BJ NILSEN: The Invisible City (Touch)

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Posted on Jan 27th 2010 12:55 am

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BJ Nilsen: The Invisible City

BJ NILSEN
The Invisible City
TO77
Touch 2010
08 Tracks. 62mins38secs

Amazon UK: CD Amazon US: CD Boomkat: CD

The sleeve notes of BJ Nilsen’s latest record read like the disparate inventory of a surreal junk shop. Chairs, window shutters, trains, dead trees, birds, various acoustic and electronic instruments, bumblebees, coffeepots all find their way into The Invisible City, yet, so drastic is the processing of this vast sonic palette that it is impossible to identify for sure which sounds have been used where or to what effect, leaving instead the listeners to feel the gaps and work out a path for themselves.

Benny Jonas Nilsen first appeared in 1991 with a series of dark ambient records released as Morthond, then Morthound, published for the most part on Swedish experimental imprint Cold Meat Industries. From the mid nineties, he recorded as Hazard and rapidly joined Touch’s sister label Ash International, until the first album released under his own name, Fade To White, was published on Touch in 2004. Since, he has collaborated with a wide range of artists (Biosphere, Chris Watson, Stilluppsteypa, Hildur Gudnadóttir), and released a number of records, all charting the outer confines of the music spectrum.

The follow up to the magnificent The Short Night (2007), The Invisible City makes ones again for intense listening as Nilsen weaves field recordings harvested across Europe and Japan with acoustic instrumentations and electronics to create stark abstract pieces. Whether it is through the glacial drones of album opener Gravity Station, which incorporates Hildur Gudnadóttir’s heavily treated viola, the solemnity of Virtual Resistance, the intricate noise formations of Phase And Amplitude or Scientia, the shifting range of Gradient or the heavenly serenity of the closing title track, Nilsen effortlessly layers peaceful soundscapes and abrasive distortions, at times switching from one to the other in an instant, at others developing his sound sources into monolithic forms or contrasted collages. If there is nothing strictly urban-sounding on this record, there are at times manifestations of industrial nature in the flicker and engine-like purr of Phase And Amplitude, the corroded white noise and underlying pulses scattered on the first half of Scientia or the cyclic hum and interferences of Into Its Coloured Rays for instance, which all seem to hint at the treated components used throughout. Elsewhere, the music resonates with orchestral brushes, especially on Virtual Resistance or Gradient, giving these compositions a somewhat warmer grain.

BJ Nilsen is, with the likes of Fennesz or Biosphere, one of the strongest and most cohesive representatives of the Touch stable. His particularly effective use of space and expert rendering of sound sources have proved ever more enthralling with each release. Here, once again, he confidently reaches beyond past releases to add another magnificent piece to his impressive body of work.

4.8/5

BJ Nilsen | BJ Nilsen (MySpace) | Touch
Amazon UK: CD Amazon US: CD Boomkat: CD

The sleeve notes of BJ Nilsen’s latest record read like the disparate inventory of a surreal junk shop. Chairs, window shutters, trains, dead trees, birds, various acoustic and electronic instruments, bumblebees, coffeepots all find their way into The Invisible City, yet, so drastic is the processing of this vast sonic palette that it is impossible to identify for sure which sounds have been used where or to what effect, leaving instead the listeners to feel the gaps and work out a path for themselves.

Benny Jonas Nilsen first appeared in 1991 with a series of dark ambient records released as Morthond, then Morthound, published for the most part on Swedish experimental imprint Cold Meat Industries. From the mid nineties, he recorded as Hazard and rapidly joined Touch’s sister label Ash International, until the first album released under his own name, Fade To White, was published on Touch in 2004. Since, he has collaborated with a wide range of artists (Biosphere, Chris Watson, Stilluppsteypa, Hildur Gudnadóttir), and released a number of records, all charting the outer confines of the music spectrum.

The follow up to the magnificent The Short Night (2007), The Invisible City makes ones again for intense listening as Nilsen weaves field recordings harvested across Europe and Japan with acoustic instrumentations and electronics to create stark abstract pieces. Whether it is through the glacial drones of album opener Gravity Station, which incorporates Hildur Gudnadóttir’s heavily treated viola, the solemnity of Virtual Resistance, the intricate noise decay of Phase And Amplitude or Scientia, the shifting range of Gradient or the heavenly serenity of the closing title track, Nilsen effortlessly layers peaceful soundscapes and abrasive distortions, at times switching from one to the other in an instant, at others developing his sound sources into monolithic forms or contrasted collages. If there is nothing strictly urban-sounding on this record, there are at times manifestations of industrial nature in the flicker and engine-like purr of Phase And Amplitude, the corroded white noise and underlying pulses scattered on the first half of Scientia or the cyclic hum and interferences of Into Its Coloured Rays for instance, which all seem to hint at the treated components used throughout. Elsewhere, the music resonates with orchestral brushes, especially on Virtual Resistance or Gradient, giving these compositions a somewhat warmer grain.

BJ Nilsen is, with the likes of Fennesz or Biosphere, one of the strongest and most cohesive representatives of the Touch stable. His particularly effective use of space and expert rendering of sound sources have proved ever more enthralling with each release. Here, once again, he confidently reaches beyond past releases to add another magnificent piece to his impressive body of work.

4.8/5

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One Response to “BJ NILSEN: The Invisible City (Touch)”

  1. THE 2010 REVIEW | themilkfactoryon 19 Dec 2010 at 9:01 pm

    […] NILSEN The Invisible City […]