User Submitted Album

Geogaddi

Boards of Canada

2002

2.91

Rating

162

Votes

Distribution

Electronica

Album Summary

Geogaddi is the second studio album by Scottish electronic music duo Boards of Canada, released on 18 February 2002 by Warp Records. It was recorded between 1999 and 2001 at Hexagon Sun, their Pentland Hills studio. The album was intended to be—and has been described as—darker in tone than their debut studio album Music Has the Right to Children, released in 1998. Geogaddi received critical acclaim upon release, in addition to being acclaimed by several publications as one of the year's best albums. It was listed by music website Pitchfork as one of the best intelligent dance music albums of all time. Sandison described the album as "a record for some sort of trial-by-fire, a claustrophobic, twisting journey that takes you into some pretty dark experiences before you reach the open air again." The September 11 attacks drastically influenced the tone of the album during its production in 2001, with the duo "glued to the TV for the whole day" and Sandison saying that they had subsequently been pushed "into making a darker record". Mark Richardson of Pitchfork wrote that "the atmosphere on this album is a shade darker than on previous releases, and comparatively tense with a noticeable thread of paranoia." The album has been noted for featuring esoteric references, samples and subliminal messages, including references to numerology, Wicca and the Branch Davidians. Boards of Canada have claimed that the album's title is made up of several words with a specific meaning, but left it up to the listener to interpret it.

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Reviews

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Apr 12 2025 Author

My fav Boards of Canada LP – while their other albums are uniformly amazing, this one has an uncharacteristic element of darkness and creeping uncertainty. It’s the perfect juxtaposition to Boards’ usual melodic dreamscapes and makes for a more engaging, demanding listen that stands out among their ethereal landscapes

Apr 08 2025 Author

One of the best Boards of Canada albums and one of my favorite electronic albums. During the albums the sounds get stranger and the compositions weirder (The Devil Is in the Detail). An absolute must listen!

Aug 14 2025 Author

For some reason, my brain always wants Boards of Canada to sound like a modern version of Grand Funk Railroad, and it always takes a while to adjust my brain to their pleasantly ambient brand of electronica. Also they're Scottish, which is probably why this is so good, since Scottish musicians are somehow superior to all other nationalities, at least in the English-speaking world. This album is great. It's slow paced and relaxing, but it holds my interest. I think this is an album I'd like to own in the future 4/5

Apr 08 2025 Author

Too art forward for me maybe. I feel like I've heard a lot of this kind of electronica - the repetitive synth lines, the found audio snippets that don't add much for me. I don't hate listening to it, but I also don't feel like I get all that much out of it. It is maybe a genre I just don't get.

Aug 29 2025 Author

This isn't really my kind of thing, but I do think, for this kind of thing, it wasn't really very good.

Sep 07 2025 Author

A second needless long album from this group

Apr 16 2025 Author

Wasn't high so didn't enjoy it

Apr 28 2025 Author

Overrated band loved by no one walking around outside in real life.

Jul 15 2025 Author

No. Please make it stop. Oh, I can do that myself? Amazing.

Jun 05 2025 Author

This is one of the most unique electronic albums of all time. It might not be as consistent as "Music Has the Right to Children", but there is just something so captivating about the weirdly nostalgic soundscapes it creates. One of those albums where no matter how many times you listen to them, you always find something new to appreciate. It's a musical kaleidoscope. Also one for early 2000s netizens, you might recognize the song "Beware The Friendly Stranger" as the Salad Fingers theme song.

Jul 13 2025 Author

I just love this album and love BoC too. How this wasn't also included with 'Music has the Right to Children' in the original 1001 i'm not sure but they don't seem to get the recognition they deserve. Truly innovative sounds. I never get tired of being transported by them to a different place.

Aug 05 2025 Author

On par with Music Has The Right To Children.

