NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS
FUTURIST ANTIQUARIANISM
ALBUM SOLEILMOON RELEASE: MARCH 29, 2000 REVIEW: JUNE 13, 2000


Nocturnal Emissions have never really received the same acknowledgement as other early industrial era profiles like Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire or SPK. Despite this, Nigel Ayers, the man behind Nocturnal Emissions, has continued his work deep down in the underground to this day.
His latest album, "Futurist Antiquarianism", sees him moving in a sort of sub jungle landscape, but with a tone that's strongly coloured by his industrial background. Ayers should have all credit for refusing to cling onto his past like many of his less notable contemporaries, but a problem I have with this album is that in the light of other electronic manipulators like Aphex Twin and u-Ziq, it doesn't exactly feel as inventive as Ayers may think.
But on quite a few tracks, most notably "Earthlights" and "On Come on", you easily overlook these complaints, as the unsettling atmospheres and nervous, rattling beats are highly capturing.

KRISTOFFER NOHEDEN