NURSE WITH WOUND Surveillance Lounge (United Dirter) cd 19.98
A frightening record. Even by the standards set by the darkened mind of Steven Stapleton, the Surveillance Lounge is a terrifying album in fact. This set of recordings began through a 2007 commission by the F.W. Murnau Foundation to provide a live soundtrack for the 1922 Murnau film Der Brennende Acker ("The Burning Soil"). A silent film that was thought to be lost until 1978, it tells a tale of a man who grew up in the rural life but cut himself from that existence through greed, lust, and ambition, rife with moral and psychological dilemmas. Nurse With Wound is no stranger to the art of the homage, having constructed the ultra-minimalist masterpiece A Missing Sense under the influence of Robert Ashley's Automatic Writing and the two Echoe Poem discs drew inspiration from the French New Wave film Last Year At Marienbad. The sessions, which gave us The Surveillance Lounge, came out of the initial material used for that soundtrack and were completed during the ensuing years. The bulk of those sessions actually had been encapsulated in a super limited edition box-set called The Memory Surface, which may be out of print by now, if not impossible to track down. That said, the Surveillance Lounge represents the best of this material, which was produced by Stapleton and Andrew Liles with vocal support from David Tibet, Freek Kinkelaar, and a host of others.
Moaning vocals and creepy whisperings set a darkened hue for the Surveillance Lounge, which also adopts a chilling set of piano notes that seem to allude to another soundtrack, Coil's rejected score to Hellraiser. Soon afterwards, a textured smearing of sand, earth, and rock conjoin to a deep wooden creaking that ominously lurch forward in a similar manner to the epochal NWW album Salt Marie Celeste. The use of vocal snippets - in French, in German, from David Tibet, of children wailing - are signature moves from Stapleton, and are used in some of the best collage material that Stapleton has generated since Homotopy To Marie. Vocal and textural elements always seem to collapse into darkened shadows, only to find Stapleton and Liles forcing another scream of noise, voice, and electronics to the foreground with jarring effect. For the central track "The Golden Age Of Telekinesis," NWW slowly build a shuffling rhythm out of the shards of broken glass that intensifies through the development of a screeching noise buttressed by the rapid-fire glossolalia of what sounds like an auctioneer. Expect to find a dynamic chasm between the relative quiet of the early moments of this track to the ear-splitting crescendo of a tape machine whirling out of control. As the album draws near to a close, NWW explode land mines of noise, scorched earth, and Tibet's screams in barren soundscapes of disembodied voices and shadowy drones. By contrast the album ends on a note of soft-hued easy listening muzak with its politely swaggering guitar, which is creepy given the context of its cancerous segue. Like we said, frightening! This might be a good entree to NWW for those of you who normally only by black metal or ultradoom albums...
MPEG Stream: "Close To You"
MPEG Stream: "The Golden Age Of Telekinesis"
MPEG Stream: "Yon Assassin Is My Equal"

NURSE WITH WOUND Sylvie And Babs High-Thigh Companion (United Dairies) cd 19.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

NURSE WITH WOUND The Bacteria Magnet (Dirter) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

NURSE WITH WOUND The Musty Odour Of Pierced Rectums (A Collection Of Obsolete Primitive Variations) (Beta-Lactam Ring) lp 26.00
"A Collection of Obsolete Primitive Variations" reads the subtitle to this lp from Nurse With Wound. Beta-Lactam had issued this in 2003 as a cd-r in an edition of 300 copies to coincide with Stapleton's DJ appearance in Portland, Oregon at around the same time. Of course, those cd-r's disappeared rather quickly; and this vinyl edition of 500 won't last long either. Given Steven Stapleton's history with recycled sounds, it's hard to say if this is a collection of outtakes like the recent Rat Tapes Volume 1 or if this is one variation on a theme extended over the course of the album. In any case, Stapleton's mastery of audio techniques through metallic clank, musique concrete razor cuts, and grim psychedelic smoke & mirror is on full display here with plenty of fizzed noise and electrical drone cast in sidereal shivers and electrical delirium.

