“Aesthetically it’s in the same ballpark as the compilation, with spasmodic, jagged, squirming, sparkling, and piercing electronic tones colliding, bending, and imploding, but the presence of the cello (or maybe it’s just the guy behind it) throws things more out-of-whack, so the leaps, turns, and stops that occur feel almost acrobatic. Borden’s pizz thwacks, striated bowing, and gestural tones convey the natural grain of his instrument, but whether the sounds are processed and plugged into pedal effects or are purely acoustic—or, who knows, maybe Borden is triggering the what the computers do!—the pull between those sounds is utterly compelling. The music often moves at breakneck pace, but the interactive sensibility is never lost. ” -Peter Margasak, Nowhere Street
“The few times I’ve heard T.J. Borden play live, I have been most impressed. Although this disc is mostly improvised, there is a system or focus to what Mr. Borden is doing. The opening piece, “moondrnk onthe job”, creating several drones either with two bows or by overdubbing*. Certain notes are bent and sound like they are microtonal or in between the regular notes that most folks play. For “undrr the tree…”, starts to stretch out his notes, slowly bending them past their usual boundaries, creating an odd, twisted fabric which is most challenging to listen to. The wheezing sound of bent strings is often harsh yet somehow also captivating. Mr. Borden has created his own sonic sound/universe. He sounds like a restless improviser who keeps pushing the boundaries and he doesn’t sound like anyone else.” – Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
*Artist note – actually, just one bow and no overdubs for every track on the album.
‘Cellist Rising’ – Profile on Buffalo Artvoice
Reviews:
Avant Music News reviews in this failing light
All alone with the cello, he is the sound of Space, capitulated, incredulously technical. A cadence within a cadence within a cadence, a unanimous inversion of noise into a sonic entity that is absolutely clean. You are mesmerized, you cannot get enough and the next thing you know, you are closing your eyes in an already dark museum.” -Valerie Kuehne, The Super Coda reviews The Financial Repercussions of New Beginnings
Upstate Soundscape review of System Vandross
Upstate Soundscape review of Poor Form and Extenuating Circumstances
Tyler J. Borden 