Boards Of Canada – Twoism

The 6th of their 7 self released albums, this one actually got re-released after their 8th album (Music Has the Right to Children, the first they did for a major label) was such a big hit. I'd rather they had released the album that got them signed (BOC Maxima, which was a huge hit in internet pirate circles from 1996-1998 and led to their fame). Of course Music Has the Right to Children was 30% re-performed songs from BOC Maxima so I guess they didn't wan't to look like they were repeating themselves. Plus I'm not sure if mp3s of Twoism were circulating before Warp reprinted it so it was better getting something we hadn't heard before.

"But what do you think of the music on Twoism" I hear you asking. Well if you're already a Boards of Canada fan you'll love it, but I'm not sure it's the album to convince new listeners. Still, it's got the original version of the best song on BOC Maxima (Sixtyniner) so it's a decently strong offering. I WOULDN'T recommend paying a fortune for it though. Get the newest printing you can find rather than the oldest.

Beautiful Album.
one of my favorites.

Beautiful Album, with melodic, melancholic and dark musics, its a pity that this release only offers 36 minutes of music,

TWOISM is a telling, although unspectacular debut for Boards of Canada. On "Twoism" and "Sixtyniner" you get classic BoC, with their somber, nostalgic melodies. On other tracks - "Basefree" - you get what could pass for Autechre. It's simple, raw, and unpolished, and falls a bit short of the duo's best.

"Seeya Later" on this CD seems to be the same mix as the one on the Hi Scores CD, but the channels are reversed. (The sound quality of the version on Hi Scores is also slightly better -- more dynamic range.) I'm curious: at what point did this channel reversal happen? Was it the same for the original vinyl editions of these two EPs, or did it happen only when Twoism was released on CD? Does anyone know? And are there any other differences I'm not noticing?

Personally, though not beeing one of their "religiously devoted" fans, this still has to be my favorite BoC release so far.
Despite admittedly beeing fairly minimalistic compared to their later full length albums, Twoism is nevertheless beautifully arranged and far from beeing just underdeveloped, archaic or even trivial. The simple downtempo Hip-Hop beats fused with BoCs trademark melancholic, "broken" soundscapes is just what makes these early songs so special to me and something, that I often miss in their more recent work. Sure, "Music has the Right to Children" is commonly and rightfully seen as their true masterpiece (so far). Still, I don't see any lack of quality in their "rougher", less refinded work.
Songs like "Iced Cooly", "Oirectine", "Twoism" and especially "Melissa Juice" remain some of my unmatched BoC favorites! Long story short: You should give it a go, and make your own opinion. For me, Twoism is definitively worth it!

I would have to agree with scoundrel, as well as 137 (somewhat). This album is a testament to Boards of Canada's skills "in the making", but these skills were not developed enough at that time to warrant all of the hype that this album has received over the years. Personally, I did not find this album to be overly spectacular, at least not as spectacular as you'll hear in forums and fan reviews. What sets Boards of Canada apart from many other groups is their fanbase is religiously devout to them, and is very obsessive concerning their every release, no matter how trivial, archaic, or (to paraphrase 137) simply not good. I don't know what kind of state of mind I'd have to be in or what kind of drug I'd have to be on to think that the track "Iced Cooly" is any less than crap. The trademark atmospherics are here, mainly synths that sound handpicked from old educational documentaries (we know the drill by now), but they're less refined than in later works, and the beats are less than engrossing. They got much better at using what appear to be the exact same ones in their future releases. In a nutshell, there were too many good works in and around 1995 to consider this anything close to a masterpiece, and I'd be shocked and probably a bit disappointed to see this in a top ten anywhere. It seems that the smartest thing that boards of canada has done (unknowingly, perhaps) is have a handful of earlier albums so impossibly rare that fans will froth at the mouth for years to come, like children at the door of the Disney Vault. This album was not impossibly rare, of course, but the actual music does not seem to validate Twoism as much as the e-bay story that we've all heard, or the fans of their later work that believe that they can do no wrong. I was once such Aphex Twin fan that I could listen to Melodies From Mars and call it pure gold. I'm glad that I've gotten past that.

Early Boards of Canada mini-album TWOISM sees the light of day, thanks to thunderous reception of their first two albums. And it’s not as refined as MUSIC HAS A RIGHT TO CHILDREN or GEOGADDI, but one can definitely hear the genesis of their later sound in “Sixtyniner” or the title track. But other tracks, like the peppy “Iced Cooly” or the short and sweet “Melissa Juice” have their own appeal. Two tracks would go on to appear (in slightly different form) on later releases: “Seeya Later” on their Skam EP, and “Smokes Quantity” on MUSIC HAS A RIGHT TO CHILDREN –- evidence of how far Boards of Canada had come even at this early point in their career.

contrary to popular belief, "twoism" is rotten, horrible, not good and just plain bad. well maybe it's not that bad but it's certainly not worth the insane amounts of money people were paying for it before it was rereleased. their later work is much, much better. this sounds like boards of canada, but without the feeling of their later works. same technique, different frame of mind i guess.