http://web.archive.org/web/20060519060341/http://www.speakeasy.org/~adbrown/boc.html

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	<title>What the hell is up with Boards of Canada?</title>
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<center><h2>Note: It's been forever since I updated the page. A lot of the following info may be flawed, inaccurate, etc, so I'm including people's e-mails in the "Feedback" section.</h2></center>
<center><H1>GEOGADDI</H1>
	<b>Geo</b>: geometric; <b>Gad</b>: to run wild, to be uncontrolled; <b>Di</b>: two, twice, double</center>
<blockquote>
	<h3>The Beach at Redpoint</h3>
		<ul>
		<li>It's a real <a href=http://www.celticfringe.org.uk/gairloch.htm>location</a> (scroll down some).
		</ul>
	
	<h3>Over the Horizon Radar</h3>
		<ul>
		<li>A real <a href=http://www1.etl.noaa.gov/othr/index.html>device</a>.
		</ul>
	<h3>Dandelion</h3>
			<ul>
			<li>That's Leslie Nielsen speaking. He did voice-overs for the National Film Board of Canada's nature films in the late '70s.
			</ul>
		<h3><b>1969</b></h3>
			<ul>
			<li>Mentioning of Branch Davidians.
			<li>Track length is 4:19. The Waco Massacre occurred on April 19, 1993, or 4-19-93.
			<li>1969 was the year of the Manson Murders.
			</ul>
		<h3><b>A is to B as B is to C</b></h3>
			<ul><li>Oddities in reverse-play (from start to finish) [<a href="a_is_ to_b_reverse_play.mp3">Download song in reverse-play</a>]
				<ul><li>"We love you all" repeated (in normal-play, it's "all you love we")
				    <li>Dog bark 
				     <li>True audio palindrome (same phrase in normal and reverse-play): "I've been gone about a week.." [<a href=beengone.mp3>Download</a>]
				     <li>A block from the song "Teddy Bears' Picnic"("If you go down to the woods today, you better not go alone...") [<a href="bearsinwood.mp3">Download</a>]
				     <li>"I don't know, it makes me nervous...???...and I still dream about it, I don't know, I just  wish it never happened...???...the whole thing, the whole thing goes over and over" in the end of reverse playback. [<a href=wish.mp3>Download</a>]
				</ul>
			    <li>Relation to the Golden Ratio: if length A (the whole part) is split into two parts, B (longer part) and C (shorter part), and the ratio of A to B is equal to the ratio of B to C (approximately 1.618), then you have the Golden Ratio.
			</ul>
		<h3><b>You Could Feel the Sky</b></h3>
			<ul>
			<li>The phrase "A god with horns" is heard twice in the song in reverse playback. [<a href="godwithhorns.mp3">Download</a>]
			</ul>
		<h3><b>The Smallest Weird Number</b></h3>
			<ul>
			<li>The smallest weird number is 70 (consult Problem Five <a href=http://www.cs.utah.edu/outreach/contest/1998/problems>here</a>). BoC's private label is Music70.
			</ul>
		<h3><b>Music is Math</b></h3>
		<blockquote>(The phrase "the past inside the present")
			<p><i>"The postmodern suspension of <b>the past inside the present</b> can actually be traced to Brecht, particularly to his realization that the rapidity of change and the increase of knowledge in the modern world have forced us to see history in a new light: not as a finalized past but as a process in which the new continuously transfigures the old."</i>--<a href="http://www.holycross.edu/departments/theatre/eisser/BrechtianShakespeare.html">Citation</a>
			<p>Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) was a German Marxist playwright who went into self-exile in Scandinavia in 1933. Subsequently, his books were burned in Germany and his citizenship was withdrawn. He also was forced to provide evidence to the House on Un-American Activities Committee. (<a href=http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~jamesf/goodwoman/brecht_bio.html>Citation</a>.) Boards of Canada is known for their self-exile and views on censorship (see "One Very Important Thought" on MHTRTC).
		</blockquote>
		</blockquote>
	
