William Burroughs
“There is no intensity of love or feeling that does not involve the risk of crippling hurt. It is a duty to take this risk, to love and feel without defense or reserve.”
“There is no intensity of love or feeling that does not involve the risk of crippling hurt. It is a duty to take this risk, to love and feel without defense or reserve.”
William Burroughs & Brion Gysin
** Limited Edition 180g vinyl. No digital. Officially licensed from the British Library, The Estate of William S Burroughs, and The Estate of Brion Gysin ** Rare recordings of beat/cut-up writers and artists William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin. Comprises the complete recording of Burroughs reading live in Liverpool in 1982, plus performances by Gysin of a selection of his permutated poems, as well as home recordings made by the pair in Paris in 1970. All recordings are taken from original tapes…
Soft Need 23
**Edition of 431 copies** Alga Marghen in collaboration with Expanded Media Editions is proud to present the final issue of “Soft Need”, a publication centered on the work of William Burroughs and expanding its deep influences into contemporary consciousness.
Founded in 1973 as a reaction to the aftermath of a three weeks’ stay across Xmas and New Year’s with Brion Gysin and Burroughs by their confidant Udo Breger, “Soft Need“ had its roots in the underground press of the previous two decades a…
Soft Need 23 (Art Edition)
**Art Edition. De-luxe edition of 69 signed and numbered copies including two 7” records and two Baryt-Fine-Art photo prints (18x24cm) “William Burroughs in the Bunker, NYC 1981” and “Ian Sommerville at 8, Duke Street, London 1973” signed by Udo Breger.** Alga Marghen in collaboration with Expanded Media Editions is proud to present the final issue of “Soft Need”, a publication centered on the work of William Burroughs and expanding its deep influences into contemporary consciousness.
Founded …
The Acid Lands
The Acid Lands, created by the Prague-based Opening Performance Orchestra, was first heard in public in 2014 at the Movement-Sound-Space festival in Ostrava, to mark the centenary of William S. Burroughs's birth. The piece was performed live by Opening Performance Orchestra and their guests, the theremin player Martina Potucková, and the poet, musician and performer Pavel Z as the narrator.
The studio version of The Acid Lands was made in late 2019/early 2020 in collaboration with Bill Laswell a…
The Cut Ups
** Private edition, limited to 150 copies ** Side A is a dizzying montage of quirky shots of legendary Beat Generation writer William S. Burroughs and noted surrealist artist Brion Gysin in 1966, this nearly 20 minute avant-garde short features repeated articulations of such random things as “Hello,” “Where are we now?,” and “Look at that picture” instead of music or standard dialogue. The narrative is decidedly nonlinear and perplexing, with no discernible plot whatsoever as we see images of Gy…
A Man Within
2010 Release. Featuring never-before-seen archival footage of Burroughs, as well as exclusive interviews with colleagues and confidants including John Waters, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Gus Van Sant, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Sonic Youth, Laurie Anderson, Amiri Baraka, Jello Biafra, and David Cronenberg, WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS: A MAN WITHIN is a probing, yet loving look at the man whose works at once savaged conservative ideals, spawned countercultural movements, and reconfigured 20th century culture…
Let Me Hang You
“Twenty years ago, William S. Burroughs was asked to record an audio version of his favorite parts of Naked Lunch. Longtime associates and producers Hal Willner and James Grauerholz produced several sessions, and they recruited a team of world class musicians to help. Famed for their Naked City involvement, Bill Frisell and Wayne Horvitz contributed their genius, as well as Eyvind Kang, just to name a few. The recordings were then abandoned and collecting dust on a musty shelf, as forgotten as a…
Curse go Back
Paradigm Discs presents Curse Go Back, tape experiments from William S. Burroughs. William Burroughs was in and out of London from the mid-50s to 1974 and for several years quite settled in a flat near Piccadilly. During this latter time he developed and refined the techniques he used for creating cut-ups on tape. Working closely with Ian Sommerville, who helped acquire, and no doubt maintain, the various tape recorders that Burroughs used and abused in these experimental works. The work here is…
Call Me Burroughs
Originally released in 1965 by The English Bookshop in Paris and later by ESP-Disk' in New York, Call Me Burroughs marks not only the recorded debut of William Burroughs, but also for many the first encounter with his inimitable voice. While Burroughs has had pervasive influence on counterculture in the past 50 years – from the Beats to punk rock and even hip hop – no other figure today is so widely considered the epitome of cool. Call Me Burroughs features the author reading from Naked Lunch an…
Words Of Advice: William S. Burroughs On The Road
In 1983, the counter culture icon and author of the cult classic Naked Lunch (1959), William S. Burroughs (1914-1997), traveled throughout Scandinavia making a series of personal appearances. Twenty years later, filmmakers Lars Movin and Steen Moller Rasmussen found never-before-seen footage of his Copenhagen visit and set out on the road to record new material, telling the story of the acclaimed author's later work -- especially what is known as The Last Trilogy -- and his unique perform…
Dead City Radio
In 1988, genius producer Hal Willner (best known, perhaps ironically, for his Disney tribute album STAY AWAKE) traveled to Lawrence, Kansas and taped NAKED LUNCH author and Beat Generation legend William Burroughs performing excerpts from his ... Full Descriptionwork. He then enlisted the likes of Donald Fagen and Sonic Youth to create accompanying musical collages. To this end he also unearthed Aaron Copland-esque music recorded in the late '40s and '50s for various radio shows by Toscanini'…
Spare Ass Annie And Other Tales
A collaboration between Burroughs, producer Hal Willner, and politico-rappers Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. It features Burroughs reading excerpts from seven of his books set to music by the Heroes, mostly a slow, lazy funk that sounds like it was lifted from a '70s blaxploitation soundtrack. Highlights include the 16-minute, decidedly Burroughsian holiday treat "A Junky's Christmas" and "Words of Advice for Young People," which first appeared on the Smack My Crack collection, minus the music…
The Instrument of Control
Rare recordings of William Burroughs in conversation and readings from the 1970s - 80s. This is an essential insight into the mind and writings of arguably the most influential writer from the Beat generation. Through his mordant satire of cultural aspirations, homosexual eroticism and political power, Burroughs focuses our gaze into the abyss. His cold language creates beauty through a terror that we are just able to bear.
Thee Films 1950s-1960s
When writer William S. Burroughs and artist Brion Gysin met Anthony Balch at the Beat Hotel in Paris at the start of the '60s they knew they had the ideal person to assist them in translating the ideas they had explored in experimental art forms to film. Balch began his movie-making career collaborating with Burroughs on two shorts 'Towers Open Fire' and 'The Cut Ups.' The former is a relatively straightforward attempt to capture the essence of Burroughs writing on film, utilizing key themes and…