Really great vocal work from legendary underground figure Brion Gysin – best known as a poet, but also a key European connection for the American beats – and a frequent partner in the language experiments by William S Burroughs! Here, Gysin mixes his words in both singing and spoken styles – a bit more of the former than some of his recordings with avant jazz musicians – and hits a groove that bubbles over with all sorts of cool funky touches that often recall the vibe of the Ze Records material from the French scene of the early 80s. Ramuntcho Matta handles production and the main creative direction of the music – and opens the door to work from Don Cherry on pocket trumpet, Lizzy Mercier Descloux and Caroline Loeb on vocals, and Yann Le Ker on bass and guitar,. Titles include "Sham Pain", "Junk", "Kick (discomix)", "Stop Smoking", and "Baboon". LP also features the unreleased tracks "Kick (alt 7" mix)" and "Kick (alt 7" inst)" – plus "All Those Years", "VVV", and "Stop Smoking (alt mix)". LP, Vinyl record album

We're not often the biggest fans of poetry in the work of Steve Lacy – but somehow, this set seems to come off especially right – thanks, no doubt, to the fact that beat legend Brion Gysin composed all of the words! Gysin himself only speaks on 2 titles – but his presence there is especially strong – grounding the other vocals by Irene Aebi with a gruff and gritty sensibility that she seems to carry back to her own interpretations of his words on the other titles. Members of the group here are usual Lacy conspirators – Aebi on voice and violin, Bobby Few on piano, Steve Potts on alto and soprano saxes, Jean-Jacques Avenel on bass, and Oliver Johnson on drums. Titles include "Luvzya", "Permutations", "Gay Paree Bop", "Nowhere Street", "Somebody Special", and "Keep The Change" – all of which feature music by Lacy, set to words by Gysin! CD

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One of Steve Lacy's great late 70s recordings for Hat Hut – a searing live performance that was one of his boldest efforts from the time! The group here are a quintet of familiar players – Steve Potts on alto and soprano sax, Irene Aebi on cello and voice, Kent Carter on bass, and Oliver Johnson on drums – all working together as a tremendously cohesive unit, with a dexterously angular feel on most of the numbers. Titles are all quite long, and with lots of choppy saxophone interplay – and Aebi performs a piece by Brion Gysin on the track "Dreams" 2CD set seems greatly expanded from the original album – and titles include "Raps", "The Way", "The Breath", "Stamps", "Bone", "Life On Its Way", and "Name". CD

One of the rarest records to ever feature the work of groundbreaking writer and language experimentalist William S Burroughs – an album that originally came out on the Industrial Music label, home to the early work of Throbbing Gristle! Peter Cristopherson and Genesis P-Orridge worked with Burroughs associate James Grauerholz, and dug through countless ours of tapes, to bring together some of his most experimental recordings – work that really shows just how much the writer's fascination with the properties of magnetic tape had an influence on his writing, and his legendary cutup technique! Some tracks are straight readings – of the more familiar sort that feature Burroughs' incredible voice – but many others have sound experiments on tape, transforming language in a really great way – with contributions from Brion Gysin and Ian Sommerville too. Wonderful all the way through – and one of the few recordings to really plumb the depths of the sonic genius of William S Burroughs! LP, Vinyl record album

John Zorn and Bill Laswell have crossed musical paths over over the years, and this set is certainly not the first time they've recorded together – yet there's also this wonderful sense of rebirth in the music, maybe the cleansing hinted at in the title – as things really go back to the basics of improvisation that began the career of the two artists, but with a sound that's very different than the past! Zorn is on alto and Laswell is on electric bass – and the tracks are all long improvisations that really take their time to find the right space – never over-conceived or forcing any sort of an agenda – just a natural, organic sonic progression in that hands of two improvisers who still have plenty of musical feathers left in their caps after all these years. Titles include "William Burroughs", "Brion Gysin", "Aleister Crowley", "Austin Osman Spare", and "Alejandro Jodorowsky". CD