Today we're listening to Tomorrow's
Harvest by Boards of Canada, starting
with Gemini.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Okay, I was not expecting it to like
build up and then kind of break down. I
thought it was going to like I thought
the beat was going to drop. Sorry, cuz
that synth came in.
The part that sounded very them to me
was how you had this um
>> [music]
>> this big
and then you had this
that thing
felt [music] very
dissonant in the way that they do.
But the rest of it felt very '80s to me.
The oh, what was So, what was that that
sample at the beginning sounded like it
came right out of some TV program.
Suspenseful. I could see that in a
movie. The arpeggio, I think, definitely
sealed the deal.
And then there was that other sample.
And everything else faded out underneath
it, and then it sort of had a solo. And
then, but the synths are a lot of the
low end is being filtered out, and then
they continue to filter it out.
You know, it gets it's getting thinner
and thinner, like you're going further
and further
uh into our atmosphere.
Does it feel a little bit spacey? Mm, I
think it does, actually.
That's it. Somebody put this over uh
some some footage of Artemis.
Do it. The next one is Reach for the
Dead.
>> [music]
[music]
>> No way.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Mhm.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Wait, is it that one? Okay.
And then something like
Yeah, this is different. It is a
lot more harmonically
typical.
It's much more predictable. I feel it is
a divergence from their typical sound.
Having said that, I like it. This was
kind of trip hop to me.
This slow half time groove, but it had a
lot of detail um in the subdivisions,
meaning um like
like the quicker the quicker pulses. And
then these long beautiful pads. You
know, there's not really a lot of the
kind of dissonance that I would
associate with their music. But there is
dissonance. It's just not the kind. The
reason I said no way is because I
thought it was going to go to a place
and it did and it went to my favorite
chord the flat six. So it was both a
sort of like, oh my god, they used it
cuz there haven't been a lot of moments
like that listening to their music
[clears throat] where I'm like, oh wow,
my favorite chord, but also that I could
follow where they were going. I I I
don't feel that way normally when I
listen to their music. It's kind of a
constant like, what? Whoa. Huh? So
beautifully put together. This song had
something that I think I've felt missing
from their other songs,
which is a very clear
uh climax, focusing of energy where it
gets more and more intense and you start
to feel it coming up inside you like a
wave and you're like, oh my god, oh my
god, is one of my favorite feelings
listening to music, so I was super into
that.
Um it feels very
sad to me.
Um powerful. Next is white cyclosa.
Guys, this is so different.
Are we sure this is Boards of Canada?
All these arpeggios and
>> [music]
>> Is it that it's less
>> [music]
>> sample based?
This feels very composed, you know?
It's sequenced.
Wow.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Woah, that feels like
that feels like the same thing from
Gemini.
>> [music]
>> Kind of stuttering out of time.
>> [music]
>> Man,
this album is so
moody.
>> [music]
>> It's darker in a different way, though.
You know what I haven't felt yet? I
haven't [music] felt creeped out yet.
It's kind of cinematic. Let's take a
look at this. Okay, so this is in D
minor.
>> [music]
>> There are two little synthy kind of arp
things happening.
All these.
I mean, it's basically [music] D minor.
And then, what I really liked was that
kind of bell. The bell sound was in
parallel sixths, which is just a
beautiful spacing because
it's very um very very emotionally
vulnerable sounding. It's very pretty.
And yet there's this big space between
them. So, there's kind of this
uh I always feel a little a little bit
of pain because of how far away they
are. Like, they're separated.
Whereas if I invert these intervals,
it'd be
See, those are the same two notes each
time, but just reverse the order. And
feel these sound so [music]
sweetly together and these sound
like there's just some
So that was really really pretty and
there and there's such a clear low and
high note. I love that timbre change. It
was in 4/4. You know, at first I wasn't
sure where that four started.
So there was sort of this feeling of
seamlessness of like but then that kind
of
you know
kick started to come in just a little
bit of punctuation. Nothing crazy. It
was more driven by the arp doing, you
know, these quicker subdivisions.
