12K

Artist: Moskitoo
Title: Remixes
Price: $5.00
Catalog #: 12K2006
Released: 2007

 

3” Fan CD

Tracklisting and preview MP3s:

01 Wham & Whammy (Frank Bretschneider Remix)
02 Skie (Taylor Deupree Remix)
03 Wham & Whammy (Mark Fell Remix)
04 Wham & Whammy (Album Version)

The Moskitoo remix cd is a 4-track single featuring remixes from Moskitoo's full length cd Drape (12k1041).
Released as a limited edition of 500, the remix cd features "Wham & Whammy" remixes by Raster/Noton founder Frank Bretschneider and SND's Mark Fell. 12k's Taylor Deupree remixes "Skie" and the album version of "Wham & Whammy" is present as well.
Bretschneider's remix comes in his signature style of ultra-clean bleeps and bouncning machine beats, layered with Moskitoo's delicate vocals. Mark Fell takes a decidedly different approach chopping the original into hundreds (thousands) of fragments and recombining them into a jittery and jarring recontextualization. Deupree's "Skie" remix adds organic tones and new layers of guitar and ambience to the lazy calm of the original.

Artist: Moskitoo
Title: Drape
Price: $13.00
Catalog #: 12K1041
Released: 2007

 

Tracklisting and preview MP3s:

01 Paddle
02 Skie
03 De Siii?
04 Manima No Lemon
05 Tarantella
06 Terrier
07 Shaggy
08 Tip Toe Blues
09 Wham & Whammy
10 Watashi No Neml Tabi

12k kicks off its 11th year with a new release that takes the label down new sonic pathways. Caught between the organic and electronic minimalism that 12k is known for and the unconventional Japanese pop musings and songwriting style of Happy, Moskitoo’s Drape is an infectously strange, bleepy, and dreamy debut release.
Sanae Yamasaki (Moskitoo) hails from Sappporo, Japan in the country’s northern-most prefecture of Hokkaido. Perhaps a reaction to the cool climate of her home, her multi-instrumental talents bring a wide range of warm tones and textures to Drape by means of guitar, metallophone, organ, drum machines, synthesizers and nostalgic toy instruments. Yamasaki’s gentle, airy vocals weave between broken beats and aqueous droplets of sound evoking half-awake memories lost and found.
Influenced by visual art (she painted the cover image), modern electronic music and abstract pop, such as Eno’s explorations in the 1970’s, Yamasaki does not set out to write a particular style of music, but rather, lets her creative process emerge naturally, following whims and experiments.

Artist: Taylor Deupree
Title: 1 am
Price: $6.00
Catalog #: 12K2004
Released: 2006

 

3” Fan CD

Tracklisting and preview MP3s:

01 1 am

In the summertime, in the woods of New York State, the midnight insects can be at once serene and deafeningly loud. A field recording of this din of nighttime creatures was the inspiration and base for 1am.
Dense, and often aggressive, 1am is a powerful work that fuses many layers of both noise and melodic tracks over the field recording. The result, best played at high volumes, is like a high-volume equivalent of standing on the rocks outside of Deupree's home late in the summer night.
Despite 1am's opaque and rich sound it is not unlike the 23-minute epic "Stil." from Deupree's Stil. cd (12k1020). It is unwavering and highly repetitious but with enormous amounts of textural and timbral shifting.
1am is a very experimental and reactionary piece for Deupree, created in a week's time, and emotionally charged.
It is limited to only 500 copies.

Artist: Seaworthy
Title: Map in Hand
Price: $13.00
Catalog #: 12K1040
Released: 2006

 

Tracklisting and preview MP3s:

01 Dusk, 30th September 2005
02 Map in Hand Pt. 1 (Prologue)
03 Map in Hand Pt. 1
04 Map in Hand Pt. 2
05 Map in Hand Pt. 3
06 Map in Hand Pt. 4
07 Map in Hand Pt. 5
08 Map in Hand Pt. 1 (Reprise)
09 Map in Hand Pt. 4 (Epilogue)
10 Map in Hand Pt. 6
11 Map in Hand Pt. 7
12 Dawn, 2nd October 2005

Seaworthy, a three piece collective based in Sydney, Australia that revolves around core member Cameron Webb as well as Sam Shinazzi and Greg Bird, was formed in early 2000 to explore melodic and experimental approaches to the construction of minimalist sound scapes from looped guitar, warm drones, piano, electronics and field recordings.
Map In Hand often blurs the lines of conventional categorisation with elements traditionally considered part of “indie” or “post” rock blended with processed musical and field recordings usually associated with electronic music. Instruments and samples are often looped through amps and effects pedals, giving the sound an organic feel. Avoiding the muscular approach of loud/soft dynamics, Seaworthy concentrate on subtle shifts in melody, tone and texture to convey a sense of time and place.
The core sessions for Map In Hand took place over a few days in early Spring, 2006 and were book ended by recordings of birds from outside the home studio. There was little rehersal or preparation with many pieces featuring a strong element of improvisation. Recorded initially to cassette and reel-to-reel tape, the guitar loops and drones were then transferred to computer and assembled with minimal processing, preserving the initial feel of the music’s performance, complete with the happy accidents of errors, tape hiss and microphone overload that became intrinsically part of the compositions as much as any sounds produced by the instruments themselves.
There is a reflective quality to Map In Hand. A reminder that things don’t always need to be changing, to be attention grabbing or distracting and that there is beauty, not only in the object itself but in the process of appreciating that beauty.
Webb has a PhD in environmental science and specialises in field based ecological research where much of his time is spent in isolated wetland environments. Many field recordings undertaken in these locations form the basis for textural drones and rhythms from which guitar loops and percussion can be blended. Similarly, these environmental experiences form much of the inspiration for Seaworthy’s compositions and extend beyond the music into the aesthetic presentation of live visual projections and CD/vinyl packaging of their limited edition releases.
As well as many releasing limited edition material (CDRs & lathe-cut 7”s) themselves, Seaworthy have worked with many local and overseas labels including Feral Media (Australia), Black Lodge Audio (Australia), Celebrate Psi Phenomenon (New Zealand), Misplaced Music (UK), 555 (UK), Marino (US) and Fat Cat (UK). Map In Hand was originally released as a limited edition of 128 copies on Feral Media. Also, Seaworthy was featured on the recent 12k compilation, Blueprints (12k1039)

