UNITED DAIRIES
Homotopy To Marie
Details
1981 12 UK United Dairies UD013
5000 Black vinyl copies in regular sleeve
1985 12 UK United Dairies UD013
? Black vinyl copies in regular sleeve
Tick mark on back cover (border of top right image)
Track Listing
Side 1
  1. I Cannot Feel You as the Dogs are Laughing and I am Blind
  2. Homotopy to Marie
Side 2
  1. The Schmürz (Unsullied by Suckling) [vfd42149]
  2. The Tumultuous Upsurge (of Lasting Hatred)
Sleeve Notes
None
Notes
21-MAR-2020:
Some discussion has recently taken place in the facebook group regarding this release.
There appear to be two variations of this release that differ by a printing flaw on the rear-cover which shows a black "tick" mark in the top right image (see other images) and possibly other slight variations in colour of cover and/or labels.
It is unclear whether this variant represents a first or second pressing, from either 1982 or 1985, or whether it contained an insert or not.
I have decided, for the moment, to add this as a separate variant to indicate its existence.

In addition the quantities of releases are are also in question.
Assuming two editions, the first could have been around 450, the second around 4000.
I have decided to keep the quantities as they are for now until further information becomes available.
Other Images
Homotopy To Marie
Details
1987 CS UK United Dairies UDT13
In regular cassette box
Track Listing
Side 1
  1. I Cannot Feel You as the Dogs are Laughing and I am Blind
  2. Homotopy to Marie
Side 2
  1. The Schmürz (Unsullied by Suckling) [vfd42149]
  2. The Tumultuous Upsurge (of Lasting Hatred)
Sleeve Notes
None
Related Items
Homotopy To Marie
Details
1987 est. CS US RRRecords UDT13
In regular cassette box
Track Listing
Side 1
  1. I Cannot Feel You as the Dogs are Laughing and I am Blind
  2. Homotopy to Marie
Side 2
  1. The Schmürz (Unsullied by Suckling) [vfd42149]
  2. The Tumultuous Upsurge (of Lasting Hatred)
Sleeve Notes
None
Notes
Not officially licensed and at the time of writing (March-2009) it is still available.
Homotopy To Marie
Details
1992 CD UK United Dairies UD013CD
In jewel case
Track Listing
Side 1
  1. I am Blind (10:14)
  2. Homotopy to Marie (13:37)
  3. Astral Dustbin Dirge (15:18) [ud025] [udt18]
  4. The Schmürz (Unsullied by Suckling) (24:54) [vfd42149]
  5. The Tumultuous Upsurge (of Lasting Hatred) (1:25)
Sleeve Notes
Front cover Dolly Darling
Engineered by Peter McGhee
Thanks to: Sema
James Foetus
Marlene Nin
Nadine Mahdjouba
Chris Glover
Paul Hurst

Homotopy to Marie was inspired by Franz Kamin
Notes
The CD index of track 3 should start around the three-minute mark
Homotopy To Marie
Details
2007 July CD CA United Jnana UNITED JNANA 366
In digipak
Track Listing
Side 1
  1. I Cannot Feel You As The Dogs Are Laughing And I Am Blind (10:14)
  2. Homotopy to Marie (16:37)
  3. Astral Dustbin Dirge (12:19) [ud025] [udt18]
  4. The Schmürz (Unsullied by Suckling) (24:54) [vfd42149]
  5. The Tumultuous Upsurge (of Lasting Hatred) (1:25)
Sleeve Notes
Produced, Edited and Mixed by S Stapleton

United Dairies UD013
1982
Engineered by Peter Mcgee
Nurse With Wound
Homotopy To Marie
Thanks to: Sema
James Foetus
Marlene Nin
Nadine Mahdjouba
Chris Glover
Paul Hurst
Paul Jackson
David Tibet
Mark Logan
Homotopy to Marie was inspired by Franz Kamin
Notes
Remastered and released in a full color 6 panel digipak with newly designed artwork.
The disc index markers have been corrected from the original World Serpent release to reflect the actual track lengths.
Digital
Reviews
The seemingly endless Nurse With Wound reissue program continues unabated with this digitally remastered version of Homotopy To Marie, presented by United Jnana in a digipak with partially restored artwork and, oddly, the same augmented tracklist as the 1992 World Serpent CD version.

