Boards of Canada (partially found early albums of Scottish electronic band; 1980s-1990s)

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Cassette liner for A Few Old Tunes.

Status: Partially Found


Boards of Canada are an electronica band from Scotland formed in 1986 by brothers Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin. They are well known for their unique style of music as well as their backlog of early albums that were made with limited presses and distributed mainly among friends and family.

While a few of these albums have been made public, much of the band's early work remains private.

Limited-Release Albums

Catalog 3 (1987) (Lost)

Catalog 3 is the earliest known release by the band according to their old website,[1] though the title could imply that there may have been two prior releases. It's listed as having eight tracks of "rather uneventful ambient electronica".[2] Though it was re-pressed in CD format, it still hasn't been heard outside of the band's friends and family.

Acid Memories (1989) (Partially Found)

Acid Memories is the band's second known release and is regarded as "less imposing"[3] than their previous album.  There is some controversy regarding cassette's artwork, which features the band's name. According to the band, they hadn't officially called themselves Boards of Canada until 1994. Other than a short 27 second snippet of the track "Duffy", the album hasn't been heard by the public.

Closes Vol. 1 (1992) (Lost)

Closes Vol. 1 is the third album by the band, but was released under the name "b.o.c.".[4]  It also hasn't been heard outside of family or friends and are no known samples.

Play by Numbers (1994) (Partially Found)

Play by Numbers is the fourth known release by the band and has been described as having a more strumming shoegaze sound similar to My Bloody Valentine.  A one minute excerpt of the track "Wouldn't You Like To Be Free?" is the only legitimate sample from the album.

Hooper Bay (1994) (Partially Found)

Hooper Bay is the fifth known release and is also the first to use their trademark samples of children's voices.[5] Like many of the previous albums, many purported fakes have been passed around the internet through peer to peer sites and often have mislabled tracks by the band múm or are tracks from one of the Old Tunes volumes. The only legitimate sample is a 39 second snippet from "Circle" (which was posted on the now-defunct EHX website[6] in the early 90s).

A Few Old Tunes/Old Tunes Vol. 1 & 2 (1995-1996) (Found)

Old Tunes Vol. 1, Vol. 2, and A Few Old Tunes are the collective names of three previously unreleased cassettes that featured various tracks from the band that were used in commercials and the like. Like the other albums, it was mostly given to family and friends. However, in the early 2000s, it was leaked on Soulseek by "Prince Murat". People speculated its legitimacy until a Hexagon Sun representative confirmed it was real after someone on eBay tried to sell it. They also revealed that the album may have been released as part of a colaboration between the band and Hexagon Sun had it not been leaked.

Boc Maxima (1996) (Found)

Boc Maxima was one of the latest known private albums. Only 50 copies were made for family and friends, like many of the others. However, in 2002, it was broadcast fully on Disengage and has since been put on the internet.

Gallery

"Duffy" sample (Acid Memories).

"Circle" sample (Hooper Bay).

"Wouldn't You Like To Be Free?" sample (Play by Numbers).

Random 35 Tracks Tape

In 2004, an album named "random 35 tracks tape - rarities and best of (not old tunes v1 or v2)" leaked on P2P filesharing network Soulseek, causing much drama at the time on fan forums like WATMM and twoism. None of the songs on the tape have been confirmed real or fake, and Hexagon Sun member MDG has said that it isn't known who compiled the tracks, calling it "a mystery, just a mixture". Boards of Canada have not made any statements regarding the tape. It has often been referred to as "Closes Volume 2" and "A few Old Tunes Vol. 3".

References