artist: BJ NILSEN & STILLUPSTEYPA
title: Drykkjuvísur Óhljódanna
label: Helen Scarsdale Agency
country: USA
format: CD
title: Drykkjuvísur Óhljódanna
label: Helen Scarsdale Agency
country: USA
format: CD
"In Scandinavia, it's not uncommon to hear of someone's mother, grandfather, uncle, or
plumber who drank him-or-herself to death at an early age; and the Swedish drone artist
BJ Nilsen has felt the alcoholic pangs which may foreshadow his own demise. In recent
years, Nilsen has turned to his Icelandic neighbors Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson and Helgi
Thorsson (collectively known as Stilluppsteypa) in existential sympathy over the
problems of their collective lust for alcohol. Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna marks the second
collaborative document of abject minimalism that these three have composed; and like
its predecessor Vikinga Brennivin, this album is spiked with drunken thought. Any
alcohol induced euphoria has been tempered by perturbing blackouts, moments of
cruelty, and an all-consuming nihilism. Beyond their shared Scandinavian heritage, their
expressionist urge for the frigid drone, and their penchant for drink, BJ Nilsen and
Stilluppsteypa intend this recording as an open ended experience, wandering through
their sound without the burden of any exegetical text that may get in the way.
Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna resolves itself as a grim kaleidoscope, where the bleakness of
the wintry Scandinavian landscape and the langour of a drunken escapade constantly
mutate through the highly refined sensibility of dronescaping. Sonar pings announce the
beginning of this album, with its echoes returning as an amorphous fog and locating little
but a gloomy pall upon the event horizon. Clattering electronics scurry across the barren
sounds like death-watch beetles upon the tundra; and creaking doors offer something
much more foreboding than what Pierre Henry envisioned for musique concrete.
Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna adheres to the psychological dis-quiet through sound design
that Alan Splet provided for Eraserhead or that Nurse With Wound achieved on Salt Marie
Celeste. Yet for all of their tendencies for brooding and desolation, BJ Nilsen &
Stilluppsteypa retain a compulsion for a glacial beauty through their intoxicated visions of
the sublime.
BJ Nilsen has released numerous records for Touch and Ash International, both under his
given name and as Hazard, often focusing the sound of nature, its effect on humans, and
the perception of time & space as experienced through sound. He has also previously
collaborated with Christian Fennesz and Chris Watson. Stilluppsteypa have unleashed
well over a dozen releases in their tumultuous existence of electro-absurdism laced with
subversion, blackhumour, and horror." (Helen Scarsdale Agency)
plumber who drank him-or-herself to death at an early age; and the Swedish drone artist
BJ Nilsen has felt the alcoholic pangs which may foreshadow his own demise. In recent
years, Nilsen has turned to his Icelandic neighbors Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson and Helgi
Thorsson (collectively known as Stilluppsteypa) in existential sympathy over the
problems of their collective lust for alcohol. Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna marks the second
collaborative document of abject minimalism that these three have composed; and like
its predecessor Vikinga Brennivin, this album is spiked with drunken thought. Any
alcohol induced euphoria has been tempered by perturbing blackouts, moments of
cruelty, and an all-consuming nihilism. Beyond their shared Scandinavian heritage, their
expressionist urge for the frigid drone, and their penchant for drink, BJ Nilsen and
Stilluppsteypa intend this recording as an open ended experience, wandering through
their sound without the burden of any exegetical text that may get in the way.
Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna resolves itself as a grim kaleidoscope, where the bleakness of
the wintry Scandinavian landscape and the langour of a drunken escapade constantly
mutate through the highly refined sensibility of dronescaping. Sonar pings announce the
beginning of this album, with its echoes returning as an amorphous fog and locating little
but a gloomy pall upon the event horizon. Clattering electronics scurry across the barren
sounds like death-watch beetles upon the tundra; and creaking doors offer something
much more foreboding than what Pierre Henry envisioned for musique concrete.
Drykkjuvisur Ohljodanna adheres to the psychological dis-quiet through sound design
that Alan Splet provided for Eraserhead or that Nurse With Wound achieved on Salt Marie
Celeste. Yet for all of their tendencies for brooding and desolation, BJ Nilsen &
Stilluppsteypa retain a compulsion for a glacial beauty through their intoxicated visions of
the sublime.
BJ Nilsen has released numerous records for Touch and Ash International, both under his
given name and as Hazard, often focusing the sound of nature, its effect on humans, and
the perception of time & space as experienced through sound. He has also previously
collaborated with Christian Fennesz and Chris Watson. Stilluppsteypa have unleashed
well over a dozen releases in their tumultuous existence of electro-absurdism laced with
subversion, blackhumour, and horror." (Helen Scarsdale Agency)