I’ve known about some of Google’s special operators for years, but librarian Hana Lee Goldin goes through all of the ones she knows about that supercharge search results beyond the usual five paid results and AI Overview at the top of the page. Bookmarked!
BoC might be teasing new music, according to the internets; apparently a bunch of mysterious VHS tapes have been released from Warp Records, their label, featuring audio samples that sound vaguely Boards-adjacent. It has been over a decade since they released Tomorrow’s Harvest, which is way too damn long.
Ooooh, you tease. Boards Of Canada have mysteriously released several vinyl albums via Record Store Day, and there is still speculation as to what they are, if they’re all the same, or what they even mean.
Oh, please GOD let this be true: Peter Serafinowicz Hints at New Boards Of Canada Album Soon.
Boards Of Canada Video.
Hm. Starts out interesting, and ends up a surf highlight reel. FYI, The footage in the beginning is of Col. Joe Kittinger, who made the highest-altitude parachute jump, in 1960, from 102,000 ft. (via)
Boards of Canada 10/18
New release in october. W00t!
We returned to Lexington Park this weekend to keep things moving at Jen’s Dad’s house, and I think we made some excellent progress on a couple of fronts. I packed our pressure washer in the Honda and used it to clean off the front porch and walkway, which was very much overdue and very satisfying. As I sprayed the ceiling I was flashing back to my freshman-sophomore college summer job, when I spent a fair bit of time running a commercial pressure washer off the back of a flatbed ford, spraying horse barns, pavilions, houses, boats, trailers, and miles of fence on the days I wasn’t painting. Good times.
I brought a box of new plug wires for the Chrysler and installed them, then pulled the cap off the distributor and cleaned the points and breaker with some sandpaper. After all of that, I’m still not having luck getting her started, and I’m running out of ideas as to what the problem is. I have to do some more research into how to test for spark and what the failure points could be before I throw in the towel and arrange for a tow to a shop.
This is a mix someone put together of a bunch of obscure Boards of Canada tracks that I always forget about; I’ve got their entire discography on the music server and always forget to spin the lesser-known EPs and demos. Excellent working music. Hiscores is a standout track.
* * *
Jen and I finished the first half of the new Stranger Things season, and we’ve enjoyed every minute of it so far. I have minor quibbles with the direction they took some of the characters, and I could do without several of the B stories, but overall I’m happy with where it’s going and I can’t wait for the second half.
It’s December, so the interwebs are full of Best-Of lists for music by bands I’ve never heard of and TV shows I’ve never seen. Some sites are predictably more niche than others; I think I know three of the top 20 artists on the Pitchfork list, while Stereogum’s list is roughly 50/50 familiar, and Turnstile is their #2 pick. Last week during work everyone shared their Spotify Wrapped playlists, which I also don’t get to see because I’m still using the unpaid version. StatsforSpotify tells me that tracks from Deafheaven, Taylor Swift (I binged Shake It Off last month) Mayer Hawthorne, Hybrid, and Boards of Canada were my top ten from the last six months but I can’t see the yearly list—I’d bet it would skew wildly in a different direction.
* * *
I get a lot of special offers for custom printing every week due to my job, and it’s always fun to take advantage of a good deal. My sticker company sent me an offer for a $9 color printed shirt with free shipping, so I whacked together a version of the Old Line State Binders logo for a black shirt and sent it in. I’ve wanted to do that shirt for a long time anyway. The offers pop up in my social media feed too: I clicked on an Instagram sticker ad the other day, and suddenly sticker ads took over my whole feed. Avery is running a special on 10 vinyl stickers for $10 at any size, so I cobbled together a simple version of the Peer Pressure shirt design and ordered a set of 4″ stickers. If they turn out nice, I’ll use those as my calling card and start trading stickers around with other Scout nerds.
* * *
Our plans for snowboarding are on hold for the time being; Whitetail isn’t open as early as last year (or I’m not remembering the dates clearly) so we’ve got to reschedule. My guess is that we’ll do it in January at some point. I have to do some research into what weekdays are quietest so that we can maximize our visit. I don’t want to wait all the way until March, but I’d like more than one trip this season if we can swing it.
This is Acid Rain by Lorn. It’s from 2015, so it’s not a new song, but it’s a menacing, grimy sound and an incredible hook.
Dictaphone’s Lament, by Tycho, is actually from his debut album in 2004, when he was really channeling Boards of Canada. It’s also got an excellent hook and works really well with a minimum of instrumentation.
I’m happy to see Boards of Canada and Massive Attack in the top 10 of Pitchfork’s 50 Best Albums of 1998 list. There are a bunch of other good ones in there too.
From Metafilter: a link to some free music inspired by Boards of Canada, with extra bonus links to similar artists.