I've been looking at reviews on sputnikmusic for quite a while and was amazed that only the 3 main BoC albums had been reviewed as their assorted other e.p.s are easily just as good. So here goes a review for "Twoism".
Boards of Canada are made up Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin and are brothers.
Originally released on vinyl in 1995 and limited to 100 copies through the Music70 label, the Twoism EP set a high standard for future BoC output and was the record that got them noticed by the Skam recored label who later signed them and released their "Hi-Scores E.P.". "Twoism" was reissued on CD in 2002 by warp records. In general "Twoism" seems to take more of an influence from hip-hop (the beats in particular) than other BoC releases although this could just be my opinion.
If you want to compare this e.p. to the classic Music Has the Right to Children album, it holds up very well. It starts with "Sixtyniner" a track reminiscent of Music Has The Right To Children-era BoC which seems to indicate the direction the were going to take on said album, a very pleasent track with considerable more bass than BoC usually have on their songs. This is followed by "Oirectine" which has the usual lovely BoC melodies but with a sinster undertone. "Iced Cooly" is quite un-BoC like and is a very good track despite being perhaps a bit too short.
This is follwed by "Basefree" another track that is unlike BoC usual work and sounds like aphex twin in his 1992-era which totally abandons the lovely warm melodies BoC usually opt and instead they go for a track nearly entriely composed of beats resulting in a rigid track that feels rather cold and unfeeling which is different for them but I still like it, this could be the reason for the very nice melody at the end of the track that only lasts a few seconds and may have been used to counter the coldness of what came before it.
The title track sees BoC going back to the direction they would take on Music Has The Right To Children and Geogaddi, this song in particular seems to have a certain sadness about it, this track also has a sort of mini-track grafted onto the end which is very nice but way too short. Then comes probably one of my all time favourite BoC tracks "Seeya Later", which is another of those tracks on the E.P. that is slightly unusual for BoC, it has a lovely weaving bassline, a nice beat and beautiful melody running through the background, an excellent track (which can also be found on their "Hi-Scores E.P.).
Then comes a short track called "Melissa Juice" (I don't want to know what that titles about) which is fine and also in a similar style to "Music Has The Right To Children". The E.P./album then ends with "Smokes Quantity" which many will recognize off "Music Has The Right To Children" which is as good as ever and even after listening to it on "Music Has The Right To Children" where it works so well, the track does not seem out of place, this version however has a bonus track grafted onto the end called "1986 Summer Fire" which is a fine short track.
Twoism features the same textured and spooky electronica that their fans love, and to me stands next to "Music Has The Right To Children" as some of their best work.
This is my first review so i'd be happy to know how I can improve on my reviewing style. (P.S. I know i referenced "Music Has The Right To Children" a lot, maybe a bit too much.
