If the black monolith Tycho Magnetic Anomaly One from Stanley Kubrick's classic 2001 felt like partying, he'd be throwing his rocks in the air to the vibes from BARNT, even without having arms or legs. It's probably because IS THIS WHAT THEY WERE BORN FOR? is not the first time the DJ, producer and co-founder of Magazine (Barnt, not the monolith) orchestrates his profound knowledge of true cosmic sound design in the most convincing manner. After hits such as "What Is A Number That A Man May Know It?" (Magazine 002) or "Geffen" (on C�meme 013) the sympathetic space traveller can expect a fair amount of big bang here, too, lavishly decorated with zero-gravity synth leads, but sticking to the molecular facts while sporting a near-biblical bassdrum. The singularity has never been more seductive than in Barnt's guise, and many a listener claims to suddenly understand the general theory of relativity while playing backwards the Kraut-Rave records of the Cologne-based producer. "All Worlds All Times" starts the dance in style, with gloomy bass drones and searing percussion, but soon the track rises from its preliminary ashes in order to enchant the dancing crowd. Barnt's trademark diatonic scaling never fails to impress, and very quickly the pores open up to the sound of derailing rave signals and creaking sneakers. After a short break in the hall of mirrors, the keyboard paths acquire an urgency rarely exhibited, except perhaps by the young Todd Terry (for example on "Dum Dum Cry", 1987). "U R D J" presents itself in a more reserved manner und dwells a bit on the banks of the river that already carried Aguirre to the sounds of Popol Vuh, bringing him closer to his imaginary Eldorado. In a nutshell, it's the one track from the record that doesn't feature a beat, but it doesn't really need one. Constructed from hand-picked gravel, this both archaic and futuristic-sounding mosaic will confuse prospective generations of historians with its enigmatic charme. Last, but certainly not least, we have the title track "Is This What They Were Born For?", another milestone along the highway of grand emotions. After awkwardly fumbling around in the primevil soup at first, this animal quickly loses its fins and crawls ashore. Nothing can stop it now: the gills vanish, the fur grows, the first words are stuttered, the ARP synthesizer gets invented and humanity travels to the moon. But gregarious animals we still are, and we like to shake our hips in tune. Especially � and we can't stress that enough � to the sound of evolution, as heard by Barnt.