		
		<br>
<center><H1>IN A BEAUTIFUL PLACE OUT IN THE COUNTRY</H1></center>
<blockquote>
	<ul>
		<li>References to Branch Davidians in the song "In a Beautiful Place Out In the Country" ("...in a 			religious community in a beautiful place out in the country...")
		<li>David Koresh's (supposed prophet of the Branch Davidians - led the Waco standoff) right eye on 			the IBPOIC CD (it's blurry)
		<li>Amo Bishop Roden (a song off IBPOIC) is the name of a lady who was a Branch Davidian. Supposedly, 			she was critical of Koresh being a prophet. Consequently, she described Koresh's ranch as "a 			beautiful place out in the country" and her picture appears on the IBPOIC backsleeve.
	</ul>
</blockquote>

<br>
	<center><H1>OTHER</H1></center>
<blockquote>
	<ul>
		<li>"I do actually believe that there are powers in music that are almost supernatural. I think you actually manipulate people with music, and that is definitely what we are trying to do. People go on about hypnotizing people with music, or subliminal messages, and we have dabbled in that intentionally. Sometimes that’s just a bit of a private joke, just to see what we can sneak into the tracks."-- Marcus Eoin in an <a href=http://www.interstate40.com.au/feat/BoC/Boards%20Of%20Canada.HTM>interview</a>
		<li>The use of the Golden Ration to space moments in tracks, write melodies, and tune frequencies (<a href=http://www.interstate40.com.au/feat/BoC/Boards%20Of%20Canada.HTM>citation</a>).
	</ul>
</blockquote>

<center><h1>INSIGHT</h1></center>
<p>Why are there references to the devil (god with horns) and David Koresh? Are Boards of Canada glossing over the Branch Davidian cult in the song, "In A Beautiful Place..."? Are these subliminal messages there to convince us to join another Heaven's Gate? Also, what about the year 1969? Is it fair to say that they're referring to Charles Manson? If that's the case, what's with Boards of Canada, cults, and backwards-recorded references to the devil?</p>
</p>I think that these subliminal messages are there to add to the general mystique of their albums. Xer0 said it best when he said that Geogaddi evokes childhood - a time when it was easy to dream and have nightmares. BoC want the intended effect of simultaneous comfort and discomfort. The lush music creates the former and the references create the latter. Perhaps BoC scoff at the way Koresh and his Branch Davidians were portraryed as lunatics after the Waco Massacre. Perhaps allusions to such cultish figures in their otherwise soothing music mean BoC believe that society shouldn't detach itself from its most "interesting" figures. This doesn't mean that they sympathize for Koresh or Manson or are prompting us to join a cult. All in all, it's just music.
<br>


<center><h1>FEEDBACK</h1></center>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>I saw your BoC page and wanted to add the comment that the title 
"Opening The Mouth" refers to an ancient Egyptian ritual in which the 
priests opened the mouth of the mummy so the soul (the _ka_) could 
come and go.

<p>I'll keep digging for more stuff!

<p>Jon
<hr>

<p>You've got a great BoC site there, really good stuff.

<p>One thing I noticed, you don't discuss nature very much, to me BoC often
represent nature in their music - and they obviously come from "a
beautiful place in the country"

<p>"Why are there references to the devil (god with horns)" 

<p>The Horned God = Pan = Nature, I'm no expert but I think its worth
pointing out that this reference may not be a sinister as it first
seems. Nature worship was frowned upon by early christians and they
demonised it quite sucessfully as this impression remains to the present
day.

<p>Keep up the good work

<p>Cheers

<p>Grey
<hr>

<p>Check out the ending of "Happy Cycling" in reverse, there's a whole conversation going on though i can't make out more than a few words :)
<p>/Jonas
<hr>

<p>Interesting site you have.  A few words.  Geogaddi's total listening time is 66:06.  666.  They list 23 tracks, a sacred number to occultists and gemetrists alike.  Your Koresh connection is most facinating to me because in the Slag Boom Van Loon So Soon Remix album, BOC remix the song Poppy Seed.  There is a sample of a female who says, "...I was not a member of the Branch Davidians."  I never bothered to look any further into the connection.  My guess on the reference is pointing out that the US government and other Democratic world powers are beginning to catergorize religeous belief systems into socially acceptable and criminal.  To such an extent that individuals who refuse to comply will be executed.  My message to the 'civilized' world is similar but more extreeme.  Unplug!, theres a 'Branch Davidian' ATF exterminator under every digital rock.
<hr>

<p>I just came across your very interesting page, which has a lot of
information I didn't know about - http://www.speakeasy.org/~adbrown/boc.html

<p>I came across it because I've been doing reearch for my own BOC section on a
page ( http://www.davidac.fsworld.co.uk/music.htm ), though not nearly as
detailed as yours. (See "the magic window" at the end of my BOC section).

