May 2008 CD
Borderlands
Situated somewhere between mystery and mastery… Borderlands is definitely experimental music. My initial response, I confess, was something closer to annoyance than to appreciation. Oh, how the mind loves knowing what to expect from the ear… and how it abhors being tinkered with!
But the more I listened, and especially after I opened the jacket and read its poetic commentary, the more I began to appreciate the genius of this album. I had to put down what I was doing and simply sit and listen—because this is definitely not background music. It demands a space of its own.
“Is it really music?” one might ask. What is it about a grouping of sounds that qualifies it as ‘music'? I don't know whether Borderlands is music, but I do know this: It's Life.
The album is a neo-classical ambient minimalist expression of the essence of the journey from birth to death, and beyond. As such, I have to say it succeeds. And I celebrate the existence of a record company that has clearly made it its mission to forego the push for profits and simply offer support to musicians who want to experiment.
My final take on it? Delightful. Very edgy, though. That's probably why they called it Borderlands.
—Chiwah
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