BOARDS OF CANADA - GEOGADDI @ 20

 

February 13th marks the 20th anniversary of Boards Of Canada’s sophomore album, Geogaddi, which was released on this day in 2002, in Japan, and on the 18th in Europe. For this album, the Scottish duo decided to create a decidedly darker, more harrowing “trial by fire” sonic journey, though they resolved to eventually bring the listener into the light before its end. Released with virtually no advance notice, the album was premiered simultaneously at listening parties in six churches scattered across the globe: London, New York, Tokyo, Edinburgh, Paris, and Berlin.

The album is bolstered by various occult and numerological references, like having 23 tracks and making the full runtime total exactly 66 minutes and 6 seconds, just to reinforced their devilish intentions. It is even reported that ripping the CD to WAV files using CDeX yields a total file size of 666MB. Such characteristics resulted in some controversy and accusations of “Satanic” intent being leveled at the group. They remained typically tight-lipped, however, and only granted a single email exchange interview with NME to discuss the album. Their silence on the subject has lead to a plethora of baseless theories, speculations and assumptions being bandied about by both fans and detractors. The group has consistently been dismissive of all of it and has never bothered to confirm nor deny anything. If anything, the group have emphasized only an academic interest in such subjects rather than any belief in or adherence to any kind of spirituality.

In terms of its sound, the album continues their warm, fuzzy approach to electronics, though there is a far greater emphasis on acoustic sounds this time around. The album was recorded over a two year period throughout 1999 & 2000 with its tracks being culled from a pool of some 90 pieces recorded for the project. I have no idea what happened to the material not used for this album. The title is essentially a nonsense word created by the group by hybridizing several other words, though what those source words were has never been revealed by the group, who prefer fans to come to their own conclusions.

For me, it stands with the best of their work as an essential listen for fans of psychedelic downtempo electronica. It is most definitely “tripping” music of the “top shelf” variety, preferably with the the best cognitive enhancements you can get your hands on. It’ll certainly take you to the thresholds and beyond of the most magical altered states.