- A Missing Sense
- Swansong
- Dada X (Ostranenie 1913 Version)
This is the re-release of 'A missing sense' from 1997 that does not contain the Organum piece Rasa. Here we have two new long pieces and a slight reworking of the track 'Dada X' from 'Merzbild Schwet'. The title track is based on the bizarre avant garde composition 'Automatic writing' by 'Robert Ashley'. Stapleton had found this the only piece of music he could listen to while on LSD and had decided to make his own version. In comparison the two versions are superficially similar in sound although the theory and asthetic of the two pieces is wildly different. Ashley's original was his first speech "Opera" and was composed with total precision to a very thought out set of ideas. Nurses version has a similar sound using mostly minimal effects and disjointed snippets of mumbling and croaking mixed with a wide spectrum of effects and noises that apparently Stapleton had taken from the immediate environment but it's would seem that Stapleton has attempted to replicate the sound but not the structure or theory of Ashley's piece. Dogs barking, a phone ringing, various rustling and creaking sounds are all used at various points. At times it has a very organic feel to it, and at other times it’s more mechanical and dissonant. It’s certainly one of Nurses most minimal pieces and for me is best listened to at night, not to loud, preferably on the edge of sleep so the full disorienting effect of the music can take hold.
The second track 'Swansong' is mostly a noise excursion than anything. A vast tidal wash of malevolent static sweeps over you before dying down and building up again. This track was apparently recorded after Stapleton had watched a documentary on nuclear testing, and the sound of the track definitely gives the listener the feel of being repeatedly irradiated by the wall of noise that crashes and builds like waves of sonic destruction. When the static is at a lull you can hear some more subtle ambient like textures that are certainly in contrast to the violence of the static waves. After about fourteen minutes the static waves subside and the ambient textures are allowed to immerge and a child’s voice begins to talk about changing and how “it” would feel. It’s all quite disturbing especially when the child is cut short and a vast slab of static noise engulfs the whole track, slowly subsiding and fading to silence.
As stated the final track is a reworking of the older piece 'Dada X', this is the 'Ostranenie 1913' Version. The track is more or less the same, but with some more, percussive effects and background creaking and droning, and near the beginning what sounds like a chicken being strangled (This is in fact David Tibet parping away on his wind instruments). Im not sure if I like this better than the version off 'Schwet'. There is less space in this version, which perhaps detracts from the originals slow motion surrealism. But it’s still one of my favourite Nurse tracks.
