I have no idea how they pull it off, but the music of the Scottish duo Boards Of Canada somehow manages to be completely alien, yet subconsciously familiar. It's as if they somehow tapped into a collective Western consciousness, extracted snippets of our childhood memories (sounds, visuals, smells, etc.), combined them, and translated them directly into music. Their American debut, the aptly-titled Music has The Right To Children, captures the unfolding of a child's mind in all its wonder, mystique, and occasionally, fear.

The sounds, textures, and melodies are at once simple and complex. The beats, all downtempo and fairly repetitive, contain elements of hip-hop, trip-hop, old-school electro, and the slightest hint of drum 'n' bass. Samples of random numbers and words (both understandable and unintelligible), giggling children, wind, and water embed themselves cozily in the songs. Layers of analog synths play uncomplicated, yet obliquely resonant and beautiful tunes. Sometimes a gorgeous melody line will apear only once in a song.
Instead of going "look, I've got a Moog and I'm gonna tweak the knobs as obnoxiously as possible, BLOOP BWONK" they aim for simple, warm, and slightly fuzzy 70's nature-film sounds. Rather than trying to cook some complicated and filling dish, they opt for some of the best-tasting fruits and grains available.

However, those who think this will be a light, smiley-happy album should take caution. Underneath the lovely, curious, and wide-eyed surface adornment lurks the other prominent childhood emotion: fear. It's really hard to pinpoint it, but there is an underlying creepiness to some of the songs. Not that this is a dark album by any means, but like the featureless faces of the children on the cover, there is something slightly off. Maybe it's the backwards spoken vocals in "Happy Cycling," maybe it could be the undecipherable samples frequently buried elsewhere. It adds to the mystique and weird ambivalence of the album.

The album has immaculate pacing. It starts out slow and quiet with the spacey, floating "Wildlife Analysis" and the mellow electro of "An Eagle In Your Mind." The pace picks up a bit with the otherworldly, percussive verbal samples in "Telephasic Workshop" and the hip-hoppy "Sixtyten." The first distinctly prominent melody appears in the lovely "Turquoise Hexagon Sun," (which somehow sounds like the title, for lack of a better description).

Music has The Right To Children peaks in the middle with the vibrant, very 70's "Roygbiv." This shoulda-been-on-a-childrens-show song seems to be the one that attracts potential fans. Two tracks later is the watery lite-funker "Aquarius," which features a sample of a man saying the word "Orange," laughing kids saying "yeah, that's right," and an electronic female voice counting upwards and then losing the order. Randomness has never been so enlightening.

After this, things seem to head towards a thematic sunset. After the Aphex-lite "Pete Standing Alone," "Smokes Quantity" and "Open The Light" have a sleepy, woozy feel about them. After the odd anti-censorship public announcement in "One Very Important Thought," the closing "Happy Cycling" sounds like an relaxing jog through dreamland.

The 18 tracks, ranging in length from a 59-second melodic idea ("Kaini Industries") to a nearly 8 minutes ("Happy Cycling") all tend to use similar sounds and melodic figures, which could lead some people to find the album monotonous. This album, however, is all about flow, with each track containing some distinctive element while carrying a consistent feel across the whole. If they drastically changed up every other song, the album wouldn't work as beautifully.

Boards Of Canada have released a few other ep's and singles in Europe, but in the United States, the only other available release is their recent ep In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country, which, in my opinion, is good, but not quite up to the level of this album. Until they release another full-length, I'll consider Music Has The Right To Children as their masterwork.

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Going to Sleep