Today we heard three cuts from the 2002 album Geogaddi by the electronica duo, Boards of Canada. They specialize in ambient, trancey, musical vignettes that draw heavily from synthetic textures, with a big dose of sampled sources thrown in for good measure. One thing that sets Boards of Canada apart is their quest for different ways to mangle sounds with every sort of funky processing, sound degradation, re-amping and bad engineering possible to get organic textures that are truly unique.
Dandelion is a simple piece and, at 1:15, feels more like a musical interlude rather than a "piece." Still, it packs a lot of interesting sound into a short time. I especially love the use of the "National Geographic Special" announcer: as the samples weave in and out of the music, you pick up the narrative of what appears to be an oceanic expedition; then when the "dandelion" line comes, there's that cognitive dissonance in the story, almost like an intentionally bad note in the music!
After a graceful intro, 1969 uses a hypnotic Hip-hop Kick rhythm as its core. The "verse" has a incomrehensible vocoder lead triggered from a spoken part with swirling arppegios in the background. At 3:22 we hear a "chorus" which adds a second vocoder part reciting the words "1969 in the sunshine." Beats me, Flash...
Alpha and Omega has a vaguely Hindu feel, with a beat featuring tabla drums and a weird ethnic flute riff. Reminds me of something The Beatles might have done if they were still exploring what's possible in the studio. There's a nice fat lead synth line that appears at 0:52. After about 4:30 or so, these elements begin to fade and drop out, replaced by distorted radio static.