Back Boards

OK, so it looks like it's actually happening...

Tape 05 is the first music from Boards of Canada in 13 years. So, if everyone could hold off bombing each other to oblivion until the album drops, that would be fab.

This upload follows the VHS mailouts and the posters appearing in LA, NY, London and Tokyo in the last week or so. If this rollout is going to be anything like Tomorrow's Harvest in 2013, then I'd recommend following bocpages on Instagram to keep up to speed. There's also this evolving thread on the story so far on the bocpages website.

Genuinely so happy that BOC appear to be back.

PS hi how are you? Sorry for the lack of posting, a mix of sickness, holidays and general existential dread means I've not felt like posting. But hey, couldn't miss this news.

Daphni Buzz

I reviewed Daphni's new album Butterfly for Buzz magazine the other day; it even made it into the print edition on page 28. (I did give it four stars, maybe the full review online reads more like a three?).

Hang is my pick from the album, and it also appears on Daphni's recent Essential Mix, which is up for the next month or so on BBC Sounds.

9 in 1 (55)

Hi, how are you?

Hiroshi Yoshimura - Creek

One day, I'll get around to buying Green. Yoshimura's 1986 album was mentioned in one of the later chapters in Everything We Do is Music: How 20th-Century Classical Music Shaped Pop by Elizabeth Alker, which I finished off the other day. Good read like.

Manchester String Quartet - Voodoo Ray

Is this a bit too Pete Tong Ibiza Classics? It's right on the line.

Felix Da Housecat - Silver Screen Shower Scene (Thin White Duke Mix by Jacques Lu Cont)

I rarely adore a remix as much as I do the original, but here we are. Georgous orchestral start before it starts jacking, incredible stuff.

The Black Madonna - Venus Requiem

Another one from Acker's book - the chapter focussed on Pauline Oliveros - from the DJ now known as The Blessed Madonna.

Slam - Positive Education (Slam Remix)

No nonsense, heads down techno from Glasgow from 2001. 

Llondon Actress - Country

As flagged on the No Tags pod's best of 2025 episode (and a subsequent Dan Hancox post) there is something interesting going on here, definitely hearing Clams Casino in there on the production.

Lily Allen - Ruminating

Look, I'm just as suprised as you are, but this really gets under the skin.

KW Griff - Bring in the Katz (feat. Pork Chop)

I could watch those Baltimore line dancing videos for hours. The comments section is also a joy.

Hadouken! - That Boy That Girl

2008 was a long long long time ago.

Original image: Rosa Bonheur, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Four Kings

I've been enjoying Four Kings on Channel 4, a "documentary series exploring the careers of great Black British boxers Frank Bruno, Lennox Lewis, Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn, featuring interviews with the men themselves."

Figured it would be good to roll out again that video of Benn entering the ring to We Are I.E. by Lennie De Ice, but it's got a copyright strike.

So, as identified by UK Rave Comments as the fight at which it happened, here's the full highlights of Benn's fight with Danny Perez from 1995, with the breakbeat hardcore banger kicking in at around 3 minutes. What a time.

Top 12 Tracks I Heard In 2025

Finger on the pulse, Sammo, here are the top 12 tracks I heard in 2025. Not stuff that came out in 2025, but stuff that I heard for the first time in 2025.

In no particular order...

• John Martyn - Please Fall in Love with Me [1981]

• Van Morrison - Dweller on the Threshold [1982]

• Il Quadro di Troisi - Non Ricordi [2020]

• Joshua Idehen - Mum Does The Washing [2024]

• LCD Soundsystem - Home (Tom Sharkett Edit) [2025]

• Capone - Music Love Song [1979]

• Robyn - Dopamine [2025]

• SOPHIE - Is It Cold in the Water? [2018]

• SOPHIE - Immaterial [2018]

• Snooper  - Pom Pom [2025]

• Earl Sweatshirt - 2010 [2021]

• Clipse - P.O.V. feat. Tyler, The Creator [2025] (this is also my music video of the year)

Mix of the year

Brava & Teki Latex on Rinse France - 30 October 2025.

Special shout-out to the Jam City XLR8R mix from 2011 that I found on an old pen drive too.

Gig of the year

The Futureheads at SWX, Bristol - February 2025.

Album of the year

Maybe the Polygon Window re-issue? Or the Metronomy greatest hits? Yeah, I didn't really listen to or buy many new albums over 2025.

Actually, I did get OIL OF EVERY PEARL'S UN-INSIDES, definitely listened to that more than anything else in 2025, so SOPHIE gets it.

Related post: Top 10 Things I Heard in 2024