NURSE WITH WOUND The Swinging Reflective: Favorite Moments of Mutual Ecstasy (United Dairies) 2cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Nurse With Wound's catalogue is a daunting venture. And if you aren't sure where to start, this double cd of collaborations offers an exceptional sampling of the wide variety of sonic adventures that Steven Stapleton could take you. The Nurse With Wound aesthetic is primarily a dadaist assault of musique concrete techniques within a weird, often dark, often psychedelic context of mutant pop.
The star studded collaborators including Stereolab (whose contributions here are "Animal or Vegetable" off 'Crumb Duck' and one of the "Simple Headphone Mind" tracks), Chrystal Belle Scrodd (Diana Rogerson performing an excellent kraut-groove), Coil (a remix by Stapleton of their ritualistic "How To Destroy Angels"), Foetus (as Jim Thirwell and Stapleton cover the lysergic funk of Brainticket), Tiny Tim (yes, Tiny Tim!!!), Legendary Pink Dots, William Bennett (of Whitehouse on a very early track before the two parted on bad terms in the early '80s), Current 93 / David Tibet (both Stapleton and Tibet have worked extensively together for the past two decades), Aranos, Tony Wakeford (of Sol Invictus), Chris Wallis, and Peat Bog. Windy gives this a solid recommendation for all (like her) who haven't known where to start.

NURSE WITH WOUND Thunder Perfect Mind (United Dairies) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Nurse With Wound's 1992 companion album to Current 93's of the same name. Beautiful, darkly shimmering soundscapes as assembled by Steven Stapleton and co. [among them David Tibet (Current 93), Colin Potter, Rose Mc Dowell (Death In June), Anita Plank, John Balance (Coil)]. At times deeply hypnotic, at others tensely unsettling like a tiny jackhammer on an even tinier toy piano. Stunning.

NURSE WITH WOUND Thunder Perfect Mind (Drag City) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Any Nurse With Wound release on vinyl is most highly coveted. Always with gorgeous artwork to match the sonic artistry within. So this release is a welcome -- albeit mysterious -- vinyl re-issue by Streamline via Drag City of Nurse With Wound's 1992 companion album to Current 93's of the same name. Beautiful, darkly shimmering soundscapes as assembled by Steven Stapleton and co. [among them David Tibet (Current 93), Colin Potter, Rose Mc Dowell (Death In June), Anita Plank, John Balance (Coil)]. At times deeply hypnotic, at others tensely unsettling like a tiny jackhammer on an even tinier toy piano. Stunning.

NURSE WITH WOUND Two Shaves And A Shine Remix Project (United Jnana) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"Two Shaves And A Shine" is one of those rare 'songs' penned by the lysergically inclinded Steven Stapleton, originally found on the Nurse With Wound album An Awkward Pause. The track's got a rolling bassline that would have made King Crimson very happy back in the day, a frantic backbeat supplying a spry rhythm, sparkplug guitar stutter, David Tibet screaching in rapidfire fashion, and all of those fucked-up Nurse With Wound idiosyncracies that make the track a distinctly Nurse With Wound track.
A few years ago, Stapleton discovered that somebody had created a mash-up of this track with James Chance's "Contort Yourself" (or was it the James Black redux?), and out of this discovery came the idea for a NWW remix competition, with the best tracks to be released on a CD on Stapleton's United Dairies imprint. Well here's the result. We can't say that any of these bands are well known projects, with the Bay Area entries from Xambuca and Forms Of Things Unknown being the only ones we even recognize. Not surprisingly, it's a pretty diverse compendium of deliberate weirdness, Beefheart theatricality, and cranky audio collages, all of which are connected by the insistent bassline of the original tune. The highlights are the blurred shoegazing drone of Pepe Wismeer, Xambuca's human beat box grooves which brings Tones On Tail's "Slender Fungus" to mind, and the scattered fun-house collage of Coil-esque electronica and squiggled noise from Lithopedion. Other contributers include The Stomach Aches, James Hill, BB, Anemone in Toto, Balog, dell.tree, the Vivian Girls, Horst Jankowski's 21st Century Swingers, Crab Fisher, and Nelson Ford Templeton.
MPEG Stream: THE STOMACH ACHES "Two Shaves And A Shine"
MPEG Stream: PEPE WISMEER "Two Shaves And A Shine"
MPEG Stream: LITHOPEDIAN "Two Shaves And A Shine"

