Search - Nurse With Wound :: Huffin' Rag Blues

Stapleton's tribute to the seedy underbelly of New Orleans

The Pitiful Anonymous | the Acres of Skin | 08/19/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Just when you think Stapleton's tried everything, he records a psychedelic ambient lounge jazz album, complete with horns, walking basslines, shimmering xylophones and a sultry female vocalist singing haunting, dissonant renditions of jazz standards over Stapleton's druggy, surreal soundscapes.



To anyone (doesn't matter if you're already a Nurse With Wound fan or not) who saw the cover, thought "What the...?", and subsequently "I wonder what it sounds like", this album will not disappoint. It is everything the cover suggests: a polished, tuneful, colorful facade hiding drug addicted rot and decay, the sadness of wasted lives, and disorganized mayhem. The conventional elements of this album really just serve to make it stranger and all the more surreal and psychedelic.



Stapleton's odd, mangled treatments of standards like "Why Don't You Do Right?" (included here in the track "Thrill of Romance...?") feel as if they're equal parts reverent and mocking. Combined with his dissonant arrangements, the often romantic lyrics come off as either sarcastic, insincere or hopeless and melancholy.



Drugs are the other major theme on "Huffin' Rag Blues", if the title didn't clue you in (as well as track titles like "Ketaminaphonia"). The rough baritone vocals of "Black Teeth" as well as scattered samples in other tracks express the feelings and realities of roaming the streets looking for a fix, for whatever will get you high. This sort of desperation is what lies beneath this album's shiny exterior.



Occasionally Stapleton drifts back into a more characteristic and familiar world that recalls his other work (meaning it is no less surreal), such as during the ending minutes of "The Funktion of the Hairy Egg" and the album's hidden track ending: A slow, lazy voice croons "When I first met you I was lonesome..." over a dreamlike, shivering drone, and then fades into nothing.



In summary, "Huffin' Rag Blues" is a unique and brilliant album that is not only one of Stapleton's best creations, but one of his most accessible, and at least for now, it's actually in print! Anybody with a taste for the psychedelic and surreal should check this out.



I also recommend "An Awkward Pause" and "Rock and Roll Station", which are both available for paid download here on Amazon, and "Spiral Insana" which is unfortunately quite rare."

Pure Nurse with wound, exceptional new classic recording.

J. Wagner | west coast usa | 07/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you enjoyed any of these Nurse with wound recordings:



1. "Thunder Perfect Mind"

2. "Rock 'n' Roll Station"

3. "Who Can I Turn To, Stereo?"

4. "Automating [I&II]"

5. "Second Pirate Session"

6. "The Sylvie and Babs Thigh-High Companion"



or, you just want to be amazed by one of the most intricately hypnotic, shocking, amazing, lucid psychedelic tapestry devices that could be used to convince the neighbors that you are harboring illegal wildlife,buy this new CD and record by those Nurse with wound folks,"Huffin' Rag Blues" never disappoints, and will be regarded as one of the stars in Dada Stapleton's crown of psych-rock achievements.



"Huffin' Rag Blues" [and "The Bacteria Magnet" 12 inch] has incredible depth, all the best of Steven's archetypes are at play here. At times hypnotic, at other times it's a demolition derby! it never ceases to please and tickle, and i always hear new things everytime i listen to it.



And "The Bacteria Magnet" 12 inch "companion" is more of the same, and well worth the price of admission for the two non-LP tracks. "Bei Mir Bis Du Schön" is hypnotic, heroin-laced. That element shows up on the full CD as well, you will probably notice a jazzy, "Badalamenti-esque" influence on both recordings. i would buy a turntable, if i didn't already have one, just to listen to this record.



this is some of Steven Stapleton & Company's greatest work. do not delay, buy them today!



[the vinyl quality of the white pressing is very, very excellent, i can say.]



love,

durt





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