To the Quiet Men from a Tiny Girl

Following on the footsteps of Chance Meeting on a Dissecting Table, To the Quiet Men From a Tiny Girl was Nurse With Wound's second album and shows the group refining itself from the debut and adding a lot more dynamics. The record starts off with the very short "Umbrella Link," really just some guitar riffing from engineer Nicky Rodgers as a concession for N.W.W. to use his recording studio, before segueing into the side-long "She Alone Hole and Open." Along with the clattering and clanking percussion and weird scraping noises and guitar burbles, French avant-jazz giant Jacques Berrocal joined in on pocket trumpet and Stapleton adds some sax squall for results a bit closer to free jazz than the first record. The side-two piece "Ostranenie" throws a bunch of strange voices into the din, and then later on, a creepy music box takes over. Both pieces have quiet moments that contrast with the noisier sections, and the use of editing is more prevalent, though not as advanced as later releases. Some sections ramble on for too long like a lot of early N.W.W., but it's still an intriguing release, if not as fully realized as later works. ~ Rolf Semprebon