Hoodie Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 This is Boards of Canada's most thematically serious album. Let's start with the title: Tomorrow's Harvest. I think it's asking us the question, "What sort of harvest will the seeds that humanity plants bring?" To put it in simpler terms, what are the consequences of our actions on a grand scale? We all know that the album uses a Cold War aesthetic, but I think this is only one application of this question. I think New Seeds is extremely symbolic of these theme. It is hopeful, but cautiously so. It makes us think of potential, of possibility, but it has a hint of mournfulness towards the end, like a fear of the inevitable decline of humanity. The last song on the album, Seeds of the Dead (i.e., Semena Mertvykh), is also highly symbolic. First, looking at the title: it implies that it is about the harvest of the seeds that the dead planted or, in other words, it is about the consequences of the dead's previous actions. I assume that the dead it refers to is the human race. The song itself is probably one of the darkest pieces of music that BoC has ever created. Before continuing onward, I'd like to touch on this sense of darkness. Geogaddi was a dark album--but it was also playful, in a sense. BoC was using cultist imagery and symbolism because the aesthetic appealed to them and they found it interesting. But, the album never examined these themes with seriousness. It is not a pure extraction of the dark human experience of being in a cult. Instead, it looks upon the experience from an outsider's perspective, tinting the album with a hint of mischievous curiosity. The Campfire Headphase had an element of darkness (most notably in the latter half), but it was also an extremely warm and intimate album. The darkness in Seeds of the Dead is unlike this. It contains cold, hungry darkness. There is no hint of hope in this song. It is desolate. I think this is the capstone of the album. It is meant to leave the listener feeling disturbed. It is BoC's vision of the harvest when the seeds we plant bring only death (e.g., nuclear weapons). BoC's previous albums did not have a message. They were simply beautiful pieces of artwork made for aesthetic pleasure. This album is different, I think. It is an attempt to convey the horrible future our actions have the potential to unfold. I have some more thoughts on the album, but I'd like to hear your responses first before I share them (and to give myself some time to figure out how to articulate them). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YangYing Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Could we wait until the thing gets officially released? please?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertsk8er419 Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 double rainbow all the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoodie Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 Could we wait until the thing gets officially released? please?? Uh, it is already. double rainbow all the way lol glad someone got the reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YangYing Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Yeh not for me, sorry for rambling. I love this album and all I have to comment on it is: Owl of Minerva. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyrex Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 The song itself is probably one of the darkest pieces of music that BoC has ever created. Have you not heard "House of Abin'adab" Off the Old Tunes? Creepy as hell... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoodie Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 The song itself is probably one of the darkest pieces of music that BoC has ever created. Have you not heard "House of Abin'adab" Off the Old Tunes? Creepy as hell... No, because I don't pirate music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vamos scorcho Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 I'm obsessed. I don't know the meaning but the feeling is massive. Possibly the most special and wide scope of their work. On the whole it is frightening and dark. Beauty but with suffering. I think the predominant feeling is hopelessness. Regardless of the meaning it makes you realize the potential of music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atop Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Listening for the first time right now. Will get back to this thread after many listens. From a few of the song titles and art, it does seem that there is a militant environmentalist tone to the entire lp. Some of the song titles still infer occult beliefs, which makes me think of the cultural paradigm shifting for the better. I am sure BoC want a better future just like most reasonable people. They have families. Much like Miyazaki's films, there is a sense of hope within the Reach for the Dead vid . The film going from a desolate, remnant of mankind's past in the barren desert to the end, flying through the clouds like Nietzsche's eagle, true freedom, into three suns forming out of the one, symbolic of the connection of all things, the number three is an important archetype/symbol/concept within most religious systems). must listen to it muy muchos mas. So far it is more engaging than The Campfire Headphase. Reminds me of Geogaddi meets Hi Scores. yay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 The song itself is probably one of the darkest pieces of music that BoC has ever created. Have you not heard "House of Abin'adab" Off the Old Tunes? Creepy as hell... No, because I don't pirate music. Well duh, all you gotta do is buy the tapes off of ppl selling them on ebay and piss off ton of boc fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vamos scorcho Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Yeah the environmentalism thing for sure. Brings to mind stuff likeSilent Running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sysyphus Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 The song itself is probably one of the darkest pieces of music that BoC has ever created. Have you not heard "House of Abin'adab" Off the Old Tunes? Creepy as hell... No, because I don't pirate music. +1 would read again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest saakki Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Yeah I have really similar thought on the album as the topic starter. For example I wrote over at Twoism concerning track "Split Your Infinities": "Like mentioned before this gives quite the scifi feeling of a robot army or something marching and stomping everything on their way. Synthline in the bottom sounds like fleeing people. And in the end there is still this little beacon of light, like some sort of transmission / hopeful melody." Also concerning the Seeds of the Dead...well it is in russian and Russia was mostly responsible for the whole cold war thing..and at the moment they