Insect And Individual Silenced
;void(''); "Front Cover")
;void(''); "Back Cover")
;void(''); "Side A")
;void(''); "Side B")
Details
1981 12 UK United Dairies UD08
1000 Black vinyl copies in regular sleeve
1981 12 UK United Dairies UD08
10 Signed and numbered black vinyl copies in handmade sleeve
Track Listing
side one
- Alvin's Funeral (The Milk Was Delivered in Black Bottles)
- Absent Old Queen Underfoot
- Mutilés du Guerre
Personnel
Trevor Reidy
Sleeve Notes
None
Insect And Individual Silenced
;void(''); "Front Cover")
Details
1987 CS UK United Dairies UDT08
In regular cassette box
Track Listing
Side A
- Alvin's Funeral (The Milk Was Delivered in Black Bottles)
- Absent Old Queen Underfoot
- Mutilés du Guerre
Personnel
Trevor Reidy
Sleeve Notes
None
Notes
The United Dairies Mail Order Cassette sheet of 1987 (and possibly earlier) lists this release as a remix.
Related Items
Insect And Individual Silenced
;void(''); "Front Cover")
Details
1987 est. CS US RRRecords UDT08
In regular cassette box
Track Listing
Side A
- Alvin's Funeral (The Milk Was Delivered in Black Bottles)
- Absent Old Queen Underfoot
- Mutilés du Guerre
Personnel
Trevor Reidy
Sleeve Notes
None
Notes
Not officially licensed and at the time of writing (March-2009) it is still available.
Insect And Individual Silenced
;void(''); "Front Cover")
;void(''); "Back Cover")
Details
Track Listing
- Alvin's Funeral (The Milk Was Delivered in Black Bottles)
- Absent Old Queen Underfoot
- Mutilés du Guerre
Personnel
Trevor Reidy
Sleeve Notes
None
Insect And Individual Silenced
;void(''); "Front Cover")
;void(''); "Back Cover")
;void(''); "CD")
Details
2007 April CD US Raash Records UD08CD / RAASH01
In eight panel digipak and frosted silver printed slip cover
Track Listing
- Alvin's Funeral (The Milk Was Delivered in Black Bottles) (27:25)
- Absent Old Queen Underfoot (21:12)
- Mutilés du Guerre (6:58)
Personnel
Trevor Reidy
Sleeve Notes
1980: A Year of Change
In January Heman Pathak, John Fothergill and I, alongside Jacques Berrocal, recorded the album To The Quiet Men from a Tiny Girl.. In March Heman left to work with David Vorhaus (of White Noise fame). During the mixing of Quiet Men it became clear that John and I had a very different view on the direction the musci should take. As a result, we compromised and I've always felt the album suffered greatly because of this. In May of that year I decided to make another album -- this time no collaborators, just myself and the Bombay Ducks at the controls. Over two weekends I recorded and mixed Merzbild Schwet. By the time of its release John and I were on very bad terms and Heman was totally out of the picture. John went off and started his own label 'Experimental Records' and put out albums by The Shiney Men, Experiments With Ice, and Two Daughters. At about this time I met Jim Thirlwell and we became friends (he had just recorded his first Foetus single as Foetus Under Glass). Through him I met Trevor Reidy and Rbert Haigh -- all three worked in Virgin's Oxford Walk store situated not two minutes from my graphid design studio in Poland Street. I remember Jim would often play my Chance Meeting album at ten to six to clear the shop for closing. It worked a treat: people just couldn't get out fast enough!
Jim, Trevor and I thought it would be fun to spend a little time in a studio "just to see what would happen", so I.P.S. with engineer Peter McGee was the obvious choice of studio (I knew of it through William Bennett, sho had just recorded his early Come and Whitehouse releases there). A the time Jim was playing bass with Prag Vec and Trevor was the drummer in Truth Club. When we arrived at I.P.S. Jim quickly decided to ditch the bass guitar and play the hum of his amplifier by stroking and hitting the jack-plugs and leads, Trevor reduced his kit to one snare drum and a couple of brushes, and I fucked aroud with an old, beaten-up Woolworth's guitar and a violin bow. The result was Absent Old Queen Underfoot. The next week I returned with a basket of junk, records, tapes and toys, and over the weekend produced the other two parts that became Insect and Individual Silenced. The tapes were very quickly mixed and mastered by a drunken engineer and a very stoned me.