Eighths or 16ths, I don't really know,
but that one also didn't have a chord
progression. It was just sort of a
drone, you know, there's a little bit of
an implication though with
>> [music]
>> those, you know, and then it was like
I think [music]
I'm letting the sustain pedal ring out
cuz I like the way it sounds like all
mixing together. There is a lack of
unsettling elements. It's so much more
crystal clear
and even with that thing in the middle
that kind of was the Gemini callback or
maybe the Gemini was doing a
foreshadowing, but
that was like the only thing that felt a
little bit like, "Ooh, they're trying to
ruffle your feathers slightly."
But it still just felt dramatic to me.
Wow, this is so
I don't know. You know what I expected?
I'll tell you. I just realized I
expected something like
more like Dave and Cowboy.
When people are like, "Oh, it's more
accessible or something." I was like,
"Okay, so maybe something that has more
like guitar chords and things like
that." This is so not what I was
prepared for. Jack Heard Causeway?
>> [music]
[music]
>> Okay.
This feels more
>> [music]
>> taby.
What?
>> [music]
>> Wow.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Re-tune here.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Wow.
>> [music]
>> Wow.
>> [music]
[bell]
>> Wow.
That's gorgeous. It's one idea that
evolves over time. Maybe a sequencer
every so often changing a note, couple
notes, or adding one, or something, you
know? And onto the sort of that main
sparkly part. But, there are other parts
that are happening too, and there's a
lot of delay happening, which also
creates just more
complexity. It was in 3/4.
And that took me a good 30 seconds to
feel. At first, it it felt almost like
some really bizarre off-the-grid
thing. But, then as more and more
elements came in, it all kind of
suddenly gelled, and I was like, "Oh, 1
2 3
And you hear But,
all of these sparkly bits did have a
very kind of out of time feeling to
them.
I'm not 100% sure
what was going on there
because it didn't feel polyrhythmic, it
didn't feel like they were completely
divorced from the timing of the song.
But, you know, so it could have been
that the delay was set to something like
milliseconds as opposed to a note value.
That can create that kind of dreamy
feeling.
It's B-ish minor. I tuned, you might
have saw, I tuned the my piano sharp.
I'm not sure what was making that bass,
but it kind of was doing this like bloo.
I think
Then again, that could have been wishful
hearing.
But that's kind of a quick chord
progression, you know, so [music]
there's just like, you know, all this
cool stuff happening.
You know,
and there was
there were moments where they would like
sort of avoid
the home note for a while and then
suddenly it would just appear.
And I was like, oh.
And then later on, they went up a little
higher
and then it went finally to there. I
love that when it's just like it
keeps raising the ceiling and each note
feels like a gut punch. It's like, oh my
god, amazing. Jacquard is some kind of
pattern.
I think I have some jacquard curtains.
It's very ornate.
Yeah, very ornate. That's so beautiful,
man. I think I said this at the
beginning, but it did have like a lot a
lot more tape
quality than the other ones on this,
maybe Gemini still had a lot of tape,
but yeah, that and then some of the some
of the other synths had a little bit
more Boards of Canada hallmark tones.
I'm also noticing that so far the drums
are
they're still mixed pretty high in
general and I think that's just they've
just like it that way.
But they are I feel leaving a little
more room
for all of this lush harmony to happen
than in previous albums. I'm really
liking the balance of of elements. The
next one is telepath.
>> [music]
>> I mean, you have to have counting.
They have to have some counting.
All right, so it's definitely them.
So many pads in this.
>> [music]
>> Very retro.
>> [music]
>> Okay, so wait.
Oh, no, is it over?
Oh, no, it's over. Scrat. Scrat?
I was trying to say shooting crap at the
same time. All fifths.
I love that.
>> [music]
>> And it almost feels
pentatonic, too. But I don't think it
actually is. I think it's just a lot of
the notes in the pentatonic scale.
But this one's not That one's Dorian
That's a Dorian note. [music]
Sorry.
That kind of feeling those pads
uh
that I would describe
Excuse me. I would describe it as like
uh
a vast space. The kind of pad that you
play for outer space or like a desert,
you know, some kind of
a biological wasteland. Just so sparse,
so desolate, so you're so alone and
small.
Those big
pads.
Also, I think very uh cinematic. Cold
Earth.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Okay, this is a lot more
>> [music]
>> harmonically quintessential Boards of
Canada.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Mhm.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Oh, so many great things about this one.