<p>Your page has really given me food for thought. I knew they had some refs to
religion, but now I'm thinking: just what is it with BOC and the Branch
Dravidians? It's rather disturbing. I always thought the beautiful place out
in the country was Hexagon Sun studios. Your page has made me see that it
isn't that, at least not exclusively.

<p>I don't suppose it means Hexagon Sun studios will one day be the scene of an
armed standoff. Let is all sincerely hope not! :-(

<p>I don't really mean that in a flippant way; I get the sense from your page
(and its title) that you find their interest in Koresh, etc., just a little
disturbing; same here.


<p>Anyway, to my real point of writing to you: I thought you would like to know
about the BOC Remix of "Poppy Seed" on the album "Slag Boom Van Loon - So
Soon". I am guessing that you don't know this one, or you would probably
have mentioned it.
<p>If you do know it, just ignore this message. "Poppy Seed" - opium of the
people? The "Poppy Seed" remix also mentions  - you've guessed it - David Koresh and
cults. It's hard to make out most of the vocals, but I make out the
following (among lots of other vocals that I can't make out):

<p>"Edward says to me that there are approximately [2500?] to [3000?] cult
organisations in the United States today .... there are millions of people
... involved in what we call destructive cults. ... Although not a follower
of David Koresh, she is ... I don't think that somehow ... suicidal
impulses."

<p>Anyway, excellent work on your own page. It's nice to meet a like-minded fan
who is willing to take a good deep look into his music.

<p>Do you have the text of the original version of "One Very Important Thought"
from BOC Maxima, which mentions adult films rather than boards of canada
themselves? I can transcribe it for you if you don't. Thought you might be
interested, from the point of view of BOC's angle on censorship.

<p>Kind Regards,

<p>-DavidAC (fellow BOC fan)
<hr>

<p>Hey there.  I read your page here: http://www.speakeasy.org/~adbrown/boc.html and I liked it.  I love all the mystique surrounding
BoC and if nothing else, it just makes the whole
experience of listening to them more fun.  I also read
somewhere that there was a connection between the
Branch Davidians and Kaini Industries as well but
since then I have not been able to find out anything
on Kaini Industries.  Do you know anything about it?

<p>Also, some of Nikola Tesla's inventions were
alledgedly used in an attempt to create Over The
Horizon Radar back I think in the late 70s.  There are
reports of electromagnetic disturbances of radio
tranmissions in Europe that seemed to be coming from
somewhere in Russia.  There is a good record of these
disturbances and some had alledged that that the
Russian were testing a Tesla Transmitter that was
supposed to yield limitless supplies of energy by
creating resonant frequencies and tranmitting the
energy throught the earth.  My technical jargon in
this domain is a bit off I am sure but its interesting
stuff.  It is thought that some people were also
trying to use similar devices for mind control
purposes.  I have not read that entire page on OTH
stuff but I doubt it mentions that.  The idea of mind
control obviously would relate to BoC.  

<p>So anyway, thanks for putting up that page.  I was
looking for something like that!  At the very least,
Marcus and Michael are marketing geniuses...

<p>I also heard rhumours of demonic faces hidden in
Geogaddi's cover art but alas, I have not found
any.....yet.

<p>Cheers,

<p>Colin
<hr>
<p>This was just something I wrote a while back and
posted on a message board. No one responded to it, but
since you have the BoC site, I thought you might like
to read it.

<p>---------------------------

<p>Ok, I know you all are probably sick of me mentioning
the same two bands over and over again like some sick
retarded monkey waiting to get shocked in the ass with
a tazer. Well, This is about Boards of Canada and is
something I found out that is extremely interesting. 

