Boards’ new CD is child’s play

Spencer Patterson

Friday, Sept. 16, 2005 | 8:17 a.m.

The past few weeks have been a confusing time for fans of Boards of Canada.

First an album appeared online, purported to be the eagerly awaited new LP from Scotland's beloved electronic outfit.

The tracks were later determined to be fakes, but the hoax didn't stop there. Before long, additional phony versions of Boards of Canada's Oct. 18 release began popping up, each generating a maelstrom of debate over its possible validity.

Though the motives behind the imitations are hard to fathom, it's quite understandable why so many music listeners kept hoping each would turn out to be the real McCoy.

Take a spin through 1998's "Music Has the Right to Children," the first full-length CD from Boards of Canada, to hear what all the fuss is about.

That album established the BoC duo, Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin, as masters of IDM, a sub-genre that dwells roughly halfway between danceable club beats and placid ambient soundscapes.

The 18 stylistically diverse tracks are unified by a fantastic sense of wonder, as if the disc were intended as a soundtrack for exploration, be it in space, underwater or simply a journey of self-discovery.

As the title suggests, "Music Has the Right to Children" has a youthful spirit. On some of its best tunes ("Turquoise Hexagon Sun," "Roygbiv," "Happy Cycling"), hip-hop beats and synthesized melodies co-exist so peacefully, they could serve as the backdrop for a hushed preschool class during naptime.

If those tracks don't send tingles down your spine, try the majestic yet remarkably simple "Bocuma," or the understated "Olson," during which an epic musical theme bubbles just beneath the surface without ever springing fully forth.

As for the new album, the finished version of "Campfire Headphase" was believed to have been leaked, at long last, a few days ago, bringing glee to the many Boards of Canada diehards who have waited anxiously since the previous release, 2002's excellent "Geogaddi."

Then again, it remains entirely possible we've all been duped again, and that Oct. 18 will reveal all that came before to be counterfeit attempts to match the oft-imitated, rarely equaled Boards of Canada electronic blueprint.

Artist: Boards of Canada.

Title: "Music Has the Right to Children."

Year of release: 1998 (reissued 2004, Warp Records)

Tracklisting: "Wildlife Analysis," "Eagle in Your Mind," "Telephasic Workshop," "Triangles & Rhombuses," "Sixtyten," "Turqoise Hexagon Sun," "Kaini Industries," "Bocuma," "Roygbiv," "Rue the Whirl," "Aquarius," "Olson," "Pete Standing Alone," "Smokes Quantity," "Open the Light," "One Very Important Thought," "Happy Cycling."