Day 24: A song I want played at my funeral—In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country
30 days of music, but only Boards of Canada: day 24!
Ah, I should have known. I've already put Telephasic Workshop and Olson in this bucket.
But it's my party, and I'll passive-aggressively put my own preferences ahead of the needs of my loved ones, even from the other side, if I want to: In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country.
Nice and low-key. Beautiful in an understated way. And most importantly: a touch creepy.
You hear a lot of talk now that the UK government’s discovery, alpha, beta, live phases create roadblocks to efficient development thanks to things like supplier contract tenders and renewals. A shame, as that was never the point. (Phases screenshots, 2014.)
Annotation of the newly-redesigned bank holidays information page on the UK government website. Screenshot taken April 2014, but this will be older than that.
GOV.UK traffic vs Directgov and Business Link traffic. Screenshot taken April 2014 but expect this is 2012–2013 data. Likely a screenshot of a screenshot.
Day 23: A song I want played at my wedding—Open The Light
30 days of music except it's just Boards of Canada songs. Day 23! A song I want played at my wedding.
I'm not planning on having any more weddings. And I wouldn't impose my BoC fandom on such an event. I'll try not to cop out and make this a free hit, but instead let's go with something a bit reverential. And certainly not bleak. Let's say: Open The Light.
If you tilt your head it could be a slow march. It has a bit of pomp about it. The long synth chords sound almost like heraldic trumpets. Yes, this will do nicely.
Day 22: A song I listen to when I'm said—Farewell Fire
30 days of music, except only Boards of Canada: day 22.
Again, I don't tend to turn to music as either a salve or a force-multiplier for negative feelings. But let's roll with it and choose something sad-sounding, and yet excellent and perhaps even a touch optimistic. Hmmm. Let's go with Farewell Fire, the closing track of The Campfire Headphase.
Of this track, BoC's Mike Sandison once spake:
On Farewell Fire Marcus is on keyboards, nothing more. He did it in a night session. There are moments where it stutters and it really feels like someone no longer able to play well out of sadness. That is why you should never program music. Even if it is an electronic piece, it sounds very human, heartbreaking.
Haunting. Lingering. Fading. A touch sad, perhaps. But not entirely. Beautiful. Thank you, this Reddit thread, for the the inspo, and BoC Pages for the fact fodder.
Incidental question: is the abbreviation pronounced bee-oh-see or bock? Your American YouTubers tend to say bee-oh-see, but they're the same people that describe the BoC aesthetic so reductively (albeit enthusiastically) that they make it sound like the aural equivalent of an Instagram filter—and not even a good one.
Day 21: A song I listen to when I'm happy—Skyliner
30 days of music, but it's only Boards of Canada songs. A song I listen to when I'm happy: Skyliner.
Here's a peppy ditty and no mistake, and a reason to post something from the so-far overlooked in this series 2006 EP Trans Canada Highway.
This is squarely in my BoC happy-place. Long enough to zone in (or out) to, hip hop-adjacent drums, shining BoCish melodies and flourishes. It's missing the distorted vocal samples you often find on such tracks, but is none the worse for that. Splendid.