Nov 18 2025 Author

don't hug me, I'm scared Music Has the Right to Children certainly piqued my interest when I first heard it- thanks to this website. But Geogaddi initially unsettled me to the point that I wasn't even sure I liked it. Turns out I loved it, but that combo of "Beware the Friendly Stranger" and "Gyroscope" so early in the album is uniquely dread-inducing. No wonder they put the latter in the movie Sinister. Of course, Geogaddi isn't content to be mere psychological horror, as through the muck you also get groovy rhythms from the likes of "Julie and Candy" and "Music is Math". A concession to the listener Definitely don't want to listen to this all the time, but these freaky synths probably make for my favourite BoC album (out of a mere 4) HL: "Gyroscope", "Alpha and Omega", "Devil Is In the Details", "Julie and Candy", (I keep skipping to the ones I've heard already, this included, which I admit is kind of against the point of this whole generator. We'll get there when we get there, Tom Misch)

Apr 18 2025 Author

Reminds me a bit of The Books but more psychedelic. Kind of put me in a trance and made me want to take a nap. But in a good way.

Apr 18 2025 Author

A classic Boards of Canada listen, delightful

Apr 18 2025 Author

Pretty damn good

Apr 19 2025 Author

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Julie and candy, 1969

Apr 19 2025 Author

Nice selection, really interesting album

Apr 23 2025 Author

Chill and a great background listen

May 03 2025 Author

Very beautiful. I don't love it as much as the other one, but it is a feast of ideas over an hour

Aug 05 2025 Author

Se me hizo algo pesado por la mitad. Quizá sea demasiado largo. Aún así, me ha gustado. Agradable de escuchar.

Aug 10 2025 Author

Really pleasant electronic soundscapes.

Aug 23 2025 Author

Good ambient vibe

Aug 30 2025 Author

[inner dialogue: “Would it be cliche of me to say that Boards of Canada’s music is like the soundtrack to a vintage educational film from an alternate reality?” Yes, that’s probably the most unoriginal thing you could say about their music at this point. You probably stole that from a pitchfork review or something. “Ok, how about if I talk about how there’s an argument to be made that Geogaddi is as good of an album as Music Has the Right to Children, and in certain aspects it’s even better?” Also not the most original thing you could say about this record - there’s gotta be thousands of threads about that on Reddit alone. “Hmm…in that case, I’ll probably do a straight forward review and, after a paragraph or two, start talking about Tomorrow’s Harvest because I’ve got a short span of attention and that’s my favorite Boards of Canada record.” Yeah…uh, you already did that in your review of Music Has the Right To Children. “…Fuck”]

Sep 03 2025 Author

Starts you off on the chill beats to study & relax to, but then as the thing goes on it starts weaving in weirder samples & more intricate structures. Very fun capital-A Album experience

Nov 25 2025 Author

I don't know if I find this better then the one on the generator, or if I just like this style of music more, but this is great nonetheless. Just mysterious and off putting enough to be engaging without trying to bait an uncomfortable response, and it's surprisingly catchy for how low profile it can be. It just needs to cut off some of the fat near the end, even if it was just going for that sixty-six minutes and six seconds thing.

Apr 08 2025 Author

This was pretty good. Mildly unsettling and trippy. Some of it gets repetitive as you might expect it to get, but the brevity of most of the tracks and use of shorter interludes keeps this from wandering into the weeds. Fave Songs: Julie and Candy, Alpha and Omega, Music Is Math, The Smallest Weird Number

Apr 09 2025 Author

Prediction: electronica. Ok, it is, but it's also far more experimental than I anticipated. Tripper music, basically. I thought it was going to just be trance or something. I don't know honestly what this is beyond "drug music". End update: it was alright? Just did the same sorta stuff for an hour. Mildly psychedelic, would probably be great if I was off my head. Update update: listened to it stoned last night. The ambient tracks were really cool, the actual music not as effective as expected, but it was still alright. 3/5.

Apr 14 2025 Author

I'm not usually a fan of electronic music, but this was pretty cool. Mostly as background music, but interesting. A few of the songs creeped me out, especially some in the latter half of the album like The Devil is in the Details and Dawn Chorus. 3 stars.

Apr 14 2025 Author

So the description talks about this being one of the best ever "intelligent dance albums". Not really sure what that means, but the salt shaker in Sunshine Recorder almost makes it one of the tastiest dance albums out there.

