Boards of Canada "Hi Scores" Skam ska008cd 1996 (33:35)
Hi Scores (4:57)
Turqoise Hexagon Sun (5:09)
Nlogax (6:54)
June 9th (5:18)
Seeya Later (4:13)
Everything You Do is a Balloon (7:04)
Boards of Canada: Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin.
"Hi Scores" is a first time on cd reissue of BoC's pre-Warp ep from 1996 via Skam. The Scottish duo drop 6 tracks of classic IDM not all that much unlike those found on the 1998 debut Warp album "Music has the Right to Children" (in fact, "Turqoise Hexagon Sun" is also on that album) and the Peel Session. All of the tracks are beat driven and feature the usual BoC spacey synth pad atmospheres and melodies, bass throbs and old school beats. Their songs are relatively subdued and simple, but they manage to catch a certain mellow and catchy, danceable groove. A few notes: "Nlogax" adds an upfront snare beat and the hacked up vocal samples oft used on many of the "Music.." tracks, "Turqoise.." and "Seeya Later" have a bit of a hip hop feel, "June 9th" is probably the most 'aggro' of the lot (though not very) and "Everything.." has a lengthy, entrancing groove. Good stuff ... if you're a fan of "Music.." you need to get this too. The disc comes in a simple light paper sleeve with a b/w picture of 2 children on the front and above that something in Braille and the Skam logo. That no doubt helped keep the cost down to a mere $5!
Where did I get this cd? - mail order via Riouxs Records.