One of those 'Wat'cha Listenin' To?' threads.

[Petra]

I know, I know...it's soo been done already, but I can't help myself. I became all inspired by liv's thread in Politics and Law, and what I'm listening to now.

I've been getting into William Burroughs and his various collaborations lately. A new one I just discovered is Burroughs and Gus Van Sant on a track called The Hipster Be-Bop Junkie. It's a crazy recording. Burroughs lyrics create a typically surreal, narcotic image; and over what I guess is the chorus is a strange echo, intoning like Vogon poetry. And it's all set to a groove that has me imagining the subversive arts and street culture of the Beat Generation all the way to Warhol's Factory and the Velvet Underground. Burroughs twisted humour is as wry and subtle in the guitar lines, as it is not in the Vogon Poetry sounds. This track is a cool, funky, unexpected pleasure - even though I'm one to expect good things from everything Burroughs has recorded.

How 'bout you? What'chu listenin' to now, or what'chu herd lately that floats yer boat?

[JoeP]

William Burroughs? The dead author of Naked Lunch? Weird to find that he's on CD ... but that's rock and roll ...

Makes me feel all modern and with it listening to By The Way (RHCP). Strictly, I'm listening to the guys in the next office arguing about a proposal, but that was the last music I listened to.

[livius drusus]

Air America Radio. Burroughs is great on CD: funny and random and eminently quotable if you don't mind people thinking you're as crazy as he was.

[SharonDee]

The 80s channel on XM Radio. Current song: "So Wrong" by Patrick Simmons. I don't recognize it.

[Gawen]

At the moment...nothing. But let me plug in and see what pops up.....

LOL...advertisement....well....just have to wait and see....

Slaughter, You are the one. 1992

As sample:

Lookin' back on time
Ooh we had it made
Together we had the world
Just you and I
It begins to fade

Now I spend my time
Wishin' you were here with me
Oh I wanna tell you now
Wanna tell you now
Just look into my eyes

You are the one
The one I need
To make my dreams come true
Oh you should know
I love you so
And I can't go on without you

[Petra]

Originally Posted by Gawen

~ sample ~

You're one o'them sloppy, romantic types, aren't you?


Radiohead's Punch up at a Wedding for me, right now. No romance there - these things always end in tears - but I dig the piano and bass lines, and vocal layering. Nice sound.

[Petra]

Originally Posted by JoeP

William Burroughs? The dead author of Naked Lunch? Weird to find that he's on CD...

That's the one.

It's not so weird that he is on CD. I have 3 CD's from a book called Poetry Speaks, and contained therein are recordings of now dead poets reading their work, from Tennyson to Plath. And considering how uber-cool the likes of Burroughs, Keruoac, Ginsberg, and the rest of the Beat Gen were, and how they were connected with the Jazz and Be-Bop scene, and their influence still....makes sense to me that their would be recordings of Burroughs collaborating with various musicians. Hell, yeah.

Originally Posted by livius drusus

Burroughs is great on CD: funny and random and eminently quotable if you don't mind people thinking you're as crazy as he was.

Indeed, Bella.

[Petra]

Originally Posted by SharonDee

The 80s channel on XM Radio. Current song: "So Wrong" by Patrick Simmons. I don't recognize it.

Never heard of it.

Any good?

[Adora]

My New Uber Favourite Band: Franz Ferdinand. Track: 40'

These fuckers rock in a way that very few bands have done in the past 5 years.

[Petra]

Originally Posted by Adora

My New Uber Favourite Band: Franz Ferdinand. Track: 40'

These fuckers rock in a way that very few bands have done in the past 5 years.

That they do. I've only heard 3 tracks of theirs so far, but my ears picked up on first listening. I'm gonna get me some.


The Veils' Lavinia is what's on now. Love that guy's voice - it's hauntingly beautiful and this song is perfect for him.

[JoeP]

Franz Ferdinand, ditto. Me atm: Fetish, a South African band now playing in London. "So Many Prophets"

[livius drusus]

Inspired by luna, this morning I popped a mix with a killer WSB track into the CD player. There's no audio file of it on the web that I could find, but you can score the original CD cheap on Amazon.

