In the post-World Serpent world, it's refreshing to see a tasteful looking, properly packaged, elegant layout on a Nurse With Wound release which isn't completely driven by capitalism or auctionable (or even questionable) "special" editions. Cover artwork is collected from a few of Steve's own personal favorite paintings for the original cover (all were different on the original 1987 issue) and the overall design echoes what has worked for Nurse in the past. Although all the music has been released before (both on LP and various CDs), everything is currently out of print. This is the first time all the songs have been reunited on a CD, and it sounds wonderful. Tracks were originally gathered from cassette-only releases, compilations, a live bit, and other odds and ends. All have been remastered and sound more vibrant than ever, from the nasty organ through piano banging on the opening "Mourning Smile" (which probably shouldn't have gone on the CD release of Spiral Insana to begin with), to the shrieking banshee noises on "Sheela-Na-Gig," and the dying manatee sounds on "Astral Dustbin Dirge," which most definitely shouldn't have gone on the CD issue of Homotopy to Marie. "Swamp Rat," although it's rarely a popular song with existing fans, undeniably has the elements that fans fell in love with NWW for: a constant pulse (even if it is a cheesy drum machine in this case), an occasionally repeated sample, a drone of some sort, and some unconventional instrument playing over it. Even the least intoxicating songs never got boring. While a lot of musicians and distributors and fans think the collapse of World Serpent was a bleak moment, I look forward to more classy reissues like this with the delicate time and energy invested into restoring a original running order and remastering recordings with the finesse that somebody like Colin Potter possesses.

Jon Whitney