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's NBC Symphony Orchestra. The more contemporary backing material is fine, and Burroughs' dry as dust readings sound particularly unsettling when backed by symphonic Americana. Be warned, however, that the album ends with the author cackling his way through a sepulchral German version of Marlene Dietrich's "Falling in Love Again;" it's as creepy a performance as you're likely to hear in a lifetime. Principally recorded at Hairball 3, Lawrence, Kansas.