Our previous United Dairies releases were all produced at Nimbus in Wales -- superior classical pressings which John had paid for -- but I was broke and impatient and eager to show that I could manage on my own. William had told me of the 'Linguaphone Institute', which pressed very cheap vinyl for the purposes of language education (his Come Org releases were pressed there). So, being broke, I ordered the records from Linguaphone.
When the completed album arrived I sat back in the cold light of day -- with no drugs or alcohol -- and listened.
I was horrified. This was a dismal failure, a dreadful pressing and an appallingly carefree mix -- in fact a seriously misguided project altogether, but by then it was too late: the album was pressed and ready to go. I could not afford to dump the project so I bit the bullet, tucked my tail between my legs and hid my head in shame. I had to put the damn thing out.
Twenty years later I had still not re-listened to it: it was filed away in my memory as a disaster and a steep learning curve (I went on to make Homotopy To Marie next -- an album I still enjoy to this day). Over the years people had started mentioning it as their favourite N.W.W. album, I thought they were insane. David Tibet was always saying "why don't you put Insect out again." No -- never was my reply, and to make sure I never would I burned the masters.
A few years ago I received a package from the mysterious irr. app. (ext.). To my great surprise it was a meticulous, beautiful cover version of the entire Insect album -- and artwork, too. I was stunned. I telephoned Mr. Matt Waldron, the man behind the venture, and asked him why THAT album! He replied that he loved it and coudln't understand my hatred of the thing. We became great friends. Then one day Christoph Heemann rand and said his friend Kevin Spencer of Robot Records had spent a lot of time and care making a pretty decent digital master and that I should give it another listen. I contacted Kevin, who had made this master for his own private use as he loves the album so much. Then I listened to it for the first time in over twenty years, and you know what? It's not half as bad as I remember. I was quite pleasantly surprised: no crackles or surface noise. It's still a failure, but maybe not quite as dismal as I once thought.
Several terrible bootlegs have appeared over the years, and persuaded by the enthusiasm of Matt, Kevin, David and Christoph, I;ve finally decided to re-issue Insect.
I would like to thank Kevin Spencer, Matt Waldron, David Tibet, Christoph Heemann, Ken Garwood and Colin Potter for their tireless persuasion.
Jim Thirlwell - bass amp, jack plugs
Trevor Reidy - snare drum, brushes and percussion
Steven Stapleton - guitar, noise, records, tapes, loops
Recorded at I.P.S. October 1981
Engineer - Peter McGee
Original Artwork - Steven Stapleton
Re-issue artwork manipulation - Matt Waldron
Thanks to Trevor (truth club),
Jim, Philip (foetus variations), Sharon, Anka, Barbie.
Dedicated to Boris Vian
All nww artwork Steve
Reference appendix the art of self-observation some with a whisper, some with a bang
The idea the non-medical use of post-scarcity anarchism repetition devotion all flesh is grass organic drugs fundamentals
The key? pushing the body limits sound bicycle divine copulation
The outward urge
God cosmic golf fundamentals
In January Heman Pathak, John Fothergill and I, alongside Jacques Berrocal, recorded the album To The Quiet Men from a Tiny Girl.. In March Heman left to work with David Vorhaus (of White Noise fame). During the mixing of Quiet Men it became clear that John and I had a very different view on the direction the musci should take. As a result, we compromised and I've always felt the album suffered greatly because of this. In May of that year I decided to make another album -- this time no collaborators, just myself and the Bombay Ducks at the controls. Over two weekends I recorded and mixed Merzbild Schwet. By the time of its release John and I were on very bad terms and Heman was totally out of the picture. John went off and started his own label 'Experimental Records' and put out albums by The Shiney Men, Experiments With Ice, and Two Daughters. At about this time I met Jim Thirlwell and we became friends (he had just recorded his first Foetus single as Foetus Under Glass). Through him I met Trevor Reidy and Rbert Haigh -- all three worked in Virgin's Oxford Walk store situated not two minutes from my graphid design studio in Poland Street. I remember Jim would often play my Chance Meeting album at ten to six to clear the shop for closing. It worked a treat: people just couldn't get out fast enough!