NURSE WITH WOUND Who Can I Turn To Stereo (United Jhana) 2cd 17.98
There was a time when all of the Nurse With Wound records were available all at the same time, although this feat was the work of the much scorned World Serpent label, who screwed over pretty much every artist on their roster and pressed up a bunch of cds that were susceptible to bit rot. So, even if those records were in fact around, they were in many cases unlistenable. Who Can I Turn To Stereo was spared the bit rot, but didn't fair well otherwise. This came out in 1996, marking one of the first collaborations that NWW maestro Steven Stapleton conducted with Colin Potter. Along with Rock 'N' Roll Station released a few years earlier, the 1996 album Who Can I Turn To Stereo could be seen as one of the few gateway albums into the hermetic sonic realm of Nurse With Wound. While Stapleton has made no bones about the albums that have influenced his project (and in many ways, the Nurse With Wound LIST of influences which was included in the first album has become a collector's checklist of terminally out-there kosmiche rock and psychedelic electronics), the combination of those influences have defined one of the most singularly unique voices in all of music history. So when it comes to a NWW album with 'crossover appeal,' don't expect Stapleton to make it easy on the ears. Who Can I Turn To Stereo found Stapleton deeply mired in his infatuation with bizarre exotica records and the mambo sounds of Perez Prado, resulting in a long-form collage of hypnotic rhythms interlaced within a rollercoaster of seasick electrical squiggling, haunted ballroom motifs (some 10 years before Kirby was doing it), and spectral vocalizations.
This 2011 reissue is coupled with Stereo Wastelands - "a collection of musical debris from the original Who Can I Turn To Stereo session." The three lengthy cuts of "debris" from those sessions are thoroughly abstracted variations that occasionally ground themselves upon a bongo loop which had developed into a signature for NWW throughout the '90s. The tracks weave with eerie smoke and dopplereffected shadow. Jittery rhythms co-habitate alongside those bongo loops and march on one occasion with a jagged guitar whose spindly sounds harken all the way back to the NWW album A Chance Meeting Between An Umbrella And a Sewing Machine. Oh, there's a bonus track, "Eternity", not found on the original!
Very nice to see this material back in stock once again, and as mentioned, this would make for a very good place to jump into the wild and wonderful world of Nurse With Wound.
MPEG Stream: "Yagga Blues"
MPEG Stream: "Livin' Fear Of James Last"
MPEG Stream: "Stereo Wastelands 1"
MPEG Stream: "Stereo Wastelands 3"

NURSE WITH WOUND & GRAHAM BOWERS Rupture (United Dirter) cd 19.98
Graham Bowers is a name that you may have heard floating around in the mid '90s, perhaps by way of some choice reviews in The Wire. While the nature of those recordings escapes us, he claims an eclectic heritage of avant-garde practices that might gravitate towards the Chris Cutler side of progressive composition. In the smattering of interviews we've read, he comes off like a perpetual outsider with no interest in participating in any particular 'scene' of experimental music. Steven Stapleton (Nurse With Wound) met Bowers while both participated in a 2011 sound-art festival in Wales; the two then embarked on an ambitious collaborative project resulting in this unnerving, post-classical album attempting to articulate the inner workings of a human brain that had suffered a stroke and that has only a little over hour before death.
The dominant 'voice' within Rupture is a cacophonous collage built upon orchestral samples, fixated mostly on bombastic horns and kettledrum crashes. While the origins of the sampling is unclear, Bowers and Stapleton make little attempt to obfuscate the sampled technology, with the symphonic samples played through the keyboard, discordant and portentous. Amidst these orchestral blurts, quintessential slashes and enigmatic drones indicate Stapleton's signature sound design, with warbling ballroom vocals from Victrola recordings, amplified heartbeats, and unanswered telephones ringing. The album's entire mood is one of panic that steadily fades to black, and hardly qualifies as easy listening.
MPEG Stream: "A Life As It Now Is"
MPEG Stream: "And Never Will Be Again"

NURSE WITH WOUND & GRAHAM BOWERS Rupture (Dirter Promotions) 2lp 31.00
Now, on vinyl, for Record Store Day we were told, though they only just showed up...
Graham Bowers is a name that you may have heard floating around in the mid '90s, perhaps by way of some choice reviews in The Wire. While the nature of those recordings escapes us, he claims an eclectic heritage of avant-garde practices that might gravitate towards the Chris Cutler side of progressive composition. In the smattering of interviews we've read, he comes off like a perpetual outsider with no interest in participating in any particular 'scene' of experimental music. Steven Stapleton (Nurse With Wound) met Bowers while both participated in a 2011 sound-art festival in Wales; the two then embarked on an ambitious collaborative project resulting in this unnerving, post-classical album attempting to articulate the inner workings of a human brain that had suffered a stroke and that has only a little over hour before death.
The dominant 'voice' within Rupture is a cacophonous collage built upon orchestral samples, fixated mostly on bombastic horns and kettledrum crashes. While the origins of the sampling is unclear, Bowers and Stapleton make little attempt to obfuscate the sampled technology, with the symphonic samples played through the keyboard, discordant and portentous. Amidst these orchestral blurts, quintessential slashes and enigmatic drones indicate Stapleton's signature sound design, with warbling ballroom vocals from Victrola recordings, amplified heartbeats, and unanswered telephones ringing. The album's entire mood is one of panic that steadily fades to black, and hardly qualifies as easy listening.
MPEG Stream: "A Life As It Now Is"
MPEG Stream: "And Never Will Be Again"