Part of the problem with a CD reissue program is figuring out how to balance the two requirements of the collectible reissue. First, that it be a faithful replica of the original LP or CD being reissued, complete with original artwork and unshuffled tracklist. Second, that it offer the consumer who already owns the original an extra incentive to repurchase: b-sides, bonus tracks, remixes, etc. United Jnana's reissue of Homotopy curiously fails to satisfy either requirement, and merely succeeds at putting back into print a slightly superior version of the World Serpent CD from the early 1990s. The problem? The inclusion of the track "Astral Dustbin Dirge," not included on the original United Dairies Homotopy LP. The track was included on the 1992 CD version of the album, perhaps as an incentive for owners of the LP. United Jnana choose to repeat this same augmented tracklisting, even though past NWW reissues had sought to iron out such oddities from the back catalog.

At the risk of disappearing into the endless, tail-swallowing nexus of nerdy, self-righteous record collector ire, I'd like to point out that the inclusion of "Astral Dustbin Dirge" on this reissue is particularly strange, given the fact that the track was already made available very recently on United Jnana's CD reissue of Drunk With the Old Man of the Mountains, on which it belongs, having been originally issued on that LP in 1987. Though the track was apparently recorded during the Homotopy sessions, it does not bear any particularly striking resemblance to the rest of the material on the album. If UJ had wanted to include the track, simply as a historical addendum, couldn't they have put it at the end after a gap of a few seconds, so as not to disturb the sequencing of the original LP? Questions like these exist without an answer, and while this certainly does not ruin the experience of Homotopy, the overall messiness of a well-intentioned reissue program does begin to annoy.

Nitpicking aside, however, one might be curious how Homotopy holds up almost three decades on. The interesting thing about listening to early and mid-period NWW albums now is how striking a contrast they provide to the last decade of Nurse With Wound's output, which has become both more eclectic, and for lack of a better word, safer. I was underwhelmed by the majority Huffin' Rag Blues, mostly because it seemed to lack the chaotic unpredictability and gloriously unhinged strangeness of vintage NWW, qualities which Homotopy possesses in abundance. The digital scrubbing received by these tracks, while it might have excised some of the weird amorphousness provided by old vinyl, mostly works in their favor. Inspired by avant-garde composer Franz Kamin, the tracks on Homotopy explore noises and the silences between them, afterimage and resonating echo. The opening track takes its inspiration equally both from ritualistic krautrock freakouts such as Can's "Aumgn," and the long tradition of purposely obtuse avant-garde techniques, vocal ululations and sighs combined with water drips, jarring noise of uncertain origin, and reverberating room tone. It's an uneasy negotiation that Stapleton, in his prime, was masterful at manipulating.

The title track utilizes the striking of metallic objects (gongs? sheet metal?) to highlight the full range of resonance in the afterimage of percussive sounds. In the mix are some typical Stapletonian dialogue samples of unknown origin, a little girl with an English accent saying: "I didn't know anybody and there was a funny smell." The notion of creating a homotopy (two topological functions that can be continuously deformed into one another) with sound is a unique one, and while I'm not sure that Stapleton ever succeeds at this goal, the conceptual framework lends an atmosphere of complexity to the album, as the listener searches for reflecting, homotopical similarities in its sound sculptures. "The Schmürz" is the longest and most dynamic track on the album. To the metallic resonances of the title track are added a repetitive, Steve Reich-esque sample of military men marching, run forwards and backwards and placed over top of each other in unpredictably askew fashion. Gradually, grating noise and surrealistic, atonal crypto-jazz plonkings are introduced, as well as samples from an old LP of liturgical music. This is the Nurse at its best, as far as I'm concerned: pure audio surrealism, avant-garde anti-music that is nonetheless fascinating, cryptic, suggestive, dreamlike and cinematic in the way it unfolds. Homotopy To Marie, in any form, is essential listening for any truly adventurous fan of esoteric audio.

