Halloween doesn't mean much to us Australians, but Dave the silent ssg has used it as an excuse to put together a mix showcasing the sounds of Nurse with Wound. To be honest, I don't think I'd ever heard of this group before Dave sent me his mix, so this is something new for me (and presumably quite a few of our readers). Enough from me, here are some words from Dave' about the mix:
"Nurse with Wound is a group which I've always felt is under-appreciated and misunderstood, perhaps because they are often tagged as being part of the industrial and noise scenes when their music doesn't really share much in common with any of those sounds. Steven Stapleton, the project's founder and only constant member of the group since its formation in 1978, has often spoken of his fondness of Dada and surrealism and I think these are bigger influences on NWW than any genre of music.
Up until recently, I'd always felt that NWW's music would translate well to techno, but for the most part this hasn't really occurred. However, now guys like Demdike Stare (definitely the best thing to come out in the last year or so, in my opinion) and Suum Cuique really seem to be tapping into that sound, which is something I find really exciting.
NWW have released a really wide range of different sounds, but for me their primary sound is dark, hypnotic and unnerving, exactly the sort of thing which is coming from new synth artists and some of those sub-genres Chris recently mentioned (witch-house and others). So for me it seems like a good time for NWW to receive some of the appreciation they deserve.
I've felt that for a while techno has been eager to go back to its more psychedelic/trance roots and this has been occurring to some extent (Oneohtrix Point Never and Emeralds are some of the most obvious crossovers), but there is still room to go deeper, and explore much further krautrock, prog rock and 70s synth work. In this way, NWW's surrealist take on music could offer another source of inspiration.
For this mix I decided to focus more on the surreal and dark ambient side of their sound because it fits better with the Halloween theme and because I think it's what techno fans would most easily relate to. Most of these tracks are also off major releases and some of their more famous work so it should (hopefully) act as a good introduction to the group. I'll give Chris a tracklist including albums/EPs the tracks can be found on later if you want to explore their sound further. I hope you all like it!"
Dave the Silent Ssg - Nurse with Wound Halloween Mix
For more info on Nurse with Wound, check their homepage. And if you need more Halloween action, I strongly recommend the excellent 'Black Moods by the Grave Lady' mix put together by Camella Lobo over at the Ladies and Gents Auxiliary. Enjoy.
Hey there, thanks for the mention! - The Grave Lady
ReplyDeletehttp://twitter.com/JDTwitch/status/15790443698
ReplyDeleteI discovered Nurse with Wound basically around the same time I started to get interested in Techno. Certainly one of the most influential groups for my path of listening.
ReplyDelete@ Dave...have you heard Colin Potter's solo cd "And Then"?
(http://www.discogs.com/Colin-Potter-And-Then/release/450312)
there is some tribalish technoisms involved in that one. I wish he would've explored that path more, even though his drone works are sublime.
Lately Nurse with Wound is more of a collective of various artists. Andrew Liles seems to be the darkest of the bunch, his works surely would've made an excellent halloween mix as well.
Looking forward to listening to this Dave. Thanks for posting it.
Looking forward to listening to this mix as I am unfamiliar with NWW. I really have to echo that Demdike is possibly the best thing this year. I really can't get enough right now (possibly because I am a 'Yank and I love Halloween). Here is more in the vein: http://soundcloud.com/unsound/up-13-demdike-stares-unsounded-podcast
ReplyDeleteDave/silent ssg here,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments! here's the tracklist:
Either Open Or Unsound (Actos Of Senseless Beauty)
Homotopy To Marie (Homotopy To Marie)
Part One: Mona Twisted (Sand Tangled Woman)
Ostranenie (To the Quiet Men From a Tiny Girl)
DADA x (Merzbild Schwet)
I Was No Longer His Dominant (Automating Vol 1 / Mi-Mort)
Song 1 (Soliloquy For Lilith)
Fashioned to a Device Behind a Tree (Automating Vol 1 / Mi-Mort)
Nil By Mouth (Sugar Fish Drink / Alas The Madonna Does Not Function)
Part 1 (Spinal Insana)
I've included the release the track is taken from in case you want to explore the album further. I'd strongly recommend listening to more NWW if you were interested in this mix because they really do have such a wide range of sounds and you can't get a full idea of them through this mix. Also, I didn't really attempt to fully represent their sound as such a mix wouldn't really be all that cohesive as they are too diverse. They have a really great tribal/industrial side as well which is possibly my fave sound of theirs which i didn't include on the mix at all.
@Jeremy... no i haven't heard any COlin Potter solo stuff so thanks for the rec! I really love NWW's tribal beaty stuff such as thunder perfect mind and the better moments of rock n roll station so perhaps "And Then" will be perfect for me.
As you can probably tell by my mix tracklist I'm mostly into NWW's earlier work which is because I haven't really found the time to listen to the newer stuff. I've also gathered (perhaps incorrectly) that their later releases can be a bit patchy and inconsistant at times. what do you think? i liked Huffin Rag Blues and i recently got Automating 3 which i liked but not as much 1 or 2 or sugar fish drink. what would you recommend?
It's true, the more recent output of NWW can be patchy. A good deal of the new stuff is just reprocessed versions of older tracks. I think the focus for the past five or so years has shifted towards the live show, which they never really did much of before. Many of the new releases are really just what you would hear at a live NWW gig: old tracks reprocessed and mixed together.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the newer material, I like Shipwreck Radio, Huffin' Rag Blues, Disconnected (with Faust), and all of the Angry Electric Finger collaborations. There's a new one out with the band Larsen that sounds like it could be really good, but I havn't heard it yet.
Overall I'd recommend An Awkward Pause, She and Me Fall Together In Free Death, Bright Yellow Moon (with Current 93), Chance Meeting Of Nurse With Wound And Unveiled On Charlottenborg (or if you can't find a copy of that, then try Man with the Woman Face)
I guess that's a lot to recommend, but there's so much NWW material out there, and it's all so varied and hard to narrow down.
Great mix by the way! Fitting in quite nicely with this appropriately dreary halloween week here on the east coast of the States.
Excellent mix, cheers!
ReplyDelete"Nurse With Wound Mix"? That sounds terrifying. And delightful. Can't wait.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the most eerie, unnerving yet well constructed pieces of music I've ever heard. I put on this headphones before going to sleep and woke up with a shout, with one of my ears burning! Powerful stuff. Very well put together I have to say, but I'd be careful when I listen to this.
ReplyDelete