Nocturnal Emissions is Nigel Ayers's

sound art Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary Time-based media, time-based Artistic medium, medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in Cross-genr ...

project that has released numerous records and CDs in music styles ranging from electro-acoustic,

musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic ...

, hybridised beats,

sound collage In music, montage (literally "putting together") or sound collage ("gluing together") is a technique where newly branded sound objects or Musical composition, compositions, including songs, are created from collage, also known as musique concrè ...

, post- industrial music, ambient and

noise music Noise music is a genre of music that is characterised by the expressive use of noise. This type of music tends to challenge the distinction that is made in conventional musical practices between musical and non-musical sound. Noise music include ...

. Their

has been part of an ongoing

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

campaign of guerrilla sign

ontology Ontology is the philosophical study of existence, being. It is traditionally understood as the subdiscipline of metaphysics focused on the most general features of reality. As one of the most fundamental concepts, being encompasses all of realit ...

utilizing

video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting. V ...

, film,

hypertext Hypertext is E-text, text displayed on a computer display or other electronic devices with references (hyperlinks) to other text that the reader can immediately access. Hypertext documents are interconnected by hyperlinks, which are typic ...

and other media, particularly collage. Nocturnal Emissions were depicted by the novelist

Stewart Home Kevin Llewellyn Callan (born 24 March 1962), better known as Stewart Home, is an English artist, filmmaker, writer, pamphleteer, art historian, and activist. His novels include the non-narrative '' 69 Things to Do with a Dead Princess'' (2002 ...

History

The project was initiated in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

in the late 1970s by Nigel Ayers (b. 1957), a former art student who, during the period, lived in London, together with collaborators Danny Ayers (b. 1964) and Caroline K (1957–2008). Since 1984 Nocturnal Emissions has continued mainly as Nigel Ayers' solo project.

Record labels

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, Nocturnal Emissions founded Sterile Records. Sterile Records’ approach was a combination of the experiments of

and

Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers, and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental performance art, art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finishe ...

combined with the critical eye of conceptual art and the spontaneity and energy of

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

. The dark humour of industrial music and the incomprehensible nonsense of various ultra-leftist political fractions were an essential part of the mix. Sterile Records used both commercial and non-commercial media to deliver

anti-capitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism ...

messages, multi-coloured noise and

information overload Information overload (also known as infobesity, infoxication, or information anxiety) is the difficulty in understanding an issue and Decision making, effectively making decisions when one has too much information (TMI) about that issue, and is ...

. The label was effectively dissolved in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

, when Ayers founded Earthly Delights. In 1990–92, Nocturnal Emissions collaborated on

Butoh is a form of Japanese dance theatre that encompasses a diverse range of activities, techniques and motivations for dance, performance, or movement. Following World War II, butoh arose in 1959 through collaborations between its two key founder ...

dance performances in Europe and the United States, with the Japanese choreographer

Poppo Shiraishi Poppo can mean: * Bubo, Duke of the Frisians, also spelled Poppo (674–734), a king of Friesland * Poppo of Grapfeld (died 839/41), an early ninth-century ancestor of the Babenbergs * Poppo, Duke of Thuringia (died after 906), a margrave * Pop ...

. Around this time Nocturnal Emissions'

Situationist The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...

-influenced practice became increasingly informed by

magick Ceremonial magic (also known as magick, ritual magic, high magic or learned magic) encompasses a wide variety of rituals of Magic (supernatural), magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories t ...

stone circles A stone circle is a ring of megalithic standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially Stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being bu ...

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

–

shamanism Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

neo-paganism Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some common simila ...

animism Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...

and Fortean research. There were many collaborations on

animated film Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

s by Charlotte Bill (filmmaker and musician). Bill was never an official member of Nocturnal Emissions but admits to being one of the legion of members of The Fall.David Simpson , '' The Fallen: Life In and Out of Britain's Most Insane Group'' (Canongate Books, 2009),

Association of Autonomous Astronauts

Nocturnal Emissions were later to be associated with the Kernow section of the Association of Autonomous Astronauts.