Jim, Trevor and I thought it would be fun to spend a little time in a studio "just to see what would happen", so I.P.S. with engineer Peter McGee was the obvious choice of studio (I knew of it through William Bennett, sho had just recorded his early Come and Whitehouse releases there). A the time Jim was playing bass with Prag Vec and Trevor was the drummer in Truth Club. When we arrived at I.P.S. Jim quickly decided to ditch the bass guitar and play the hum of his amplifier by stroking and hitting the jack-plugs and leads, Trevor reduced his kit to one snare drum and a couple of brushes, and I fucked aroud with an old, beaten-up Woolworth's guitar and a violin bow. The result was Absent Old Queen Underfoot. The next week I returned with a basket of junk, records, tapes and toys, and over the weekend produced the other two parts that became Insect and Individual Silenced. The tapes were very quickly mixed and mastered by a drunken engineer and a very stoned me.
Our previous United Dairies releases were all produced at Nimbus in Wales -- superior classical pressings which John had paid for -- but I was broke and impatient and eager to show that I could manage on my own. William had told me of the 'Linguaphone Institute', which pressed very cheap vinyl for the purposes of language education (his Come Org releases were pressed there). So, being broke, I ordered the records from Linguaphone.
When the completed album arrived I sat back in the cold light of day -- with no drugs or alcohol -- and listened.
I was horrified. This was a dismal failure, a dreadful pressing and an appallingly carefree mix -- in fact a seriously misguided project altogether, but by then it was too late: the album was pressed and ready to go. I could not afford to dump the project so I bit the bullet, tucked my tail between my legs and hid my head in shame. I had to put the damn thing out.
Twenty years later I had still not re-listened to it: it was filed away in my memory as a disaster and a steep learning curve (I went on to make Homotopy To Marie next -- an album I still enjoy to this day). Over the years people had started mentioning it as their favourite N.W.W. album, I thought they were insane. David Tibet was always saying "why don't you put Insect out again." No -- never was my reply, and to make sure I never would I burned the masters.
A few years ago I received a package from the mysterious irr. app. (ext.). To my great surprise it was a meticulous, beautiful cover version of the entire Insect album -- and artwork, too. I was stunned. I telephoned Mr. Matt Waldron, the man behind the venture, and asked him why THAT album! He replied that he loved it and coudln't understand my hatred of the thing. We became great friends. Then one day Christoph Heemann rand and said his friend Kevin Spencer of Robot Records had spent a lot of time and care making a pretty decent digital master and that I should give it another listen. I contacted Kevin, who had made this master for his own private use as he loves the album so much. Then I listened to it for the first time in over twenty years, and you know what? It's not half as bad as I remember. I was quite pleasantly surprised: no crackles or surface noise. It's still a failure, but maybe not quite as dismal as I once thought.
Several terrible bootlegs have appeared over the years, and persuaded by the enthusiasm of Matt, Kevin, David and Christoph, I;ve finally decided to re-issue Insect.
I would like to thank Kevin Spencer, Matt Waldron, David Tibet, Christoph Heemann, Ken Garwood and Colin Potter for their tireless persuasion.
Jim Thirlwell - bass amp, jack plugs
Trevor Reidy - snare drum, brushes and percussion
Steven Stapleton - guitar, noise, records, tapes, loops
Recorded at I.P.S. October 1981
Engineer - Peter McGee
Original Artwork - Steven Stapleton
Re-issue artwork manipulation - Matt Waldron
Thanks to Trevor (truth club),
Jim, Philip (foetus variations), Sharon, Anka, Barbie.
