Old Tunes
Encyclopedia
"Old Tunes" refers collectively to several controversial audio cassettes (comprising "A Few Old Tunes
", "Old Tunes Vol. 1
" and "Old Tunes Vol. 2
") rumored to have been privately released by Scottish
electronic music
duo Boards of Canada
, between 1995 and 1996.
Boards of Canada and their record label, Warp Records
, have yet to publicly acknowledge the Old Tunes tapes as legitimate Boards of Canada material. Copies of these tapes were allegedly privately released, so very few tapes are known to exist.
In early 2005, a member of the WATMM forums
attempted to sell two Old Tunes tapes in an online auction
, but the auction was quickly shut down, and the tapes were never sold
.
, due to the fact that most of their earlier recordings were reportedly never meant for public consumption. Rather, these mostly self-financed cassettes and CDs were distributed only to close family
and friends of the band.
, a music peer-to-peer file sharing
program. Soon after, a separate complete set of the full 30 tracks appeared. Over the course of the next few months, more tracks surfaced under the titles Old Tunes Volume 1 and Old Tunes Volume 2, bringing the total number of Old Tunes MP3s to over 100.
The tracks appear to have been ripped directly from the original Old Tunes tapes, explaining the low fidelity of many of the files, and the tape hiss that can be heard in the background of many of the songs.
From the time the first Old Tunes tracks appeared on the Internet, they have been surrounded by controversy. Having seen a number of fake Boards of Canada "rarities" in the past http://fredd-e.narfum.org/boc/discog/, much of the Boards of Canada fan community initially viewed the Old Tunes collections with skepticism, especially considering the sheer number of tracks.
However, along with certain undeniable similarities with the band's studio work (including a few entire tracks included on later works) led to a general acceptance of the Old Tunes tapes as authentic.
Joyrex, a respected Boards of Canada authority with known contacts with the band, and administrator of the popular electronic music site WATMM, initially proclaimed the tapes to be fake. However, he later recanted and confirmed that they were legitimate.
He explained his actions by stating that the tapes were only distributed to close personal friends of the band, that they were never meant for public consumption, and that he deliberately lied about them in an attempt to halt their dissemination, acting in accordance with the wishes of the band.
, with a starting bid of $800 (USD). Included in the listing were more photographs and a high-resolution scan of the cover and liner notes of Old Tunes Vol. 2. The auction was quickly shut down without a winning bidder, after representatives of the band contacted eBay.
Debate continued on the WATMM forums, as Prince Murat defended his actions, claiming to be fighting the Boards of Canada "hype machine". This eventually led to a rare public statement from whom is believed to be a representative of the band.
The post was signed simply by "mark, hs" and was made from a privileged account, "Hexagon Sun Official", created specifically for the band's use in monitoring the forum for potentially libelous content. Given Joyrex's previously known connections with the band, the message is considered by most fans to be an authentic communication from a legitimate representative of the group.
A Few Old Tunes (album)
-External links:* discography by Fredd-E-See also:* Warp Records* Skam Records* Music70* Matador Records* Hexagon Sun Collective* Boards of Canada discography...
", "Old Tunes Vol. 1
Old Tunes Vol. 1 (album)
According to bocpages.org, it was discovered that Old Tunes Vol. 1 and A Few Old Tunes are actually the same thing. This was discovered by viewing scans of the liner notes; Boards of Canada merely had referred to the same recording by two different names. A compilation of 35 old/rare tracks has...
" and "Old Tunes Vol. 2
Old Tunes Vol. 2 (album)
Old Tunes Vol. 2 is a rare studio-recorded IDM compilation album by Electronic music duo Boards of Canada. One of the three Boards of Canada tapes collectively referred to as Old Tunes, Old Tunes Vol...
") rumored to have been privately released by Scottish
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...
, between 1995 and 1996.
Boards of Canada and their record label, 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....
, have yet to publicly acknowledge the Old Tunes tapes as legitimate Boards of Canada material. Copies of these tapes were allegedly privately released, so very few tapes are known to exist.
In early 2005, a member of the WATMM forums
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
attempted to sell two Old Tunes tapes in an online auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
, but the auction was quickly shut down, and the tapes were never sold
Selling
Selling is offering to exchange something of value for something else. The something of value being offered may be tangible or intangible. The something else, usually money, is most often seen by the seller as being of equal or greater value than that being offered for sale.Another person or...
.
Origins
Boards of Canada has chosen to unlist all material predating their 1995 album, TwoismTwoism
Twoism 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...
, due to the fact that most of their earlier recordings were reportedly never meant for public consumption. Rather, these mostly self-financed cassettes and CDs were distributed only to close family
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
and friends of the band.
