Spare Ass Annie and other tales
William S. Burroughs
Island Records
Reviewed by Arun Pradhan
Spare Ass Annie and Other Tales combines the raspy, monotone voice of William Burroughs with the music of the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. We are treated to extracts of Burroughs' work ranging from "Wrinkled earlobes are a sign of impending heart attacks" to "Did I ever tell you about the man that taught his asshole to talk?" (from the book The Naked Lunch).
Burroughs' narrative style is sometimes compelling and the music has been skilfully woven into the 15 stories, but the album still falls short. We are left with Burroughs' work without a context or an understanding of his politics.
Burroughs challenged the dominant ideas of the time. He was not shy about launching attacks on anything from accepted literature styles to the politics of Nixon and the existence of the CIA. He was a part of a movement that questioned and did not accept things at face value, but amidst this questioning Burroughs failed to find a coherent explanation or analysis of what was wrong.
He saw one of the main problems of society as the existence of so many institutions with different vested interests. On one level he identified the power structures, the monopolisation of resources and information.
Yet he came this far only to reject theories of socialism and anarchism. Thus he rejected the need for a political solution, often leaning towards personal, even metaphysical, answers. This led him to some very confused positions, such as claiming that US industry is basically state controlled (because of government regulations) and that women have a vested interest in the existence of the family.
Burroughs pushed the boundaries of what was accepted at a time when many where rejecting the society they found themselves in. He challenged the prevailing system, was aware of many of its injustices and spoke out against some its more nasty warts. However, to challenge the system with something that is arbitrary and irrational seems just a bit ... well, arbitrary and irrational.
At the risk of being told that I'm missing the point by the hardened coffee shop goer, to me Burroughs was at his most insightful on track three, which has him telling us "This is insane" over and over again.