Music Reviews
 
Boards of Canada
Geogaddi
(Warp ﾊ/ Music 70)

An artist friend once remarked that Boards of Canada sounds like someone translated the primary color-scale into music. The kaleidoscopic soundscape of "Geodaddi" proves this theory correct on many levels, one being the sustained warmth and depth of composition carried over from 1998's "Music Has the Right to Children. " BOC continues to take the opposite track from most electronica heads, opting out of the overly excessive cut-and-paste and concentrating on tonality and simplicity instead. Tracks like "Alpha and Omega" are definitive of the BOC ethos; choose the theme, give it just enough light, and add preservatives only when needed. As with the entire Boards oeuvre, songs like "In the Annex " and "Dawn Chorus" sound like they were written rather than merely compiled from historical detritus. Perhaps there's something to be said for BOC's existence in the lonely hills of Scotland. If originality results from distance, BOC should stay far, far away. - Jonathan Hanemann