Boards Of Canada ‎– Hi Scores

I feel this release is overrated. BoC's production effort and talent is obvious in this, but it doesn't achieve much, and the disjoint mood of the individual tracks makes it seem like a compilation rather than an EP. Positives include the jazzy influences and great use of slow breakbeats, and negatives include the lack of direction or purpose in the music. A nonessential release, only get it if you're a collector or an addict (or both).

Probably my favorite material by the duo. Very classic PBS wanderings style BOC on display here. The crunchy beats and synths of "Hi Scores" opens this ep perfectly. Beautifully nostalgic in a way only these two have been able to pull off. I'm definitely in debt to them for "Nlogax", a heavenly electro track with funk synth, thick beats and some nicely chopped vocals. I have a hard time believing they didn't build a time machine, go back to 1979 and steal an unreleased album of b-boy hip-hop/electro and mix it with Vangelis outtakes. In a nutshell, that's what this music sounds like to me. Add the stand out track "Everything you do is a balloon", and you have one of the most genre defining albums to emerge in the last decade. One of my top albums of all time.

This release has all the Boards' touches,cerebral melodies,crackling beats & the earthy sound thay have mastered, but also this E.P. features a couple of there (shall I say) experimental type stuff..but it's all good with 'Everything You Do Is A Balloon' & 'Nlogax' being 2 of my favourites.Track this down at all costs!!!

This was my first taste of BOC, and to this day it remains my favourite release. It is also quite different to everything else they've released since. There are three tracks on this EP which are particularly strong, and still move me many years after first hearing them.

"Hi Scores" is really special, and combines beautiful pads with crunchy, distorted beats. It is actually one of the darker tracks on the album, and is quite paradoxical to its title - I would have expected Hi Scores to represent something more playful and nostalgic - like the first time the brothers played a video game perhaps. I'd really like to the know the history of this track.

"Nlogax" starts with a simplistic yet funky 4/4 rhythm, but really starts to get interesting when it metamorphosises into a twisted, skittering, fractured version of its former self. The incomprehensible vocal cutup effect was also used in "Telephasic Workshop", and is also made popular by label-mates Gescom on their track "Keynell".

"Everything You Do Is A Balloon" is painfully beautiful. The melody in particular is superb, and it remains one of their strongest, and most emotive tracks to date.

All in all, an exceptional EP, and one which transcends time and musical trends.... and will always touch the heart.

At first this was my least favorite release by BoC until several listens to Everything You Do Is A Balloon on the SKAMPLER compilation. I know what you’re probably thinking right now this is one of the most highly regarded releases in the electronic music community, and you didn’t like it? The first release I had bought by BoC was Geogaddi and I was blown away. Nothing I had heard could have compared. This totally changed my views on electronic music. Hi Scores was a more simplistic, rude recording than Geogaddi and didn’t appeal to me right off. But after several listens to the title track and June 9th the album bled together and all the tracks became classics. Now this is one of my most prized possessions, and got me into the SKAM record label. Highly recommended to anyone even to somebody not into music like this. Check it out as quickly as possible and give it a few listens before you pass negative judgment.

Nostalgic melodies over crunchy beats. This release from the Skam record label gives us a small look into the vast collection of music Boards of Canada have made since their debut in the 80's. It seems to bring about strange memories of childhood. This album always reminds me of the sunspots you see on a clear summer day when you look into the sky. Just Beautiful.

Seriously, this is the best thing Boards of Canada ever put out, so why such small quantities? The first and last tracks are amazing, and playing them is probably the best way to explain Boards of Canada. Very nostalgic, emotional, oddly named songs. I'd love to know where they came up with "Everything You Do Is A Balloon"

I just received my CD copy of Hi Scores- FINALLY. It is an IDM masterpiece- 6 tracks of pastoral bliss. The best tracks are: Hi Scores; Turquoise Hexagon Sun (of course); June 9th; and, Everything You Do is a Balloon. A wonderful precursor to Music Has the Right to Children and a great starting point for anyone not familiar with the genius that is BoC. If you can find this release, by all means GET IT! If anything else, it will be a collectible (as hard as it is to get).....enjoy.