Music Has the Right to Children
Encyclopedia
Music Has the Right to Children is the debut public album of the Scottish
electronic music
duo Boards of Canada
. It was published by Warp Records
and released on 20 April 1998 in Europe
and 20 August in the United States
. The album was produced at the Hexagon Sun
, the duo's personal recording studio.
The songs utilize a number of field recording
s and intense sound manipulation.
It was ranked #91 in Mojo's 100 Modern Classics – "[T]hey took electronica into space. Cleverly referencing the esoteric side of '70s Test Card music in all its trippy glory."
Q Magazine called it "[A] thing of wonder....The aural equivalent of old Super 8 movies...".
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
duo Boards of Canada
Boards of Canada
Boards of Canada are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin...
. It was published by Warp Records
Warp Records
Warp, commonly referred to as Warp Records, is a pioneering independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the more enduring artists in electronic music....
and released on 20 April 1998 in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and 20 August in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The album was produced at the Hexagon Sun
Hexagon Sun
Hexagon Sun is an artistic collective based in the Pentland Hills, Scotland. The confirmed members are Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin , the front-men of the band Boards of Canada, photographer Peter Iain Campbell, Simon Goderich, Mark Garrett, Rachel Stewart, Alan Mackenzie, and Andrew Wilson...
, the duo's personal recording studio.
The songs utilize a number of field recording
Field recording
Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside of a recording studio. The recording is typically recorded in the same channel format as the desired result, for instance, stereo recording equipment will yield a stereo product...
s and intense sound manipulation.
Track listing
Trivia
- "Smokes Quantity" first appeared on TwoismTwoismTwoism was an album released by Boards of Canada on their own Music70 record label in 1995. It was a self-financed cassette and record distributed privately. Major public releases would not happen until 1996's Hi Scores EP on Skam Records. This album was, however, the work which got them noticed by...
in 1995, and many other tracks appear on Boc MaximaBoc MaximaBoc Maxima was released by Boards of Canada on Music70 in 1996. This is prior to their more public releases on Skam Records and Warp Records. After Hi Scores was released on Skam Records, many of Boc Maxima songs were reused in 1998's Music Has the Right to Children. Boc Maxima was broadcast in...
, albeit in different forms. - "The Color of the Fire" first appeared in a shorter form on A Few Old Tunes as "I Love U".
- The short songs appended to the end of "Triangles and Rhombuses" and "Sixtyten" predate the album and were later featured on the unofficial compilation Old Tunes, Vol. 1Old Tunes"Old Tunes" refers collectively to several controversial audio cassettes "Old Tunes" refers collectively to several controversial audio cassettes "Old Tunes" refers collectively to several controversial audio cassettes (comprising "A Few Old Tunes", "Old Tunes Vol. 1" and "Old Tunes Vol...
, where they are separate tracks. - "Sixtyten" is how one would say "70" in the French languageFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. 70 is the smallest weird numberWeird numberIn number theory, a weird number is a natural number that is abundant but not semiperfect.In other words, the sum of the proper divisors of the number is greater than the number, but no subset of those divisors sums to the number itself.- Examples :The smallest weird number is 70...
. A track found on their next album is called "The Smallest Weird Number" and is possibly a reference to the Boards of Canada's own music label, Music70Music70Music70 is a record label run by Boards of Canada. Boards of Canada used Music70 as a front to release many of their very early works. These albums were mostly distributed among friends and relatives and are, therefore, extremely rare. It has released only Boards of Canada's music, which is...
. - "Pete Standing Alone" is the name of a Blood IndianKainai NationThe Kainai Nation is a First Nation in southern Alberta, Canada with a population of 7,437 members in 2005, and had a population of 9,035 members as of 9 February 2008...
who is the subject of a documentary produced by the National Film Board of CanadaNational Film Board of CanadaThe National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
. It is also featured in many episodes of the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's motoring show Top Gear. - "RoygbivRoy G. BivROYGBIV is an acronym for the visible part of the electromagnetic light spectrum:* Red* Orange* Yellow* Green* Blue* Indigo* VioletA rainbow spans a continuous spectrum of colors; the distinct bands are an artifact of human color vision...
" is a mnemonicMnemonicA mnemonic , or mnemonic device, is any learning technique that aids memory. To improve long term memory, mnemonic systems are used to make memorization easier. Commonly encountered mnemonics are often verbal, such as a very short poem or a special word used to help a person remember something,...
for colours of the visible spectrum. - The track "Rue the Whirl" appears in the "Mettle" episode of SpacedSpacedSpaced is a British television sitcom written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and directed by Edgar Wright. It is noted for its rapid-fire editing, frequent pop culture references and jokes, eclectic music, and occasional displays of surrealism and non-sequitur humour...
. - The track "Rue the Whirl" appears in a 2007 Mercedes Benz advertisement
- The track "Kaini Industries" was covered by BibioBibioStephen Wilkinson, better known as Bibio, is a British music producer. His music is primarily electronic and experimental in nature. He currently releases music on the Warp Records label, and previously on Mush Records.-Biographical information:...
for the Warp RecordsWarp RecordsWarp, commonly referred to as Warp Records, is a pioneering independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the more enduring artists in electronic music....
compilation Warp20 (Recreated)Warp20 (Recreated)Warp20 is a compilation album released by Warp Records in 2009. It contains covers of Warp artists, such as Aphex Twin, LFO, Boards of Canada and Grizzly Bear by other Warp artists, such as Plaid, Autechre and Mira Calix.-Track listing:...
in 2009. - The track "Aquarius" uses a sample from Galt MacDermotGalt MacDermotGalt MacDermot is a Canadian composer, pianist and writer of musical theatre. He won a Grammy Award for the song African Waltz in 1960. His most successful musicals have been Hair and Two Gentlemen of Verona...
's "AquariusAquarius/Let the Sunshine In"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" is a medley of two songs written for the 1967 musical Hair by James Rado & Gerome Ragni , and Galt MacDermot , released as a single by The 5th Dimension. The song peaked at number one for six weeks on the U.S...
" from the soundtrack of the 1979 musical film HairHair (film)Hair is a 1979 American film adaptation of the 1968 Broadway musical of the same name about a Vietnam war draftee who meets and befriends a tribe of long-haired hippies on his way to the army induction center...
. - The track "Happy Cycling" was mistakenly left off 500 copies of the initial North American release of the album despite the artwork indicating that the song was included.
Reception
The album received widespread acclaim upon release.It was ranked #91 in Mojo's 100 Modern Classics – "[T]hey took electronica into space. Cleverly referencing the esoteric side of '70s Test Card music in all its trippy glory."
Q Magazine called it "[A] thing of wonder....The aural equivalent of old Super 8 movies...".
External links
- Music Has the Right to Children at the official Warp RecordsWarp RecordsWarp, commonly referred to as Warp Records, is a pioneering independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the more enduring artists in electronic music....
website - "Roygbiv" at the official Warp Records website