Boards of Canada
Two Scottish brothers who made worn, tape-warped electronic music from a studio in the Pentland Hills, and whose 1998 debut became a touchstone for the genre.
- Origin
- Scotland
- Years active
- 1986-present
- Genres
- electronic, IDM, hauntology
- Labels
- Music70, Skam, Warp, Matador
Brothers and a studio
Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin grew up in Cullen, Moray, and spent part of their childhoods in Canada before settling in Balerno, beside the Pentland Hills. Boards of Canada began in 1986, when Marcus was asked to play bass in Mike's band. The name comes from the National Film Board of Canada, whose documentaries and animation the brothers watched as children. For years their music stayed largely among friends and family.
The first release available outside that circle was Twoism, which the group financed themselves in August 1995. Early in 1996 the third core member, Chris Horne, left, and the brothers carried on as a duo. A copy of Twoism reached Sean Booth of Autechre, who suggested they contact Skam Records, and Skam put out the Hi Scores EP in 1996. By then they worked from a studio in the Pentland Hills that the group named Hexagon Sun in the summer of 1995.
The debut
Music Has the Right to Children came out in April 1998 as a joint release by Warp and Skam. The brothers made it at Hexagon Sun with samplers, deliberately detuned vintage synthesizers, drum machines and reel-to-reel tape recorders. The cover is a family photograph taken at a lookout over Banff, Alberta, with the faces removed. Simon Reynolds wrote in Pitchfork that the duo avoided the fast, rhythm-led fashions of the time, and quoted their early remark that rhythms were just a vehicle for carrying strange and beautiful melodies.
Voices from children's television run through the record, and the titles carry private references. Roygbiv became one of their best-known tracks. On An Eagle in Your Mind a documentary voice-over sits over scratching and a looped break. On Rue the Whirl, a window left open during recording let in birdsong, and the brothers kept it. Aquarius borrows children's voices from Sesame Street, and Mark Richardson picked out the electric piano tone of Turquoise Hexagon Sun. When Warp reissued the album in 2004, it added the bonus track Happy Cycling, which listeners with the American Matador edition already knew.
Darker, then softer
Geogaddi, recorded between 1999 and 2001 at Hexagon Sun, was released by Warp in February 2002. Sandison called it a record for a trial by fire, a claustrophobic, twisting journey into dark experiences before you reach open air. He said the September 11 attacks pushed the brothers toward a darker record. Warp sent no promotional copies to journalists and instead held two listening events in churches. Richardson heard a thread of paranoia in it. It has 23 tracks and runs 66:06, and fans searched the album for hidden messages even though the brothers said it was playful.
The Campfire Headphase followed on 17 October 2005 and reached number 41 on the UK albums chart. Sandison said they wanted a smaller sound palette, like a conventional band gone over the edge. The album has heavily treated acoustic guitars, fewer samples and fewer vocals. Richardson wrote that the guitars made explicit a link between the music and the pastoral tradition of British folk. The video for Dayvan Cowboy, released in April 2006, set the song to footage of a record parachute jump and of the big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton.
Return and silence on stage
After eight years, the brothers said they had spent time travelling and expanding their studio. Tomorrow's Harvest arrived in June 2013, announced through a hunt for six codes hidden in radio broadcasts, a record-shop vinyl single and a YouTube video. Sandison said he wanted a deliberate VHS video-nasty element, and named John Carpenter, Fabio Frizzi, John Harrison and Mark Isham among the film composers behind the sound. Richardson called it their darkest and moodiest record. Dorian Lynskey called it their most cinematic and vast-sounding album yet.
The group have not played live since 2001. Their known gigs include the Phoenix Festival in July 1997, the Warp 10th anniversary night in London in November 1999, and All Tomorrow's Parties at Camber Sands in April 2001. A fifth album, Inferno, was released on 29 May 2026. Lynskey traced the influence of the debut through chillwave, Burial and the hauntological Ghost Box label, and Reynolds wrote that the group spawned a legion of sound-alikes within IDM.
Members
- Mike Sandison electronics, programming, keyboards, guitar, bass, strings, drums, percussion (1986-present)
- Marcus Eoin bass guitar, electronics, programming, keyboards (1986-present)
- Chris Horne electronics (until 1996)
Records
- Music Has the Right to Children 1998 · Warp, Skam
The debut album, made at Hexagon Sun from detuned synthesizers, tape and borrowed children's voices.
- Geogaddi 2002 · Warp
The second album, darker and denser than the first, with 23 tracks and a reputation for hidden messages.
- The Campfire Headphase 2005 · Warp
The third album, built around heavily treated acoustic guitars and a smaller sound palette.
- Tomorrow's Harvest 2013 · Warp
The fourth album, eight years after the last, shaped by film soundtracks.
Songs
- Roygbiv Music Has the Right to Children · 1998
A track of long, elongated melody lines that first appeared on Boc Maxima in 1996 and became one of the duo's most loved.
- An Eagle in Your Mind Music Has the Right to Children · 1998
The second track on the debut, with scratching, a looped break and an otter documentary.
- Rue the Whirl Music Has the Right to Children · 1998
A six-minute track with clattering drum rolls, in which accidental birdsong became part of the music.
- Aquarius Music Has the Right to Children · 1998
The nearly six-minute track on the debut that is laced with children's voices from Sesame Street.
- Turquoise Hexagon Sun Music Has the Right to Children · 1998
The seventh track on the debut, remembered for its electric piano tone.
- Dayvan Cowboy The Campfire Headphase · 2005
The fifth track on The Campfire Headphase, released through iTunes ahead of the album and later given a video.
Related artists
Autechre, My Bloody Valentine, Incredible String Band, Burial
Where to go next
Official
- Boards of Canada at Warp The label's artist page, with releases, videos and links.
Discography and data
- bocpages: Music Has the Right to Children Catalogue numbers, versions, mastering credit and track notes for the debut.
Writing and criticism
- Why Boards of Canada's Music Has the Right to Children Is the Greatest Psychedelic Album of the '90s Simon Reynolds on the making and context of the debut, 2018.
- Pitchfork: Music Has the Right to Children Mark Richardson's 2004 review of the Warp reissue.
- Pitchfork: Geogaddi Review of the second album, 2002.
- Pitchfork: The Campfire Headphase Review of the third album, 2005.
- Pitchfork: Tomorrow's Harvest Review of the fourth album, 2013.
- Guardian review of Tomorrow's Harvest Dorian Lynskey on the 2013 album and the code hunt that announced it.
Interviews
- Guardian interview, 2013 Marcus Eoin and Mike Sandison answer questions by email on Tomorrow's Harvest.
Live performance archives
- bocpages: Gigs A dated list of the known live performances.
Fan sites and communities
- bocpages A fan-run wiki with discography, interviews, gigs and sample sources.
- bocpages: Roygbiv Release history and sample sources for the song.
Sources
- Boards of Canada, Wikipedia
- Boards of Canada at Warp, Warp
- bocpages, bocpages
- Why Boards of Canada's Music Has the Right to Children Is the Greatest Psychedelic Album of the '90s, Pitchfork (2018-04-03)
- Boards of Canada: Tomorrow's Harvest (review), The Guardian (2013-06-06)
- Boards of Canada: 'We've become a lot more nihilistic over the years', The Guardian (2013-06-06)