Boards of Canada — Untitled (Machinedrum Edit)
Originally played at Warp Records’ 10th Anniversary in 1999, unreleased.[DOWNLOAD] or Hear it on SoundCloud
If there’s one detail to know about Boards of Canada, its that the reclusive duo’s prolific catalog has a reputation for being remarkably elusive. Fans know the pains of this first-hand; Their studio albums can be easily found in online stores, but if you want more (of which they have plenty), you’re left digging through rips of rare cassettes for a few old tunes, and relying on imperfect recordings of their (equally rare) live performances.
That last detail is especially relevant for this track. Played as the finale of BoC’s performance at Warp Records’ 10th anniversary party in 1999, this piece has no known name, and has yet to see an official release. The only known copy to meet public ears is a well-circulated bootleg recording of the show.
Speaking of which: [the original bootleg recording, albeit with poor audio]
This is where Machinedrum steps in. Travis Stewart — himself an established electronic/glitch artist — decided it was about time this near-11-minute rarity received an upgrade. In his own words:
I’ve always been a massive fan of Boards of Canada, if its not obvious already! 10-11 years ago I stumbled upon a bootleg recording of one of their extremely rare live performances at the Warp 10 Birthday party in 1999. The closing tune at this show has always remained a mystery to me. […]
Fast forward to Summer 2012… Since I am a huge nerd I decided to take this bootleg recording and re-produce it for fun. Using the recording I laid new drums over the existing drum patterns (almost 100% accurate to original), replayed some synth parts and the bassline. The only thing I didn’t try to re-create was the original vocoder parts and some random samples so I used the bootleg recording for that. I was tempted to make a shorter 4-5 minute version but I figured I should preserve the piece in its intended length (although the length was most likely due to it being a live jam).
The result is still very much the same live performance from thirteen years ago, but far clearer and full, with a little extra shine. Best heard with headphones, not with laptop speakers. [x]
“The Wanderer”
(Putting all my self taught music skills from the past 2 years to use. Perhaps an album is in store?)
Open for critique! I still have a LOT to learn.
Man, what the hell. You’re a natural at this.
Seriously, I can’t think of anything as far as pointers go, everything about this is great. Wonderful subtlety with the electronic beat way in the back, and all your elements fit together perfectly.
Looking forward to seeing what comes out of this.
pretty
One of my favorite Floex tracks right here. Love the progression from 1:30 onwards, and a great vocal performance from James Rone. The whole album is something amazing, there’s really nothing quite like it.
FLOEX — Precious Creature (feat. James Rone)
[from the album Zorya]