Jonathan Dean

29 August 2008
Гомотопия Мари
Details
2007 CD RU Soyuz DSM5003-07
In jewel case
Track Listing
Side 1
  1. я не чувствую - ведь псы хохочут, а я слеп (10:15)
  2. гомотопия мари (16:37)
  3. погребальная песнь астрального мусорного ящика (12:19) [ud025] [udt18]
  4. шмурц (неиспорченный кормлением грудью) (24:54) [vfd42149]
  5. буйная волна (неизбывной ненависти) (1:26)
Sleeve Notes
спродюсировано, отредактировано и сведено стивеном стэплтоном

united dairies ud013
1982
звукоиер: питер макги
раненая медсестра
гомотопия мари
спасибо: семе
джеиау фитусу
марлен нцн
надин маджуба
крису гловеру
полу херсту
полу джексону
Дэвиду Тибету
Марку Логану

<<гомотопия мари>> была создана
Notes
Apologies for Russian interpretation of sleeve notes.
Homotopy To Marie
Details
2018 June 12 FR Rotorelief ROTOR0070
1 test pressing of future release
hand-made sleeve by Steven Stapleton
2020 June 12 FR Rotorelief ROTOR0070
1 test pressing of future release
hand-made sleeve by Steven Stapleton
2023 March 12 FR Rotorelief ROTOR0070
1 test pressing of previous release
Disc I only
hand-made sleeve by Steven Stapleton
Track Listing
Side 1
  1. I Cannot Feel You as the Dogs are Laughing and I am Blind
  2. Homotopy to Marie
Side 2
  1. The Schmürz (Unsullied by Suckling) [vfd42149]
  2. The Tumultuous Upsurge (of Lasting Hatred)
Sleeve Notes
None
Other Images
Homotopy To Marie
Details
2018 July 2x12 FR Rotorelief ROTOR0070
800 Black vinyl copies in gatefold sleeve
Track Listing
A
  1. I Cannot Feel You As The Dogs Are Laughing And I Am Blind (10:14)
  2. Homotopy To Marie (16:37)
B
  1. The Schmürz (Unsullied By Suckling) (24:54) [vfd42149]
  2. The Tumultuous Upsurge (Of Lasting Hatred) (1:25)
C
  1. Astral Dustbin Dirge (12:19) [ud025] [udt18]
  2. Stick That Chick & Feel My Steel Through Your Last Meal (7:00) [cmedd1161] [lay10] [ud019]
D
  1. I Was No Longer His Dominant (9:12) [mi-mort3] [ud012] [ud019] [vod66]
  2. Ciconia (10:30) [slp001] [ud019] [vfd42149]
Sleeve Notes
Produced, edited and mixed by S. Stapleton 1982. Artwork by Babs Santini. Engineered by Peter McGee at I.P.S. London.
Thanks to: Nadine Mahdjouba - Christine Glover - Marlene Nin - Robert Haigh - Jim Thirlwell.
Additional percussion on "Stick That Chick" Brian and Tracy Lustmord.
Voice on "Dominant" David Cross.
Photography by Sarah Redpath and Andrew Thomas
Layout by Émeric Guémas
Special Thanks to Christophe Louis.
"Homotopy To Marie" was inspired by Franz Kamin
Other Images
Homotopy To Marie
Details
2018 July 2x12 FR Rotorelief ROTOR0070
700 Silver and black/white vinyl copies in gatefold sleeve
Track Listing
A
  1. I Cannot Feel You As The Dogs Are Laughing And I Am Blind (10:14)
  2. Homotopy To Marie (16:37)
B
  1. The Schmürz (Unsullied By Suckling) (24:54) [vfd42149]
  2. The Tumultuous Upsurge (Of Lasting Hatred) (1:25)
C
  1. Astral Dustbin Dirge (12:19) [ud025] [udt18]
  2. Stick That Chick & Feel My Steel Through Your Last Meal (7:00) [cmedd1161] [lay10] [ud019]
D
  1. I Was No Longer His Dominant (9:12) [mi-mort3] [ud012] [ud019] [vod66]
  2. Ciconia (10:30) [slp001] [ud019] [vfd42149]
Sleeve Notes
Produced, edited and mixed by S. Stapleton 1982. Artwork by Babs Santini. Engineered by Peter McGee at I.P.S. London.
