Born Gold : Bodysongs

<img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/borngoldbodysongs.jpg" alt="Born Gold : Bodysongs" /><br /> Your favorite Canadian electro-pop riot squad changed its name a few months back and has been blowing up boomboxes with their...
Born Gold : Bodysongs
8.1 Crash Symbols
2011 

Born Gold : Bodysongs Goodbye Gobble Gobble, hello Born Gold!  Your favorite Canadian electro-pop riot squad changed its name a few months back and has been blowing up boomboxes with their debut release Bodysongs.  Like most indie bands these days, Born Gold has been accumulating a full album’s worth of material with baby-step releases – the solo mp3, the occasional 7", whatever – until, before you know it, they’ve got a hit record on their hands.  It’s a little unusual though for a band to build up all that ‘brand mojo’ only to ‘rebrand’ for the debut.  But hey, Born Gold are not your typical band.  Few outfits gig harder; the Gobble Gobble/Born Gold live show is legendary.  Pink fairy wings, neon tribal beats, crowdsurfing & a whole lotta sweat.  The word from frontman Cecil F. is that the fairy wings have been retired, but the endlessly creative team behind the new Born Gold will surely find new ways to keep it interesting onstage.

One of the drawbacks of having such a dynamite live show is that the record inevitably struggles to bring the same energy.  Born Gold gives it a go with the leadoff single "Lawn Knives", a song that has been kicking around the internet for a while now and generally blowing minds.  The beat is a convulsive, aggressive confection.  Pop music with a chainsaw.  A perfect marriage of glitch oddity and outright techno relish.  Other highpoints include "Boring Horror" (QRO EP review) and "Alabaster Bodyworlds" (QRO mp3 review).  The Born Gold experience is pure propulsive energy that avoids all the ‘push & play’ lethargy that can sometime infect electronic music when the artists fall too deeply in love with the sound of their own samples.

All in all, a killer record.  The impact of the ten-song assault is somewhat softened by that most (if not all) of these songs have been available on the internet for a while.  The disparate contexts in which the separate singles might have been heard before detracts from the thematic unity of the album.  But that’s digital lyfe in the 21st century, homie.  And it’s probably hair-splitting.  A collection of beats this stellar makes its own context anytime, anywhere, so strap on your safety helmet and give the record a spin.

MP3 Stream: "Wrinklecarver"

{audio}/mp3/files/Born Gold – Wrinklecarver.mp3{/audio}

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