NURSE WITH WOUND + CYCLOBE Angry Eelectric Finger 2 : Paraparaparallelogrammatica (Beta-Lactam Ring) cd 15.98
Early in 2004, Steven Stapleton offered a taste of the Angry Eelectric Finger project in the form of a CD released through World Serpent on his United Dairies imprint. The intent was to offer a precursor to a massive 3LP / 3CD set in which Stapleton had commissioned reworkings of unpublished Nurse With Wound material from irr. app. (ext.), Cyclobe, and Jim O'Rourke. As World Serpent went out of business some six months after releasing this teaser to the Angry Eelectric Finger project (without paying Stapleton a dime for two years worth of royalties!!!), the 3LP / 3CD set fell into limbo.
Fortunately, Beta-Lactam has picked up the slack where World Serpent failed miserably, and released the Angry Eelectric Finger project in its entirety.
The Nurse With Wound source material for all of the Angry Eelectric Finger project includes interlocking varispeed warbles, prepared piano recordings, ominously seasick rhythms, and a variety of metallic crashes and slashing cymbals. Stapleton also gave the remixing artists recordings made with members of Krautrock icons Xhol Caravan as well as with David Tibet on "apocalyptic guitar." For the most part, this template of sounds is similar to the spacious, bleakness of his early Surrealist masterpiece Homotopy For Marie, although each of the remixing artists takes the material in a unique way reflecting both their own artistry as well as Stapleton's genius.
Cyclobe's alchemy upon the source material is clearly the most extreme of the three reworkings, as very little of the Stapleton and Xhol source material emerges intact on this album. Comprised of former Coil member Stephen Thrower along with Ossian Brown, Cyclobe (not Cylob) has often paralleled the golden, decadent timbre's of Coil sidereal dronescaping. With sparse and eerie ambience ghosting throughout the stereofield, Cyclobe's contribution to the Angry Eelectric Finger is probably the best we've heard from them.
MPEG Stream: "Paraparaparallelogrammatica 1"
MPEG Stream: "Paraparaparallelogrammatica 4"

NURSE WITH WOUND + CYCLOBE Angry Eelectric Finger 2 : Paraparaparallelogrammatica (Beta-Lactam Ring) lp 21.00
Early in 2004, Steven Stapleton offered a taste of the Angry Eelectric Finger project in the form of a CD released through World Serpent on his United Dairies imprint. The intent was to offer a precursor to a massive 3LP / 3CD set in which Stapleton had commissioned reworkings of unpublished Nurse With Wound material from irr. app. (ext.), Cyclobe, and Jim O'Rourke. As World Serpent went out of business some six months after releasing this teaser to the Angry Eelectric Finger project (without paying Stapleton a dime for two years worth of royalties!!!), the 3LP / 3CD set fell into limbo.
Fortunately, Beta-Lactam has picked up the slack where World Serpent failed miserably, and released the Angry Eelectric Finger project in its entirety.
The Nurse With Wound source material for all of the Angry Eelectric Finger project includes interlocking varispeed warbles, prepared piano recordings, ominously seasick rhythms, and a variety of metallic crashes and slashing cymbals. Stapleton also gave the remixing artists recordings made with members of Krautrock icons Xhol Caravan as well as with David Tibet on "apocalyptic guitar." For the most part, this template of sounds is similar to the spacious, bleakness of his early Surrealist masterpiece Homotopy For Marie, although each of the remixing artists takes the material in a unique way reflecting both their own artistry as well as Stapleton's genius.
Cyclobe's alchemy upon the source material is clearly the most extreme of the three reworkings, as very little of the Stapleton and Xhol source material emerges intact on this album. Comprised of former Coil member Stephen Thrower along with Ossian Brown, Cyclobe (not Cylob) has often paralleled the golden, decadent timbre's of Coil sidereal dronescaping. With sparse and eerie ambience ghosting throughout the stereofield, Cyclobe's contribution to the Angry Eelectric Finger is probably the best we've heard from them.
MPEG Stream: "Paraparaparallelogrammatica 1"
MPEG Stream: "Paraparaparallelogrammatica 4"

