Nurse With Wound - Angry Eelectric Finger I, II, III

Angry Eelectric Finger is the title of a series of Nurse With Wound collaborations where an album of previously unreleased NWW material was handed out to select artists to manipulate as they saw fit. Beyond the excerpt that appeared on the United Dairies / World Serpent spitch' cock one I've yet to hear the entire untampered Nurse With Wound piece. The three volumes pencilled in for release via World Serpent never happenned until the tapes were handed to Beta Lactam Ring Records who must be applauded for making such a handsome job of these releases.

Nurse With Wound / Jim O'Rourke - Angry Eelectric Finger 1, Tape Monkey Mooch
Angry Eelectric Finger 1 subtitled Tape Monkey Mooch features a reworking by avant sound manipulator and current Sonic Youth member Jim O'Rourke. O'Rourke's two contributions range from omnious droning and gentle shimmering washes on the first piece. There's the sound of tinkering bells, spinning coins, and much winding and creakiness. The overall piece is left to develop ever so slowly with sounds being carefully dropped into the atmospheric droning. It rarely strays from Nurse With Wound territory and most listeners could easily confuse this with pure unadulterated Nurse With Wound.

The second piece is altogether noisier and more importantly it utilises the free-form improvisations of flute and sax provided by members of Xhol Caravan, early in the piece offset against some constant drumming. From there it moves into icy atmospherics with overlaid glockenspiel before re-introducing the mechanical creakiness. A lot of tape manipulations feature alongside some sampled cello sounds which gently build-up into something quite sinister with sounds bouncing between speakers and elements of the industrial clanking dropped in throughout.

I must confess, as much as I enjoyed this, I couldn't help but hear Nurse With Wound throughout. Either O'ROurke and Stapleton are kindred spirits, or O'Rourke didn't attempt to put his stamp on this at all. Either way, Nurse With Wound will be at home with this one.

Nurse With Wound / Cyclobe - Angry Eelectric Finger 2, Paraparaparallelogrammatica
Angry Eelectric Finger 2 subtitled Paraparaparallelogrammatica is a serious reworking by Cyclobe, featuring Stephen Thrower and Ossian Brown.

Cyclobe's first piece opens with eerie ambience before launching into a series of processed electronics where harsh sweeping noises obliterate the calm. It's dense and seriously treated. Throughout glimpses of the original source material can be heard but much of the first track resembles Cyclobe's own work where analog synths throw up bleeps and whirs on an alien landscape. Both Ossian Brown and Stephen Thrower were former members of Coil, albeit at different periods in the groups history, and at times the electronic drones conjure up the same spectral territory as Coil's Time Machines or their more experimental pieces using sidereal sound.

The second piece is a slow paced ache of haunting electronics. The sound of a hurdy gurdy can be heard wailing in the distance. The mechanical creakings of the source material can be discerned here but they have been so heavily treated they sound almost alien when compared to the others. It's on the third track that the drumming and contributions from Xhol Caravan appear in several short bursts amidst crashing processed electronic sounds and giant, stuttering analog stabs. It comes to a close with the sound of pipes and gentle swirling electronics.

Nurse With Wound aren't audible on the fourth piece which ranges from gentle droning, while shards of electronic sounds are jettisoned into the thick, black sound. This reverberates like pure Cyclobe as evidenced by their releases Luminous Darkness and The Visitors on their own Phantom Code imprint.

It's on their final piece where the source material can be discerned. The winding device is largely untouched, and is shrouded by ominous sound washes and snatches of tinkering bells. This is the only contribution from Cyclobe than can be compared to the first pieces by O'Rourke and irr.app.(ext.).

On Paraparaparallelogrammatica Cyclobe have created an original piece of work that will introduce Nurse With Wound listeners to their dense, hallucinogenic sounds. Cyclobe collectors are urged to seek out Paraparaparallelogrammatica, as its further evidence of their absolute ability in manipulating sound.

Nurse With Wound / irr.app.(ext.) - Angry Eelectric Finger 3, Mute Bell Extinction Process
Angry Eelectric Finger 3 subtitled Mute Bell Extinction Process is manipulated by the San Francisco based outfit irr.app.(ext.). The first piece utilises much of the same sounds previously used by O'Rourke, and probably is quite close to the source material provided by Stapleton. Some alien voice treatments feature early on and there's greater manipulation on the drones. A chugging engine is in there too but the mechanical whirring and clanking takes precedence here. Towards the end there are heaving structures of dense sound from which the free-form sax rise, provided by Hansi Fischer and the late Tim Belbe of Xhol Caravan, once again taken from the source material.

The second piece comprises manipulated electronic sounds panning expertly between speakers. There's a greater interplay between the industrial creakiness, which O'Rourke also used in his second piece, and the abrasive manipulations. Yet even with the addition of distant voices and inherent chaotic sounds it resembles O'Rourke's quite significantly. In fact, the irr.app.(ext.) almost mirrors O'Rourke's in reverse as towards the end (and curiously indexed as track 3, even though it's a direct continuation of the preceding) they introduce the drumming and free-form sax and melodic flute that appeared early on in the O'Rourke track. I'm therefore concerned that Waldron and O'Rourke have relied quite heavily on the original material embellishing the original parts, rather than offering original manipulations. Nurse With Wound collectors probably won't give a flying fuck as these are still represenative of the Nurse With Wound ouevre with some light touchings of other avant sound makers.

For more information on the above Nurse With Wound titles go to www.blrrecords.com