Scottish Albums of the Decade #9: Boards of Canada - The Campfire Headphase

Feature by Mark Shukla | 01 Dec 2009

Alright, I admit it, when The Campfire Headphase dropped in 2005 I was one of the fans who was up in arms about BoC's new sound. Where were the beats? What was up with those guitars? When I heard the strings come in on Dayvan Cowboy I literally shuddered as the repressed memories of countless 'chillout compilations' forced their way to the surface of my psyche. Since then something strange has happened – not only to myself but to many BoC fans who initially refused to give Campfire the time of day.

Not only have I grown to love the album, it has become my most played BoC record by a significant margin. Stephen Wilkinson (aka Warp labelmate Bibio) recently posted a MySpace blog detailing similar sentiments and made the very astute point that "There is an art to listening as well as to making." After the heavy trip of Geogaddi, Campfire's pastoral lightness of touch certainly took many by surprise, but listening to the album on its own terms it becomes clear just what a superabundance of detail and melody is at work (behold Oscar See Through Red Eye, a track on which BoC seem to have discovered an entirely new musical dimension from which they are able to stack sequences of notes endlessly one atop the other – a truly impressive compositional trick).

This is also BoC's most unashamedly beautiful album – the lazy rhythms and warm, hazy atmospheres of Satellite Anthem Icarus speak of peace and rejuvination, a cessation of worry and doubt. Even during the more apparently downbeat passages – the somewhat mournful chords of Slow this Bird Down for example – the rhythm track pings and shuffles with ebullience and optimism: an exquisite schism on an exquisite album.

 

(Released: October 2005)

http://www.boardsofcanada.com