are going trough quite bleak times (when it comes to politics and well being of people) in my opinion. And for me Collapse is one of the scariest / haunting BoC track ever made. The screeching sound is just scary / demonic and when you listen to it...if feels like the sound is trying to consume you or grab you. Hrrrrr. So yeah this is quite political and enviromental album in my opinion too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest saakki Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 And to add to this found from other forums where somebody has done some work: "Nothing Is Real":"At about 1:54 in the track a distorted voice appears to say "Jesus was a human being" [2], or possibly "Jesus was you and me"followed by what sounds like:"to float up kindly with my greed" (not this, but it's somewhat unintelligible)"promises eternal life""when you knew it was not right""when you knew that what I need was really some comfort there" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyrex Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 The song itself is probably one of the darkest pieces of music that BoC has ever created. Have you not heard "House of Abin'adab" Off the Old Tunes? Creepy as hell... No, because I don't pirate music. You don't have to: [youtubehd]hfdJMumAB8M[/youtubehd] Touche! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoodie Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 The song itself is probably one of the darkest pieces of music that BoC has ever created. Have you not heard "House of Abin'adab" Off the Old Tunes? Creepy as hell... No, because I don't pirate music. You don't have to: [youtubehd]hfdJMumAB8M[/youtubehd] Touche! heheh, i couldn't resist. I am sure BoC want a better future just like most reasonable people. They have families. i think these are both very important points. i originally wanted to say that this album was more mature, but i felt like that wasn't the right word. it seems to me that it's simply more serious than their previous work. their other albums are very reliant on nostalgia, the past. this album is the first one that looks into the future and gives us a message about how to proceed. it's not vague or cryptic. i think they intentionally made it very clear that they think humans are on thin ice if we don't get our shit together. i have a theory that this ties into palace posy's place on the album. palace posy is the most (perhaps only) playful song on the album. it reminds me a lot of music has the right to children. the transition to it is jarring and the song itself sounds misplaced. maybe that was done to highlight the seriousness of the rest of the album? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YEK Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 first time i heard the name "tomorrow's harvest" i couldn't help but thinking it meant tomorrow's music ...which is a very broad subject, but as it retains to BOC , it's them doing future forward thinking music instead of the nostalgic thing that most of their older music sounds like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awepittance Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 You don't have to: [youtubehd]hfdJMumAB8M[/youtubehd] Touche! *continues to be baffled by youtube songs not being considered piracy then potentially understands that posting a youtube link shifts any liability away from joyrex/watmm and onto a site ran by a fortune 500 company* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattern recognition Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 The song itself is probably one of the darkest pieces of music that BoC has ever created. Have you not heard "House of Abin'adab" Off the Old Tunes? Creepy as hell... creepy maybe, but i don't think it's dark like most (if not all) of tomorrow's harvest. dark...like bleak, (virtually) hopeless. this is heavy stuff. it's wonderful and fits right in with the times we live in.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest murphythecat8 Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 I'm obsessed. I don't know the meaning but the feeling is massive. Possibly the most special and wide scope of their work. On the whole it is frightening and dark. Beauty but with suffering. I think the predominant feeling is hopelessness. Regardless of the meaning it makes you realize the potential of music. Reach for the dead on the contrary has a feeling of Hope, but indeed, I'm obsessed, ive listened to the record probably 10 times now, and still will listen to it a couple of time tonight. I dont feel like listening anything else! T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skotosa Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Not sure about the message but I do have this to say atm. Since Come to Dust is my absolute favorite (so far). I feel like saying all the rest of the tracks should have came after Come to Dust. To me so far, it stands out among the rest of the tracks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rpeg Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 I had the same thoughts as yours Hoodie, buut I couldn't say it half as well as you did. I will chime in to say that the solemnness of this album is probably the most surprising thing about it to me. It makes everything else they've ever done look playful by comparison. And it makes any message I can piece together seem that much more important. I think they put their hearts in this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud capture Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 around these parts a lot of the farmers let the corn die on the stalks until late autumn and then harvest all of them for seeds, this might be what boc are referencing with "seeds of the dead"? Maybe some kind of funeral dirge to the time and effort put into the agriculture just for these seeds to bring new life the next season. I'm just trying to find some positive meaning to the whole album, for some reason I am not finding it that dark anymore after multiple listens of the youtube transmission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jules Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 glad you mentioned the warmth of tch hoodie. I think this is by far the coldest sounding boc, which is weird because that warm sound is so tied to them in my head. still sounds like boc but it certainly sounds different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaini Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 palace posy is the centrepiece and it's also the oldest-sounding track on the album. i would like to think that it's a signpost to the forthcoming EP, a full-band feel thing. loads of CV triggered proper instruments. besides that, more of the classic boc chopped vocals we have on sick times and telepath. telepath reeeeeeealy reminds me of coil, btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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