O'Rourke's version of Nurse With Wound's source material keeps veryclose to the spirit of a Nurse With Wound album. This is partly due tothe common reference points both artists share, but partly because itseems that he has used much of the raw material provided by Stapletonand Potter without changing it at all. Nurse With Wound and O'Rourkeare two of the few artists who can sustain interest while essentiallypresenting an entire LP side of creaking sounds set against doom ladenambient soundscapes.By gradually shifting the sound and by placing small gestures suchas the sounds of bells among the existing soundscapes O'Rourke hascreated a sense of tension in his "Part One." By the time a noisycrescendo occurs toward the end of this build-up it feels like a truerelease. He clearly shares Stapleton and Potter's sense of letting amood develop slowly, and the piece is stronger because so much is heldback for most of the piece. "Part Two" has a completely different feelwith the introduction of strings and has a more composed feel. It ishere that O'Rourke seems to have done the most work to shape the piece.This section recalls his early work with tape music and also referencesthe musique concrete that both he and Stapleton admire. As on the rawmaterial LP, this section is much more chaotic, with all manner ofsharp electronic sounds bouncing from left to right in the stereofield. O'Rourke introduces the section of saxophone, flute and handdrums played by members of Xhol Caravan earlier than it appers on theRaw Material LP. However, he hasn't done much to alter this materialeither. Since O'Rourke has a background as an accomplished composer,producer and musician, it is baffling why he hasn't made this albumsound more like the product of his own imagination.samples:
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