Track Listing

1. Sixtyniner
2. Oirectine
3. Iced Cooly
4. Basefree
5. Twoism
6. Seeya Later
7. Melissa Juice
8. Smokes Quantity

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28303 in Music
• Released on: 2002-11-26
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Dimensions: .15 pounds

Album Description
Remastered re-release of an early, limited Boards Of Canada release, this nine track mini album is available on CD for the first time, seven years after its original vinyl only release. Track nine '1986 Summer Fire' is unlisted on artwork. Includes Boards Of Canada sticker. Digipak. Warp. 2002.

Amazon.com
Originally issued in 1995, Boards of Canada's Twoism EP makes it clear the Scottish duo of Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin were on to something from the start. As their first recorded work, scarce, vinyl-only copies of Twoism have been lustily sought after by rabid fans since the 1998 release of BoC's amazing, impossibly original Music Has The Right To Children and the quieter, but equally devastating Geogaddi. While not as adventuresome as those records, this EP is still Boards Of Canada all the way, as ample chunks of the band's unsettling and deeply involving style are easily found in songs like "Smokes Quantity" and the title track. Other songs such as the almost danceable "Seeya Later" show a more straightforward ambient/techno side that, while presented more nakedly here, is still quite apparent in their later work. While some might be disappointed after spending God knows what on a copy of Twoism only to find it suddenly available anywhere, others looking for more of BoC's melancholy, spellbinding compositions should take fast advantage. --Matthew Cooke

From URB Magazine
Waking from a dream to misty sunshine filtered through a forest canopy; kaleidoscopic visions of Branch Davidians in ecstasy; bleary-eyed school children tripping acid at recess: Boards of Canada’s music is evocative of many things, but there’s been little of it relative to the weight of their reputation. Kevin Shields’ reclusiveness and My Bloody Valentine’s inability to follow up on what is probably the most venerated underground psychedelic meltdown to date — Loveless — comes to mind. Boards of Canada’s Music Has the Right to Children served as a touchstone for the handful of people who first heard it (see: Freescha, Casino Versus Japan), the sort of album that makes you wonder why more people don’t bother to make electronic music so lush and, well, pretty.

Before Music Has a Right was Twoism, released in 1995 on Boards of Canada’s tiny Music70 label in the sort of ultra-limited quantities that guarantee collector interest. This year, popular mythology among BoC fandom held that a copy of the 36-minute LP traded hands in an online auction for over $1,000. Of particular interest to potential disciples was the address of the duo’s rural Scottish Hexagon Sun compound still on the wrapping.

In many ways Twoism is more satisfying than their more difficult second album, Geogaddi, if only due to its reliance on the sort of timeless electronic melodies and mournful psychedelic pop that easily fits with pleasant, haunted music from Pink Floyd and Can to Aphex Twin and the Orb.

Daniel Chamberlin

Customer Reviews

The legacy of Twoism
Board of Canada's discography is a source of consternation for their fans. Several of their releases only quasi-exist- no one has heard them. Twoism for many years has only been around in the form of low quality mp3s. The poor fidelity of the sound only served to augment the listening experience. A seminal, obscure album of broken sounds further degraded by poor reproduction that still took resourcefullness to track down.

Hearing the proper release has been a bit of a revelation. For the most part I knew what to expect. (some of the songs here have been been recycled on subsequent BoC releases) However, there are new levels of detail present in the sound. That being said nothing about Twoism is overly polished. The synthesizers used sound as if they are drawing their last breath. The melodies are distant and suffocated.

Boards of Canada at this point in their career were even more minmalist then they are now. The signature Boc formula was already perfected on these tracks. Vintage synthesizers spitting out chilhood melodies over slow breakbeats. The melodies are happy, but they evoke a fake, drug-induced happiness that enhances the distance and detachment.

Probably the two most interesting tracks on Twoism are "Oirectine" and "Basefree". They sound unlike anything else Boards of Canada ever released. There's a definite industrial influence, interpreted as only the boys could. "Basefree" sounds like it should have been on Autechre's "Tri Repetae", but I think "Basefree" is actually predates that album. "Oirectine" features a severaly damaged, overly sinister, melody. "Twoism" and "Sixtyniner" are the prototype early Boards of Canada tracks.

Twoism is essential for any Boards of Canada fan and any fan of electronic music. Twoism was ostensibly a demo which got them noticed by Skam records. The rest is history.

Darkest Boards Release
This is a really bleak album, more than even Geogaddi, which has a backbone of aggression that keeps it from becoming depressing. Not that fans expect upbeat, but usually there's a Nlogax, ROYGBIV, Aquarius, or Dawn Chorus to leaven the mood. Here Iced Cooly plays that role, but the synths are distorted to the point that the effect is more queasy than whimsical. For me a hallmark of the BoC sound is emotional ambivalence - innocence with a menacing undercurrent, psychedelia with a hint of madness - but the cumulative effect of these tracks is just dour.

A case in point would be the opener, Sixtyniner. The twinkling, autumnal synths are great, until this oboe-like sound and plodding beat come in and make it sound almost comically sad. The highlights of the album for me are Oirectine and Melissa Juice. The former is the epitome of minimalist composition; the opening tones alone vibrate at the perfect pitch to make your flesh creep and your hair stand on end. The reverb and distortion make the song sound as if it was recorded in a culvert or train tunnel; towards the end, a backward, loping beat is introduced that gives it a sinister, funky intensity. Totally eerie and unclassifiable. Melissa Juice is a slight composition that captures a nostalgic feeling in the way only BoC can.

Of course BoC completists have to have this EP; in fact, thanks to the miracle of filesharing, most of them already do. As far as I can tell the remastering is great and definitely justifies a purchase if you already know you like the material. And despite the downer mood it induces, there is a sense of vast open space on this album that makes it stand out when compared to, say, the more self-conscious and fanatically detailed Geogaddi. Still, for those new to the music of BoC, I would start with the superior Hi Scores EP, or either full length album, Music... or Geogaddi.

Twoism: Convoluted Cacophonies
Twoism is such a great little treat from Boards of Canada. The name of this EP really could be called "Dualism" and/or "Dichotomy". Why you might ask, because this 8 track EP really is both dark/mellow and catchy/foot tapping. The collection of songs on this EP is some of the best BOC has put out. As a general statement, the music of BOC isn't really poppy or light, but the mood on this EP seems much more sullen and dim than any of their other releases. I always found it amazing that BOC sound has both elements of minimalism and convoluted cacophonies. This is a great CD to listen to when you would like to relax, or drive down an autumn road with a tapestry of leaves descending around you.