old fires catch old buildings draws its title from Burroughs’ writing on recording in The Invisible Generation. Rather than play with the text of Burroughs’ original writing, the piece instead engages with physical recordings (namely cassette tapes) of each of the ensemble members. The flexibility of language combined with the idiosyncrasies and manipulability of recording and playback devices pair forges intriguing interdependencies between the musicians as well as their stored voices. As Burroughs notes, “it is the height of rudeness not to record when addressed directly by another tape recorder...” 

— Paula Matthusen