Nocturnal Emissions is Nigel Ayers's sound art project that has released numerous records and CDs in music styles ranging from electro-acoustic, musique concrète, hybridised beats, sound collage, post-industrial music, ambient and noise music. Their sound art has been part of an ongoing multimedia campaign of guerrilla sign ontology utilizing video art, film, hypertext and other media, particularly collage. Nocturnal Emissions were depicted by the novelist Stewart Home.

History

The project was initiated in Derbyshire 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

In 1979, Nocturnal Emissions founded Sterile Records. Sterile Records’ approach was a combination of the experiments of musique concrète and Fluxus combined with the critical eye of conceptual art and the spontaneity and energy of punk rock. 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 messages, multi-coloured noise and information overload. The label was effectively dissolved in 1986, when Ayers founded Earthly Delights. In 1990–92, Nocturnal Emissions collaborated on Butoh dance performances in Europe and the United States, with the Japanese choreographer Poppo Shiraishi. Around this time Nocturnal Emissions' Situationist-influenced practice became increasingly informed by magick, stone circles, techno–shamanism, neo-paganism, animism and Fortean research. There were many collaborations on animated films 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

Association of Autonomous Astronauts

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

Partial discography

Collaborations

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