Tissa Mawartyassari & Cronaca Nera — Harsh Nurse
This release appeared in June of this year on Italian Signor Ward Records- who initially started off as a fetish focused wall noise label, but in recent years deviated from this original focus somewhat. The CDR version of this release is sadly now all sold out, but is well worth a mention as the packaging is rather neat- it’s a blue medical report folder, featuring the initials C N T M (Cronaca Nera, Tissa Mawartyassari). Also included is a nurse's sock with the Red Cross logo and a brooch with the nursing symbol., and two medical questionnaires to ascertain erectile dysfunction, as well as three photographs of "special" nurses to conduct excitement exercises.
If you are fairly familiar with the wall noise scene- you'll likely know the name Tissa Mawartyassari aka Monica Isabel Sanchez. This project has been active from around 2007, putting a steady amount of release since then- the project stands as one of the more respected/ consistent names in the scene- with pretty much everything they put out been great.
Cronaca Nera has been active from 2001- putting out only a handful of releases since then, and they normally sit in the more PE side of noise. Behind the project is the duo of Adriano Vincenti & Giovanni Mori though for this release it’s just Vincenti on Analog Synth, with of course Sanchez handing the noise elements.
The release features three tracks-Nurse 1, 2 and 3- and these each run between seven and eleven minutes apiece. "Nurse 1" opens with accelerating ambient synth tones, eerie noise knocks, and muffled radio chatter. By around the two-minute mark, we find a blend of choppy & spacey textures, swirling sear, and shifting noise that's both grainy and cluttering. It’s a great, and impactful opener- with the pair nicely moving between unease, and raging sheets of noise.
"Nurse 2" kicks straight in with a blend of spluttering & galloping static, wow-wow like synth tones, and building slides of twitching/ seared noise tone sweeps. Again this is an effective track with the pair nicely creating this feeling of buzzing ‘n’ burning noise haze. "Nurse 3" finds a more tightly weaved blend of skipping ‘n’ poping noise texturing, with layers of throbbing, sweeping & searing synth tone- all underfed by a muffled purring bass grain.
It’s a real pity that this release was only limited to fifty-four copies, and these are now all gone- as the three tracks are a most worthy blend of noise & synth unease- and the CDR packaging is neat too, all making for an all-round great release. To pick the digital version of this release head over to the labels Bandcamp here.