If you hang out with nerdy record collectors long enough, there is a good chance that at some point someone will mention the infamous “Nurse With Wound” list, which was a list of incredibly obscure bands and musicians that originally came with the first couple of NWW records. French band Birgé Gorgé Shiroc was on the list and their lone album, Défense de, inspired NWW’s Steven Stapleton to travel to France in 1984 and put out this compilation on his and John Fothergill’s United Dairies label. At this point, Birgé and Gorgé had a new project with Bernard Vitet called Un Drame Musical Instantané, who contribute the first track on this welcome reissue. “Tunnel Sous La Machine – Under the Channel” is nearly twelve minutes of dark, avant-garde experimental weirdness with guitar, synth, percussion, flute, tape, and other instruments and is creepy and unnerving. The second track, Hélène Sage’s “Frissons Dans La Cochlée,” is a bizarre, abrasive, and unsettling yet still musical experimentation. UK’s Sema kicks off side B of the LP version, and keeps the dour mood going with their awesome “Anatomy of Aphrodite,” a more minimalist piano-led bummer jam, setting the stage for the final track, Nurse With Wound’s “The Strange Play of the Mouth.” The NWW song mixes female vocals with some studio manipulation and the occasional cling and clang. If you’re familiar with Nurse With Wound, early 80s experimental music, or simply enjoy mysterious and challenging music, you will find a lot to love about this well-done re-release of In Fractured Silence.

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