To celebrate the release of the three Angry Eelectric Finger albums a few years back, Nurse With Wound leader Steven Stapleton sorted through some paint and vinyl from a local landfill near him and turned them into 100 very eye catching paintings that were displayed in various galleries in Ireland and Portland. Now, all those paintings are contained in one nice little volume, available here for the first time in this very well put together box set from the folks at Beta-lactam Ring Records. This cool package also comes with the original Zero Mix material, on CD for the first time, as well as a bonus disc, Requital For Lady Day, giving fans one hell of a overall package of sight and sound. The music of Nurse With Wound is of course a required taste, avant-garde meets ambient meets drone, as waves of sound coming from a myriad of different sources and instruments colliding to form one ominous and powerful expression. At times the music is claustrophobic, yet always intense and creepy, pefect example of what these folks can conjure up can be heard on the frightening near 18-minute "Zero Mix I", as clinks and clanks pop in and out of the mix while ondulating waves of sound ebb and flow with frightening intensity. It's all very metallic sounding, and would make a great soundtrack to any science fiction movie. "Zero Mix II" is a different beast altogether, as you have something that could be a bass or some other strung instrument being manipulated and quickly de-tuned in haphazard fashion while various forms of percussion crashing in the background. Jazz meets ambient on "Zero Mix III", some neat sax & flute lines floating about the mix of noises and clicks, adding an instesting element to this otherwise avant-garde sonic platter. Over on the bonus disc Requital FOr Lady Day is another 40 minutes of music, more in line with ambient space rock acts like Tangerine Dream, as long passages of textures take over, giving the impression of floating in deep, dark space. The title track is especially calming and serene, while the near 31-minute "Ocean (For 'Saucie' Redpath)" is much more ominous and chilling, yet still holding on to the floating feeling.
As interesting as the music is here on these two CD's, it's the booklet filled with the 'images' that will really be of interest to fans of the band. Stapleton's touch is quite unique, and the use of colors is very well done. The book itself is well put together and bound, making this a nice collectors item for those into Nurse With Wound or general art fans of all ages.
Track Listing
Zero Mix
1) Zero Mix I (17:35)
2) Zero Mix II (9:48)
3) Zero Mix III (13:35)
Requital For Lady Day
1) Requital For Lady Day (11:28)
2) Ocean (For 'Saucie' Redpath) (30:44)
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