Ah Pook the Destroyer... Brion Gysin's All-Purpose Bedtime Story

by William S. Burroughs

Itzama, spirit of early mist and showers.
Ixtaub, goddess of ropes and snares.
Ixchel, the spider web, catcher of morning dew.
Zooheekock, virgin fire patroness of infants.
Adziz, the master of cold.
Kockupocket, who works in fire.
Ixtahdoom, she who spits out precious stones.
Ixchunchan, the dangerous one.
Ah Pook, the destroyer.

Hiroshima, 1945, August 6th, 16 minutes past 8 AM
Who really gave that order?
Control. The ugly American. The instrument of Control.
If Control's control is absolute, why does Control need to control?
Control needs time.
Is Control controlled by its need to control?
Yes.
Why does Control need humans, as you call them?
Wait, wait. Time, a landing field.
Death needs time like a junkie needs junk.
And what does Death need time for?
The answer is so simple. Death needs time for what it kills to grow in for Ah Pook's sake.
Death needs time for what it kills to grow in for Ah Pook's sweet sake,
you stupid, vulgar, greedy, ugly American death sucker.
Death needs time for what it kills to grow in for Ah Pook's sweet sake,
you stupid, vulgar, greedy, ugly American death sucker.
Like this....

Bryon Gysin has the all purpose nuclear bedtime story.
The all purpose bedtime story, in fact.
Some trillions of years ago a sloppy, dirty giant flicked grease from his fingernails.
One of those gobs of grease is our universe on its way to the floor.
Splat.

[Petra]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

Inspired by luna, this morning I popped a mix with a killer WSB track into the CD player. There's no audio file of it on the web that I could find,
Ah Pook the Destroyer... Brion Gysin's All-Purpose Bedtime Story

by William S. Burroughs

Oh, yes there is.

Great stuff, liv. Thanks for the lyrics, it's hard to make them out on this rather low bitrate mp3.

[Dlanod]

I'm working at home today so I have access to all my CDs and am playing one of my favorite Brazilian albums: Gilberto Gil & Jorge Ben's Gil & Jorge. It is a wonderful record from the 1970s where they improvise extended takes on nine of their songs.

It has a spare production with just their two acoustic guitars, bass, a percussion accompaniment and their two voices. No overdubbing, no studio tricks. Both Gil and Jorge are fantastic vocal stylists and the way they trade vocal licks and scats throughout the songs draws me into the music every time.

This is from an era when both Gil & Jorge were well into their exploration of their African heritage and especially the musical influences of Africa. There is a lot of polyrhythmic playfulness along with a little funk and a little rock and roll. They perform one of my favorite Jorge Ben songs, Taj Mahal. In the northern hemisphere it is probably most recognizable through the plagiarized refrain in Rod Stewart's Do You Think I'm Sexy.

- Donald

[livius drusus]

Originally Posted by lunachick

Oh, yes there is.

I scoured the web for an hour this morning and made vm do it too, and neither of us found a file. You and your WinMX.

Great stuff, liv. Thanks for the lyrics, it's hard to make them out on this rather low bitrate mp3.

Damn. That must be really low bitrate, because Burroughs is a master reciter; like Demosthenes on acid. Lots and lots of acid.

[viscousmemories]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

I scoured the web for an hour this morning and made vm do it too, and neither of us found a file. You and your WinMX.

Wait, I even DOWNLOADED and INSTALLED WinMX for this mission, and still found nothing. Did I forget the proper incantations or something?

[livius drusus]

Originally Posted by viscousmemories

Wait, I even DOWNLOADED and INSTALLED WinMX for this mission, and still found nothing. Did I forget the proper incantations or something?

Oh yeah... Didn't I mention the whole for Ah Pook's sweet sake bit? Sorry about that.

[Petra]

Try searching for it now.

I'll leave WinMX open while I get some sleep, and you should find it I guess.

[viscousmemories]

Speaking of Burroughs and Gysin, one of the few possessions I've held on to since my early 20's is this book, which was where I first heard about Burroughs and Gysin's cut-up method. I used to keep a journal back then, and I did some experimenting along those lines myself. I didn't actually write prose then cut it up and rearrange it, but rather did it on the fly. In other words, I would start writing kinda stream of consciousness, then periodically glance back a sentence or two, grab a word or thought and run with it. Most of what I produced is nonsense, but some is kinda interesting (to me, anyway). Another of the few possessions I have from my early 20's is that stack of notebooks. In two years I managed to fill about a dozen 100 page college ruled notebooks. Maybe I'll post some excerpts here eventually, in case anyone is ever THAT bored.

