The Real Music

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Nurse With Wound is essentially a one-man project led by Steven Stapleton, an obsessive collector of avant-garde records. In 1980 he and two other equally nerdy friends accidentally slipped into the studio on a banana peel and just recorded themselves throwing nuts and bolts around and pushing a few studio buttons, with some guitar work reminiscent of John McLaughlin on top of it all (“to make it sound a bit musical”). Homotopy to Marie is possibly his most acclaimed work, and it was also the first album he made all by himself. It is worth to mention that NWW was part of the “England’s Hidden Reverse” movement, which was a collective of industrial artists like Coil, Current 93, Death in June and Psychic TV.

What this album essentially is, is a confusing sound collage. It’s been described by some as a surrealist nightmare. The record was recorded during 52 different sessions, all night every Sunday for a year. The recorded doings includes a box of silverware being stirred around with an axe handle, people eating, little girls talking, an oompah-marching band, etc. Combined with tape manipulation, it’s safe to say that this is anything but an easy listen. For the unprepared ear, many portions of this album might want to make you run for the stop button. Even for me with some experience in this field, the drill sergeant played backwards in the beginning of “The Schmürz” gives me goosebumps every single time. The album aptly ends with a dozen laughing toy robots.

In the right areas, this album is considered a cornerstone in avant-garde music. At the time there were very few albums that even came close to the confusion and depravity of this record, and it still holds up. For fans of psychological horror movies.

S. Holm 07/06/12