Boards of Canada

To say the follow-up to the fantastic Music Has the Right to Children was anticipated would be a big understatement. After the Scottish duo left many jaws dropped with their last record's brilliance for the past four years, they've finally emerged with another full-length that should keep the majority of listeners satisfied. Keeping with the general blueprint that made Music Has the Right to Children so classic, Boards of Canada weave from track to track of lush and mesmerising compositions and fill in the gaps with tiny snippets of sound. For the most part, the cuts on Geogaddi either leave you with chills or suck you into a hypnotic state of drowning beats fumbling on top of thick wails of organ and electronic gadgetry. This time around the non-Canadians seemed to have opted to not experiment with song structure, something that made their previous effort a little more memorable and even catchy. Yet this broadening phase the pair have delved into has left some amazing compositional results in the process, but standout tracks like "1969" and "Dawn Chorus" fit more into the structured category and tend to have a superior, more memorable effect on the listener. Still, you have to give massive amounts of credit to Boards of Canada for taking their sound up to another level, one that will leave admirers in awe for the next few years. When faced with so much pressure in following up an electronic classic, there was really nowhere to go but forward and that's just what Boards of Canada have done with what will surely be humming through lounge stereos all year long.