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NEITHER/NEITHER WORLD
WENDY VAN DUSEN's elfin features and "twisted little girl voice" are captivating, but if she ever invites you to supper take a long spoon. Singer, songwriter and guitarist, Wendy is the principal figure of the San Francisco-based Neither/Neither World and her drawling Southern vocals are the dominant characteristic of the group's sound. As practitioners of dark electronic soundscapes and apocalyptic folk, NNW are often compared to Death In June. Self-styling their music as 'Satanic Folk' and theming it on Charles Manson, sado-masochism and a morbid fascination for serial killers, they provoke even music reviewers into speculating about just how insane they actually are. Discordia (now defunct) kindly provided a review copy of Maddening Montagery and Other Fantastic Stories (1995 DVLR 10), while Wendy herself recently supplied copies of Alive With The Taste Of Hell (October 1996 WSCD 11) which is distributed exclusively by World Serpent, and Enter The Abyss (1996 SSE 5001 CD), a Japanese-issued compilation CD of past material. MADDENING MONTAGERY Maddening Montagery drifts from neo-folk to nightmarish soundscapes. The effect is both dreamlike and chilling for the ambient-industrial tracks are the coldest of cold gothic without setting your teeth on edge or trying your patience. The folky 'Seven Kinds Of Sin' (track 2) has a really good tune and is one of my favourite NNW tracks, while 'Lautreamont' (track 4) is a neo-tribal piece reminiscent of The Moon lay hidden beneath a cloud. Alive With The Taste Of Hell has Wendy's strummed accoustic guitar and up-front vocals enhanced by violin parts, but the experimental soundscapes are absent. 'Falling From Love' (track 7) has a Twin Peaks feel. The cover art, reproduced here, is by Timothy Patrick Butler. ENTER THE ABYSS The compilation album, Enter The Abyss, contains the serial killer material from which NNW's notoriety is derived. There are a number of people in the gothic genre and related fields who revere Charles Manson, but NNW go to the heart of darkness by attempting to enter into the minds of a whole range of infamous serial killers and to give their motivations and exploits vocal form. Possibly the most outstanding track is the carnivalesque 'Dancing In My Garden' (track 5) in which Wendy almost cackles with evil. This was previously featured on Tales of True Crime (1994). While some might be shocked by this sort of interest, it should be put into perspective. Violent crime has always had an entertainment value as we can see from the shelves of any newsagent, and its exploitation as a subject for song has a long tradition in folk music with such well-known examples as Maria Marten (The Red Barn). NNW has its own Web site consisting largely of 'The Serial Killer Extravaganza', but Wendy also edits a far from insane webzine entitled Primal Chaos which features interviews; music, book and film reviews; art; articles; and fiction. For more about Wendy and the ideas that shape NWW, see the FluxEuropa interview. Rik - 15 November 1996 CONTACT ADDRESS Neither/Neither World Above right: T P Butler's cover art from Alive With The Taste Of Hell DISCOGRAPHY 1988 Surrealistic Sounds - 7" Vinyl (Majestic Chaos) EXTERNAL LINKS
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WITH THE TASTE OF HELL
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