Apr 15 2025 Author

Probably ok 3

Apr 18 2025 Author

Atmospheric and calm. Good as background sounds, but not something I would sit down and listen to

Apr 19 2025 Author

I thought I knew the genre of Boards of Canada, but I was wrong and this wasn’t what I thought it would be. I liked it well enough although it kept fading into the background and I would lose interest. Somewhat unsettling and dark, it didn’t catch fire with me but I didn’t dislike it.

Apr 22 2025 Author

IDM, downtempo, psychedelia, hauntology, ambient. Ni fu ni fa.

Apr 25 2025 Author

Brazy

Apr 25 2025 Author

Background music. Good background music but background music nonetheless. It's hard to talk about it more than that. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3.5/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No.

May 05 2025 Author

Pretty chill. I liked it.

May 30 2025 Author

I enjoyed the cerebral dance vibes but not as much as their 1998 album on this list. I am enjoying the image of people deep in thought wigging out on the dance floor to this, though.

May 31 2025 Author

Worth its place on the list, but do find it a bit tiresome to come back to.

Jun 13 2025 Author

"Beware the friendly stranger" - this is Salad Fingers! Why is the music from Salad Fingers in the user recommended list?

Jul 24 2025 Author

I like Electronica, but I can't listen to it all day. This is a good album, but seems to be missing something. Enjoyable with a chill out vibe.

Aug 02 2025 Author

Not sure why but Boards of Canada’s style of haunting downtempo electronica has just never really clicked with me. It’s a technological marvel of an album, with incredible production and attention to detail, and the occasional fragment of a melody or soundscape will really make an impression but there’s just not enough meat on this 66-minute ambient bone for me to dig into

Aug 05 2025 Author

IDM, downtempo, psychedelia, hauntology, ambient. Ni fu ni fa.

Sep 17 2025 Author

I learned something new about me today. I have a "too weird" level below what was my previous level.

Oct 15 2025 Author

Another Boards of Canada album was on the original list, and I didn't know anything about them previous to hearing that. I enjoyed that record enough as being something that was not offensive and not all that great, and serves as a great thing to put on as background music. I feel about the same with this one. Nothing all that interesting.

Apr 13 2025 Author

I believe I rated the Boards of Canada album on the original list with three stars. I'm neither a fan nor a critic—it simply doesn't resonate with me. This second entry from their catalog hasn't changed that impression. I find the music rather monotonous and lacking in variation.

Apr 14 2025 Author

Seemed like a collection of generally dark, moody electronic music experiments... most of them not very interesting or engaging. BIt of a chore to get through.

Apr 14 2025 Author

Maybe there’s a theoretical day where I’d be in the mood to listen to this but today was certainly not that day.

May 20 2025 Author

Quirky

May 29 2025 Author

Not a fan of the filler songs. The actual music was interesting but not usually my favorite. Possibly some great songs here and there

Jul 30 2025 Author

Increasingly convinced that "Music Has The Right to Children" was a one-off, a lightning-in-the-bottle moment that could never be repeated*. "Geogaddi" is OK, but it can't quite match the unconscious weirdness of "Music," and occasionally and unfortunately resembles a Moby record or that kind of hideous "chill" that BoC inspired. It's far too long as well. *I've actually realised this is a lie because their Peel Session is stupendous.

Aug 13 2025 Author

Hip-hop muy suave, música casi instrumental, muy para escuchar relajadamente, todo sin voces. Le ha faltado chispa y algo más de variedad

Aug 29 2025 Author

Not really my thing although I do like ambient lo fi stuff I just didn't think this was that good

Nov 15 2025 Author

One of the most forgettable albums by one of the most forgettable bands. It's not bad. But I think I forgot about it while it was still on.

Nov 22 2025 Author

If I hadn’t listened to that new Alex Warren album, this would have been the worst thing I’ve heard all week. Over an hour just waiting for something at all to happen. Alas, nothing came. Nothing, against Canada, though. 2/5

Apr 17 2025 Author

This was a unique electronic album but yet it was still a fully electronic album that just isn’t for me. It very well may have been great or acclaimed but my ears and mind just can’t fully appreciate this type of music. 3.0/10