Telepath had parallel fifths.
Remember these?
It is a mixture of fourths and fifths,
which also just fourths and fifths
have a sound to them. They're inversions
of each other. Remember when I played
those sixths?
Sorry.
Before, and then I I played the
inversion.
>> [music]
>> Fifths and fourths invert into each
other.
>> [music]
>> So, when you mix them all together, you
get that just that vibe. Anyway, so
>> [music]
>> and then
I think it was three bars in [music] the
phrase instead of the typical four or
eight or whatever. There's a suspension
there.
>> [music]
>> All right. We're back on track, and then
and I love the tone of these synths.
They have a really nice
legato kind of portamento thing.
You You hear the attack ever. It's just
so so
they're so connected and it sounds very
retro to me like science fiction
or or even science programs. So they're
and they're in octave. So sometimes it's
they're they're doing this like like
[music]
and then they split off and other times
it was just down here. Okay, that's so
cool. Drums, beautiful. A little more
active than the other songs
but again still a little bit more
respectful of the instrumentation around
it in a way. I'm going to interpret this
as sort of a maturation of them as
musicians. Okay, next one I'm not sure I
can pronounce properly transmissiones
ferox.
That sounds science-y.
I'm thinking of ferrofluid.
>> [music]
>> A Latin word?
Cruel, wild, or ferocious.
>> [music]
[music]
>> And also
>> [music]
[music]
>> We changed the channel.
We are.
Love the texture.
Ooh.
I heard that synth again. That that that
same kind of
retro-y legato synth I was just talking
about.
Okay, this one plays a minor add nine.
>> [music]
>> That's what that
Was that in like five?
Yeah, I think it's in five. This one is
It's over. I could be wrong, though.
It might not be like a time signature
thing. It might just be something that
repeats, you know, it it goes as long as
it goes and it repeats and it's a sample
or something, but it feels like it's
going through [music] this a filter
that's giving it this chord, which is
cool. I want to know how to do that. Or
maybe there's a vocoder thing happening.
I'm not sure.
Not sure. Because it's got a minor bass,
[music]
I think it has a kind of a severity to
it. It feels a little bit cold. Feels
kind of serious, you know? And then you
add the ninth, which gives it that
curiosity and that tension and that
suspense,
you know? The
But also makes it almost [music] sound
more tragic, too. It just like amplifies
everything about it.
It's so cool. And then, yeah, we changed
the channel. And
a lot of texture.
Felt very textured. And then it felt
like yeah, another little song was sort
of underneath all of everything. I'm
wondering if that was a snippet of
something we're about to hear or if they
just like
it's just something that you can never
have. Next to Sick Times.
>> [music]
[music]
>> I don't
>> [music]
[music]
>> Almost too
>> [music]
>> I love you.
I love you.
>> They really slow fade out.
Uh this one also had a lot of
fourths and fifths and things like that.
And And again, when it's paired with
that kind of
vast sounding pad, this one had a little
bit of a
like a
I don't know.
Um
But yeah, it just it it feels so
cinematic. It feels so retro. This one
had obviously a much more active drum
groove, active bass.
Very kind of
per- bubbling, percolating the whole
time. Oh, and it had two drum grooves, I
remember now. They layered them.
Something that sounded a lot more
electronic and then another one that
sounded a little bit more
I don't know.
Sampled. Okay, next is Collapse.
>> [music]
[music]
>> So this is both of them, the forwards
and the backwards
on top of each other.
>> [music]
[music]
>> I'm missing a note.
>> [music]
>> Oh no, that is it. Okay.
>> [music]
>> I'll slow it down.
And then back down.
>> [music]
>> I'm dare I'm I'm to dare to take my
fingers off these keys.
>> [music]
>> Sorry. Oh, that's wrong.
>> [music]
>> So, it does have a kind of a
progression. It's gorgeous. Yeah,
similar vibe. It's that sci-fi, that
retro.
Very cinematic. It's all very This is a
very cohesive album, I feel so far. But,
I'm thinking I'm only halfway through.
Um but, that's really, really beautiful.
I love this one, and it does have a lot
of almost feels like, you know, like
solar wind or something. And by wind, I
mean, you know, I know that the wind
solar winds aren't like actually wind.
