- Either Open or Unsound
- Bloodclot
- A Window of Possible Organic Development
- The Entertainer
- Some Magic Powers
[untitled dub track after a momentary silence]
An interesting release with Nurse teaming up with the Irish contempory violinist Aranos. A lovely title and quite fitting for an album which contains several moments of beauty. Starting with 'Either Open Or Unsound' the music is constructed around the sombre meandering violin refrains from Aranos under which Stapleton lays drones of dread and other low end sounds. The effect is very unnerving, Aranos style of playing is very dissonant and eerie, giving the song an almost gothic feel to it. Not in a hammer horror, way but in a Lovecraftian, Victorian back street way, if you know what I mean. This song goes on for about ten and a half minutes.
The second track has more of a percussive feel about it. Delayed and reverbed rhythms and beats combined with some other electronic wizardry to make up the majority of this piece. There’s also a sample of some Americans preaching in a church, and the violin of Aranos for the first part of the song. Quite nice. The third track 'A window of Possible organic development' is full of mysterious drones and ominous effects. This is the most industrial sounding track on the album. There are traces of old Nurse style with some small clockwork or mechanical objects being used to make up the tracks concrete sounds. Drones as in the first track play a large part too, welling up like a dark wave. Aranos adds his own touches with various discordant wobbles and scrapes from his violin. The track also contains some of the sounds found on the 'Space Funk with springs' track from 'Who can I turn to stereo'.
By the time the song bridges to the fourth song 'The entertainer', the pace has become very much like many of the songs on Who can I turn to stereo, with the addition of Aranos’s frenetic violin excursions. The entertainer begins with more low drones and what sounds like some wind instrument, or pipes being played. Various looped, electronic effects add depth to the track before it leads into the final track, 'Some Magical Powers'. The piped instrument continues to add a surreal atmosphere to the now deathly ambience. Aranos continues his drifting otherworldly playing interrupted by the occasional tone of a bell or gong. And that’s how the album plays out. There is a hidden track, a rather strange funk like track that’s really quite good, banjo, noise, and funky beats accompany some high pitched squeaky voices. An amusing end to what is for the most part a very dark album.
