautiful place out in the country

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Despite being only four tracks, this new ep from Boards of Canada clocks in around 24 minutes, which should hold me over until the next album. "Kid For Today" is an amazingly mellow groove, showcasing the earthy unique keyboards that are the BoC trademark. So few electronic music acts can convey real emotion in their music, but Boards of Canada do it very easily. If I had to compare it to their album Music Has the Right To Children, I would say this is a little more ambient- similar to tracks like "Open the Light" or "Pete Standing Alone", where the focus isn't so much the beat as it is the atmosphere and the general sound they create. Definitely the standout tracks are 1 and 3, with the vocoder on track 3 adding (along with the sampling of children laughing) an even greater human edge to the music. The second and fourth songs are striking as well, always emphasizing the group's sense of melody. Essential to any BoC fan (as is the Hi Scores EP, look for it online or in specialty shops) and a real bargain at this price.

Well,I've become BOC fan back in Europe,and wandered
why some Scottish guys are so enchanted about Canada...
The destiny made its step and I ended up living in Canada.
I love to take bus and put my headphones on.
Certainly,the greatest enlightment was listening this album,
being amazed how can this digital-electronical-synthetic stuff
get harmonized with Canadian landscape...but it does.

Maybe its my imagination.
But listening this EP brings back the greatest feeling;
being at home,with the Nature,in the Nature.

As a huge fan of thier first record, I was in the store buying this the day it came out, obviously without having read anything on it good or bad. These 2 guys are true genius on many levels. I have to say that this EP is more 'minimalistic' in it's approach then Music has the Right to Children was, and the songs build slower and are generally more subtle. The standout tracks are Kid for Today and In a Beautiful Place... My only criticism is the last song, Zoetrope, actually annoys me too much to even listen to unfortunately, and is comprised of one lonely keyboard track of a bells/string type with no percussion whatsoever - but it's obvious that this track was a tack on at the end to warrant the 8 bucks you will pay for this. Gone also from this entire release are the warped-in-the-sun fat analog synth leads that made the first record such an original and MOLDY sounding and cohesive listen. I hope the forthcoming album will have some of that same feel to it, and that this EP is just a taste of what is to come, with only one throwaway track... Well, OK, that just leaves 3 songs left. But Boards of Canada are allowed to do that kind thing because, frankly, they are Boards of Canada, and the rest of us are not. I knocked a star off for it though.

This is simply one of the best albums ever made...I am not employing hyperbole, folks. I bought this album somewhat on a whim, and it is one of the best eight bucks any music lover can spend. "Amo Bishop Roden" is one of the most beautiful songs ever. It is one of those classic electronica ballads that barely, I mean BARELY, climaxes and drifts away into oblivion...perfect. This album isn't very similar to "Children" or "Geogaddi", or even "Twoism". Much more ambient. Buy this before the world ends.

I bought this CD on a whim in a used CD shop up in Berkeley, California, because I was am avid BOC fan. I have not regretted this purchase at all.

The complexity of their music along with the mysterious aura that they create is mindblowing. How can someone synthesize something so beautiful? I found it remarkable.

This music is very soothing after having a long, bad day, and you just need a rest. It is calming, and makes you think about past things. The beat is just enough to keep your pulse up, and it's quiet enough not to interrupt you while you think back. I found it great for driving at night, although I would not advise it if it's really late because my friend almost fell asleep listening to "Music Has the Right to Children" while driving home once.

Wonderfully done and fully worth the cost. It runs about 30 minutes and has very good tracks. I liked this better than "Geogaddi".

Those who were entranced by 1998's "Music Has The Right To Children" might be floored by the quality of this remarkably good EP. Were "IABPOITC" expanded to a full-length disc with similar artistic acumen, it would almost certainly be their best recording to date. "Zoetrope" is interesting in its Steve Reich/Phillip Glass-like tones and structures, but loses out to the deeply blissful feel of the three previous tracks. The title piece and "Amo Bishop Roden" are minature masterpieces comparable to the best slow-paced trance/techno out there. BOC's genius resides in their ability to conjure up a tender yearnfulness without sounding cloyingly sentimental, a trap that many electronic artists fall into, especially within the New Age music scene. And to reiterate many previous claims, it does sound a lot like the electronic music that was written for children's progams on PBS during the '70s, which has a special significance for those GenXer's who grew up watching those shows, like yours truly. Or if you're Canadian, you'll think of the wonderfully arty animation brought to you by the National Film Board of Canada (I for one am angry at the Cartoon Network for cancelling "O Canada", the only show I know of that broadcasted those classic cartoons up until several months ago).
Either way, "IABPOITC" ranks as a landmark among trance/techno EP's--highly recommended.

