Nurse With Wound - A Sucked Orange (1989)

Posted By : capt.evil1 | Date : 29 Oct 2009 05:53:16 | Comments : 2 |

Steven Stapleton
born 3 February 1957 in Finchley, North London, UK

“

A Sucked Orange by Nurse With Wound is an album that was recorded between 1979-1988. Of the 29 titles, only a few of these can be considered songs. Melody is hardly a priority, so I would describe these pieces more accurately as sound collages consisting of synthesizers, voice, found sounds, samples, percussion, tape loops, echoes and effects, piano and plucked strings, sickly horns and abused violins.

For those who are not familiar with this music, Nurse With Wound is really Steven Stapleton, who has done most of his recording in creative isolation, with sporadic assistance from assorted friends and musicians. According to the album’s liner notes, Steven states "my memory is blurred as to whom played on these bits and bobs."

Influences range from the Mothers of Invention to Amon Duul, Kraftwerk, and Kluster, to some aspects of free jazz and the classical avant-garde, chiefly John Cage. Another source of inspiration stems from the artistic and literary examples set forth by the Dadaists and Surrealists. In a July 1997 interview with The Wire magazine, Stapleton states "To me Nurse music is Surrealist music. It’s the displacement of something ordinary into an extraordinary setting. I take ordinary things, instruments, solos, what have you, and place them in unusual settings, giving a completely different angle on the way instruments and compositions are looked at."

The titles of the works contained on this CD are a description of the music set forth. Some are quite clever, others a bit abstract in their logic. Highlights include: "Spiral Theme" - an incredibly simple yet beautiful song. "Man Is The Animal" - “. . . since your cry only confirms your failure.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. "I’m A Frayed Not" - tribal drumbeats and assorted noise. "S.B.B. Dragged Through A Hedge Backwards" - the sound of video game music gone mad. "Flea Bite" - the electronic adventures of a bloodsucking fiend.

"A Precise History of Industrial Music," "Scissor Rock Bicycle Revelation," and "Dream of a Butterfly Inside the Skull of a Horse," all are reminiscent of the Dadaist and Surrealist imagery mentioned previously. Because this recording spans nearly ten years of work, it is a fair representation of the Nurse With Wound catalogue during that time span. It is also an excellent introduction for the new listener and an entry into the world of an often neglected, yet brilliant, artist. ~ Michael Casano

”

Track list:

01. Pleasant Banjo Intro With Irritating Squeak 0:43
02. It's All Gone Weird 0:42
03. Spiral Theme 2:02
04. Man Is the Animal 0:45
05. A Precise History of Industrial Music 0:41
06. Raymonde Fluffs It 0:05
07. Musical Bovine Spongiform (The Mad Cow Two-Step) 1:40
08. I'm a Frayed Knot 4:14
09. Sinan Sings for Her Chums 1:41
10. It Just Aint So 1:10
11. Nasal Hair 1:49
12. Rockette Morton Part One 4:13
13. Rockette Morton Part Two 3:11
14. Dogs Breath Rising 0:51
15. This Piano Can't Think 1:20
16. Crack Up 1:50
17. Scissor Rock Bicycle Revelation 2:24
18. Dream of a Butterfly Inside the Skull of a Horse 1:22
19. Raymonde Cries a River 1:26
20. Fade / Crack Down 1:32
21. Ritva Sings for the World 2:36
22. Peccadillo 1:38
23. Great - God - Father - Nieces 2:04
24. It Just Aint So (Slight Return) 0:27
25. A Little Missing Part of "Homotopy To Marie" 1:36
26. S.B.B. Dragged Through a Hedge Backwards 2:23
27. Scrapie 1:11
28. Flea Bite 1:45
29.Scrambled Egg Rebellion in the Smegma Department 2:43