NURSE WITH WOUND + IRR. APP. (EXT.) Angry Eelectric Finger 3 : Mute Bell Extinction Process (Beta-Lactam Ring) cd 15.98
Early in 2004, Steven Stapleton offered a taste of the Angry Eelectric Finger project in the form of a CD published through World Serpent on his United Dairies imprint. The intent was to offer a precursor to a massive 3LP / 3CD set in which Stapleton had commissioned reworkings of unpublished Nurse With Wound material from irr. app. (ext.), Cyclobe, and Jim O'Rourke. As World Serpent went out of business some six months after releasing this teaser to the Angry Eelectric Finger project (without paying Stapleton a dime for two years worth of royalties!!!), the 3LP / 3CD set fell into limbo.
Fortunately, Beta-Lactam has picked up the slack where World Serpent failed miserably, and released the Angry Eelectric Finger project in its entirety.
The Nurse With Wound source material for all of the Angry Eelectric Finger project includes interlocking varispeed warbles, prepared piano recordings, ominously seasick rhythms, and a variety of metallic crashes and slashing cymbals. Stapleton also gave the remixing artists recordings made with members of Krautrock icons Xhol Caravan as well as with David Tibet on "apocalyptic guitar." For the most part, this template of sounds is similar to the spacious, bleakness of his early Surrealist masterpiece Homotopy For Marie, although each of the remixing artists takes the material in a unique way reflecting both their own artistry as well as Stapleton's genius.
For my money, the irr. app. (ext.) is the best of the three. Much like the stunning NWW album Salt Marie Celeste, Waldron's album rumbles as a sustained droning mantra; this time, it's from a muffled funereal bell while broken springs, distant mechanical engines, and washboard scrapes bounce throughout the stereofield as an aggregate of sonic detritus suspended against a black hole of sound.
MPEG Stream: "Mute Bell Extinction Process I"
MPEG Stream: "Mute Bell Extinction Process II"

NURSE WITH WOUND + IRR. APP. (EXT.) Angry Eelectric Finger 3 : Mute Bell Extinction Process (Beta-Lactam Ring) lp 21.00
Early in 2004, Steven Stapleton offered a taste of the Angry Eelectric Finger project in the form of a CD published through World Serpent on his United Dairies imprint. The intent was to offer a precursor to a massive 3LP / 3CD set in which Stapleton had commissioned reworkings of unpublished Nurse With Wound material from irr. app. (ext.), Cyclobe, and Jim O'Rourke. As World Serpent went out of business some six months after releasing this teaser to the Angry Eelectric Finger project (without paying Stapleton a dime for two years worth of royalties!!!), the 3LP / 3CD set fell into limbo.
Fortunately, Beta-Lactam has picked up the slack where World Serpent failed miserably, and released the Angry Eelectric Finger project in its entirety.
The Nurse With Wound source material for all of the Angry Eelectric Finger project includes interlocking varispeed warbles, prepared piano recordings, ominously seasick rhythms, and a variety of metallic crashes and slashing cymbals. Stapleton also gave the remixing artists recordings made with members of Krautrock icons Xhol Caravan as well as with David Tibet on "apocalyptic guitar." For the most part, this template of sounds is similar to the spacious, bleakness of his early Surrealist masterpiece Homotopy For Marie, although each of the remixing artists takes the material in a unique way reflecting both their own artistry as well as Stapleton's genius.
For my money, the irr. app. (ext.) is the best of the three. Much like the stunning NWW album Salt Marie Celeste, Waldron's album rumbles as a sustained droning mantra; this time, it's from a muffled funereal bell while broken springs, distant mechanical engines, and washboard scrapes bounce throughout the stereofield as an aggregate of sonic detritus suspended against a black hole of sound.
MPEG Stream: "Mute Bell Extinction Process I"
MPEG Stream: "Mute Bell Extinction Process II"

NURSE WITH WOUND + JIM O'ROURKE Angry Eelectric Finger 1 : Tape Monkey Mooch (Beta-Lactam Ring) cd 15.98
Early in 2004, Steven Stapleton offered a taste of the Angry Eelectric Finger project in the form of a CD published through World Serpent on his United Dairies imprint. The intent was to offer a precursor to a massive 3LP / 3CD set in which Stapleton had commissioned reworkings of unpublished Nurse With Wound material from irr. app. (ext.), Cyclobe, and Jim O'Rourke. As World Serpent went out of business some six months after releasing this teaser to the Angry Eelectric Finger project (without paying Stapleton a dime for two years worth of royalties!!!), the 3LP / 3CD set fell into limbo.
Fortunately, Beta-Lactam has picked up the slack where World Serpent failed miserably, and released the Angry Eelectric Finger project in its entirety.
The Nurse With Wound source material for all of the Angry Eelectric Finger project includes interlocking varispeed warbles, prepared piano recordings, ominously seasick rhythms, and a variety of metallic crashes and slashing cymbals. Stapleton also gave the remixing artists recordings made with members of Krautrock icons Xhol Caravan as well as with David Tibet on "apocalyptic guitar." For the most part, this template of sounds is similar to the spacious, bleakness of his early Surrealist masterpiece Homotopy For Marie, although each of the remixing artists takes the material in a unique way reflecting both their own artistry as well as Stapleton's genius.
Jim O'Rourke offers a soft kaleidoscope of DSP-impacted organ drones which mutate into clanking industrial loops. The second track features much more of the aforementioned Xhol Caravan sessions of free-improv sax and flute solos. Kinda 'jazzy'.
MPEG Stream: "Tape Monkey Mooch I"

