Who Can I Turn To Stereo

About

A single 50 minute track split into 12 movements, Who Can I Turn to Stereo's roots are exposed by that track's title: 'Two Golden Microphones'. The track of the same name on 1994's Rock 'n Roll Station itself was a remix of the Thunder Perfect Mind track 'Colder Still' from 1992. Who Can I Turn to Stereo is, in effect, an almost hour long exploration of the tribal drums, waterphone drones and various other sounds found in those two tracks. Unlike the reworkings on Rock 'n Roll Station, the material here is massively fleshed out. Whether it's Sarah Fuller's enchanting wordless vocals, David Tibet's unsettling groaning, or Davide Meroni's surreal narration (taken from an exquisite corpse on the NWW website), the album is never far from layers of human voices. The music itself is probably the most traditionally musical in the entire Nurse catalogue, with bleeping electronic loops, layers of psychedelic guitars, and the recurring percussion loop worked to lend the album a tribal groove throughout. More intense movements are juxtaposed with quieter, more ambient sections, giving the album a superb structure and dynamic that stops things ever becoming stale or boring. Unlike the cold, harsh and foreboding mood found on previous Nurse With Wound albums, Who Can I Turn to Stereo is lush and sumptuous. There are eerie sections, and there's no shortage at all of absurd, surreal and completely crazy moments (the pitch-shifted voice announcing "Hello everybody, I'm your new best friend! I can sing with my springs!" at the start of 'Space Funk With Springs' being a personal favourite), but it's much more of a slightly unsettling but overall fun psychedelic trip than the nightmare-like sound sculptures Steven Stapleton's band of weirdos are generally known for. Furthermore, Colin Potter's increasing role in the band means the overall sound is richer and more colourful than ever, making Who Can I Turn to Stereo one of the most immersive records in the entire Nurse With Wound catalogue. The bonus CD, Stereo Wastelands, gives an idea of just how far Stapleton and Potter went with the project, with an additional hour's worth of experiments grown from the same roots. Petr Vastl's violin appears on 'Fragments I', foreshadowing the material from these sessions that would end up on the first NWW / Aranos album. These pieces are less essential than the main album itself, with occasionally murky mixes, and frankly just a bit too much repetition of the same themes, but are fascinating listening for Nurse fans who enjoy hearing the band's working processes in action. A nine minute ambient track, 'Eternity', rounds the bonus disc out with some much welcome variation. The only sad thing is this very beautiful piece of music is buried away in a relatively unaccessible location. An unexpected highlight!.

via Last.fm

The Clerk says

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