Borko Celebrating life Morr Music

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The album cover and track titles would lead you to believe that "Celebrating life" is a lighthearted affair, but the actual material present on the record is much less jocular than one might expect. Borko are very much an Icelandic affair, sharing some aesthetic traits with Múm and, at times, Sigur Rós – especially on "Shoo ba ba" which oddly parallels features of the "Music for split sides" EP Sigur Rós released in 2004, sometimes referred to by its track names: "Ba ba / Ti ki / Di do". This said, Borko are less sprawling than Sigur Rós and, at times, more organically composed than Múm. These similarities and disparities, paired with the overly-apparent blitheness, allow Borko quite a bit of freedom. "Summer logic", one of the more demure tracks on "Celebrating life", flows into the playful, shifting "Doo doo doo" with little difficulties. "Spoonstabber" feels much more akin to an experimental Seabear composition than any of other the aforementioned Icelandic groups, yet not divorced from the rest of the material. As quirky as serious music can be, "Celebrating life" feels lost somewhere between an indirect, ambient Broken Social Scene and a more instrumentally-anchored Múm, and definitely worth a listen. m

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:20:51 -0700

The Silent Ballet reviews the new album "Celebrating life" from Icelandic artist Borko: http://thesilentballet.com/dnn/Home/tabid/36/ctl/Details/mid/384/ItemID/1302/Default.aspx

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Borko Celebrating life Morr Music