<p>Ok, if you are really into BoC like I am, you'll know
that their weird meanings and subliminal messages in
the music itself. From the quite voice of a man
talking about his first kiss with his significant
other in a house along an ocean beach, to the children
and warped voices used back in their old Hell
Interface back on V/Vm Test Records. I was looking up
into their upcoming 4th release called Geogaddi (Punch
me if you've heard too much about this, just hear me
out). Ok, this is where all their weird things come
together, they don't make much sense, but you do get
to notice them more. 

<p>After downloading the whole album off Soulseek, I was
listening to the songs. Now you have things like the
song "Music is Math" and "A is to B as B is to C." Ok,
lets backtrack. BoC's previous domestic releases have
been Music Has The Right To Children and In a
Beautiful Place Out In The Country. Now take those and
put the words into acronyms, you get MHTRTC and
IBPOITC. MHTRTC = 6 and IBPOITC = 7 and now you have
GEOGADDI which is 8. 6, 7, 8...hmmm. Well, a long time
ago, when BoC used to play in a sort of cultish,
outdoor field when they were more then just 2 brothers
(They originally had, I think it was 10 people). Well,
this place they played in was called Hexagon Sun
(later they would release a song called "Turqouise
Hexagon Sun"), and we all know that a hexagon has 6
sides. Well, if you look at all of BoC's releases like
Twoism (hense, my name ^__^), you'll find a song
called "Sixty-niner" (this was also released on BOC
MAXIMA, mainly because Twoism was an EP). Also, on
Twoism you'll find a song, that's hidden after "Smokes
Quantity" called "1986 Summer Fire." So, now you have:
Hexagon Sun, Sixty-niner, 1986 Summer Fire. Now lets
moves on to Music Has the Right to Children. MHTRTC
has the song "Sixty-Ten," which is also a statement
said in their song "Aquarius." Now, on their release
Hi Scores they had a song called "June 9th," which we
all know as 6/9. So now we have: Hexagon Sun,
Sixty-niner, 1986 Summer Fire, Sixty-Ten, June 9th. 

<p>Lets move on to Geogaddi.... 

<p>Geogaddi has a song called "You Could Feel the Sky."
About two minutes and 10 seconds into it, you hear a
voice very faintly. This voice, now, you can't really
understand it because it's obviously played backwards.
Being the curious fucker I am, I went and got GoldWave
out and reversed it. It has a man saying "A God With
Hooves." Huh...this got me wondering for a second, but
it actually explained the dark undertones of the song
itself. Well, lets look at the CD play length, 66:06.
Looking at this, it's the closest thing to 666 you can
get when using normal Hour:Minute:Second layout.
Looking at the cover, you see six figures in a hexagon
format. Plus, on the CD is the song "1969." 

<p>Ok, looking a while back on BoC's website
(http://www.boardsofcanada.com) they actually had
Pascal's Triangle of Binomial Coefficients like so: 

<br>1 1 
<br>1 2 1 
<br>1 3 3 1 
<br>1 4 6 4 1 
<br>1 5 10 10 5 1 
<br>1 6 15 20 15 6 1 

<p>Now, it ended on the sixth row...eh...huh. This would
also be a connection to the song "Music is Math" and
"A is to B as B is to C." Now, lets just say you want
to connect the release of the CD totally to math. The
CD, over in England is released on 18/02/2002. If you
are looking at this through numbers you get "1 + 8 + 0
+ 2 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 2 = 15" and "1 + 5 =
6"...hmmm...there's the number again. Either this is a
coincidence, or it was planned. Knowing BoC so far, I
think it might have been planned. 

<p>So now you have the connection between "A God With
Hooves" and the number 6. I can't remember where I saw
6010 before. If you need to know, the members of BoC
ARE religious. And it's either their subliminal
messages that make me loves their music like I do, or
the fact that their music has so much thought, emotion
and meaning put into it, I love it for that reason. I
know there are some things I'm probably forgetting in
the connection between numbers and BoC, but I find
them to be one of the most inspiring bands ever. But,
maybe I'm just looking too deep into their music, or
they are truely, the greatest.

