''Seven Souls'' is a 1989 album by

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

based music group

Material Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geologi ...

. A collaboration with author William S. Burroughs, the album features his narration of passages from his novel ''

The Western Lands ''The Western Lands'' is a 1987 novel by William S. Burroughs. The final book of the trilogy that begins with ''Cities of the Red Night'' (1981) and continues with '' The Place of Dead Roads'' (1983), its title refers to the western bank of the N ...

'' (1987) set to musical accompaniment. The album was re-released in 1997 with bonus tracks, three re-mixes that were added to the beginning of the album. In 1998, a new title, ''The Road to the Western Lands'', was issued, composed of new mixes of the tracks. "Equation" / "Ineffect" was released as a single in 1989 (Virgin America, PR 3380).

Track listing

#"Ineffect" ( Bill Laswell,

Nicky Skopelitis Nicky Skopelitis (born January 19, 1960) is an American guitarist and composer of Greek descent. He also has performed on banjo, oud, lute, keyboards and other instruments. Although Skopelitis has recorded few albums as a bandleader, he has appea ...

, William S. Burroughs, Simon Shaheen) – 7:34 #"Seven Souls" (Laswell, Burroughs) – 5:42 #"Soul Killer" (Laswell, Burroughs) – 4:32 #"The Western Lands" (Laswell, Skopelitis, Burroughs) – 6:54 #"Deliver" (Laswell, Skopelitis,

Foday Musa Suso Foday Musa Suso (born 9 December 1953, in Sarre Hamadi, Wuli District, in the Upper River Division of The Gambia) is a Gambian musician and composer. He is a member of the Mandinka ethnic group, and is a griot. Griots are the oral historians a ...

) – 5:48 #"Equation" (Laswell, Skopelitis, Rammellzee) – 5:06 #"The End of Words" (Laswell, Burroughs) – 5:06

Seven Souls (Remix)

#"The Western Lands" Dangerous Road Mix(Laswell, Burroughs) – 8:31 #"Seven Souls" im Simenon Mix(Tim Simenon, Burroughs) – 7:06 #"Soul Killer" emote Control Mix by Terre Thaemlitz(Terre Thaemlitz, Burroughs) – 8:15 The rest of the album as per the original release

The Road to the Western Lands

#Bill Laswell – "The Seven Souls" (Burroughs, Laswell) – 5:47 # Talvin Singh – "The Western Lands" (Burroughs, Talvin Singh) 6:36 #DJ Soul Slinger – "The Western Lands" (Burroughs, DJ Soul Slinger) 5:09 #

Spring Heel Jack Spring Heel Jack is an English electronic music duo, consisting of John Coxon and Ashley Wales. Formed in 1993 in London, England, Spring Heel Jack began their career exploring drum and bass and jungle, but have since branched out into free ...

– "The Road to the Western Lands" (Burroughs, John Coxon, Ashley Wales) 6:17 #The Audio Janitor (

DJ Olive DJ Olive (also known as The Audio Janitor; born Gregor Asch) is an American disc jockey and turntablist. He is known for producing music generally in the electronic genre, with strong influences of dub, and free improvisation styles. He is wide ...

) – "Joan's Haunted Hints at the Gate to the Western Lands" (Burroughs, DJ Olive) 6:37 #Bill Laswell – "Seven Souls" he Secret Name(Burroughs, Laswell) 10:37 #Material – "The Western Lands" Dangerous Road Mix(Burroughs, Laswell) – 8:31

Personnel

Material * Bill Laswell – 4, 6 and 8-string basses, acoustic guitar, tapes, percussion Additional personnel * William S. Burroughs – voice * Rammellzee – voice ("Equation") *

– voice ("Deliver") *Fahiem Dandan – voice ("Ineffect") *

– 6 and 12 string guitars, baglama, coral sitar, saz, Fairlight CMI * Simon Shaheen – violin *

L. Shankar Lakshminarayana Shankar (born 26 April 1950), better known as L. Shankar, Shankar and Shenkar, is an Indian violinist, singer and composer. Early life, family and education Shankar was born in Madras, India, and raised in Ceylon (current- ...

– violin * Jeff Bova – electronic keyboards *

Sly Dunbar Lowell Fillmore "Sly" Dunbar (born 10 May 1952, Kingston, Jamaica) is a drummer, best known as one half of the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and reggae production duo Sly and Robbie. Biography Dunbar began playing at 15 in a band called ...

– drums,

Fairlight Fairlight may refer to: In places: * Fairlight, East Sussex, a village east of Hastings in southern England, UK * Fairlight, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia * Fairlight, Saskatchewan, Canada In other uses: * Fairlight (company), an ...

Aïyb Dieng Aïyb Dieng is a Senegalese drummer and percussionist specializing in hand drums. He has recorded two solo album, including ''Rhythmagick'' (1995), and has worked with a wide range of musicians, including as a regular collaborator of bassist/pro ...

– percussion "The Western Lands" Dangerous Road Mix'' * Jah Wobble – bass *Bill Laswell – bass samples *Nicky Skopelitis – guitar *Tetsu Inoue – electronics *

DJ Spooky Paul Dennis Miller (born September 6, 1970), known professionally as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is an American electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics "illbient" or "trip hop". He is a turntabli ...

– noise "The Seven Souls" he Secret Name'' *Alicia Renee aka Blue Eyes: vocals *Nicky Skopelitis: guitar *Bill Laswell: bass, keyboards, turntable

Production

*Recorded at Platinum Island Studio and BC Studio, New York. *Produced by Bill Laswell / Material.

Release history

*''Seven Souls'' – 1989 – Virgin, CDV 2596 (CD) *''Seven Souls (Remix)'' – 1997 – Triloka Records, 314 534 905-2 (CD) *''The Road to the Western Lands'' – 1998 – Triloka / Mercury, 314 558 021-2 (2x 12" / CD)

In popular culture

The track "Seven Souls" is featured in the opening scene and in the closing credits of ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...

'' Season 6 episode, " Members Only".

References

External links

*
''Seven Souls''
at

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

{{Authority control 1989 albums Material (band) albums Albums produced by Bill Laswell Virgin Records albums William S. Burroughs