Thanks to: Nadine Mahdjouba - Christine Glover - Marlene Nin - Robert Haigh - Jim Thirlwell.
Additional percussion on "Stick That Chick" Brian and Tracy Lustmord.
Voice on "Dominant" David Cross.
Photography by Sarah Redpath and Andrew Thomas
Layout by Émeric Guémas
Special Thanks to Christophe Louis.
"Homotopy To Marie" was inspired by Franz Kamin
Other Images
Homotopy To Marie
Details
2018 July 2x12 FR Rotorelief ROTOR0070
150 Clear vinyl copies in gatefold sleeve
Track Listing
A
  1. I Cannot Feel You As The Dogs Are Laughing And I Am Blind (10:14)
  2. Homotopy To Marie (16:37)
B
  1. The Schmürz (Unsullied By Suckling) (24:54) [vfd42149]
  2. The Tumultuous Upsurge (Of Lasting Hatred) (1:25)
C
  1. Astral Dustbin Dirge (12:19) [ud025] [udt18]
  2. Stick That Chick & Feel My Steel Through Your Last Meal (7:00) [cmedd1161] [lay10] [ud019]
D
  1. I Was No Longer His Dominant (9:12) [mi-mort3] [ud012] [ud019] [vod66]
  2. Ciconia (10:30) [slp001] [ud019] [vfd42149]
Sleeve Notes
Produced, edited and mixed by S. Stapleton 1982. Artwork by Babs Santini. Engineered by Peter McGee at I.P.S. London.
Thanks to: Nadine Mahdjouba - Christine Glover - Marlene Nin - Robert Haigh - Jim Thirlwell.
Additional percussion on "Stick That Chick" Brian and Tracy Lustmord.
Voice on "Dominant" David Cross.
Photography by Sarah Redpath and Andrew Thomas
Layout by Émeric Guémas
Special Thanks to Christophe Louis.
"Homotopy To Marie" was inspired by Franz Kamin
Other Images
Homotopy To Marie
Details
2019 January CD FR Rotorelief ROTOR0070CDBOOK
In 28 page silverfoil hardback book
Track Listing
CD 1
  1. I Cannot Feel You As The Dogs Are Laughing And I Am Blind (10:15)
  2. Homotopy to Marie (16:37)
  3. The Schmürz (Unsullied By Suckling) (24:54) [vfd42149]
  4. The Tumultuous Upsurge (Of Lasting Hatred) (1:26)
CD 2
  1. Astral Dustbin Dirge (12:19) [ud025] [udt18]
  2. Stick That Chick & Feel My Steel Through Your Last Meal (7:01) [cmedd1161] [lay10] [ud019]
  3. I Was No Longer His Dominant (9:12) [mi-mort3] [ud012] [ud019] [vod66]
  4. Ciconia (10:31) [slp001] [ud019] [vfd42149]
Sleeve Notes
Produced, Edited and Mixed by S Stapleton 1982 . Artwork by Babs Santini
Engineered by Peter McGee at I.P.S London . Thanks to: Nadine Mahdjouba .
Christine Glover . Marlene Nin . Robert Haigh . Jim Thirlwell
additional percussion on "Stick That Chick" Brian and Tracy Lustmord
voice on "Dominant" David Cross . Photography by Sarah Redpath
and Andrew Thomas . Portrait by Ruth Bayer . Layout by Émeric Guémas
Special thanks to Christophe Louis . "Homotopy To Marie" was inspired by
the work of Franz Kamin
Homotopy To Marie
Details
2019 June 12 FR Rotorelief ROTOR0070
25 black vinyl copies in handmade sleeve
Insert signed, numbered and dated by Steven Stapleton
Track Listing
A
  1. I Cannot Feel You As The Dogs Are Laughing And I Am Blind (10:14)
  2. Homotopy To Marie (16:37)
B
  1. The Schmürz (Unsullied By Suckling) (24:54) [vfd42149]
  2. The Tumultuous Upsurge (Of Lasting Hatred) (1:25)
C
  1. Astral Dustbin Dirge (12:19) [ud025] [udt18]
  2. Stick That Chick & Feel My Steel Through Your Last Meal (7:00) [cmedd1161] [lay10] [ud019]
D
  1. I Was No Longer His Dominant (9:12) [mi-mort3] [ud012] [ud019] [vod66]
  2. Ciconia (10:30) [slp001] [ud019] [vfd42149]
Sleeve Notes
Notes