Boards of Canada - Trans Canada Highway

This may shock you, but there has been a new Boards of Canada release on the market since May, and I only bought it last week!

Now, keep in mind that the delay was due to the fact that the release in question is an EP, titled Trans Canada Highway, in the great tradition of highway-themed concept albums such as Kraftwerk's Autobahn, and, um... Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express. Ok, maybe not.

At any rate, Boards of Canada have proven in the past that they're perfectly capable of releasing EPs just as good as LPs, as shown by Twoism, Hi-Scores, and especially the sublime In a Beautiful Place out in the Country, so this release is not at all to be feared as a refuse bin for b-sides (or, at least, the b-side equivalent of a band that sees no point in releasing singles).

If you've been a reader of this site long enough, you know by now that there's no point in even questioning whether or not I will like a Boards of Canada release, and Trans Canada Highway is no exception. It begins with "Dayvan Cowboy" from 2005's The Campfire Headphase, which is getting a second or third round of appreciation from me right about now. It also ends with a "Dayvan Cowboy" remix by Odd Nosdam, and even the remix is good, taking an already fantastic song and turning it on its head to provide 9 minutes of eerie, suspenseful beauty.

The middle section is what we might call B.O.C.-by-numbers (but, you know, not the other B.O.C.). At this point, if you've heard Boards of Canada, you can guess what these tracks will sound like. If you haven't, good Lord! What are you waiting for?! "Left Side Drive" is a Geogaddi-style number, with glacially shifting patterns (and if you're struggling for a description, let's say one of Brian Eno's ambient pieces with a slowed down hip-hop drum loop). "Skyliner" goes back further, to the Music Has the Right to Children days, with its busy drum beats and wavery synths. The other two tracks are short vignettes, which, true to form, are just as worth hearing as the rest of it, even if they may not be substantial enought to warrant description here.

The only thing here that's really worth noting is that the guitars of The Campfire Headphase seem to have been a temporary phase, as they're nowhere to be found other than the title track. Whether this is a sign of the band's future or a brief look into its past is anybody's guess. Either way, I'll be waiting for LP #4.