Dedicated to Boris Vian
All nww artwork Steve
Reference appendix the art of self-observation some with a whisper, some with a bang
The idea the non-medical use of post-scarcity anarchism repetition devotion all flesh is grass organic drugs fundamentals
The key? pushing the body limits sound bicycle divine copulation
The outward urge
God cosmic golf fundamentals
Bandcamp
Reviews
Steven Stapleton hates this record and for the greater part of the last quarter century has wanted to forget it existed. Thanks in part to Matt Waldron, Kevin Spencer, and the folks at Raash, his diabolical plot to condemn this album to the waste pits of history has failed. Insect and Individual Silenced has been given a spectacular re-issue complete with new artwork, a new mastering job, and some very limited, very peculiar extras.
Everyone that has wanted to has probably heard Insect and Individual Silenced. Bootlegs have been widespread since it was originally released/destroyed and there are plenty of digital copies of varying quality floating around communities all over the Internet, but I can safely say this is the best sounding copy I have ever heard. Kevin Spencer at Robot Records created a digital master of the album from his copy of the vinyl and each of the three tracks sound phenomenal. The opening boom of "Alvin's Funeral (The Milk Was Delivered in Black Bottles)" is bright and resonant as are all the various explosions and crashes of sound that populate the piece. There is virtually zero hiss across the album and the range of sounds populating the record are clear and distinct. Each of the three tracks are very distinct and feature some unconventional approaches to sound-craft, but they play together nicely and emphasize just how effective Stapleton was at producing incommensurable but enjoyable slabs of sound. That begs a question: why did Stapleton hate this so much in the first place?
I won't waste the time speculating, but it should be noted that this stands toe to toe with just about every other early Nurse with Wound record out there. Stapleton's non-logical sequencing and adoration for the unexpected come across loud and clear on every track, especially "Absent Old Queen Underfoot." The playfulness of "Alvin's Funeral" might seem like a classic Nurse with Wound utility, it has all the ingredients fans have come to love. "Absent Old Queen Underfoot," however, sounds bizarre even in this trio's hands. The hurricane flurry of snares and Jim Thrilwell's caustic noise fiascos all come together in a brew of masturbatory jazz, flatulence and inside jokes.
Such an approach to record making would probably damn most groups to hell with their complete disregard for the listener scoffed at, but there's little sign of pretense on the track. It may go on a little long, but in the end it's perhaps the biggest surprise on the record and sounds the least like Nurse with Wound. The album is somewhat transitory, a constantly dismantled sculpture that rests on no base and never forms any wholly distinct features and because of this it can feel somehow torn between total chaos and arranged nonsense. Homotopy to Marie did come next and, on the whole, sounded more coherent, even at its most discombobulated moments. Listening to Nurse with Wound working out some conceptual kinks is massively entertaining and the opportunity to have an official copy with all the notes and new features makes the rerelease worth it.
Matt Waldron has completely reworked the original artwork for this release, though the original is featured on the inside of the beautiful six-panel digipack that houses the disc. The walking corpses have mutated into a trio of cut open insects, various flora and phalluses growing from their withered bodies. The color is phenomenal and the entire package feels substantial; everything has been handled with consideration and care. A four panel insert is included with a note from Stapleton and a photograph of the United Dairies insert is included beneath the CD tray for near total completeness. All that could arguably be missing is the information included with the cassette release. If, however, you manage to obtain the special edition release, a real treat waits inside. As of the time of this writing, Raash records still has some copies of an edition that comes with the revamped artwork and the album as well as a series of high-quality postcards and a "framed insect." Included in this box is a frame playing host to various insects, identified, numbered, and signed. It might be the coolest "insert" included in a boxed set ever: it looks fantastic, adds a somewhat quirky feel to the whole package, and pretty much sends the entire release beyond the stratosphere in terms of quality, design, thoughtfulness, and impact. Both the standard and special editions are worthy entries in the Nurse with Wound catalogue and stand out as being of the finest rereleases ever made.
