{"id":14859,"date":"2014-02-05T03:09:22","date_gmt":"2014-02-05T03:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/?p=14859"},"modified":"2024-04-09T13:09:22","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T12:09:22","slug":"burroughs-at-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/2014\/02\/05\/burroughs-at-100\/","title":{"rendered":"Burroughs at 100"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/wsb-big.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"wsb.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/wsb.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Something from 1994 I found in an old sketchbook. Ink on paper.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Happy birthday, Bill. To celebrate the Burroughs centenary I could have put together several very different mixes of Burroughs-related music\u2014there&#8217;s been a lot of it, and he was blessed with some excellent collaborators\u2014but in the end decided on a version of something I&#8217;ve been messing with on and off for about twenty years.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.mixcloud.com\/widget\/iframe\/?feed=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mixcloud.com%2Ffeuilleton%2Fseven-souls-resouled%2F&amp;mini=&amp;stylecolor=&amp;hide_artwork=&amp;embed_type=widget_standard&amp;embed_uuid=bc552bf0-88f3-4ce5-afb8-7da156853ac1&amp;hide_tracklist=1&amp;hide_cover=&amp;autoplay=\" height=\"180\" width=\"454\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div style=\"clear: both; height: 3px; width: 446px;\"><\/div>\n<p style=\"display: block; font-size: 12px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0; padding: 3px 4px; color: #02a0c7; width: 446px;\"><a style=\"color: #02a0c7; font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mixcloud.com\/feuilleton\/seven-souls-resouled\/?utm_source=widget&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;utm_campaign=base_links&amp;utm_term=resource_link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Seven Souls Resouled<\/a> by <a style=\"color: #02a0c7; font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mixcloud.com\/feuilleton\/?utm_source=widget&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;utm_campaign=base_links&amp;utm_term=profile_link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Feuilleton<\/a> on <a style=\"color: #02a0c7; font-weight: bold;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mixcloud.com\/?utm_source=widget&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;utm_campaign=base_links&amp;utm_term=homepage_link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Mixcloud<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Bill Laswell&#8217;s associations with William Burroughs go back to Laurie Anderson&#8217;s <em>Mister Heartbreak<\/em> (1984) album which Laswell played bass on and co-produced. Burroughs had a guest spot on the last track, <em>Sharkey&#8217;s Night<\/em>, and that session may have led to the 1989 album by Laswell&#8217;s Material project, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.discogs.com\/Material-Seven-Souls\/master\/9665\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Seven Souls<\/em><\/a>, a seven-track album based around Burroughs&#8217;s readings of passages from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/257506.The_Western_Lands\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Western Lands<\/em><\/a>. This has always been my favourite of all the albums which set Burroughs texts to music, not least because Laswell has always surrounded himself with exceptional musicians. I liked this album so much I used to try padding it out on cassette tape with other Laswell productions, many of which feature the same musicians, and even similar riffs and instrument sounds. I could never settle on a definitive mix, however, and even the one presented here doesn&#8217;t feel absolutely right although it works far better than all previous versions. Matters aren&#8217;t helped by there being much extraneous material (so to speak): <em>Seven Souls<\/em> was reissued in 1997 with remix tracks, and there&#8217;s also a related EP, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.discogs.com\/Material-The-Road-To-The-Western-Lands\/master\/9798\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Road To The Western Lands<\/em><\/a>, with further remixes. Then there are the many tracks which match the <em>Seven Souls<\/em> sound, not least on the 1994 Material album, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.discogs.com\/Material-Hallucination-Engine\/master\/9759\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Hallucination Engine<\/em><\/a>, which also features a Burroughs reading. Laswell&#8217;s solo albums, and much of his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.discogs.com\/label\/1072-Axiom\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Axiom label<\/a>, is infected by Burroughs-like titles; for a while Axiom even promoted its world- and genre-spanning ethos with the slogan &#8220;Nothing is true; everything is permitted&#8221;. The Beatles may have put Burroughs&#8217;s face on the cover of the <em>Sgt Pepper<\/em> album but Bill Laswell has done far more to spread the virus of the man&#8217;s work. Below there&#8217;s a guide to the tracks followed by another visit to the Wild Boys.<\/p>\n<p><strong>William S. Burroughs \u2013 <em>Word Falling, Photo Falling<\/em><\/strong> (1960s)<br \/>\nOne of the numerous tape recordings from the 1960s which are like audio equivalents of the books Burroughs was writing at the time. This one is from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.discogs.com\/William-S-Burroughs-Nothing-Here-Now-But-The-Recordings\/release\/194313\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Nothing Here Now But The Recordings<\/em><\/a> (1981).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Material \u2013 <em>Ineffect<\/em><\/strong> (1989)<br \/>\nThe first track from <em>Seven Souls<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ginger Baker \u2013 <em>Dust to Dust<\/em><\/strong> (1986)<br \/>\nBill Laswell produced two Ginger Baker solo albums, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.discogs.com\/Ginger-Baker-Horses-And-Trees\/master\/56596\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Horses and Trees<\/em><\/a> (1986), from which this track is taken, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.discogs.com\/Ginger-Baker-Middle-Passage\/master\/56611\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Middle Passage<\/em><\/a> (1990). Both feature Laswell&#8217;s core group of Material musicians including Nicky Skopelitis, Bernie Worrell and Aiyb Dieng. Baker was a member of a later incarnation of Material, and appears on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.discogs.com\/Material-Live-In-Japan\/release\/376125\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Live In Japan<\/em><\/a> (1993) album.