But, if you were to
uh
it sounds like a solar wind both in that
concept of um turning
uh data from space into sound, but also
like
if you were on an alien planet and there
was wind, it would sound like that or
something. Okay, next is Palace
Posy.
What?
>> [music]
[music]
>> Anagram of Apocalypse? [music]
Oh.
And those are more synthesis again.
>> [music]
[music]
>> I'm sorry. I was I'm trying to
analyze it.
>> [music]
>> Kind of.
>> [music]
>> Okay, I I wasn't totally into that one
until the until
those chords came in and then that weird
vocal came in.
And then it all kind of gelled to me. I
was like, "Oh, okay." Also, I think it's
a little bit of a whiplash from
Collapse.
It's just such a different vibe. This
one's so much more I mean, this one is
playful.
And it is, you know,
kind of the opposite of everything I
said about Collapse.
It's groovy. It's a little bit of a
swing. So, it's a little more cash.
I think it swings.
Maybe a little swing. Just a Just a tad.
maybe not, but
and then
yeah, it's just it's
it's having a little fun with itself, it
feels.
This vocal is what? Like
>> [music]
>> Oh, yeah, also I like how these
>> [music]
>> It's a ton of syncopation. It's weird
though. It
You know what it is? I didn't love it at
first cuz it felt a little random. It
felt a little bit like
just
com- a computer made it kind of feeling,
like
but then
but then later it felt so much more
human.
>> [music]
>> It sounds, if I had to guess, it sounds
like it's sampled
from some kind of like disco or soul
track from the '70s. It sounds like it's
in parallel octaves and I don't know,
for some reason that's just that's what
I'm going to say. All right, next is
Split Your Infinities.
>> [music]
>> Hey, we got arps.
>> [music]
[music]
[bell]
[music]
>> Ooh.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Shimmering light.
Coming in the end.
>> [music]
>> Okay, drums first of all, love these.
These were very, very slow half time
halting with
lots of up-tempo stuff happening.
There's this conflict I love where you
got this like
That's so slow.
And then you've also got these
like twice as fast or four times as fast
tempo wise kind of things happening in
the drums and you can feel both at the
same time. Love that. Arps, there was
for the most part there was an arp that
was doing a
>> [music]
>> I think approximately.
And this is also minor key minor [music]
key thing.
Tons of minor key stuff in this in this
album.
Which is different than say Music Has
the Right to Children
and also I think Chiogaddi where I was
like, yo there's a lot of minor chords.
That's not the same thing. There are
just as many minor chords as there are
major chords in a minor key.
It's about how you use them.
That makes something feel minor or
major. But this is like minor key stuff.
And then so that's why there's I think
of that sort of galactic and
uh kind of more serious tone to
everything. Well, to most of these
things. That's part of it. Definitely
heard a flat six again, so I'm thrilled.
>> [music]
>> That one. At the very end though, all
the light came out.
And there was this
>> [music]
>> E flat major
key thing happening.
Sorry.
>> [music]
>> I think it was these notes, maybe.
Maybe just these notes. I don't know.
And it was so cool cuz I could I thought
I could hear it under there.
And I was like, I think I'm
hallucinating.
>> [laughter]
>> Also, I love the vocal.
It almost sounded like it was part of
the drum groove at at certain points.
So, that like lack of definition, the
almost like a a human morphing into a
machine is what kind of was going
through my head. I would I I'd like this
one a lot. I would listen to this one
again.
All right, next is your ritual. Ritual?
Your ritual.
Ooh, detuned.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Oh, there's that sound again.
The retro legato one.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Approximately G sharp minor.
>> [music]
>> I do kind of at some point.
>> [music]
>> It could be like 5 years from now, it
could be 10 years from now. I don't
know, but I think it would be cool to do
a whole cover of [music] a cover album
of Lorde's songs on piano.
Cuz I think
like with Nine Inch Nails, there's just
[music] so much
underneath the production.
When you just pull it out into like a
single instrument, it's really
cool to hear.
Wow.
That one's
That one's a little unsettling to me.
Not necessarily the way that their other
ones are. This one makes me feel like
I'm
all alone
when I don't want to be and I'm like
scared. Uh it almost feels a little bit
like
paralyzing.