Lucas Schleicher
17 July 2007
Everyone that has wanted to has probably heard Insect and Individual Silenced. Bootlegs have been widespread since it was originally released/destroyed and there are plenty of digital copies of varying quality floating around communities all over the Internet, but I can safely say this is the best sounding copy I have ever heard. Kevin Spencer at Robot Records created a digital master of the album from his copy of the vinyl and each of the three tracks sound phenomenal. The opening boom of "Alvin's Funeral (The Milk Was Delivered in Black Bottles)" is bright and resonant as are all the various explosions and crashes of sound that populate the piece. There is virtually zero hiss across the album and the range of sounds populating the record are clear and distinct. Each of the three tracks are very distinct and feature some unconventional approaches to sound-craft, but they play together nicely and emphasize just how effective Stapleton was at producing incommensurable but enjoyable slabs of sound. That begs a question: why did Stapleton hate this so much in the first place?
I won't waste the time speculating, but it should be noted that this stands toe to toe with just about every other early Nurse with Wound record out there. Stapleton's non-logical sequencing and adoration for the unexpected come across loud and clear on every track, especially "Absent Old Queen Underfoot." The playfulness of "Alvin's Funeral" might seem like a classic Nurse with Wound utility, it has all the ingredients fans have come to love. "Absent Old Queen Underfoot," however, sounds bizarre even in this trio's hands. The hurricane flurry of snares and Jim Thrilwell's caustic noise fiascos all come together in a brew of masturbatory jazz, flatulence and inside jokes.
Such an approach to record making would probably damn most groups to hell with their complete disregard for the listener scoffed at, but there's little sign of pretense on the track. It may go on a little long, but in the end it's perhaps the biggest surprise on the record and sounds the least like Nurse with Wound. The album is somewhat transitory, a constantly dismantled sculpture that rests on no base and never forms any wholly distinct features and because of this it can feel somehow torn between total chaos and arranged nonsense. Homotopy to Marie did come next and, on the whole, sounded more coherent, even at its most discombobulated moments. Listening to Nurse with Wound working out some conceptual kinks is massively entertaining and the opportunity to have an official copy with all the notes and new features makes the rerelease worth it.
Matt Waldron has completely reworked the original artwork for this release, though the original is featured on the inside of the beautiful six-panel digipack that houses the disc. The walking corpses have mutated into a trio of cut open insects, various flora and phalluses growing from their withered bodies. The color is phenomenal and the entire package feels substantial; everything has been handled with consideration and care. A four panel insert is included with a note from Stapleton and a photograph of the United Dairies insert is included beneath the CD tray for near total completeness. All that could arguably be missing is the information included with the cassette release. If, however, you manage to obtain the special edition release, a real treat waits inside. As of the time of this writing, Raash records still has some copies of an edition that comes with the revamped artwork and the album as well as a series of high-quality postcards and a "framed insect." Included in this box is a frame playing host to various insects, identified, numbered, and signed. It might be the coolest "insert" included in a boxed set ever: it looks fantastic, adds a somewhat quirky feel to the whole package, and pretty much sends the entire release beyond the stratosphere in terms of quality, design, thoughtfulness, and impact. Both the standard and special editions are worthy entries in the Nurse with Wound catalogue and stand out as being of the finest rereleases ever made.
Lucas Schleicher
17 July 2007
Insect And Individual Silenced
;void(''); "Front Cover")
;void(''); "Front Cover")
;void(''); "Back Cover")
;void(''); "CD")
Details
2007 April CD US Raash Records UD08CD / RAASH01
Hand numbered and signed by Steven Stapleton.
Framed "Silenced" Insect: A scientifically preserved insect (each unique) housed and mounted in a 6.5 x 6.5 inch frame with a classic style frame each insect placed in the center.