Audio cassettes
- Old Tunes Vol. 1Old Tunes Vol. 1 (album)According to bocpages.org, it was discovered that Old Tunes Vol. 1 and A Few Old Tunes are actually the same thing. This was discovered by viewing scans of the liner notes; Boards of Canada merely had referred to the same recording by two different names. A compilation of 35 old/rare tracks has...
- 1995 (Music70). Limited cassette release. - A Few Old TunesA Few Old Tunes (album)-External links:* discography by Fredd-E-See also:* Warp Records* Skam Records* Music70* Matador Records* Hexagon Sun Collective* Boards of Canada discography...
- 1996 (Music70). Limited cassette release. - Old Tunes Vol. 2Old Tunes Vol. 2 (album)Old Tunes Vol. 2 is a rare studio-recorded IDM compilation album by Electronic music duo Boards of Canada. One of the three Boards of Canada tapes collectively referred to as Old Tunes, Old Tunes Vol...
- 1996 (Music70). Limited cassette release.
MP3s
In early 2001, an incomplete set of 17 tracks labeled A Few Old Tunes was discovered on SoulseekSoulseek
Soulseek is a peer-to-peer file-sharing network and application. The term Soulseek might refer to one of the two networks, or one of the three official user client interfaces. Soulseek is used mostly to exchange music, although users are able to share a variety of files...
, a music peer-to-peer file sharing
Peer-to-peer file sharing
P2P or Peer-to-peer file sharing allows users to download files such as music, movies, and games using a P2P software client that searches for other connected computers. The "peers" are computer systems connected to each other through internet. Thus, the only requirements for a computer to join...
program. Soon after, a separate complete set of the full 30 tracks appeared. Over the course of the next few months, more tracks surfaced under the titles Old Tunes Volume 1 and Old Tunes Volume 2, bringing the total number of Old Tunes MP3s to over 100.
The tracks appear to have been ripped directly from the original Old Tunes tapes, explaining the low fidelity of many of the files, and the tape hiss that can be heard in the background of many of the songs.
Controversy
However, along with certain undeniable similarities with the band's studio work (including a few entire tracks included on later works) led to a general acceptance of the Old Tunes tapes as authentic.
Joyrex, a respected Boards of Canada authority with known contacts with the band, and administrator of the popular electronic music site WATMM, initially proclaimed the tapes to be fake. However, he later recanted and confirmed that they were legitimate.
He explained his actions by stating that the tapes were only distributed to close personal friends of the band, that they were never meant for public consumption, and that he deliberately lied about them in an attempt to halt their dissemination, acting in accordance with the wishes of the band.
Prince Murat affair
While MP3s of the Old Tunes tracks became fairly widespread on file-sharing networks, confirmed sightings of the original tapes remained elusive. This changed in February 2005, when a new user, "Prince Murat", appeared on the WATMM forums, claiming he owned original copies of A Few Old Tunes and Old Tunes vol. 2, and was looking to sell them. He backed his claims by posting photographs of the tapes; shortly afterwards the tapes were put up for auction at eBayEBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
, with a starting bid of $800 (USD). Included in the listing were more photographs and a high-resolution scan of the cover and liner notes of Old Tunes Vol. 2. The auction was quickly shut down without a winning bidder, after representatives of the band contacted eBay.
Debate continued on the WATMM forums, as Prince Murat defended his actions, claiming to be fighting the Boards of Canada "hype machine". This eventually led to a rare public statement from whom is believed to be a representative of the band.
The post was signed simply by "mark, hs" and was made from a privileged account, "Hexagon Sun Official", created specifically for the band's use in monitoring the forum for potentially libelous content. Given Joyrex's previously known connections with the band, the message is considered by most fans to be an authentic communication from a legitimate representative of the group.
See also
- 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....
- Skam RecordsSkam RecordsSkam Records is an independent Electronic record label based in Manchester, England, founded by Andy Maddocks around 1990. Skam also runs a smaller sub-label called 33.-History:...
- 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...
- Matador RecordsMatador RecordsMatador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...
- Hexagon Sun CollectiveHexagon SunHexagon 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...
- Boards of Canada discographyBoards of Canada discographyThis page contains a comprehensive collection of information related to recordings made by electronic music duo Boards of Canada.-Purported early albums:* Catalog 3 - Summer 1987 . Limited cassette release. Limited CD re-release in 1997....
External links
- A Few Old Tunes discography by Fredd-E.
- Old Tunes Vol. 1 discography by Fredd-E.
- Old Tunes Vol. 2 discography by Fredd-E.
- A Few Old Tunes at Discogs.com.