<p>------------------------

<p>- Jesse
<hr>

<p>About your page, I was looking at it and I realized
that BoC have a song called "The Devil is in the
Details", and I realized how that ties in with the
site.  I also noticed that you didn't have any notes
about that song, so I thought I'd mention it to you. 
There's some distorted talking in the background of
the song, and from what I can gather, it's someone
performing hypnotism.  I'll leave you and the people
from the message boards to figure out the rest.

                   <p>-Mike
<hr>

<p>Another piece,
 
<p>http://www.bobharris.com/scoop/waco.htm
 
 
<p>It has an article on a woman named Julie, an article on Candy....but whats the main story about??  Not Waco again?  Quite tenuous but there maybe something in it!
 
<p>Cheers
 
<p>Mark
<hr>

<p>This article refers to and contains the phrase "i saw drones"
 
<p>http://www.flipside.org/vol1/apr98/rf4-712.htm
 
<p>cheers
 
<p>Mark
<hr>

 <p>I really don't think that they are actually mentioning
"The Devil" in "You Could Feel the Sky." As we know,
the members of Boards of Canada have a strong love and
passion for nature. In "You Could Feel the Sky" he
says "A Good with Hooves," I'm thinking it's more
directed towards the Pagan god which is an Ox. This
would also explain their love for nature. At first I
thought they were talking about the devil myself, but
I feel it's a better assumption to say they're Pagan.

<p>- Jesse
<hr>

<p>Hey, I think your description of the "We love you all..." line in A is to 
B as B is to C underestimates how incredible that part of the song is.  If 
you isolate just the sound "we love you all" and reverse just that part, 
you get "all we love you" - the _exact_ same words forwards and backwards 
(though not in the same order) with the same audio signal!  This is 
incredible -- I can't even imagine how they came up with this.  The other 
line ("I've been gone about a week") is indeed an audio palindrome, but not 
very interesting or hard to do.  But coming up with a phrase that is its 
exact reverse, this shows the genius of Boards of Canada...

<p>Marco
<hr>

<p>I also meant to mention that I read that stuff about
Tesla in a book called "In Search of Nikola
Tesla".....written by A CANADIAN names David Van Peat
(spelling might be off)...and the funny thing is the
whole reason the book written was because there was a
a group in Canada called PACE; something to do with
Clean Energy....so there is also a loose connection to
the "Energy Warning" track. And one of the members of
PACE was way into the Tesla/Mind control connection as
well...you should read that book...its REALLY
interesting.

<p>Cheers,

<p>Colin
<hr>

<p>If you reverse 1969 the vocodered voice says "David Koresh"

<p>1969 was the year that the use of CS gas was banned by the US government 
against foreign enemies. The same kind of gas used in the Waco massacre.
<hr>



<p>I just ripped my still shiny copy of geogaddi to .wav files using CDeX,
so I can convert them to MP3's and store them in a safe place [actually, I
only listen to MP3's, CD's are too bothersome, changing discs all the time
:-)].

<p>When I looked at the directory with the .wav's, I noticed the total size
of all files combined is 666MB. Now call me childish, but this *is* the
number of the devil and "total size of all ripped .wav's" is pretty much a
detail...

<p>Yours truly,

<p>  --Jan! the trainspotting man
<hr>

<p>Hey,

<p>  That site of yours is spot on!  I am glad to see that I am not the only 
person who is interested in the subtle-tees of Geogaddi..

<p>One thing though is that I think that the 'God with Horns' part is really 
saying 'the god with hooves..'  no big diff..

<p>also, you should listen to the devils in the details backwards..  there is 
some crazy shit going on in there!

<p>anyway,

<p>thanks for compiling all that info for us BOC Freaks..

<p>chris..
<hr>

<p>You forgot one other thing about 1969. It was when the
church of Satan was formed. Me and my freind have been
contemplating about Boards of Canada and their
religion. Its scary in a sense that thier music is
awesome to listen too yet what are they putting into
it for us to like it? It would suck really bad if they
were of some kind of wacked out cult.
<hr>

</blockquote>
</blockquote>







	<center><H3>Comments? Info? Suggestions? <a href="mailto:cdbrown@speakeasy.org">E-mail me</a>.</h3>
<h3>Credit goes out to the people on the BoC Audio Galaxy message board (kid4today, xer0, & ultra7r especially).</h3></center>
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