Like I'm paralyzed but like I'm
panicking but I'm paralyzed.
Paranoia.
That's maybe more. It feels very like
>> [music]
>> This pad down below
like it's going to zap you.
Unpredictable.
Super [music] high.
I think it was all the way up here.
Maybe it was here.
I'm not sure.
>> [music]
>> That tells you it's minor and then um
>> [music]
>> and then
So it's going to be
Mhm.
>> [music]
>> There was one other layer I already
forgot. Shoot.
Nothing is real.
>> [music]
>> That for that first second it felt like
a minor. It's called is third probably,
but it's not just that.
>> [music]
>> Cuz of the flat seven.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Only only a snare on the four.
>> [music]
[music]
>> I can't I can't completely tell what is
what, like
there do seem to be some like actual
piano chords in there.
And then but everything's definitely so
tape like tapy and
muffled that there were definitely other
things that I'm not sure if I'm
combining
notes from one track with another, but
you know, overall, I'm hearing that kind
of harmony. Um and this so this has a
definitely a very
>> [music]
>> to me kind of jazzy feeling. I mean, I
remember the first moment I was like,
oh, it sounds like La Mer, and that's
because it was like [music] this.
And this is how La Mer starts is on I
mean, it's transposed, but if I play it
in the same key.
>> [music]
>> So I just [music] noticed that
Um but, you know, uh
doesn't [music] uh
I feel like I would care to
>> [music]
>> So, there's this kind of sweet back and
forth. There's no feeling of a tonal
center to me that's at least being
played. It's kind of
um I love I love this feeling. It's
usually two chords and they avoid a
feeling of any kind of resolution. So,
you're just sort of drifting and
looping. Drums were cool. I liked how
there was no snare on the two. It's just
one two
three
four.
So, that you got this space
and then you got the you got the one
accent, but you don't need both. I love
drums that do it only on two, not on
four or vice versa. Love beats like
that. They're they're so cool. We should
do that more. Let's just all
collectively do that more, you know? Or
you could syncopate one of them.
Like Burial. It feels a lot lighter than
some of the others. Still kind of
galactic, though. Can someone just take
all the footage that we have of Artemis?
All of it, you know, them being
interviewed, them talking with each
other, them, you know, looking out the
window, the images they took, the videos
they took,
and just like put it to this album
or vice versa. That would
Wouldn't that be so cool and so
relevant?
>> [laughter]
>> Next is Sundown.
By the way, I saw that Artemis touched
down and everything's good.
Not touched down, but you know what I
mean.
They're back on Earth.
>> [music]
>> I was relieved.
Mhm.
>> Oh, I should do a piano tutorial for
this. [music] Well, a keyboard tutorial,
whatever.
I could totally play that.
>> [music]
>> Mhm.
Mhm.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Such a dumb thing to do.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Mhm.
That's gorgeous. All pads, baby. All you
need. All you need are pads.
This had a lot of suspended chords.
>> [music]
>> It's a little flatter than this, but
it's okay.
And then there's this one moment where
the chord goes haywire.
>> [music]
>> That.
That one's a little weird, but it gets
weirder definitely. But, I think a lot
of these are
big, spread out, you know,
uh suspended chords,
some sevenths,
um
And yeah, all pads, very, very
atmospheric, ambient, beautiful.
Lost. Timeless. That's a cool thing
about ambient music. You just feel like
you're
in one point in time, and you're just
drifting, and there's no forward or
back. I love that. Next is New Seeds.
>> [music]
[music]
>> Mhm.
That one has some more old mixture.
It's cool. This one I mean this one's
really different than the others in that
it has this
uh very, you know, uh
staccato
the whole time through this.
>> [music]
>> I I I almost
>> [laughter]
>> I almost hear
like
a sample of a string being plucked. I
don't know what kind of instrument, some
stringed instrument. You know, almost
sounds like a pizzicato
that's been pitched down or something.
It's going da da da da da da da da da da
da da da da da da da
>> [music]
>> Actually, I might be accidentally
conflating some of the delays with the
actual sample, but
and then there's something else.
>> [music]
>> Actually, even before that, there's
a little Morse code kind of thing.
>> [music]
>> So, you got these two notes.
>> [music]
>> Oh, okay. It's switching between [music]
these two notes that da da da that that
Morse code thing.
