Customer Reviews

Sylvie and Babs

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This recording is getting on in years, but because of its nature, it is far from dated. Stapleton and a dizzying list of his noise/experimental peers created quite an album: layers of clips and loops, tones and voices, which draw the listener into what may best be described as either the soundtrack to a runaway carousel, or what you might hear falling down the rabbit hole.

I would recommend 'Sylvie and Babs Hi-Fi Companion' [and 'Chance Meeting on a Dissecting Table...', another early title that Amazon carries] to anyone who has some familiarity with experimental recordings. This is not a record that absolutely everyone will be able to enjoy or appreciate, but it shouldn't be missed by those who are fans of the genre.

Nurse With Wound have never been po-faced about their avant-garde experimentalism, as one should expect from their often Dada version of musique concrete, and they're as capable of doing scary as they are funny. Here though it is most definitely funny- an incredible sound collage of clips from a preceding era of more innocent entertainments, albeit with room for the odd bit of drilling too! This is testament to Steven Stapleton's skills as a bricoleur- the collector who can collate in ways that create. From his inspired juxtapositions comes a thing of demented beauty. Another essential addition to the wonderful world of Nurse With Wound. The studio really is the instrument.

This has always been MY favorite NWW release. It's funny and bizzare..I mean REALY! But that's what I'm looking for when I go to listen to NWW..40 or so minutes in two cuts. Quick-cut voices snips of music disjointed collage and a druken night club act...studeo stereo..ultra headphone stuff

There is music out there to put you to sleep. (Barry Manilow) There is Muzak out there to make you buy. Then there is the choice little snippets and "found sound" that you will listen to over and over, and every listening will dredge up new bits of found sounds, obscure radio commercials and cultural oozings to delight and amaze. Bands who specialize in such ramblings are Negativland, The Tape Beatles, Feotus, and of course, Steven Stapleton's Nurse With Wound!

Stapleton's epic "Registered Nurse Second Coming" got me hooked on his style and methods of "cut and paste" compiling of media to tickle the ears. His Sylvie and Babs album drove the stake into the heart that I could ever listen to Muzak again!

Always playful, Nurse With Wound will forever change the color of the old "Dragnet" theme into a laugh fest!

What can I say? This was my introduction to NWW. After reading so much about them in the Trouser Press album guide, I knew that Stapleton's work would be right up my alley. Each NWW is different, but I couldn't have asked for a better initiation into its "music". Fans of Frank Zappa's Lumpy Gravy should absolutely love this work, as it is quite similar with its cut up tape techniques, snatches of bizarre dialogue and everything else with the kitchen sink thrown in.

Sylvie And Babs is the kind of record that makes you want to hear more long after it's over. Even while you're listening to it, you find your ears perking up, as if they are stretching to hear what's coming next before it arrives. The appearances of the theme to Dragnet, as well as a muted but clearly recognizable sample of "The Monster Mash" are just a couple of the hidden gems you'll find within this recording. NWW deserves its legacy, and Sylvie And Babs is certainly a highlight of Stapleton's (and a zillion other guests here) career. Dig in.

Most of NWW's music tends toward noisier experimentation and the industrial. This, however, has less in common with that and more with things such as the earlier works of Negativland (c. "A Big 10-8 Place") or John Oswald. Starting with a slowly-building collage of cheery muzak, the album suddenly crashes into bad Sinatra impersonations, tape-process havoc, loops, sudden outbursts of some cheezy Australian pop song, noise, then eventually into a total savaging of the 'Dragnet' theme. And that's just the _first_ piece, and only a slight overview at that! This is one of the true genius-works of sampled/stolen music manipulation, a mad assault of splicing and bad craziness that hits home like listening to Stockhausen's "Hymnen" on nitrous oxide. Guaranteed to pit you against your stereo in a true audio chaos deathmatch! Sounds bad? Well...it _is_ bad! It's that magical bad known as 'good/bad', rarely glimpsed, but very present here. Steve Stapleton is a true genius and madman, judging from this (not to mention the huge corpus of NWW, of course), and "Sylvie and Babs" begs to be heard by those who think they're totally down with the avant-garde. My bet is that they'll likely get their ears pinned back by this glorious disc of chaos!

Well actually, this album is pretty un-industrial, so therefore lacks lot of noise-as-such, unlike many of their other offerings.

Using heaps of samples from the fifties, this is a is tongue-in-cheeky poke-in-the-eye to pop/easy-listening-or-viewing schlock. Another inspired Nursey romp! Good background listening, that would probably pall on repeat listening, but an essential CD for NWW completists (if you can get it - I found my copy on eBAy).

However, this CD certainly doesn't rank with their best in my opinion. For 'Nursey beginners' it would be best to start with 'Sugar Fish Drink' (a personal fave and excellent value); 'Thunder Perfect Mind' (rivetting album and another fave); or 'Funeral Music for Perez Prado' (a varied and engaging album - the title track is a stunning industrial-edged organic-ambient masterpiece).

MAKE SURE YOUR SMILE-METER IS TURNED ON IF YOU BUY THIS ALBUM!!!