Boards of Canada are a well acclaimed electronic duo from Edinburgh, United Kingdom, having a unique and particularly eerie sound that gets under the skin of their listeners. Whether it be for their nostalgic blend of looping sample rhythms and tape loops, or for their expert sound design that often brings their albums and songs together into one large, odd picture.
“Geogaddi” and “Music Has the Right to Children” are their most praised albums, but the duo also have a lot of EPs under their belt, one of them being “In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country.” Ranked by many as one of the greatest EPs of all time, it sees the band delving into their usual formula of beautiful and creepy tape loops, backed by rhythmic drums and sometimes vocal placements.
Nothing is different from “In a Beautiful Place,” but Boards of Canada regardless creates a fantastic sense of atmosphere throughout the miniscule tracklist of four songs. Each song is around five to six minutes long, and is very immersive and strange.
The first song, “Kid For Today,” gives a perfect rundown of what the EP will be like, with its ambient and melodic tape loop getting backed up by a drum loop that constantly repeats for minutes at a time. I love how the track itself adds so much subtle detail throughout, with several smaller synths adding to the main melody. It feels like it is constantly building up before suddenly stopping and fading away.
“Amo Bishop Roden” is a lot quieter, however, it still is a very patient track. While my least favorite, it still creates an impressively quiet yet beautiful atmosphere. However, it is the only track that I would say runs a bit too long. While every other track is long and patient, there really isn’t much going on with “Amo Bishop Roden” for me to really enjoy it as much.
My favorite song would have to be the title track. It more or less follows the same formula as “Kid For Today,” with an exceptionally off-putting tape melody. Throughout the song, however, you can hear a vocoder processed voice, repeating the same line constantly. “Come out and live in a religious community in a beautiful place out in the country.”
I think what also sets the EP apart from others are its surrounding themes of cultism. The entire work is centered around the Branch Davidian and their Waco retreat, and the album refers to the events following that in more ways than one. For one, the line spoken on the title track is by Amo Bishop Roden, who the second track is named after.
There are more things to pick from this album in terms of the Branch Davidian, but these are the most prominent aspects that I picked up on during my listens.
The final track, “Zoetrope,” grew on me the most out of all of these tracks. It’s strange diversion from the EP’s simple formulaic approach turned out to be much more fitting for a finale than I originally thought it to be. The name references an old machine that created an animation through multiple moving pictures, which many have said to have aligned with the duo’s themes of childhood and nostalgia.
The song itself contains echoey staccato keyboard hits that create a central melody for its five minute run time. While all the other tracks have done this to a point, “Zoetrope” to me sounds the most beautiful and nostalgic, despite not aligning with the more cultish themes of the rest of the EP.
“In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country” mixes feelings of nostalgia and fear with ideas of cultism through the Branch Davidian. While not as long and as well acclaimed, Boards of Canada create an increasingly strange picture that will lead viewers down a wormhole of exploration. In terms of its sound, the duo create a fantastic and spectacularly eerie project, having fantastic usages of tape loops and minimal drums throughout. I would give this album an eight out of 10.