Boards of Canada's Hi Scores

First released in 1996, Boards of Canada’s EP titled Hi Scores, with its unique use of samples and synthesizers, such as the moog, melding to create an intense feeling of eerie perfection, undoubtedly receives high scores. The masters behind the music, Scottish brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin, first came together in 1986 with other members to the band, however by 1999, Boards of Canada only consisted of Sandison and Eoin. Since then, the brothers have released five albums and a number of singles. Hi Scores, Boards of Canada’s second EP, has been re-released a number of times since its initial release as a result of their growing popularity gained after the release of their first album Music Has the Right to Children in 1998. The popularity of Boards of Canada has only continued to grow since their introduction into the music scene and they can boast the success of their three other albums.
Hi Scores crates a sensation as if one were slowly floating through a thick, uncertain atmosphere in a dream with the smooth, heavy beats layered with sharp electronic tones created using synthesizers, such as the moog, analogue and the buchla. The environment is familiar and safe, yet there is an eerie and haunting sensation to this familiarity. Opening up with “Hi Scores,” Boards of Canada takes listeners on a journey to another dimension, introducing listeners to what is to come later in the album. The grainy texture of the synthesized beats layered with the heavy, almost drum like, beat creates a sensation as if one were floating through space. As the music comes to a close, the melody becomes softer and the beats become slower, which makes it seem as though the destination to this new world has been reached.
Layers upon layers of beats are often layered with the occasional sampling of human voices as in “Turquoise Hexagon Sun” where the slight chatter of human voices creates a sense of nostalgia as if one were listening to familiar and comforting family banter on holidays. However, it is nearly impossible to clearly distinguish what is being said, even if one strains. Thus, the heavy beats accompanied by the sweet, warm, chiming of higher toned bells combined with the distortion of the samples creates a feeling as if one were removed from the familiar yet looking into a familiar setting, while in one’s own eerie world. The soundscapes developed in the various songs create contrasting feelings of repose and anxiety in a natural landscape that is hauntingly intimate.
Hi Scores closes with “Everything You Do Is A Balloon” taking listeners to a more dreamlike space. The high pitched bells and the muffled sound of water opens up the song and as the high pitched bells slowly fade, almost to a silence, the moog synthesizer changes the pace of the composition as louder and softer beats are played as if one were in the midst of lucid dream where they are slowly running from the unfamiliar. As the song progresses in this heavy sequence, new instruments and beats that have a jazz feeling to them are introduced. As the song comes to a close the heavy instruments fade and the beats become grainier and more fast paced. This projects a feeling as though the listener is traveling back to reality, awaking from their journey through dream encountered in their deep slumber.
Electronic music has been around for decades and became highly popularized in the 1970s. Boards of Canada’s Hi Scores utilizes the sounds of the 1970s synthesizer and adopts the techniques utilized in the creation of electronic music to create a unique sound that captures the listener and takes them on a journey where the familiar becomes the unfamiliar in a comforting, yet haunting musical experience. All of the sounds fuse together and create something powerful; the music takes on a life of its own.