Boards of Canada thrives on something fundamental. It is vast, full of potential, and I think we all catch a glimpse of it in our carefree youth. There is so much unexplored beauty in this life, yet many people seem to be afraid of venturing into the wilderness to find it. Are they really content with settling for what's on the radio and mtv?

It is sad to think that scores of people will never experience the airy warmth of a song like Kid for Today simply because it doesn't sound like what is popular at the moment. I wish more artists took the time to make use of subtlety and high-quality production so effectively. In my opinion, Amo Bishop Roden is one of the best songs ever made. There is a combination of atmospheric ambience and perfectly restrained beats that is undeniable. The title track conjures up a community living in pastoral bliss, but is also a little unsettling. It is one of those songs that I felt was right under my nose my whole life, but I let it get away from me somehow. The last song, Zoetrope, isn't as emotional as the others, but is a very pretty, laid-back instrumental that makes for a perfect closer.

My friend got me into Boards of Canada, after I got him into Aphex Twin. When he paid back the favor and introduced me to BOC, I was very impressed. My best description of their music is electronic divided by ambient, with the square root of classical, subtracted from techno. I currently own all of their releases which all offer different cacophonies that range for dark to divine. As for this EP, "A Beautiful Place Out in the Country" offers many layers and dreamscapes, and is a great sampler for BOC's melodies.

I was extremely interested to see what this little EP had to offer. When I finally listened to it I was pleased. With only four songs on it, ABPOITC is a mesmerizing selection of ambient/instrumental music. The songs are mellow, but also have a trance feel to them, Amo Bishop Roden (one of my favorite songs by BOC) fits this exemplar perfectly. This is a great CD to relax with, drift off to slumber, use as white noise or as motivation for writing a term paper. I've used it for all of the above. Overall, this EP is a wonderful collection of music and a fairly price investment into the domain of Boards of Canada.

I bought this CD on a whim in a used CD shop up in Berkeley, California, because I was am avid BOC fan. I have not regretted this purchase at all.

The complexity of their music along with the mysterious aura that they create is mindblowing. How can someone synthesize something so beautiful? I found it remarkable.

This music is very soothing after having a long, bad day, and you just need a rest. It is calming, and makes you think about past things. The beat is just enough to keep your pulse up, and it's quiet enough not to interrupt you while you think back. I found it great for driving at night, although I would not advise it if it's really late because my friend almost fell asleep listening to "Music Has the Right to Children" while driving home once.

Wonderfully done and fully worth the cost. It runs about 30 minutes and has very good tracks. I liked this better than "Geogaddi".

This 2000 release by Scottish electronica duo Boards of Canada is simply excellent. As a fan of 1970s electronica (Tangerine Dream; Klaus Schulze etc) and other styles including minimalism, I was delighted by the spacey, brooding musical landscapes and the analog sound of their music.

The instrumentation on the album includes synthesizers; a drum machine and other electronic effects/processing, along with the occasional found sound e.g. laughing children, and a heavily altered vocal snippet on the title track (this music is predominantly instrumental). The synth tone colors that these guys select are very warm and organic sounding - even the drum machine sounds natural and not at all mechanical.

Although this EP is a bit short at 24:00 minutes in total length, it packs a lot of gloomy texture and mood into that short time and as such seems to last a lot longer (sometimes I will simply just hit the repeat button in order to maintain a loop). In fact, I enjoyed this first exposure to Boards of Canada so much that I have been inspired to seek out other works by the band.

As somebody who likes music off of the beaten path, this band has proven to be a fantastic discovery. All in all, In a Place Out in the Country is yet another fine recording by a contemporary band still interested in pushing the envelope and is very highly recommended.