And then you get the
guitar, I think it is a guitar.
>> [music]
>> Da da da da da [singing] da da da da da
da
on this.
So you get this nice outline.
>> [music]
>> It's perfect. And then
da
chord change
>> [music]
>> 5 6
>> [music]
>> So you usually have this
this and then
in the back.
>> [music]
>> This is our home.
And then something higher starts to
sneak in
that has um
has some of the
And then these beautiful synth pads
start to come and they sound angelic and
they're doing all sorts of minor key
goodness, minor key I feel like
that could be a good t-shirt.
Just minor key Um
>> [music]
[music]
>> So then it starts to and this uh da
da da da da da da da da da da da da da
da da da da da da da makes you feel like
it's going to just go to the major
version of this like
um
like that
but it goes
which is in conflict with this chord
which comes in later. So I love that
mixture.
>> [music]
>> Sorry.
And then
Yeah, this would be beautiful on piano.
Absolutely
it would. I also think that
the bell has some harmony.
Might be some six and stuff like that
that would be just so nice to to figure
out. Uh Come to Dust is the next one.
>> [music]
[music]
>> More syncopated like
>> [music]
>> fifths.
Maybe
reminiscent of
What was it?
House, no.
>> [music]
>> What was it?
>> [music]
>> Or arms.
>> [music]
>> Okay, I think they love you flat.
>> [music]
[music]
[music and bell]
>> 2013, the year that Boards of Canada
discovered the power of the minor scale.
Still lots of fourths and fifths and and
the synths, the pads, um
giving it that expansive, desolate
feeling.
More, you know, galactic arps with
ninths and
>> [music]
>> All right, and something something
something something around there. A
really restrained
thud.
thud
Just giving you that nice kind of very
very slow
It's a backbeat. I don't think I've ever
heard this quite from them. Just really
simple
but punchy, super powerful. Like a big
creature st- stomp.
Right? Um makes it feel epic. There's no
way I would ever say that Boards of
Canada is dubstep, but
there's just like a little flavor. It's
a little a little film on the top of the
drink of a little bit of dubstep in that
groove.
Um and you know, that combined with with
the arp, you know, there's there's some
very sparkly dubstep. Let's just put it
that way. And it has a little bit of
that feeling. And I could really see a
bunch of people in a club like losing
their to that, you know? It's got
It's got so much
power. This one also has a beautiful fat
flat six, the flat six as we've been
spelling it with the ph.
Um
But then a little surprise, too.
>> [music]
>> Sorry.
And the last track is Samina.
What? Mertvik.
Oh, seeds of the dead in Russian?
That's what that means?
Really?
Okay.
>> [music]
>> Oh, this one's like breaking apart.
It's mono.
>> [music]
>> Palpable tension.
>> [music]
>> Betrayal.
Or the weight on someone's shoulders,
like they have to make a really hard
decision.
It's going to like
put the fate of humanity in their hands.
>> [music]
>> It's like a
>> [music]
>> funeral for a death that's hasn't
happened yet.
>> [music]
>> Wow.
Look at them sneaking in all these new
notes at the end.
Cuz it's not really the end.
Wow.
Um
totally not what I expected. It was
heavy.
That's what it was. This was a heavy
heavy album.
>> [applause]
>> So, I loved this. It's so cohesive. And
I want to validate the people who
you know, maybe don't love it because it
is different, for sure. It is really
different. A big a big stylistic
departure, and embedded in that
stylistic departure is
uh a departure from a lot of the kinds
of
harmony that, you know, maybe you
weren't acutely aware of being
a compelling part of their music.
But, um it's not that's not what they're
exploring here. I'll just leave it at
that. I think I've talked enough. I'm so
glad we did this. You know, you all have
been asking for it, and we've done a lot
of boards. Like, I usually don't go
through an entire discography in like,
you know, 2 years or however long it's
been. It's probably not even years. You
all are so rabid.
>> [laughter]
>> Um but, now I'm foaming at the mouth a
little bit, too. So, I will join you in
your excitement for their new release.
So, it's Thank you so much for
watching. If you'd like to join these
listening parties, you can hit up my
Patreon. All right, y'all. I'll see you.
Bye.