BOARDS OF CANADA: TOMORROW'S HARVEST (2013)
1) Gemini; 2) Reach For The
Dead; 3) White Cyclosa; 4) Jacquard Causeway; 5) Telepath; 6) Cold Earth; 7)
Transmisiones Ferox; 8) Sick Times; 9) Collapse; 10) Palace Posy; 11) Split
Your Infinities; 12) Uritual; 13) Nothing Is Real; 14) Sundown; 15) New Seeds;
16) Come To Dust; 17) Semena Mertvykh.
The first full-length album from Boards Of
Canada in eight years — no wonder the
electronic world went almost as crazy for this one as it would do for Aphex
Twin's Syro a year later. Overrated
or not, Boards Of Canada are «official giants» from the Radiohead era, and just
like Radiohead, even if they go on releasing dull crap for the rest of their
lives, the hype machine has been set in such major action that the important
question of «what it is, exactly, that separates great art from dull crap,
particularly in the 21st century?» will seem irrelevant to the majority.
Alas, I remain in the minority that does give a damn, and I have to confess
that I find Tomorrow's Harvest to
be the duo's least impressive and most overreaching offering to date. Not that
I have ever been a major fan, but at least in the past, these guys would look
for odd targets to shoot at, and you could spend more time pondering over the
meaning of the target than over whether they managed to hit it or not. This time, however, the target is pretty
clear — as is, to me, the understanding that they missed it completely. In
fact, they missed it so completely
that I am even beginning to wonder if these guys really had any genuine talent
to begin with.
The album's title, the song titles, the general
atmospherics, even the hazy, ominous silhouette of Manhattan on the front cover
all speak of dangerous premonitions. From the sounds of childhood and
campfires, Boards Of Canada advance to the state where they, too, want to make
their «post-apocalyptic» soundscape of coldness, devastation, loneliness, and
organic degradation. Which is perfectly alright: almost every electronic artist
wishes to make one sooner or later. The only question is — will mine work
better than yours?
My answer is that this is one of the least
convincing, most instantly forgettable post-apocalyptic albums I have ever had
the displeasure of hearing. It builds up the atmosphere based on careful
selection of tones, yes, so that the sound is very consistent (and many of the
tracks virtually indistinguishable from each other), but that's about it. Just like before, the duo does not
care about causing any sharp sensations: everything is smooth and glossy —
elevator muzak for the last working elevator in the world left after the last
World War. There is not a single track here, not one, for which I could offer
any meaningful comment, because I have a distinct feeling I'd heard it all
before, in better versions, worse versions, equally dull versions — not a single
emotional response above the usual «well, I guess I'd rather hear this in an elevator/supermarket than
Katy Perry, but then, on second thought...».
If we can have a specific point of
counter-reference, the theme and mood of the album reminded me of certain
tracks on the instrumental sides of David Bowie's Low and Heroes — stuff
like ʽWarszawaʼ, ʽSubterraneansʼ, ʽSense Of Doubtʼ, compositions that used
similar (even if comparatively «antique») techniques to create a feeling of lonely
cockroach-style survival among the devastation and dreariness, but actually
employed some brilliant minimalistic melodic moves to enhance and really drive
home that feeling. And I no longer buy the whole «well, with Boards Of Canada
it's all about continuous atmosphere, not about melodic potential» stuff —
because Bowie and Eno somehow managed to have both, and now that I know that you can have atmosphere and melody at the same time, why should I settle
for anything less?
All I can say is this: if an album like Tomorrow's Harvest, with its grand
critical reception and all, is considered by anyone to represent the «state-of-the-art»
of electronic music in the early 2010s, then «Electronica» must be as
creatively dead as «Rock» or any other such labels, and this particular thumbs down
that I am vehemently issuing for this «oh-no-not-another-dust-and-cockroaches-art-piece»
of an album turns out to be something far more serious than just a thumbs down.
I do hope that is not the case here, though, and what we are really dealing
with is a stereotypical case of self-bullshitting due to somebody's legendary
status.
>All I can say is this: if an album like Tomorrow's Harvest, with its grand critical reception and all, is considered by anyone to represent the «state-of-the-art» of electronic music in the early 2010s, then «Electronica» must be as creatively dead as «Rock» or any other such labels
ReplyDeleteThankfully, that idea would be mistaken - it's people like Flying Lotus and Oneohtrix Point Never who are at electronic music's leading edge these days. I think that you'd like the former; not so sure about the latter.
Well George has reviewed Burial as well although his works are already 6/7 years old as well, but he definitely had something positive to say egarding electronic music in these reviews.
ReplyDeleteA good friend of mine raved about this album. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so had to practically force myself not to argue with him.
ReplyDeleteTomorrows Harvest was, in a similar fashion to Exai, a tremendous, cataclysmic let down. Same reasons: no melodic interest at all. Nothing. Not a single track here features anything close to approaching those cute cozy melancholic melodies BoC used to write. In fact during the WATMM AMA, one of the Autechre dudes stated that, when asked what they thought of Tomorrow's Harvest, they - I paraphrase - "miss the keyboard skills".
There just isn't a single track here worth mentioning. That so many people got worked up over Reach For The Dead when it is essentially a gradual build of chords and a generic arpeggio just shows the standards listeners have. This is a terrible, underachieving, undercomposed album.
That's San Francisco on the cover, not Manhattan. :)
ReplyDelete