Axiom Dub – Mysteries Of Creation (1996), a Bill Laswell production. Art by James Koehnline.
• As noted earlier, the great Bill Laswell has made some of his sprawling back catalogue available at Bandcamp, news of which has prompted Vinyl Factory to put together a recommended listening guide. Judging by the comments I’m not the only Laswell-head deploring the absence of the masterpiece from Material, Hallucination Engine. Linked here before, and happily still being updated, the comprehensive Bill Laswell discography at Silent-Watcher. Related: An ESP-Disk Primer by Marc Masters.
• Listen to the Voice of Fire, a symposium concerning alchemy in sound art, takes place at the National Library of Wales at the beginning of March. Phil Legard offers some thoughts on alchemy, music and John Dee.
• The guilty cinematic pleasures of John Carpenter. Related: Director and actor Alice Lowe chooses seven favourite horror films.
• The Broomway, Essex, a tidal path known as “The Doomway” for its reputation as the most dangerous walk in Britain.
• Mixes of the week: K-Punk presents Return to the Fourth World, and FACT Mix 584 by Lawrence English.
• “There was more to the late John Berger than that TV series and art book”, says Richard Turney.
• “Music’s cassette-tape revival is paying off,” says John Paul Titlow.
• Diamanda Galás announces two new albums.
• Bob Dylan paints a Blackpool pier.
• Pixel art by Uno Moralez
• Reduction (1980) by Material | Ghost Light/Dread Recall (1996) by Material | No Guts No Galaxy (1999) by Material (feat. Ramm Ell Zee & phonosycographDISK)
I first listened to Hallucination Engine in an empty farmhouse in southwestern Wisconsin – near the Dreamtime Village intentional community – with Jim Koehnline, P. L. Wilson, and a few other weirdos. An astonishing experience.
I agree about HALLUCINATION ENGINE but I guess it’s a testimony to the strength of Laswell’s catalog that none of my other faves are on the list either.
SEVEN SOULS Material
Most of the musicians on HE plus William Burroughs reading from my favorite of his novels, THE WESTERN LANDS. Get the original release not the remix.
THE DARK FIRE Talip Ozkan
Turkish saz player’s ecstatic mysticism recorded with the best sound ever.
THE END OF LAW Hashisheen
More Burroughs, Jah Wobble, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith,Peter Lamborn Wilson, Hassan i Sabbah, Freya Stark…
BAPTISM OF SOLITUDE Paul Bowles
Bowles! And a nicely dark ambient soundscape from Laswell and Skopelitis.
Charles: That must have been good.
Stephen: Yes, I’ve got all of those apart from the Bowles. I do have a CD of Bowles reading but it’s not a Laswell production. I think it may be time to go trawling Discogs to fill in a few gaps.
I posted my suggestion for an expanded Seven Souls here:
http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2014/02/05/burroughs-at-100/