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Material \u2013 <em>Seven Souls<\/em><\/strong> (1989)<br \/>\nThe second track from <em>Seven Souls<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Material \u2013 <em>Ruins (Submutation Dub by Bill Laswell)<\/em><\/strong> (1994)<br \/>\nFrom Material&#8217;s other masterwork, the mighty <em>Hallucination Engine<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Material \u2013 <em>Soul Killer<\/em><\/strong> (1989)<br \/>\nThe third track from <em>Seven Souls<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ginger Baker \u2013 <em>Under Black Skies<\/em><\/strong> (1990)<br \/>\nFrom Baker&#8217;s <em>Middle Passage<\/em> album.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Material \u2013 <em>The Western Lands<\/em><\/strong> (1989)<br \/>\nThe fourth track from <em>Seven Souls<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mandingo \u2013 <em>Lanmbasy Dub (Kora in Hell Mix by Bill Laswell)<\/em><\/strong> (1993)<br \/>\nA slight deviation from the <em>Seven Souls<\/em> tracklist. The first four Burroughs tracks were followed by two very different pieces: <em>Deliver<\/em>, featuring the voice of Gambian musician and kora player Foday Musa Suso, and <em>Equation<\/em> which combined a rock riff with Rammellzee&#8217;s vocals. Foday Musa Suso is another floating member of Material who also released an album, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.discogs.com\/Mandingo-New-World-Power\/master\/58481\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>New World Power<\/em><\/a> (1990) on Laswell&#8217;s Axiom label under the name Mandingo. This track is an extended remix of the first track from <em>New World Power<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bill Laswell (with William S. Burroughs, Techno Animal, Iggy Pop) \u2013 <em>The Western Lands<\/em><\/strong> (1999)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.discogs.com\/Bill-Laswell-Hashisheen-The-End-Of-Law\/release\/252503\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Hashisheen : The End Of Law<\/em><\/a> is one of many one-off Laswell projects, this one featuring a collection of readings about Hassan i Sabbah set to music. Burroughs appears briefly two years after his death reading what may have been a <em>Seven Souls<\/em> outtake. Iggy Pop then reads a piece from <em>The Western Lands<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Material feat. Rammellzee &amp; phonosycographDISK \u2013 <em>No Guts No Galaxy <\/em><\/strong> (1999)<br \/>\nIn place of <em>Equation<\/em> from <em>Seven Souls<\/em> there&#8217;s this rap number from Material&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.discogs.com\/Material-Intonarumori\/master\/9767\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Intonarumori<\/em><\/a> album.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bill Laswell \u2013 <em>Flash Of Panic [Pipes Of Pan \/ Up Above The World \/ Under Black Skies \/ Out Of The Ether]<\/em><\/strong> (1994)<br \/>\nPart of a track from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.discogs.com\/Bill-Laswell-Axiom-Ambient-Lost-In-The-Translation-Promo\/master\/12921\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Axiom Ambient<\/em><\/a> album which blends some of Laswell&#8217;s recording of the pan pipes at Jajouka with strings from a Jonas Hellborg album, and Omar Faruk Tekbilek&#8217;s ney from <em>Under Black Skies<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Material \u2013 <em>Soul Killer (Remote Control Mix by Terre Thaemlitz)<\/em><\/strong> (1997)<br \/>\nThe reissue of <em>Seven Souls<\/em> featured three remixes of which this has always been my favourite. Terre Thaemlitz subjects Burroughs&#8217;s voice to some granular distortion then cuts-up his words.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Material \u2013 <em>The End of Words<\/em><\/strong> (1989)<br \/>\nThe seventh and final track from <em>Seven Souls<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/wildboys1-big.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"wildboys1.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/wildboys1.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As a bonus, here&#8217;s a sample of another project that gets played with now and then without ever getting finished. This is one of the more complete pieces from a proposed Wild Boys portfolio that I&#8217;ve mentioned a few times. I&#8217;m not sure this one is really finished either but it&#8217;s more presentable than the rest. I would have had more to show from this series by now if I hadn&#8217;t been preoccupied with the new novel which has been absorbing most of my free time for the past few years. I&#8217;m afraid these days my own work takes precedence over that of anybody else when it comes to extracurricular activity so I can&#8217;t say yet when the portfolio might be completed. I&#8217;d love to put the picture below onto a CafePress T-shirt but it&#8217;s probably a bit too strong for their regulations.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/wildboys2-big.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"wildboys2.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/wildboys2.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere on { feuilleton }<br \/>\n\u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/themed-archive-pages\/the-william-burroughs-archive\/\">The William Burroughs archive<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Something from 1994 I found in an old sketchbook. Ink on paper. Happy birthday, Bill. To celebrate the Burroughs centenary I could have put together several very different mixes of Burroughs-related music\u2014there&#8217;s been a lot of it, and he was blessed with some excellent collaborators\u2014but in the end decided on a version of something I&#8217;ve &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/2014\/02\/05\/burroughs-at-100\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Burroughs at 100&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[42,28,3,23],"tags":[5742,8924,5741,466,2211,5743,5739,5745,992,5747,1606,2595,5740,5748,5746,1458,5744,3384,178,519,1190],"class_list":["post-14859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-burroughs","category-music","category-work","tag-aiyb-dieng","tag-axiom-ambient","tag-bernie-worrell","tag-bill-laswell","tag-cafepress","tag-foday-musa-suso","tag-ginger-baker","tag-hassan-i-sabbah","tag-iggy-pop","tag-jonas-hellborg","tag-laurie-anderson","tag-material-group","tag-nicky-skopelitis","tag-omar-faruk-tekbilek","tag-phonosycographdisk","tag-rammellzee","tag-techno-animal","tag-terre-thaemlitz","tag-the-beatles","tag-wild-boys","tag-william-burroughs"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pq7rV-3RF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14859\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johncoulthart.com\/feuilleton\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}