This reissued CD pairs two of the earliest In the Nursery works, Twins and Temper. At the time, the music of the outfit was much less classical and lush than what it has eventually evolved into. Featuring either somewhat dated sounding echoing drum machines or sparse militaristic percussion, distant sounding electronics, chants, voices and a very tense vibe, the CD is not too shabby, all things considered. Though some of the more experimental stages of the music are a bit uncomfortable or even fail to a certain degree, the overall effect is good. On "Judgement of Paris", you can hear where the project would eventually go in that pseudo-classical ambient vein. But at the same time you get strange chants over piano like "Joaquin" or the dissonant electronic dissassembly of "Butyrki". On a whole the CD is a tiny bit unfocused, but still a worthy historical document of a very prolific band.

Review by John Chedsey

Review date: 02/1999

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This brief fifteen minute EP takes one track from L'esprit and three previously unreleased compositions to make a soothing but far too short listen. The songs are all very somber pieces that combine the vocal work of Dolores Marguerite C over the keyboard neo-classical compositions of the Humberstone twins. Reciting poetry and simply using her voice as an instrument, the result is very pleasant. As with the rest of the In the Nursery releases of the time, Sesudient is very dramatic and even theatrical. The serene feeling contains a lot of mental imagery. Naturally, this EP is best served as accompianment to the full length releases, but definitely worth the find for fans of In the Nursery.

Review by John Chedsey

Review date: 07/1999

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With the music of the Humberstone twins becoming increasingly soundtrack-ish, it only made sense to finally put it to a movie. ITN's music had become almost visual in recent years. On this soundtrack, ITN creates a sweeping score that is part moving and powerful and part annoying as they reconstruct many of the pieces found on Duality and Sense. "Sedation" is a remake of Duality's "Thorn" that actually removes some of the drive that made the original one of my favorite tracks from that album. For those familiar with ITN's work, it's somewhat aggravating to hear a more minimalist approach to the songs. While the music may very well match the movie, I'd honestly recommend only completists of the ITN catalogue search this one out.

Review by John Chedsey

Review date: 07/1998

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Long hailed as neo-classical ambient geniuses, the Humberstone Twins pull everything together on this majestic epic that enhances all the previous elements of their music with a few surprising twists and turns. This is just such a fantastic album that I don't really know where to begin. Possibly the first step is to note that the rhythmic base has changed from the military snare of Q to a more modern Enigma-ish sound (though Q sneaks a beat or two in). Second, the actual writing of the album itself is much stronger than on any release since perhaps Duality and even then I think this is better. Of course there are recitations of poetry throughout the album (Colin Wilson does a sparkling job of interpreting Dawson, Wilde, and Yeats). But the overall haunting and entirely beautiful expression set forth through music puts me in a difficult position of attempting to describe it. Plus their straight rendition of Scott Engels' "The Seventh Seal" completely surprised me as I didn't know ITN would even bother venture into Leonard Cohen's field of rock. I think that if I were to recommend one ITN album to a new listener, this would be it.

Review by John Chedsey

Review date: 07/1998

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