Set of postcards
Framed "Silenced" Insect: A scientifically preserved insect (each unique) housed and mounted in a 6.5 x 6.5 inch frame with a classic style frame each insect placed in the center.
Set of postcards
Track Listing
- Alvin's Funeral (The Milk Was Delivered in Black Bottles) (27:25)
- Absent Old Queen Underfoot (21:12)
- Mutilés du Guerre (6:58)
Personnel
Trevor Reidy
Sleeve Notes
1980: A Year of Change
In January Heman Pathak, John Fothergill and I, alongside Jacques Berrocal, recorded the album To The Quiet Men from a Tiny Girl.. In March Heman left to work with David Vorhaus (of White Noise fame). During the mixing of Quiet Men it became clear that John and I had a very different view on the direction the musci should take. As a result, we compromised and I've always felt the album suffered greatly because of this. In May of that year I decided to make another album -- this time no collaborators, just myself and the Bombay Ducks at the controls. Over two weekends I recorded and mixed Merzbild Schwet. By the time of its release John and I were on very bad terms and Heman was totally out of the picture. John went off and started his own label 'Experimental Records' and put out albums by The Shiney Men, Experiments With Ice, and Two Daughters. At about this time I met Jim Thirlwell and we became friends (he had just recorded his first Foetus single as Foetus Under Glass). Through him I met Trevor Reidy and Rbert Haigh -- all three worked in Virgin's Oxford Walk store situated not two minutes from my graphid design studio in Poland Street. I remember Jim would often play my Chance Meeting album at ten to six to clear the shop for closing. It worked a treat: people just couldn't get out fast enough!
Jim, Trevor and I thought it would be fun to spend a little time in a studio "just to see what would happen", so I.P.S. with engineer Peter McGee was the obvious choice of studio (I knew of it through William Bennett, sho had just recorded his early Come and Whitehouse releases there). A the time Jim was playing bass with Prag Vec and Trevor was the drummer in Truth Club. When we arrived at I.P.S. Jim quickly decided to ditch the bass guitar and play the hum of his amplifier by stroking and hitting the jack-plugs and leads, Trevor reduced his kit to one snare drum and a couple of brushes, and I fucked aroud with an old, beaten-up Woolworth's guitar and a violin bow. The result was Absent Old Queen Underfoot. The next week I returned with a basket of junk, records, tapes and toys, and over the weekend produced the other two parts that became Insect and Individual Silenced. The tapes were very quickly mixed and mastered by a drunken engineer and a very stoned me.
Our previous United Dairies releases were all produced at Nimbus in Wales -- superior classical pressings which John had paid for -- but I was broke and impatient and eager to show that I could manage on my own. William had told me of the 'Linguaphone Institute', which pressed very cheap vinyl for the purposes of language education (his Come Org releases were pressed there). So, being broke, I ordered the records from Linguaphone.
When the completed album arrived I sat back in the cold light of day -- with no drugs or alcohol -- and listened.
I was horrified. This was a dismal failure, a dreadful pressing and an appallingly carefree mix -- in fact a seriously misguided project altogether, but by then it was too late: the album was pressed and ready to go. I could not afford to dump the project so I bit the bullet, tucked my tail between my legs and hid my head in shame. I had to put the damn thing out.
Twenty years later I had still not re-listened to it: it was filed away in my memory as a disaster and a steep learning curve (I went on to make Homotopy To Marie next -- an album I still enjoy to this day). Over the years people had started mentioning it as their favourite N.W.W. album, I thought they were insane. David Tibet was always saying "why don't you put Insect out again." No -- never was my reply, and to make sure I never would I burned the masters.
