Recorded over different nights of the Final Academy exhibition, this album features Gysin reading early cut-ups from the time of his early collaborations with William S. Burroughs. Musicians several decades younger than he add a spontaneous excitement to his animated recital, lending this document a vitality that far exceeds its historic value.
Joining him are Tessa from The Slits, Steve Noble of Rip, Rig, and Panic, as well as Gile/Jail of Penguin Café Orchestra, and Ramuntcho Matta, who also provided the music for Gysin's poetry on One Night @ the 1001. The music here was created during the event's sound checks and works much better than I had anticipated. The style of music ranges from sparse abstraction to tribal rhythms to frenetic rock. Although Gysin was generations removed from these musicians, little awkwardness exists between he and the group. Instead Gysin jumps right in and infuses his words with emphatic rhythms to fully integrate them with the music. His health wasn't so good during these readings, but the only obvious effect it had is on "Cut-Ups 1960 (Bardo Hotel)," when he complains that all the "fire and brimstone" in the air has given him an attack of asthma and subsequently forces him to shorten a few words.
He reads mainly from Minutes to Go, Terry Wilson's book of interviews with Gysin, Here to Go, and what was to become his final book, The Last Museum. His choice of readings serves as an excellent introduction for those unfamiliar with his work, and the addition of talented musicians adds a significant element for those who already do know it. "Minutes to Go #1" and "Cut-Ups (1959)" explain the ins and outs of the cut-up method he created and subsequently shared with Burroughs, how words from any source can be excised from their context and reshuffled in permutations to reveal hidden truth. Although it is true that Tristan Tzara had already done something similar by pulling random words out of a hat, Gysin's method had compelling mystical intentions rather than Tzara's Dada nonsense. The only questionable inclusion here is "Ad Lib" because the recording quality is at odds with the rest of the disc. Sounding as if it were recorded in a bucket, Gysin is nearly inaudible and the band's live mix is poor.
Yet just about everything else on this recording is fantastic. Gysin is an enthusiastic entertainer, and his energetic performances here, combined with a strong supporting cast, go a long way toward illustrating why he has been such an influential figure throughout the years.
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