BOARDS OF CANADA – Twoism – LP – Vinyl

LP – Black Vinyl

Twoism retains a cult status elevated above even Boards of Canadas sought after albums and the pressing to vinyl of this early EP as part of the duos series of repressings from Warp seems long overdue. From the opening distant chiming synths of Sixtyniner, which settle within faded hip-hop beats, this is music that exerts a rare and magical power through sounds that suggest and entice.

Melissa Juice displays a sense of depth one would have thought impossible to achieve with the nave sounds employed, as two Tomorrows World synths delicately wrap around one another and a degraded shuffle pins down this ambiguous and understated texture. The title track allows the percussion to dominate more, with slowly undulating synth pitches inducing a sea-sick melancholy, while in See Ya Later melodic elements appear to be continually receding into the distance with synths so saturated by tape decay that they sound like memories of orchestral brass. Its tough to pick highlights from such a commanding set of tracks, but, if pushed, one might turn towards the destroyed breakbeat stutters of Basefree or closer 1986 Summer Fires, which must rank as one of Boards most powerful ambient cuts, where a plaintive synth chorale appears to decay on itself as tape distortions subtly accumulat

Tracklist:

A1Sixtyniner
A2Oirectine
A3Iced Cooly
A4Basefree
B1Twoism
B2Seeya Later
B3Melissa Juice