Music Has the Right to Children

Music Has the Right to Children's flow isn't as strong as Geogaddi's, but the quality tracks are present. The most trip-hop apparent full-length album by the duo. Key tracks are: roygbiv, Aqaurius, and Happy Cycling.
A lot of interlude tracks detract from an otherwise solid album. Some of the interlude tracks are extremely enjoyable though, see: Kaini Industries and Smokes Quantity.

This Scottish electronic duo rightfully stuck out amidst their more generic trance or mild idm cohorts with unique synths and unpredictable beat patterns, but in retrospect certainly did not live up to all the praise has suggested. Their signature style includes warm yet gently menacing keyboards, juxtaposing the innocence of youth with something far more sinister to a satisfying effect. But after admiring the aesthetic, it becomes all too apparent that some of these vacant, methodical exercises are too sterile for their own good. Compositionally, MHTRTC is mired in a redundancy that articulates sluggishness, though there are many exceptions where finely tuned subtle production saves listeners from ear-apathy.

Boards of Canada are not without talent but they really should cut down on the repetition. Some of these songs (e.g., Aquarius) just go on and on for no apparent reason, with the musicians in Aquarius reciting random numbers for quite a spell just to relieve the listener's boredom. Another thing-- giggling children saying "that's right" or other short phrases over and over again are not interesting additions to soundscapes. Whether you like kids or not, they're generally not very musical here and they just add to the repetitious quality of the tracks when they are invoked. Yeah, I get the fact that the album is called "Music Has the Right to Children" but I'd reply that listeners have the right to MUSIC -- and there ain't enough of that in this well over one hour long record.

I like to put this on when I am getting ready to take a nap - saves on Lunesta.

My introduction to Boards of Canada was through their "Campfire Headphase" release in 2005. This 1998 release, "Music Has The Right To Children" is a really good album, if you keep playing it for awhile. While there are a few tracks that grabbed me right away, like "Roygbiv", "Olsen", and "Rue The Whirl", the album as a whole took a while to sink in to my system. I listened to this album sporadically, and then played it nonstop about 3 or 4 times in my car while driving around. "Rue The Whirl" has a pretty sick beat for driving. "Telephasic Workshop" also works pretty well as driving music. But the key track for me is the sublime two and a half minutes of "Roygbiv". I wish it could have gone on for a little while longer.

Music like this is hard to describe. I will say that anyone who grew up in the 70s, early 80s, like me, might feel a vibe of carefree summer days and vacation road trips when listening to this album. There's a hypnotic quality to it. The cover, depicts some people (mostly children) perhaps at a tourist site/scenic overlook, with their faces missing. A few of the songs have children's voices included. "Aquarius" has a woman counting numbers in what seems, at first, in sequence and then randomly. "Happy Cycling" (only included on the U.S. release) has seagull sounds.

This music might not be as imaginative or complex as the music of my favorite techno band, Future Sound of London, but it still works and anyone who likes chill-out or ambient type music will enjoy this.