Neuron Nest mastermind A.S. Davies definitely says what's on his mind, and fortunately, his is a complex mind. Judging from this music, he's either really         troubled, listens to too much Coil (he cites them as a key point in his evolution), or he's one of those really quiet guys with a vivid imagination. Whatever the               case, Davies conjures a world where things are a bit...let's say askew. I spent considerable time listening to Midwife for Black Nights, trying to decide exactly what's happening, what's so different about this cut-and-paste home-studio project compared to all the others -- and I'm still scratching my head. Even after several listens, genre labels refuse to stick...thank heaven. I'll simply describe the music and let you formulate your own impressions.
From the get-go, nothing here is as it seems. Davies obviously follows his muse, but who or what that muse is remains to be seen. "Synesthetic Watcher" begins with a simple riff -- nothing fancy. In fact, it's quite boring. However, just when you're ready to give up, you're treated to a squeaky falsetto "voice" and out space drums, followed by the arpeggiated synth that's developing the original motive. From there it's obvious why Davies checked "anything goes" on his list of instrumentation at MP3.com. "Echo Box" exploits distorted Biwa-esque sounds, FM synth bells, crunchy fatter-than-fat bass guitars and drones that bubble and reverese, then take over on melodic duties. Davies does IDM at its best on "Seabed Secret" and "Purple Circuit Board", with more of the same elclecticism, but a greater focus on synthetic drum programming. The most unnerving piece is the closer, "Toytown Underground". After cycling through a series of performances using metal "instruments" that distort, fade into reverb, hityou in the face and then melt away, Davies concludes with a stripped-down music-box line that's so cheery, you'll wonder when the Children of the Damned are coming for you.

Midwife for Black Nights is 35 minutes best enjoyed with headphones on, the better to enjoy its subtleties (although you may want to check under the bed before you listen). Throughout this torrent of weird sounds, oblong song forms and how-did-he-do-that recording tricks, there's a unifying fact: darkness. It's the type of thing you experience on a Bauhaus or Birthday Party disc -- an underlying tension that you can't quite define, though it definitely gives you the chills.

Midwife is refreshing in its complete disregard for convention and expectations, and eminently listenable to boot -- something that true innovation rarely achieves.

It's always the ugly ones that exceed expectations. Take Neuron Nest's Midwife for Black Nights, for example. The cover is poorly printed, the liner notes are curiously laid-out upside down, and the whole thing looks relatively shoddy and homemade. Plus the press sheet claims that Midwife is an experimental electronic project. That's never good - most of the time homemade projects of the sort come off sounding like Fennesz filtered through a microwave.

But there are exceptions. Like Neuron Nest's S. Davies, who has actually done quite a bit with the eight songs on this interesting album. Armed with Protools and a veritable truckload of samples, Davies has created an enjoyable, moody, oftentimes creepy album that combines elements of ambient, electronic, and industrial music.

"Seabed Secret" is a definite highlight on Midwife. Featuring a delicate piano melody, and some neat bass playing, it almost sounds like Fight Club-era Dust Brothers material. "Pandora's Keepers" meanwhile, is a funeral piece of dark electronica with some bizarre, creepy vocals.

Though Midwife is not perfect (care to explain "The Tin Fairy", Neuron?), there's some really good stuff to behold on this album - a lot more than you might expect, at least. So if you're into obscure, homemade electronic music, you can do no harm giving Neuron Nest a chance.

84%

This is a rough translation (from French) of a review from signal-zero, there's a link to the actual review below.

With Midwife For Black Nights , Neuron Nest proposes to you to make a turning in Xieme dimension of which they have the keys. A little with the manner of David Vincent who loses himself on an unknown way, the listener arrives in a space deconstruit where time is distorted and breaks up into eight variegated stopovers.

Difficult to classify, these compositions ump without complex of an esthetics to the other. Here the guitars, low and batteries mix with the parasitic sounds. There, the glitches are metamorphosed in rates/rhythms and answer exotic percussions in a strange carnival between laughing and sadness.

Slipping of ambient glitch to the dark hip hop, of the electronic post-rock'n'roll to experimental joining these compostions propose during 35 minutes the exploration of a ludic production, introspective and full with emotions. Sometimes the melodies scintillate (toytown underground) and charm our ears as to make us fall down in childhood but never very a long time because the animal under the bed (or in the wall cupboard) does not like that it is forgotten. A music with drawers where many can find their happiness... If Scratch Pet Land decided to make of animal techno can be that that would resemble Neuron Nest.

Just a few moments into this and I got spaced out and freaky. This comes from an extremely warped genius. I'm not going to be able to fully describe what is going on here, but suffice it to say that in 10 or so years of reviewing, I've never heard anything like it! Its is peerlessly quirky, with an outer-limits suspenseful sci-fi vibe, strong and active rhythms, experimental pieces of musicianship, sample, synthetic waves of lush ambience, meandering piano melodies, crackling energy /reverb, and something very creepy lurking just under the skin. I'm pretty happy with the way this recording takes life from the first moment, and continually asserts itself throughout.