Music Has the Right to Children

Music Has the Right to Children
Studio album by Boards of Canada
Released 20 April 1998 (Europe)
20 August 1998 (U.S.)
Recorded Hexagon Sun studio
Pentland Hills, Scotland
Genre Ambient techno, IDM
Length 62:58 (Original UK edition)
70:42 (1998 & 2004 edition)
Label Warp, Skam, Matador
Producer Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin
Boards of Canada chronology

Aquarius
(1998)		 Music Has the Right to Children
(1998)		 Telephasic Workshop/Roygbiv
(1998)

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 Hexagon Sun, the duo's personal recording studio.

The songs utilise a number of field recordings and intense sound manipulation.[1]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Marcus Eoin and Mike Sandison. 

No. Title Length
1. "Wildlife Analysis"   1:17
2. "An Eagle in Your Mind"   6:23
3. "The Color of the Fire"   1:45
4. "Telephasic Workshop"   6:35
5. "Triangles & Rhombuses"   1:50
6. "Sixtyten"   5:48
7. "Turquoise Hexagon Sun"   5:07
8. "Kaini Industries"   0:59
9. "Bocuma"   1:35
10. "Roygbiv"   2:31
11. "Rue the Whirl"   6:39
12. "Aquarius"   5:58
13. "Olson"   1:31
14. "Pete Standing Alone"   6:07
15. "Smokes Quantity"   3:07
16. "Open the Light"   4:25
17. "One Very Important Thought"   1:14
Total length:
 62:58
Bonus track on 1998 U.S. Matador release and 2004 Warp re-release
No. Title Length
18. "Happy Cycling"   7:51
Total length:
 70:42

Production

"Smokes Quantity" first appeared on Twoism in 1995, and many other tracks appear on Boc Maxima, 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 featured on the compilation Old Tunes, Vol. 1, where they are separate tracks.

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

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [2]
About.com [3]
Drowned in Sound 9/10[4]
Pitchfork Media 10/10[5]
Slant Magazine [6]

The album received widespread acclaim upon release.[7][8][9]

Music Has the Right to Children featured at #35 on Pitchfork's "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s" list.[10]

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...".

Notes

Digipak-style packaging for the 2004 edition of Music Has the Right to Children
  1. ↑ Ariel Kyrou & Jean-Yves Leloup (1998). "Two Aesthetes of Electronic Music". Virgin Megaweb. Retrieved 2006-11-22.
  2. ↑ Bush, John. "Music Has the Right to Children – Boards of Canada". AllMusic. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
  3. ↑ http://altmusic.about.com/od/1990s/fr/Boards-of-Canada-Music-Has-The-Right-To-Children-1998.htm
  4. ↑ http://drownedinsound.com/releases/17963/reviews/4147117
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/boards-of-canada-music-has-the-right-to-children
  7. ↑ John Bush (1998). "Music Has the Right to Children Overview". All Media Guide, LLC. Retrieved 2006-11-22.
  8. ↑ Sal Cinquemani (2002). "Music Review: Music Has the Right to Children". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2006-11-22.
  9. ↑ review at Pitchfork, 2004
  10. ↑ "Staff Lists: Top 100 Albums of the 1990s - Features - Pitchfork".

External links