Boards Of Canada - Hi Scores

Before Music Has the Right to Children made them one of electronic music’s most cherished acts, Boards of Canada were two Scottish brothers making records for a tiny circle of fans. Released on Skam Records in 1996, Hi Scores was the duo’s first widely available release, and the moment the rest of the world started to catch on.

Across six tracks and just over half an hour, Hi Scores lays out the Boards of Canada sound almost fully formed: warm, worn analog synths, slow and heavy hip-hop rhythms, and melodies that feel like half-remembered television from a childhood you never quite had. “Turquoise Hexagon Sun” remains one of their most beloved pieces, its hazy drift so central to the duo’s identity that they named their studio after it. “Everything You Do Is a Balloon” closes the record with its own gentle, unhurried pull, while “Nlogax,” “June 9th” and “Seeya Later” fill out a set with no wasted moments.

Long regarded as the bridge between the Twoism mini-album and their Warp debut, Hi Scores has become a cornerstone of the catalog and a fixture in any serious electronic collection. Its return feels especially well timed, arriving in the wake of Inferno, the duo’s first new album since 2013’s Tomorrow’s Harvest.

This 30th anniversary edition from Warp Records presents all six tracks on 12" vinyl, newly packaged in a gatefold sleeve with four 12" x 12" prints. It marks the EP’s first time on vinyl since 2014 and the first time the full Boards of Canada catalog has been widely available on vinyl at the same time.