Customer Reviews

Elvis Of Letters

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Just four tracks of old-school Burroughs sound-bites (cut up, even!) over guitar/drum/bass folky jazziness by Van Sant the future filmmaker. Unlike most of the work WSB did with Bill Laswell et al., these are less about the content of his writing and more about its effects. They demonstrate cut-ups and repetition and inching and can launch endless psychosensory experimentation.

I must say that I was disturbed at first by the mundanity of Van Sant's music, but now appreciate it as inobtrusive. It does what it does quite well, providing quiet rhythm to Burroughs' "melodies." The man's voice lends itself remarkably well to musical accompaniment, even when cut-up - it's amazing that any kind of verbal flow can remain after cut-and-paste, much less normal-sounding speech! You've never heard anything like this before, though it seems as familiar as a remembered dream.

I first heard the track "Hipster Be-Bop" when I was about 16, listening to a John Peel programme, and the feeling has never left me - the pure excitement and...weirdness. It took me years to track this down; in the meantime, I bought several other WB albums and read many of his books. I have to say on balance I love his music more than his books. His voice is so beautiful, so knowing and wrecked, but his sense of humour is for me the thing that shines through most. This is the best example of his "cut-up" style on CD, but you should buy up everything he ever recorded. The word genius is hugely over-used, but he is absolutely that.