A few years ago I received a package from the mysterious irr. app. (ext.). To my great surprise it was a meticulous, beautiful cover version of the entire Insect album -- and artwork, too. I was stunned. I telephoned Mr. Matt Waldron, the man behind the venture, and asked him why THAT album! He replied that he loved it and coudln't understand my hatred of the thing. We became great friends. Then one day Christoph Heemann rand and said his friend Kevin Spencer of Robot Records had spent a lot of time and care making a pretty decent digital master and that I should give it another listen. I contacted Kevin, who had made this master for his own private use as he loves the album so much. Then I listened to it for the first time in over twenty years, and you know what? It's not half as bad as I remember. I was quite pleasantly surprised: no crackles or surface noise. It's still a failure, but maybe not quite as dismal as I once thought.
Several terrible bootlegs have appeared over the years, and persuaded by the enthusiasm of Matt, Kevin, David and Christoph, I;ve finally decided to re-issue Insect.
I would like to thank Kevin Spencer, Matt Waldron, David Tibet, Christoph Heemann, Ken Garwood and Colin Potter for their tireless persuasion.
Jim Thirlwell - bass amp, jack plugs
Trevor Reidy - snare drum, brushes and percussion
Steven Stapleton - guitar, noise, records, tapes, loops
Recorded at I.P.S. October 1981
Engineer - Peter McGee
Original Artwork - Steven Stapleton
Re-issue artwork manipulation - Matt Waldron
Thanks to Trevor (truth club),
Jim, Philip (foetus variations), Sharon, Anka, Barbie.
Dedicated to Boris Vian
All nww artwork Steve
Reference appendix the art of self-observation some with a whisper, some with a bang
The idea the non-medical use of post-scarcity anarchism repetition devotion all flesh is grass organic drugs fundamentals
The key? pushing the body limits sound bicycle divine copulation
The outward urge
God cosmic golf fundamentals
In January Heman Pathak, John Fothergill and I, alongside Jacques Berrocal, recorded the album To The Quiet Men from a Tiny Girl.. In March Heman left to work with David Vorhaus (of White Noise fame). During the mixing of Quiet Men it became clear that John and I had a very different view on the direction the musci should take. As a result, we compromised and I've always felt the album suffered greatly because of this. In May of that year I decided to make another album -- this time no collaborators, just myself and the Bombay Ducks at the controls. Over two weekends I recorded and mixed Merzbild Schwet. By the time of its release John and I were on very bad terms and Heman was totally out of the picture. John went off and started his own label 'Experimental Records' and put out albums by The Shiney Men, Experiments With Ice, and Two Daughters. At about this time I met Jim Thirlwell and we became friends (he had just recorded his first Foetus single as Foetus Under Glass). Through him I met Trevor Reidy and Rbert Haigh -- all three worked in Virgin's Oxford Walk store situated not two minutes from my graphid design studio in Poland Street. I remember Jim would often play my Chance Meeting album at ten to six to clear the shop for closing. It worked a treat: people just couldn't get out fast enough!
Jim, Trevor and I thought it would be fun to spend a little time in a studio "just to see what would happen", so I.P.S. with engineer Peter McGee was the obvious choice of studio (I knew of it through William Bennett, sho had just recorded his early Come and Whitehouse releases there). A the time Jim was playing bass with Prag Vec and Trevor was the drummer in Truth Club. When we arrived at I.P.S. Jim quickly decided to ditch the bass guitar and play the hum of his amplifier by stroking and hitting the jack-plugs and leads, Trevor reduced his kit to one snare drum and a couple of brushes, and I fucked aroud with an old, beaten-up Woolworth's guitar and a violin bow. The result was Absent Old Queen Underfoot. The next week I returned with a basket of junk, records, tapes and toys, and over the weekend produced the other two parts that became Insect and Individual Silenced. The tapes were very quickly mixed and mastered by a drunken engineer and a very stoned me.
Our previous United Dairies releases were all produced at Nimbus in Wales -- superior classical pressings which John had paid for -- but I was broke and impatient and eager to show that I could manage on my own. William had told me of the 'Linguaphone Institute', which pressed very cheap vinyl for the purposes of language education (his Come Org releases were pressed there). So, being broke, I ordered the records from Linguaphone.
When the completed album arrived I sat back in the cold light of day -- with no drugs or alcohol -- and listened.
