Nocturnal Emissions – Spiritflesh

I literally just signed up for an account on this bullshit to simply say that this album is among the greatest masterpieces I've ever come across.

Industrial music critiques the modern world, showing the hidden costs, the shadow side, the abject. In the 1970s and 1980s this was vital civic duty. No doubt it continues to inform.

But what next? The second summer of love and the early rave era let some light into those dark places. This album also looks to a healthy future, in a distinctly unrelated style.

Spiritflesh turns its back on the city and the horrors of the modern age and simply reconnects us with the planet we come from. Not to be confused with 'new age' style muzak replete with dolphins, though here their echolocating friends the bats get a look in, among other wildlife.

I was lucky enough to find this LP in a flatmate's record collection long ago. I made a tape, which I used to go to sleep to most nights - a soothing return to the pastoral and more, with no added sugar. I lost the tape long ago but was able to find my own copy ten odd years back. Joy.

After many years I can't name an album I find more pleasing to come back to more than this one. Wholesome and gritty.