Anyway that publishing company has put out some other really cool books, too. Angry Women, for example, is a compilation of really cool essays. I wish I knew who I loaned my copy to, 'cause I want it back. And I've always wanted to order their Modern Primitives book about body piercing and tatoos.

[Petra]

Originally Posted by Dlanod

I'm working at home today so I have access to all my CDs and am playing one of my favorite Brazilian albums: Gilberto Gil & Jorge Ben's Gil & Jorge. It is a wonderful record from the 1970s where they improvise extended takes on nine of their songs.

It has a spare production with just their two acoustic guitars, bass, a percussion accompaniment and their two voices. No overdubbing, no studio tricks. Both Gil and Jorge are fantastic vocal stylists and the way they trade vocal licks and scats throughout the songs draws me into the music every time.

This is from an era when both Gil & Jorge were well into their exploration of their African heritage and especially the musical influences of Africa. There is a lot of polyrhythmic playfulness along with a little funk and a little rock and roll. They perform one of my favorite Jorge Ben songs, Taj Mahal. In the northern hemisphere it is probably most recognizable through the plagiarized refrain in Rod Stewart's Do You Think I'm Sexy.

- Donald

I'm rather jealous that you have a bona fide CD of this. I love Afro-Latin sounds, old and new. I have a later recording of Jorge Ben with David Byrne on a tape cassette here somewhere, and I would definitely play it if I had a working cassette deck. And out on loan is a CD of various artists called Red, Hot & Rio which has songs written by Gilberto Gil, among others. Thanks for reminding me of them.

Check out these guys if you feel like it. I think you will like them.

[Adora]

I'm currently being really really pop and listening to the Sugababes...

Yes, I know. SHAME!

*digs her grave deeper by singing along*

But on a more obscure note, does anyone know where I could get an MP3 of Eddie Hazel's Maggot Brain? I've been looking for it all over the place, and I can't find it anywhere.

[Petra]

Originally Posted by Adora

I'm currently being really really pop and listening to the Sugababes...

Yes, I know. SHAME!

*digs her grave deeper by singing along*

Whaddaya mean, "shame"? Nonsense! I love the Sugababes. There's some great pop music out there, too, y'know. Those girls are so young, and they totally rock. hothothot.

But on a more obscure note, does anyone know where I could get an MP3 of Eddie Hazel's Maggot Brain? I've been looking for it all over the place, and I can't find it anywhere.

This line freaked me out. I've just finished playing minigolf in the arcade and thought I'd stroll on over to say that I'm juss chillin' and listenin' to Funkadelic's Maggot Brain. I kid you not. Weird.

Anyway, send me your email addy if it can handle a big file, and I'll send it to ya. Ask and ye shall receive.

[Petra]

Joni Mitchell and The Chieftans, The Magdalene Laundries.

Just heard it for the first time. Damned near made me cry, it's such a powerful lament.

I was an unmarried girl
I'd just turned twenty-seven
When they sent me to the sisters
For the way men looked at me
Branded as a jezebel
I knew I was not bound for Heaven
I'd be cast in shame
Into the Magdalene laundries

Most girls come here pregnant
Some by their own fathers
Bridget got that belly
By her parish priest
We're trying to get things white as snow
All of us woe-begotten-daughters
In the steaming stains
Of the Magdalene laundries

Prostitutes and destitutes
And temptresses like me--
Fallen women--
Sentenced into dreamless drudgery ...
Why do they call this heartless place
Our Lady of Charity?
Oh charity!

These bloodless brides of Jesus
If they had just once glimpsed their groom
Then they'd know, and they'd drop the stones
Concealed behind their rosaries
They wilt the grass they walk upon
They leech the light out of a room
They'd like to drive us down the drain
At the Magdalene laundries

Peg O'Connell died today
She was a cheeky girl
A flirt
They just stuffed her in a hole!
Surely to God you'd think at least some bells should ring!
One day I'm going to die here too
And they'll plant me in the dirt
Like some lame bulb
That never blooms come any spring
Not any spring
No, not any spring
Not any spring

[Adora]

W00t! Thanks so much luna!

[Petra]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

Ah Pook the Destroyer... Brion Gysin's All-Purpose Bedtime Story

by William S. Burroughs

Just scored a version of this with a higher bitrate. It's good to be able to hear it properly (well, as properly as an mp3 gets, anyway.)