Revenge of the Selfish Shellfish (1992)

Originally released by Tursa (UK) in 1992, "Revenge of the Selfish Shellfish" was the first, full-length collaboration between Steven Stapleton and Tony Wakeford. Consisting of an eerie, yet beautiful, combination of songs and surreal locales, "Shellfish" remains a unique landmark with qualities not easily found in either Nurse With Wound or Sol Invictus discography. Evoking a strong sense of narrative, such as Wakeford's vocals on "Lucifer Before Sunrise" and the perpetual, tape-music panorama of Stapleton's "The Frightened City", the listener is transported to ominous and quite unexpected destinations. Accordingly, these compositions often blur the line between distant dreams and foreboding reality.

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There's not a great deal I remember from these sessions. I remember meeting Tony whilst working on Current 93's 'Christ and the Pale Queens' album. I remember Tony being a very sarcastic and funny man, a natural comedian. I remember laughing a lot. I remember thinking that adding an anvil to one of Tony's hauntingly beautiful love songs was maybe a touch brutal. I remember spending a week together in Colin Potter's studio shed at the bottom of his Tollerton garden. I remember gathering many reels of recorded material and scuttling of to my London flat where my beloved Revox lay. I remember working feverishly with a razor blade, cutting up lots of tapes. And finally, I remember wishing I could see Tony's face after turning him and myself into seafaring mollusks.

Steven Stapleton, Cooloorta, April 16th 2009

I entered the vault of WSD picking my way past the sacks of gold, each sack embossed with the name of a director on. Mr Stapleton was present with his artwork for our collaboration. Much stifled giggling from the directors. "You won't like it," they hissed in unison. I, of course, loved having my face grafted onto a mollusk: who wouldn't? As for the recording, we would adjourn to the local pub for lunch. So I was pissed and Mr. Stapleton stoned for much of the recording. Which may or may not explain a lot.

Tony Wakeford, London, March, 2009 [brainwashed.com]

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