Music for the environment? Music about the environment? I would like to hypothesize that the former is the earliest ambient music defined by Brian Eno, while the latter is a contemporary sound work that develops soundscapes that make full use of field recordings and various sound materials. Swedish-born, Amsterdam-based sound artist BJ Nilsen falls into the latter category. Since the 1990s and 2000s, he is an artist who has continued to create various sound works under several aliases. Based on environmental sounds, Nilsen has created soundscapes that consider and reconsider the relationship between urban space and noise by layering delicate and bold electroacoustic noises. In recent years, it is said that he has been pursuing the problems of acoustic areas and industrial geography of cities in the Arctic Circle of Norway and Russia from the aspect of acoustics (Nilsen also wrote a book called "The Acoustic City", and is active in both sound and text. is also an artist doing It can be said that it is in the genealogy of Francisco Lopez in the sense that it uses field recording techniques to make people aware of and listen to spatial awareness, but the style is completely different. Nilsen seems to be practicing sonic fusion. In that sense, it can be said that Lopez is one of the artists who has greatly contributed to the development of sound art for the next generation.
BJ Nilsen, real name is Benny Jonas Nilsen. Born in 1975, he performed under the moniker Mortound in the 90s, releasing albums on industry noise labels such as ColdMeat Industry. In the early 2000s, he called himself Hazard and released several albums on labels such as Malignant Records and Ash International. Since the release of "Fade To White" from in 2004, under the name of BJ Nilsen, he has constantly released many albums, both solo and in collaboration. Nilsen's albums also have the aspect of his acoustic research reports and writings. Every time I listened to it, I felt like I was in touch with thoughts about the world and sound. And above all, it is a very beautiful finish, such as the texture and composition of the sound as an acoustic work. The number of Nilsen's works is very large, but if I had to choose a representative work, it would be 2007's "The Short Night", 2009's "The Invisible City", and 2013's "Eye Of The Microphone". Personally, I would like to recommend "The Invisible City" including the artwork. Traveling to an unfamiliar city, the acoustic space like the air of that night is just wonderful. All of these albums were released on Touch, by the way. There are also many collaborative works. "Storm" with Chris Watson released on in 2006, and "22' 22"" with Z'EV released on in 2007 are well known. I would like to recommend "I Am Here", a collaboration with Johann Johansson, released in 2014. Anyway, he is prolific, so that album is an important guideline in terms of thinking about electro-acoustic works from the 2000s onwards. In particular, it is significant that the release activities centered on , a label that can be said to be a stronghold of experimental music (assuming, of course, that there are many releases from other than ). It was a very good representation of Touch's label color, layering ambient sounds and electroacoustics since the mid-'00s.
Four years ago, in 2017, BJ Nilsen released the album "Massif Trophies" from , another long-established and stronghold of experimental music. Come to think of it, the release of this album was the foundation for this album, "Irreal." Irreal, which I will be taking up this time, is also a work from . "Massif Trophies" was an album that used environmental sounds from climbing Mt. Gran Paradiso, a high mountain in Italy. It is a sound work based on the environmental sounds that are played. Memories of sounds from around the world develop like memories of travel, and high-density electronic sounds are layered there. "Irreal" contains a total of three long songs. The 1st song “Short circuit of the conscious thought” is 15 minutes 20 seconds, the 2nd song “Motif mekanik” is 12 minutes 50 seconds, and the 3rd song “Beyond pebbles, rubble and dust” is 38 minutes 28 seconds. reach. Each track has a composition and structure that allows you to thoroughly immerse yourself in the acoustic space. As for the sound, the layers of environmental sounds, electronic noise, and drones develop strongly and boldly, and the finish can be said to be the culmination of BJ Nilsen's work thus far. A hard sound has a "strength" that changes the perspective of hearing. Moreover, there was an unprecedented attempt to turn the bass line sound into the bass part. In other words, you can get the feeling of listening to the faint traces of techno sounding beyond the experimental sound work. The representative track of the album is "Beyond pebbles, rubble and dust", which lasts over 38 minutes. Listening to this long sound makes me feel like I'm lost in a cave or listening to the sounds of a glacier. It can be said that the soundscape of the city eventually changes into a state like the extremes of nature. "Cities and nature, space and the world." Filling sound waves and sound accumulation, crossing and connection, melting and sustaining. The acoustic space of "Irreal" makes us aware of the relationship between "environment" and "sound". Sounds here and sounds there. audible and fading sounds. Nilsen connects, connects, processes, and reduces sounds to create long sonic sustains. This "Irreal" is probably his masterpiece. Perhaps the label, Editions Mego, knew that too. It was sent out with the best lineup with Stefan Mathieu mastering and Stephen O'Malley handling artwork. And this is probably the last work with label owners Pita and BJ Nilsen. Electro-acoustic artist Peter Rehberg, known as Pita, who presides over Editions Mego, passed away on July 23, 2021. It is a sad event. Too young to "memorial". It also made me keenly aware of the magnitude of his achievements in electroacoustics, glitches, and electronica. According to the label's announcement, the album that Pita was in charge of releasing will definitely be sent out. And with the release of the last album that Pita was involved as a label owner, it will be the last release of the label. Nonetheless, substantial sub-labels such as 〈Ideologic Organ〉, 〈Recollection GRM〉, and 〈Portraits GRM〉 will continue, and 〈Shelter Press〉 in France will be responsible for releases. The great achievements of Pita and will surely be inherited and considered more deeply in the future, and the will and genes of Pita/Mego will surely be inherited.
This BJ Nilsen "Irreal" has become a masterpiece of electro-acoustic work that Pita, the label owner, sent out too early in his later years. At the same time, I would like to think about the evolution = deepening of experimental music such as electroacoustic / glitch / electronica in the 90's, 00's, 10's and 20's driven by .
Densinooto