NURSE WITH WOUND + JIM O'ROURKE Angry Eelectric Finger 1 : Tape Monkey Mooch (Beta-Lactam Ring) lp 21.00
Early in 2004, Steven Stapleton offered a taste of the Angry Eelectric Finger project in the form of a CD published through World Serpent on his United Dairies imprint. The intent was to offer a precursor to a massive 3LP / 3CD set in which Stapleton had commissioned reworkings of unpublished Nurse With Wound material from irr. app. (ext.), Cyclobe, and Jim O'Rourke. As World Serpent went out of business some six months after releasing this teaser to the Angry Eelectric Finger project (without paying Stapleton a dime for two years worth of royalties!!!), the 3LP / 3CD set fell into limbo.
Fortunately, Beta-Lactam has picked up the slack where World Serpent failed miserably, and released the Angry Eelectric Finger project in its entirety.
The Nurse With Wound source material for all of the Angry Eelectric Finger project includes interlocking varispeed warbles, prepared piano recordings, ominously seasick rhythms, and a variety of metallic crashes and slashing cymbals. Stapleton also gave the remixing artists recordings made with members of Krautrock icons Xhol Caravan as well as with David Tibet on "apocalyptic guitar." For the most part, this template of sounds is similar to the spacious, bleakness of his early Surrealist masterpiece Homotopy For Marie, although each of the remixing artists takes the material in a unique way reflecting both their own artistry as well as Stapleton's genius.
Jim O'Rourke offers a soft kaleidoscope of DSP-impacted organ drones which mutate into clanking industrial loops. The second track features much more of the aforementioned Xhol Caravan sessions of free-improv sax and flute solos. Kinda 'jazzy'.
MPEG Stream: "Tape Monkey Mooch I"

NURSE WITH WOUND / ARANOS Santoor Lena Bicycle (United Dairies) cd 43.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's possible that "Santoor Lena Bicycle" will remain a super limited package, with a run of only 500 copies and the handmade artwork; but it's also possible that United Dairies will release this is a few years as a regular jewel case edition. Of course, we won't know until then... So for now, it's big bucks for the new Stapleton project. There is a fairly interesting story behind the artwork, as the deluxe hard board cases had been built out of large scale paintings done by Stapleton and Aranos which the two originally exhibited for one day in Town Hall Studio Galway Ireland and accompanied by the music found on this disc. After the exhibition, Stapleton and Aranos chopped down the paintings into 6" squares for the artwork of the album. The whole package comes with a large size foldout with images of all of the intact paintings, so you can try to figure out where that piece from the puzzle belongs. As larger pieces, the paintings seemed pretty cool somewhat amorphous like a really colorful Terry Winters; as small entities, merely appear as splattered afterthoughts outside the edges of a Jackson Pollock painting.
Aranos and Stapleton have collaborated on a number of occasions, and I've never known why it is qualified Nurse With Wound and Aranos... and not just Nurse With Wound. All of the other collaborators with Stapleton don't seem to mind fitting under the NWW moniker, why should he? Aranos' gypsy folk violin *does* take center stage throughout the album of Dadaist drones and baffling improvisations, pushing Nurse With Wound occasionally into the clunky instrumentation of the Sun City Girls or even Tom Waits. Yet unexpectedly, a Disco Not Disco groove straight outta 1981 and a drunken vocal offering (sounding way too much like those stupid rants from SCG's Charles Gocher) spoil what charm the two had created. I've always been a bit of an apologist for Stapleton, but this one isn't all that good. Shame as it will be fetching $100 on eBay in a couple of months from now.
RealAudio clip: "Mary Jane"
RealAudio clip: "Sunset Belly Mother"

