[This Is Not Here]

Yes, though nothing can beat reading the original texts, I've discovered that spoken-word tracks are just perfect to slip into a mix-tape, usually at the end of the first side. I'm pretty new to it all, I'm into my Lydia Lunch and William Burroughs spoken word albums, but not alot else. Nothing can beat the odd Chris Morris or Cook & Moore track to whack on a mix tape, so comedy isn't so much what I'm after - but more of the Beats style poetry and readings I guess.


Any suggestions would be very much appreciated!

[Dead-Air]

Check out any and all Word Jazz albums by Ken Nordine. Also Jandek has a series of spoken word albums towards the end of the '90s. My favorite was Worthless Recluse.

[jimbrim]

slint's spiderland?
adam gnade?
saul williams?
defiently check this track out - www.myspace.com/plosives

[ZEROpumpkins]

Rollins. I sampled a few of his peices in my works.

[terminal pharmacy]

matt dillon reading the whole unabridged version of on the road

fear and loathing in las vegas - the radio play / starring jim jarmursch and some of the simpsons people doing the voices

rollins

jello

noam chomsky

charles bukowski - hostage

Various - Word Up

It has poems and experiments by Aaron Williamson, John Sobol, Todd Colby, John Giorno etc. A lot of it is brilliant purely from a phonetical point of view (Williamson and Sobol especially).

[radarmaker]

Bill Hicks. It's not comedy, it's the truth.

[Florya]

Jello Biafra did a few good spoken word things.
Also, if you can find a copy of 'Fear Power God' you'll find some interesting stuff on it - Anton LaVey, Lawrence Ferlinghetti etc.
On a lighter note - The Point by Nilsson is quite entertaining.
Some of the albums celebrating the early years of space exploration are pretty cool too - I have 'The Flight of Friendship 7' and sampled the fuck out of it when I went through my ambient house phase.

[atsonicpark]

i mainly listen to the burroughs spoken word stuff, but...

the BEST (and most disturbing) spoken word stuff is the peter sotos stuff. Stay away if child abuse/molestation bothers you at all.

Sun City Girls have some interesting spoken word stuff, specifically "dante's disneyland inferno."

[dnorsen]

id recommend ken nordine a hundred times over. check out these 2 albums ... twink & colors. both will have you dying in fits of laughter while blowing your mind. very jazzy ... also recommend the fugs first couple albums. kind of spoken word with their poetry background, but not completely. i also own a jack keroauc boxset that has him backed by some jazz musicians. i believe its a complete works kind of thing, but anyhow really good. highly recommended ...

[Dead-Air]

The whole Giorno Poetry Systems series (Found a Diamond in the Mouth of a Corpse, Like a Girl I Want You to Keep Coming, Smack my Crack, etc.) is full of great stuff from all sorts of sonicish luminaries (Lydia, Ginsburg, Burroughs, Nick Cave, Rollins, Laurie Anderson, etc) interspersed with great music along the same lines.

[batreleaser]

i got that kerouac boxset for christmas a while back, its great.

Originally Posted by Dead-Air

The whole Giorno Poetry Systems series (Found a Diamond in the Mouth of a Corpse, Like a Girl I Want You to Keep Coming, Smack my Crack, etc.) is full of great stuff from all sorts of sonicish luminaries (Lydia, Ginsburg, Burroughs, Nick Cave, Rollins, Laurie Anderson, etc) interspersed with great music along the same lines.

A lot of that stuff is good with plenty of stinkers too. Am I the only one who thinks that the vast majority of beat poets sound much more interesting on a lot of these spoken word albums than on paper? Allen Ginsberg, for one, I appreciate much more aurally than I can bear to read.

[pbradley]

Hmm, Burroughs has always been my favorite beat writer for as long as I can remember. I should check out his spoken word, I suppose.

[Dead-Air]

Originally Posted by sarramkrop

A lot of that stuff is good with plenty of stinkers too. Am I the only one who thinks that the vast majority of beat poets sound much more interesting on a lot of these spoken word albums than on paper? Allen Ginsberg, for one, I appreciate much more aurally than I can bear to read.

That's a fair assessment, as much of Ginsberg's material was written almost entirely to be read aloud. Burrough's holds up on the page a bit better, but then he was writing prose. Any good poetry really should sound better read out loud (especially by the poet) than it reads on the page, since from the page it's impossible to really hear the writer's voice.

I agree that what's bad on those comps is horribly bad, though the best is remarkable. Ironically, it's usually Giorno's own material I can't stand on them (and I've heard other stuff by him that was better).

[Dead-Air]

Another spoken word artist/poet to seek out is Steven Jesse Bernstein. The best piece available by him is the one on the Sub Pop 200 comp. I'm not that keen personally on the Prison l.p., because although Steve Fisk is a friend and an idol of mine, I don't really like the way his soundtracks sound behind the poems. Jesse always struck me as his best with no accompaniment. I really miss him.

[jimbrim]

ivor cutler (r.i.p) - life in a scotch sitting room 2

there's a track on a scars album called 'your attention please'. the singer reads a peter porter poem over a fantastic, melodic beat. probably one of my all time favourite tracks.

john cooper-clarke maybe? he's a bit of an obvious choice though.

[atsonicpark]

LONGMONT POTION CASTLE (does that count? Spoken word.. telephone calls!)
JANDEK

I'm going to listen to Kerouac's on the road now..

[SuperCreep]

current 93 - i have a special plan for this world

[FreshChops]

Wesley Willis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWWsWP9bPAg