AMG Review of I Was Born, But...

Stewart Mason
All Music 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.