- Brained By Falling Masonry
- A Short Dip in the Glory Hole
Another rare 12” from the early eighties. This excellent EP contains two tracks both of which were re-released on the 'Large ladies with cake in the oven' compilation. The first, 'A Short Dip in the Glory Hole' is Nurse's tribute to David Lynch's seminal avant-garde horror masterpiece Eraserhead. And frankly this track suit’s the film better than the original soundtrack did. Slow distant voices and what sounds like a flute or other wind instrument create a dark ghostly atmosphere before the subtlety is broken by the entrance of processed drones, cries and mechanical shrieks. Again the voices return subduing the noise and parading around your ears in a very peculiar and disorientating way. They very slowly fade out, lulling you into a false sense of security before the blinding screams leap in. This IS like a soundtrack to a horror film and I nearly jumped out of my seat when I first heard this. It’s not a mind warping as the 'Large ladies...' version where the screams are preceded by what sounds like a number of milk bottles falling down concrete stairs. Here the bottles are missing but the atmosphere is still horrific. The screams fade then return leading into the tracks finale of female song and mutated choral sound effects. This is for me the most straight up scary Nurse song ever. Side two is the collaboration between Nurse and Jim (foetus) Thirwell titled 'Brained By Falling Masonry'. A very nifty piece this is too. Stapleton gives a nod to his beloved Krautrock (Brainticket loops being used on this track) with the songs juddering, rhythm and rocky backdrop. That being said this is still highly deranged with the track sounding like it was played in a scrap metal yard and processed girl voices and chants making several appearances. Also it must be said that “ol Jims” voice is a love it or hate it affair but in my opinion he does quite well on this track. (don’t know what he was on when recording it though). This track was also remixed and is included on the 'Sugar Fish Drink' CD. The mixes are slightly different from the 'Large ladies versions', more subtle I would say. So a very worthwhile release. Funky art work. Back of 12” has a warped picture of David Tibet looking somewhat glum. Highly collectable. Probably worth about £30-40 in collectors circles. I got mine for £18...result my son!!!!
