Boards of Confusion

OK, so this is a bit convoluted. Earlier this year, it was announced that the new Boards of Canada record, The Campfire Headphase, was coming out in October. This was pretty exciting news for some of us, who had been clamoring for some new BOC since their last release, Geogaddi, three years ago. What's the first thing you want to do when you hear about a favorite band's new stuff? You wanna hear it, so you try to find it. Soulseek is a fine place to look, particularly for electronic stuff.

Now, the two Scots who are Boards of Canada are reclusive, and the wraps on this new album were being kept rather tight. Yet, advance copies were being leaked almost immediately on Soulseek. Well, sort of. It turns out that people were making their own versions of the album, with the actual song titles, but using all kinds of crazy shit to actually comprise them. From what I've read on various message boards, there are like 4 or 5 different fake versions.

I had downloaded one of these fake versions, but only listened to a few tracks, not wanting to spoil the fun of buying it when it came out, while at the same time feeling contented that I could listen to the whole thing if I really wanted to. Of the two songs I picked out (I always pick track #7) to put on my iPod, '84 Pontiac Dream was really moving me. Then I find out that what I have isn't the real album, and that the real '84 Pontiac Dream is twice as long as the fake I have. Fine and dandy, but I really liked the fake version, and had no idea who it really was.

One of the theories I've read is that some of the fake Campfire Headphases were constructed partly from Freescha, Arovane and Casino Vs. Japan songs. I spent a while downloading all the things I could find by those bands, and came up no dice. (This actually turned out a pleasant experience though, because they are actually quite good, and definitely have heard a BOC album or two.) Another theory is that someone made the songs themself in the style of Boards of Canada - there's no way for me to know if mine are those. And they say some of the tracks came from old BOC demos and remixes. That could be, but I've heard a lot of those and didn't recognize anything.

So do I have a point? Well, yeah. I love this song. It's Roygbiv's woozy cousin. If it's not actually Boards themselves, it's a top notch replication of their sound. If it's another band, shame on them for copping the sound so blatantly, but bless you for making it so good. Maybe someone will hear this and be able to tell me what it really is. I kept my fake version of the album, because it's like a little puzzle to solve.

And what of the actual new Boards of Canada album? I've only gotten to spin it a few times, but it's already growing on me. There's actually some guitar on it, kinda like the work of Bibio. It would be interesting if he actually influenced them this time around. And wouldn't ya know it, the real '84 Pontiac Dream is a good song too. Maybe all you have to do is name a song that, and it becomes magically delicious.

And here is the so-far mysterious fake version: ??????? - ???????

Tony