- I Cannot Feel You as the Dogs are Laughing and I am Blind
- Homotopy to Marie
- Astral Dustbin Dirge
- The Schmürz (Unsullied by Suckling)
- The Tumultuous Upsurge (of Lasting Hatred)
Acclaimed as being one of Nurses most disturbing and warped releases 'Homotopy to Marie' arrived a year after the double salvo of 'To the quiet men from a tiny girl' and 'Merzbild Schwet'. Continuing in the vein of 'Schwet', 'Homotopy for Marie' uses an arsenal of tape manipulation and strange reverbed, delayed effects to create it’s brooding tension.
The first track strangely titled 'I Cannot Feel You as the Dogs are Laughing and I am Blind' begins with loud scratches and scrapes before the sound of distant massed groans and voices takes over. This brings to mind the image of being in an old hospital at night, hearing the patients moans and groans and a general feel of foreboding. The voices get more and more agitated before an angry sounding tribal chant breaks the tension and a very irate fellow is rudely awakened and gives us some angry babble to send us on our way.
The title track is more subdued with the crash of a gong or cymbal breaking the silence between strange calls from a little girl talking about going into the hospital, and giving blood among other things. Other unidentifiable objects are used to add flavour to the track, screeching and tweaking here and there. Very strange.
This track leads directly into the next, 'Astral Dustbin Dirge', using most of the same sounds as the title track but used much more violently this track also adds some bizarre sound effects. Bells, a phone ringing, growls, moans, female screams, some mechanical drones and typewriter sounds. More of the little girl in the hospital, a dog and what sounds like someone eating their lunch quite loudly. All very unnerving.
The longest piece on the album is 'the Schmurz'. Comparable to other Nurse songs like 'Ostranenie', or 'Blank capsules of embroidered cellophane'. This crazy long progression through imaginary landscapes, begins with a backwards sounding military chant accompanied by more metallic drones and effects. After about four minutes a sound like steam escaping from a valve enters. It’s quite high pitched and begins to grate very soon, but not before it is brought to a crescendo and the track moves off into more strange territory. This time involving some of Stapletons clockwork toys, some foreign vocals and orchestral sounds. At about nine minutes a collage of foreign vocals, what sounds like a woman describing a method for a scientific experiment and various other warped tape manipulations enter, broken occasionally by grating distortion, and drones. This goes on for the next six or so minutes before what sounds like a music box drifts in, the noise fades out and a horrific sounding piano, child voice, drone sounds cape arrives. Very disturbing sounding, keeping with the whole mental institute feel of the album. At about eighteen minutes another landscape breaks in, based on plucked strings and percussion. The last six minutes is made up of more voice collages and an amusing sounding warped blues sounding band playing a looped melody. Madness.
The final track 'The tumultuous upsurge' is a short collage of mechanical laughter, and scratchy effects. This album will have you climbing the walls. It’s disturbing, crazy, warped, and brilliant.