Partial discography

* Tissue of Lies LP (Emiss, 1981) * Tissue of Lies Revised CD (Dark Vinyl, 1990) * Fruiting Body LP(Sterile, 1981) * Drowning in a Sea of Bliss LP (Sterile, 1983; cassette reissued by Touch, 1985; CD reissued by Soleilmoon, 1993) * Viral Shedding LP (Illuminated, 1983) * Befehlsnotstand LP (Sterile, 1983) * Chaos (Live at the Ritzy) LP (Cause For Concern, 1983) * Dyskinesia (Sterile, 1983) * The Fight Goes On cassette (Staalplaat, 1984) * No Sacrifice 12" (Sterile, 1984) * Shake Those Chains Rattle Those Cages LP (Sterile, 1985) * Songs of Love and Revolution LP (Sterile, 1985; CD re-issue from Dark Vinyl, 1992) * The World is my Womb LP (Earthly Delights, 1987; Soleilmoon cassette, 1989; Soleilmoon CD, 1999) * Duty Experiment 1982–1984 LP (Earthly Delights, 1988; CD reissue Soleilmoon, 1995) * Spiritflesh LP (Earthly Delights, 1988; Soleilmoon cassette, 1989) * Stoneface LP (Parade Amoureuse, 1989; CD reissue from Staalplaat, 1994 with Spiritflesh) * Da Dum 7" (Parade Amoureuse, 1989) * Invocation of the Beast Gods CD (Staalplaat, 1989) * Beyond Logic, Beyond Belief LP (Earthly Delights, 1989) * Mouth of Babes LP (Earthly Delights, 1990; CD reissue from Soleilmoon, 1991) * Energy Exchange LP (Earthly Delights, 1991) * Cathedral CD (Musica Maxima Magnetica, 1991) * Blasphemous Rumours CD(Staalplaat, 1992) * The Seminal Works –12 tape box set (Earthly Delights, 1992) * Magnetized Light CD (Musica Maxima Magnetica, 1993) * The Quickening LP (Earthly Delights, 1993) * Glossalalia CD (Soleilmoon, 1994) * Holy of Holies – 4-hour DAT (Soleilmoon, 1994) * Binary Tribe CD (Staalplaat, 1994) * Imaginary Time LP(Soleilmoon, 1995) * Autonomia CD (Soleilmoon, 1996) * Friction And Dirt CD (Staalplaat, 1996) * Tharmuncrape An'goo CD (Soleilmoon, 1997) * Sunspot Activities CD (Soleilmoon, 1997) * Omphalos CD (Soleilmoon, 1998 * Futurist Antiquarianism CD (Soleilmoon, 2000) * Collateral Salvage CD (Soleilmoon, 2003) * Nightscapes LP (Small Voices, 2006)

Collaborations

* The Beauty of Pollution (with C.C.C.C.) (Endorphine Factory, 1996) * From Solstice to Equinox (with

Barnacles Barnacles are arthropods of the subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea. They are related to crabs and lobsters, with similar nauplius larvae. Barnacles are exclusively marine invertebrates; many species live in shallow and tidal water ...

) (Klanggalerie, 2023)

Side projects

Oedipus Brain Foil 3xCD (with Randy Greif and Robin Storey) (Soleilmoon, 1998) Mesmeric Enabling Device CD (with John S. Everall and Mick Harris) (Soleilmoon, 1999) The World Turned Gingham CD (with Robin Story, released under the name Hank & Slim) (Caciocavallo, 2000) Transgenic CD (Solo album released under the name Transgenic) (Soleilmoon, 2000)

Selected video works

Bleeding Images (1982) The Foetal Grave of Progress (1983)

Soundtracks

The Three Trials – Adventures in Psychotica (Randy Greif dir.
www.thethreetrials.com

Books

* ''ELECTRONIC RESISTANCE'', Nigel Ayers, Amaya Publishing (Oakland, CA)

References

1991 EST interview - retrieved 19 September 2015

2011 Brainwashed interview - retrieved 19 September 2015

2015 Quietus interview - retrieved 18 September 2015 *S. Alexander Reed '' Assimilate: A Critical History of Industrial Music '' Oxford University Press USA (2013) Online references:

Concrete Shelves interview - retrieved 28 July 2020

For All and None - retrieved 28 July 2020

Sounddrift - retrieved 28 July 2020

Sounds magazine - retrieved 28 July 2020

Art Cornwall- retrieved 28 July 2020

Forced Exposure - retrieved 28 July 2020

Industrial Music history - Record Collector magazine - retrieved 10 August 2020

The Attic Mag - retrieved 28 July 2020

Beyond Logic Beyond Belief - retrieved 28 July 2020

Assimilate interview -retrieved 28 July 2020

tape-mag archive retrieved 5 August 2020

External links

The project's web site

Extended discography

Nigel Ayers web site

1982 YouTube clip

Nocturnal Emissions at MySpace

Nocturnal Emissions at iTunes

"Electronic Resistance" book of artwork by Nigel Ayers 1980-1992

Nocturnal Emissions at Bandcamp
{{Authority control English industrial music groups Soleilmoon artists Musical groups established in 1980 British experimental musical groups British noise musical groups Cassette culture 1970s–1990s Sound collage artists