Heart of Noise Festival

BJ Nilsen – The Accursed Mountains, Donnerstag 01.10. 21:00 Uhr – Haus der Musik, Innsbruck, AT

World premier in quadraphonic sound, 01.10 21:00, Haus der Musik, Innsbruck, Austria at Heart of Noise.

In the summer of 2016, I did a journey to the Prokletije mountains in the southern part of the Dinaric Alps. Prokletije acts as a natural border of Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania and are the most inaccessible and wildest mountain range in the Balkans. The Albanian population calls them Bjeshket e Nemuna, which means accursed or forbidden mountains. Historically it defines the cruel and the hard life of those who live in the area. ‘Prokletije was, according to local folklore, created by the devil himself, unleashed from hell for a single day of mischief’ (Rudolf Abraham, 2008). 

Far from being hellish, The Accursed Mountains draws from the inspiration of this beautifully isolated and lucid area with its generous people. It is also an area that is currently undergoing large infrastructure projects such as the controversial Belgrade – Bar motorway that cuts through the landscape and mountains in hope to open up the social and economic developments in the region.

This material have never been performed live however A CD was produced by S.A.D earlier this year (2020).
The Accursed Mountains is a follow-up on the mountain theme with ‘Massif Trophies‘ being the first (Released by Editions Mego 2017) and builds on field recordings, electro acoustic treatments and electronic interventions.