I Was Born, But...

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Total Tracks: 13   Total Length: 42:17

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Neal Pollack

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"The World's Greatest Living Writer," eMusic Soundtracks/Other columnist Neal Pollack is the author of the cult classic The Neal Pollack Antholog...more »

04.22.11
Chris Brokaw, I Was Born, But…
Label: Atavistic / The Orchard

A former player in slo-core godfathers Codeine and the Boston band Come, Brokaw has crafted one of the more interesting film soundtracks in recent memory to accompany an autobiographical coming-of-age movie by Asian-American filmmaker Roddy Bogawa. It's sort of like the Buzzcocks meets Phillip Glass, if that makes any sense at all.

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A load of crack

newmo

Is it me or is the recording of Halfpipe-Gangway just awful? Don't think I'll risk another download from this though there's obviously some interesting music in there. Speaking of awful downloads - I have had two really bad ones in a row from two different albums. Its beginning to grate...or crackle

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They Say All Media Guide

The soundtrack to a full-length experimental work by the obscure independent filmmaker Roddy Bogawa, I Was Born, But… consists almost entirely of meditative solo guitar pieces by Chris Brokaw. Closer in feel to Roy Montgomery or Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo’s experimental solo albums than John Fahey and his avant folk acolytes, these are primarily electric pieces, some layering multiple guitar and feedback drones with some simple hand percussion, a few strictly solo improvisations, and one or two (most notably “On a Great Lake”) that approach conventional indie rock. Free of the visual element, these 13 pieces (most, barring the 11-minute epic “Chinatown,” in the one to two-minute range) are simple and abstract, but with a strong melodic core that keeps them from floating off into the ambient ether. – Stewart Mason

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