The Campfire Headphase
Label: Warp
Rated: NONE
WorkNameSort: Campfire Headphase, The
An unconditionally bewildering return to center stage, The Campfire Headphase is the first Boards of Canada LP in three years. Sole members Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin are still preoccupied with soundtracking blurry Kodak prints from 1971, and their third full-length finds them strumming guitars along with their warm electronic productions, perfecting their already shimmering song base. Like both Geogaddi and Music Has the Right to Children, Campfire is a lengthy collection of complex psychedelic synth arrangements, warbled analog tape reels and slow, tumbling beats. As evident in the subtle, tremolo-heavy “Dayvan Cowboy,” the album’s sparse organic elements point back to garage and psych influences, while the constant chirps, swelling chords and color changes in “Oscar See Through Red Eye” are Boards at their busiest. Over 15 tracks, Campfire stays within the tradition of Boards’ limitless exploration, with each cut as valuable to the trek as the next.
This article appears in Oct 26 – Nov 1, 2005.