Borbetomagus has been played on NTS shows including The Cosmic Principle w/ Nick Mitchell Maiato, with The Original Chirping Chicken first played on 3 January 2016.

Borbetomagus are a free improvisation group. Borbetomagus formed in 1979 when saxophone players Jim Sauter and Don Dietrich collaborated with electric guitarist Don Miller; bass guitarist Adam Nodelman was briefly a member.

Their music has been described as "a huge, overpowering, take-no-prisoners mass of sound." One extended technique they use is called "bells together" where Sauter and Dietrich physically place the openings of their saxophones against each other.

While the core trio listed above have been responsible for most of Borbetomagus' music, they have collaborated with Voice Crack, Tristan Honsinger, Hijokaidan, Peter Kowald and others, and Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore has joined when Miller was unavailable.