NURSE WITH WOUND / CYCLOBE / IRR. APP. (EXT.) / JIM O'ROURKE Angry Eelectric Finger (Spitch' Cock One) (United Dairies) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Given the subtitle Spitch' Cock One, this first release in the Angry Eelectric Finger series of reworked Nurse With Wound material may or may not have anything in common with a forthcoming release also entitled Angry Eelectric Finger, which might be a triple disc set. Regardless of the ambigous status of any future releases, for this one Nurse With Wound's mad scientist Steven Stapleton solicited Cyclobe, irr. app. (ext.), and Jim O'Rourke to rework what we've been told was "an entire album of material." Presumably these are not remixes of older NWW tracks, but something of a parlour game with new material.
Stapleton himself produces the first track, interlocking varispeed warbles of some prepared piano recordings. Eventually, these settle into something of a seasick rhythm that is accompanied by a variety of metallic crashes and slashing cymbals, most of which are being played backwards. In the end, it sounds somewhat like a revisitation of the ideas found on Homotopie for Marie.
Cyclobe, a World Serpent staple comprised of two former Coil members, offer a bunch of ominous synth tones that do better than the recent batch of Coil recordings but don't extend much beyond that.
irr. app. (ext.) is AQ's beloved Matt Waldron, who contributes the best track on the album with an incredibly bleak take on the NWW vision of surrealism. Much like the stunning NWW album Salt Marie Celeste, Waldron's track rumbles with a sustained droning mantra; this time, it's from a muffled funereal bell while broken springs, distant mechanical engines, and washboard scrapes bounce throughout the stereofield as an aggregate of sonic detritus suspended against a black hole of sound.
Jim O'Rourke offers a soft kaleidoscope of DSP-impacted organ drones upon which he sprinkles tiny bells and some of the same mechanical springiness that Waldron also used. Obviously this is a teaser for that supposed upcoming triple disc set which is rumored to also feature Xhol Caravan; but considering the possibility that some of this material may not be there, it's advisable that you consider picking it up. Either way, this is fantastic.
MPEG Stream: NURSE WITH WOUND "Root Canal Splinter (Penetration Mix)"
MPEG Stream: IRR. APP. (EXT.) / NURSE WITH WOUND "Mute Bell Extinction Process"

NURSE WITH WOUND / STEREOLAB Crumb Duck (United Dairies) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN & MICHAEL BROOK Remixed: Star Rise (Real World) cd 15.98
The late great singer Nusrat (and collaborator Brook) get their work remixed by the leaders of the new "Asian-electronica" scene: Talvin Singh, Asian Dub Foundation, Fun^Da^Mental, and others. Warning: the remixers appearing here have all put out much better material.

NVH / BEN CHASNY ....Plays The Book Of Revelations (Yik Yak) lp 21.00
We're not sure who NVH are, but what have they done with Ben Chasney?! A while back we had a super limited cassette release from Six Organs Of Admittance's Ben Chasny and the mysterious NVH, with the same title oddly enough. Needless to say, we sold out of those tapes and left loads of people wanting, and while this lp only release has the same title, it is NOT the same music. One song from the tape is duplicated here, but other than that this is all new music.
So what's this whole Chasny / NVH thing about anyway, well, you won't find any dreamy folky prettiness here. This lp is all about the noise. The noise a guitar and god knows what else can conjure up. This is some serious noiserock. Heck, there's no rock to speak of, this is just good ol' noise. But not really -just- noise, there's a whole lot going on. It's just all wrapped in some of the most corrosive seriously damaged skree we've heard in ages. Guitars careen everywhere, huge walls of crumbling distortion tumble onto blown out riffs, FX drenched squiggles are everywhere, angular melodies are twisted and tangled into psychedelic squalls, riffs are pulled apart into squealing keening roaring parts and hurled separately into the mix bouncing wildly off each other. Here and there the blown out rumbles coalesce into thick buzzing drones, and pretty melodies drift in and out, but are quickly overpowered. Imagine locking Keiji Haino and Kawabata Makoto in a a tiny room, armed with nothing but guitars, distortion pedals and a wall of amps each, dueling to the death, the results recorded and played back through a bank of busted effects. Wild and weird. And pretty fucking awesome. But definitely another one for the iron eared...
Packaged in a super elaborate fold out sleeve, all black, with black printing, black inner sleeve, and the outer jacket unfolds into a massive (upside down?) crucifix!!
Super limited too, so don't snooze on this one....

NVH / BEN CHASNY ...Plays The Book Of Revelations (Folding) cassette 4.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Super limited cassette tape of Six Organs Of Admittance's Ben Chasny and NVH! Please note: tht's N V H not N M H (i.e, Neutral Milk Hotel) as some customers have mistakenly thought! Released by AQ pal Mike Donovan (Sic Alps, Big Techno Werewolves, Nam, Sounds Of The Barbary Coast, The Ropers, Dial Records) as part of his ongoing cassette tape series. Only about 200 of these are being made, so needless to say, don't snoooooze! Pssst... we also have a small number of some other Folding cassette releases, all with hand made covers -- a couple of short ones from Death Sentence: Panda and Donovan's own current band Sic Alps, plus one by Dark Yellow Swans (aka Yellow Swans) and a compilation he compiled with artist Chris Johanson called SSSSSOSS2. Dust off yer cassette deck!