I was horrified. This was a dismal failure, a dreadful pressing and an appallingly carefree mix -- in fact a seriously misguided project altogether, but by then it was too late: the album was pressed and ready to go. I could not afford to dump the project so I bit the bullet, tucked my tail between my legs and hid my head in shame. I had to put the damn thing out.
Twenty years later I had still not re-listened to it: it was filed away in my memory as a disaster and a steep learning curve (I went on to make Homotopy To Marie next -- an album I still enjoy to this day). Over the years people had started mentioning it as their favourite N.W.W. album, I thought they were insane. David Tibet was always saying "why don't you put Insect out again." No -- never was my reply, and to make sure I never would I burned the masters.
A few years ago I received a package from the mysterious irr. app. (ext.). To my great surprise it was a meticulous, beautiful cover version of the entire Insect album -- and artwork, too. I was stunned. I telephoned Mr. Matt Waldron, the man behind the venture, and asked him why THAT album! He replied that he loved it and coudln't understand my hatred of the thing. We became great friends. Then one day Christoph Heemann rand and said his friend Kevin Spencer of Robot Records had spent a lot of time and care making a pretty decent digital master and that I should give it another listen. I contacted Kevin, who had made this master for his own private use as he loves the album so much. Then I listened to it for the first time in over twenty years, and you know what? It's not half as bad as I remember. I was quite pleasantly surprised: no crackles or surface noise. It's still a failure, but maybe not quite as dismal as I once thought.
Several terrible bootlegs have appeared over the years, and persuaded by the enthusiasm of Matt, Kevin, David and Christoph, I;ve finally decided to re-issue Insect.
I would like to thank Kevin Spencer, Matt Waldron, David Tibet, Christoph Heemann, Ken Garwood and Colin Potter for their tireless persuasion.
Jim Thirlwell - bass amp, jack plugs
Trevor Reidy - snare drum, brushes and percussion
Steven Stapleton - guitar, noise, records, tapes, loops
Recorded at I.P.S. October 1981
Engineer - Peter McGee
Original Artwork - Steven Stapleton
Re-issue artwork manipulation - Matt Waldron
Thanks to Trevor (truth club),
Jim, Philip (foetus variations), Sharon, Anka, Barbie.
Dedicated to Boris Vian
All nww artwork Steve
Reference appendix the art of self-observation some with a whisper, some with a bang
The idea the non-medical use of post-scarcity anarchism repetition devotion all flesh is grass organic drugs fundamentals
The key? pushing the body limits sound bicycle divine copulation
The outward urge
God cosmic golf fundamentals
Other Images
;void(''); "Framed Insect - front")
;void(''); "Framed Insect - back")
;void(''); "Postcard 1")
;void(''); "Postcard 2")
;void(''); "Postcard 3")
;void(''); "Postcard 4")
;void(''); "Promotional Postcard")
Insect And Individual Silenced Expanded Edition
;void(''); "Front Cover")
;void(''); "Back Cover")
Details
2010 August CD UK United Dairies UD08CD
In digipak
Track Listing
- Alvin's Funeral (The Milk Was Delivered in Black Bottles) (27:23)
- Absent Old Queen Underfoot (21:13)
- Mutilés du Guerre (6:58)
- Tooth, Teeth, Milk, Teeth, Skin (22:04) [raash01.1]
Personnel
Trevor Reidy
Notes
The 'expansion' refers to the addition of the fourth track 'Tooth, Teeth, Milk, Teeth, Skin', created in 2007 for the 'special suitcase edition' that never materialized; a few copies of this track leaked into circulation and were selling on e-bay for ridiculous sums of money, and this version was created to make that track more generally available.
The version of 'Tooth, Teeth, Milk, Teeth, Skin' on this release differs slightly to the original version with about 2 minutes of music removed about three minutes, or so, in.
The version of 'Tooth, Teeth, Milk, Teeth, Skin' on this release differs slightly to the original version with about 2 minutes of music removed about three minutes, or so, in.