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Hakim Bey: T.A.Z.
[Axiom] (1996)
Hakim Bey is a Sufi mystic, a radical anarchist philosopher,
and a sex heretic. He is also one of the best damn American writers
since Twain or Burroughs. This album consists of Hakim reading
six of his texts, mostly taken from his books T.A.Z.: The Temporary
Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism[Autonomedia,
1991] and Immediatism[AK Press, 1994], with musical accompaniments
by guitarists Nicky Skopelitis and Buckethead, all arranged by
producer/bassist Bill Laswell. This CD is the best thing I’ve
heard in the spoken word/music genre since William S. Burroughs’
Dead City Radio[Island].
Hakim’s voice is seductive, convincing, and roundly sarcastic.
He reads his own words with a depth of commitment that is rare,
even in today’s climate of poetry slams and spoken word performance.
The music consists of sound collages and original music, all matched
perfectly to the tones of the texts. The texts are mind-bombs
of the highest order, strong enough to change the lives of open-minded
listeners. The CD opens with 3 tracts from “The Broadsheets of
Ontological Anarchy” from the book T.A.Z.,the triumphant “Chaos,”
the subversive “Poetic Terrorism,” and the ecstatic “Amour Fou.”
(Warning: this latter text is especially likely to offend you,
if you’re an uptight, post-Calvinist establishment straight.)
In “Immediatism,” Hakim digs into one of the essential problems
of our times, our alienation from real life because of our dependence
on the media. In “The Tong,” which features pipa (Chinese lute)
master Wu Man, Hakim talks convincingly about the virtues of underground
organizations. The CD concludes with the insurrectionist “Boycott
Cop Culture,” which is a rousing condemnation of our culture’s
“police state of consciousness”: don’t kill the cops, rather destroy
their depictions in art as “heroes” of clichéd, politically and
morally repressive stories. (You want to understand why the L.A.
riots happened after the Rodney King trial? This piece will give
you the real, underlying answer. Oh, you don’t think we live in
a police state yet? Well, how many “reality TV” cop shows are
on the Boob Tube right now? Think about it.)
Hakim’s readings demand attention; they cannot function as background
music, because they’re too viral, they infect your ears until
your brain has no choice but to follow. Nor are Hakim’s texts
mere dry intellectualizing, but rather a passionate call to live
life as a fully awakened human being. Truly subversive, sublimely
hallucinogenic, relentlessly sensual, Hakim Bey’s words are bombs
that have the potential to change your very life. Very highly
recommended: one of the best damn CDs I’ve ever heard.
Lux et Voluptas!
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