The Campfire Headphase

The Campfire Headphase is the third studio album by Boards of Canada. Released by Warp Records in October 2005, the album featured the addition of more organic musical elements, including heavily treated acoustic guitars and more conventional song structures. It received generally positive reviews from critics, and reached number 41 on the UK albums chart.

The Campfire Headphase
Studio album by
Boards of Canada
Released17 October 2005 (2005-10-17)
Recorded2001–2004
Genre
Length62:05
Label
ProducerMichael Sandison, Marcus Eoin
Boards of Canada chronology
Geogaddi
(2002)		 The Campfire Headphase
(2005)		 Trans Canada Highway
(2006)
Singles from The Campfire Headphase
  1. "Oscar See Through Red Eye"
    Released: September 5, 2005
  2. "Dayvan Cowboy"
    Released: October 4, 2005

Background

The duo began recording sketches for the album as early as 2002, but did not work on the project in earnest until 2004.[1] According to Michael Sandison, in comparison to their previous releases they aimed to "simultaneously shift and reduce the sound palette, making it more like a conventional band gone over the edge."[1] This resulted in the presence of fewer samples, vocals, and cryptic references in favor of organic instrumentation.[1] Regarding their process, Sandison stated that:

We usually imagine our music to have a visual element while we're writing it, so we were picturing this character losing his mind at the campfire and compressing weeks of events into a few hours, in that time-stretching way that acid fucks with your perception.[1]

The duo avoided effects units and computer programming when possible, preferring to manipulate hardware sounds through direct modifications and EQing.[1]

Release and reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic79/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[4]
The Guardian[5]
The Independent[6]
Mojo[7]
NME7/10[8]
The Observer[9]
Pitchfork7.6/10[10]
Q[11]
Uncut[12]

The track "Oscar See Through Red Eye" was released digitally on 5 September 2005 by Bleep.com, an online shop maintained by Warp Records. On 4 October 2005, the track "Dayvan Cowboy" was released through iTunes.

In April 2006, a music video for the song "Dayvan Cowboy" was released on the Warp Records website. The video consists of footage from Joe Kittinger's famous parachute jump from 19.5 miles' (31.4 km) altitude, and later slow-motion footage of big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton. The video was directed by Melissa Olson.[13]

The album received generally positive reviews, receiving a rating of 79 out of 100 on aggregate website Metacritic.[2] Mark Richardson of Pitchfork noted that the group's use of guitars "makes explicit something about the band's sound that was always just beneath the surface: the connection of the music to the pastoral tradition of British folk," but noted that "the best thing Campfire Headphase has going is its unnamable synthesizer sounds," and concluded that its "blissed-out narcotic interludes don't come quite often enough, though, and in fact this feels like a step down from the last two albums."[10]

Simon Reynolds of The Observer wrote that “blurring the boundaries between rock and techno is a smart move, because BoC have always made music that deserved to appeal beyond the electronic audience,” and praised “the stereophonic delirium of their production.”[9] In December 2005, American webzine Somewhere Cold ranked The Campfire Headphase No. 2 on their 2005 Somewhere Cold Awards Hall of Fame list.[14]

Track listing

All music is composed by Marcus Eoin and Mike Sandison.

No.TitleLength
1."Into the Rainbow Vein"0:44
2."Chromakey Dreamcoat"5:47
3."Satellite Anthem Icarus"6:04
4."Peacock Tail"5:24
5."Dayvan Cowboy"5:00
6."A Moment of Clarity"0:51
7."’84 Pontiac Dream"3:49
8."Sherbet Head"2:41
9."Oscar See Through Red Eye"5:08
10."Ataronchronon"1:14
11."Hey Saturday Sun"4:56
12."Constants Are Changing"1:42
13."Slow This Bird Down"6:09
14."Tears from the Compound Eye"4:03
15."Farewell Fire"8:26
Total length:61:58
Japanese[15] bonus track
No.TitleLength
16."Macquarie Ridge"4:57
Total length:67:02

Personnel

All personnel credits adapted from The Campfire Headphase's liner notes.[16]

Boards of Canada
Design personnel
  • Boards of Canada – design
  • Natasha Morton – design

Charts
Chart (2005) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[17] 71
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[18] 83
French Albums (SNEP)[19] 86
Irish Albums (IRMA)[20] 55
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[21] 40
Scottish Albums (OCC)[22] 24
UK Albums (OCC)[23] 41
UK Dance Albums (OCC)[24] 2
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[25] 4
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[26] 5
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[27] 19

The album was awarded a silver certification from the Independent Music Companies Association which indicated sales of at least 30,000 copies throughout Europe.[28]

References
  1. Hutton, Erin (1 December 2005). "Emotional Abuse". Remix. Penton Media. Archived from the original on 1 June 2007. Retrieved 20 February 2007.
  2. "Reviews for The Campfire Headphase by Boards of Canada". Metacritic. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  3. Bush, John. "The Campfire Headphase – Boards of Canada". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  4. "Boards of Canada: The Campfire Headphase". Entertainment Weekly: 77. 21 October 2005.
  5. Burgess, John (14 October 2005). "Boards of Canada, The Campfire Headphase". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  6. Phelan, Laurence (16 October 2005). "Boards of Canada: The Campfire Headphase (Warp)". The Independent.
  7. "Boards of Canada: The Campfire Headphase". Mojo (143): 104. October 2005.
  8. "Boards of Canada: The Campfire Headphase". NME: 36. 15 October 2005.
  9. Reynolds, Simon (18 October 2005). "Boards of Canada, The Campfire Headphase". The Observer. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  10. Richardson, Mark (16 October 2005). "Boards of Canada: The Campfire Headphase". Pitchfork. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  11. "Boards of Canada: The Campfire Headphase". Q (232): 131. November 2005.
  12. "Boards of Canada: The Campfire Headphase". Uncut (102): 102. November 2005.
  13. Steve Marchese (2006). "Sky's the Limit". RES Media Group. Archived from the original on 2007-03-13. Retrieved 2006-11-25.
  14. Lamoreaux, Jason T. (December 1, 2005). "Somewhere Cold Awards 2005". Somewhere Cold. Archived from the original on September 30, 2005. Retrieved September 30, 2005.
  15. The Campfire Headphase (CD). Boards of Canada. Beat Records. 2005. BRC=139.CS1 maint: others (link)
  16. The Campfire Headphase (CD). Boards of Canada. Warp Records. 2005. WARPCD123.CS1 maint: others (link)
  17. "Ultratop.be – Boards of Canada – The Campfire Headphase" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  18. "Dutchcharts.nl – Boards of Canada – The Campfire Headphase" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  19. "Lescharts.com – Boards of Canada – The Campfire Headphase". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  20. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Boards of Canada". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  21. "Norwegiancharts.com – Boards of Canada – The Campfire Headphase". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  22. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  23. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  24. "Official Dance Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  25. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  26. "Boards of Canada Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  27. "Boards of Canada Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  28. "color". www.impalamusic.org. Retrieved 2017-12-26.
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