NWE, U YEE Sandaya: Spellbinding Piano of Burma (Shanachie) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
In the late 19th century the Burmese (now Myanmarese) were introduced to the piano and were immediately impressed with the exotic instrument. They set about learning to play the entire repertoire of Burmese harp (the most refined music of Burma) and other court musics on it. In the process they developed a new genre of Burmese music (disregrading European methods completely) known today as "Sandaya." Master pianist U Yee Nwe plays traditional and contemporary pieces both solo and accomanied by traditional instruments. A beautiful combination of the strangely familiar and plainly foreign.

NYCHTS / WEDARD split (Sun & Moon) cd 13.98

NYKTALGIA s/t (No Colours) cd 16.98

NYMAN, MICHAEL Decay Music (Virgin) cd 30.00

NYMPH s/t (Social Registry) cd 14.98
Holy shit! Yes we know that's a pretty over the top and perhaps cliche way to start off a review but there is really no other way to jump into talking about how rad this record is without screaming those words loud and proud. We first heard about Nymph from our pal Tomo (Tussle, Coconut) and he's not one to say something is awesome when it isn't, so we knew we had to check them out. And luckily Social Registry has stepped up to help get the sound of Nymph into more and more ears, as only a few of us actually got to hear the cd-r they released themselves. With this proper release finally available, we hope and think lots of folks will be getting way into Nymph, and their awesomely psychedelic witched out sounds overflow with sparkles of golden dust and magical dissidence. Imagine a much more stoned OOIOO dipping their toes into some free jazz creek while filtering it through their own unique take on no wave, but twisting it all up into something much more expansive. Like Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band interpreted by Gang Gang Dance and Death: Sentence Panda, or a pack of stoners breaking into Deerhoof's practice space and blasting out long jams that you can't help but play as loud as possible. For sure one of the coolest new bands we've heard in a long while!
MPEG Stream: "II-Yo"
MPEG Stream: "Namu"
MPEG Stream: "Reeds Of Osirion"

NYMPHOMATRIARCH s/t (Hymen) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now this is high concept. Or low concept. Not sure which. This record is composed -entirely- of the sounds of Aaron Funk (Venetian Snares) and his lady friend Rachael Kozak (Hecate) having sex while on their most recent tour! Not sure if they are a proper couple or if they just came up with this project as a way to fend off boredom on the road, but either way, you can now hold the results in your hot and sweaty little hands! Outside of the occasional moan, or bit of heavy breathing, this doesn't sound all that different that what you would expect from a Venetian Snares and Hecate...um...coupling. Chaotic, splattery break beats, hyper complex drill and bass, buzzing and clattering, pounding and skittering. Pretty amazing actually, that all this violent, noisy electronic pummel was born from the gentle act of lovemaking. Or was it? Gentle, that is.
MPEG Stream: "Blood On The Rope"
MPEG Stream: "Amaurophilia"

NZOMO, DAVID TRIO The Sweet Soul Of Kenya (Latitude) cd 14.98
Sweet soul is right. This music on this disc was originally released on vinyl in the 1950s by Smithsonian Folkways, and now Latitude (the new, 'world music' sub-label of the prolific and generally amazing Locust label) has done us a treat by reissuing it. Melodious East African traditional music, with gentle male-female vocal harmonies sung in the Kikamba tongue, accompanied by guitar chiming like a thumb-piano. An enchanting disc... however we feel that despite doing the good work of reissuing this music, Latitude/Locust is deserving of some constructively-intended criticism regarding the packaging. First off, the cd 'booklet' isn't, it's a single square of paper (fairly stiff, but still qualifying as a violation of my personal cd packaging pet peeve number 493), and more importantly, there's no liner notes. Nothin'. Doesn't even say what year this was recorded, or who, besides David Nzomo presumably, was in the Trio! We are directed to the Smithsonian Folkways website, where apparently the record's original liner notes can be purchased. Huh? C'mon, if you're gonna license the music to reissue on cd, can't you license the liner notes too? Or write your own at least. I just don't understand. What with all the downloading worries so many labels have, you'd think one good idea would be to make the physical cd package as desireable and complete as possible. If I've gotta download the liner notes, that's not too far removed from just downloading the audio tracks too...
MPEG Stream: "Nzembelukye"
MPEG Stream: "Syimbithi (Secrets)"