Sunspot Activity by Nocturnal Emissions

see http://www.earthlydelights.co.uk

For almost two decades Nigel Ayers as Nocturnal Emissions has maintained a singular iconoclastic vision, to produce music that is innovative and challenging. He has survived the "Industrial era" that produced a spate of visceral recordings (no doubt leaving many listeners with hearing impairments), been sampled by Afrika Bambaata and The Soul Sonic Force, moved to the solitude of the Derbyshire countryside and composed moments of sheer beauty and reflection and has been embraced by performance dance troupes. Each album has broken new ground and Sunspot Activity is no exception. Ayers makes no attempts to disguise the unashamedly lo-tech conception of the sound sources used: the crackle and distorted drift of a vinyl run-out groove, bursts of reverse loop bells and chimes, fractured electronic layers of the analogue kind and snatches of cosmic radio frequencies all merge seemlessly to create a hypnotic and tangibly coherent night-time soundtrack.
Robert H. King
Variant

Nocturnal Emissions' Sunspot Activity (Solielmoon Recordings) is brilliant. Track 2, "ii" is addictively dreamy with a nightmarish occasional screech of metallic sound over its distant melody. The LP reminds me of that dreamlike, anaesthetic state, where the sounds you hear dredge up from memory - lost distant melodies funnelled through present disturbances and clinks. We've all been there.
Carolina Pulse

Nocturnal Emissions' Nigel Ayers has continued to work with a strong underground of cult support, avoiding music industry fashions, and following his own creative path he concentrated on creating a strong sense of a wilderness identity through sound.

earthlydelights.co.uk
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