Nurse With Wound "An Awkward Pause" United Dairies UDO56 1999 (59:39)
Intravenous (8:00)
Two Shades and a Shine (concerto for bouzouki and 3 piece
rock group in 93 six second segments) (9:51)
The Penis Fruit Loop (25:23)
Lunar Cement Sidewalk (10:41)
Mummer's Little Weeper (5:44)
Nurse With Wound: Steven Stapleton, Peat Bog, Colin Potter, David Tibet with Denis Blackham (digital transfer and audio artistry), Blind Dave Andrews (bouzouki and electric guitar), Christoph Heemann (prepared electronics), Petr Vastl (violin and technical stuff), Scara Nishizato (stained glass, mail box, wind-up fire breathing nun, voice) and Taut Nishizato (voice). Mix - Stapleton/Potter, produced - Stapleton, cover - Santini
Overall impression: excellent. Stapleton and friends return with nearly an hour of new music recorded this past February and March. "An Awkward Pause" is everything I'd expect from Nurse With Wound: bizarre, beautiful, frightening and fascinating all at once ... a surreal journey in sound. The majority of the album is instrumental and subdued in nature, with the exception of "Two Shades.." and the latter half of "The Penis Fruit Loop", and it really works well as a whole. "Intravenous" is a gentle, melancholic build of psychedelic guitar noodlings, tickings and thumpings. The guitar gently disappears to give way to the surging noises beneath in the closing minutes. "Two Shades and a Shine" begins with an abrupt and oft repeated bass guitar riff coupled with David Tibet's exasperated vocals. This fades after a few minutes then the riffs return in a more abrasive, instrumental rock format via the bass, electric guitar and bouzouki (a 6 or 8 stringed Greek instrument similar to a mandolin) and drum backing for the remainder of the song. "The Penis Fruit Loop" is a long shifting piece that has various sections of: quiet swirling ambient sounds/samples, bizarre processed narrative ("after twenty years of marriage ... I grew my beard") drones, reversed and collaged guitar, R2D2-like beeps, upbeat saxaphone led acid jazz-rock on crack, carnival music, insane electric guitar squealings, and various percussive bangings, noises and general thrashings about. "Lunar Cement Sidewalk" is a collection of drones and rumblings that build for many minutes and are then briefly accompanied by an acoustic guitar melody and a delicate percussive rhythm. The track concludes with subtle beepings, a woman's voice and a few spoken words from Tibet. "Mummer's Little Weeper" is similar to "Intravenous" but even more subdued: quiet guitar noodling, drones, a distant harmonica and soft washes of ambience that slowly fade away. Very nice. The artwork of the digipack and insert looks to be another of Stapleton's beautiful woodpaintings, a perfect complement to the music. I suspect "An Awkward Pause" will be a strong candidate for my top 10 favorite new releases of '99 list ...
Nurse With Wound at Brainwashed
Where did I get this cd? - mail order via Rioux's Records.