Artist: Various Artists
Title: Blueprints
Price: $13.00
Catalog #: 12K1039
Released: 2006

 

Tracklisting and preview MP3s:

Christmas Decorations
01 Rough and Tumble
02 Tottering Throne
Seaworthy
03 New Zealand
04 Map in Hand Pt. 2
Autistici
05 Attaching Softness to a Shell (A)
06 Attaching Softness to a Shell (B)
Jodi Cave
07 Absent/Walking Backwards
08 Untitled
Pjusk
09 Spor 2
10 Spor 4
Leo Abrahams
11 Circuit
12 Water’s Edge

Blueprint: a plan, a model, a template.
Over the past 10 years 12k has established itself as a label on the forefront of minimalist music and has become home to some of the most important artists of the genre. It is label that time and time again has not been afraid to release debut albums from new artists, drawing on the new energy they interject into both the scene and the label.
With the release of Blueprints, 12k presents 2 tracks each from 6 artists new to its roster and showcases some of the new sounds and influences that will carry the label into its 10th year (2007). The artists on Blueprints span the globe and offer a variety of sound that both compliments and expands on the style that 12k has become known for.
CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS: (US)
Christmas Decorations’ recordings tread a fine line between organic and electronic, experimental and rock music. These tracks move away from the structured songs of their debut Model 91 (kranky, 2002), with a more open-ended exploration of order and time. Their forthcoming full length album Communal Rust (community library, 2006) explores ideas somewhere between the two.
SEAWORTHY: (AU)
A three piece collective that revolves around core member Cameron Webb as well as Sam Shinazzi and Greg Bird, was formed in early 2000. Their compositions often blur the lines of conventional categorisation with elements traditionally considered part of “indie” or “post” rock blended with processed musical and field recordings usually associated with electronic artists. Instruments and samples are often looped through amps and effects pedals, giving the sound an organic feel. Avoiding the muscular approach of loud/soft dynamics, Seaworthy concentrate on subtle shifts in melody, tone and texture to convey a sense of time and place.
As well as releasing limited edition material (CDRs & lathe-cut 7”s) themselves, Seaworthy have worked with many local and overseas labels including Feral Media (Australia), Black Lodge Audio (Australia), Celebrate Psi Phenomenon (New Zealand), Misplaced Music (UK), 555 (UK), Marino (US) and Fat Cat (UK).
Seaworthy’s Map in Hand (12k1040) cd is being released simultaneously with Blueprints in the autumn of 2006 on 12k .
AUTISTICI: (UK)
Autistici creates audio narratives exploring the interchange between sound and space. Space in this context includes the subjective response within the listener’s head, where reflection and fantasy serve to bring personal meaning to the experience. Autistici’s music incorporates a wide range of sources and inspirations including obsessional microsounds, textural orchestration, near silence and field recordings. Autistici has released tracks on labels such as Audiobulb Records, Hippocamp and Kikapu.
JODI CAVE: (UK)
Jodi Cave is a sound artist from West Yorkshire, UK. He was first introduced to electronics whilst studying composition, and has since gone to learn computing at the Ircam in Paris. Jodi is currently exploring the potentials of home-made, MaxMSP based software, to extend, augment and re-contextualize acoustic sound in composed works and improvised performance. He has full-length CD forthcoming on 12k in the beginning of 2007.
PJUSK: (NO)
Pjusk is a project from Bergen, Norway consisting of two musicians and one graphic designer. They create an electronic sound that is deep, dark and pulsing that evokes a narrative and sense of other-wordliness.
LEO ABRAHAMS: (UK)
Leo Abrahams is a London-based composer and guitarist. He has collaborated with artists including Brian Eno, David Holmes, Ed Harcourt and Paul Simon, and released two solo albums: Honeytrap (Just Music, 2005) and Scene Memory (Bip_Hop, 2006). Using a laptop to process his guitar in real time, he creates music which contains elements of folk, electronica and contemporary classical.

Artist: Fourcolor
Title: Letter of Sounds
Price: $13.00
Catalog #: 12K1038
Released: 2006

 

Tracklisting and preview MP3s:

01 02
02 Rowboat (with Piana)
03 Season
04 Fountain
05 Flyaway
06 Vignette
07 Leaves
08 Frame

Following the release of his work as part of the electro-acoustic quartet Minamo on 12k (12k1031, 2005) and the proto-pop outing under his new moniker Filfla (Plop, 2005), Fourcolor (Keiichi Sugimoto) is back with his second release on 12k, Letter of Sounds. His previous work, Air Curtain (12k1029) was a critical success selling out the first pressing in little over one month.
On Air Curtain, Fourcolor explored new directions, building upon delicate, implied rhythmic structures moving away from the strictly drone based material on his debut cd Water Mirror (Apestaartje, 2004). With Letter of Sounds Sugimoto pushes his sound even further by bringing the rhythms more to the foreground and taking influences from his previous, more pop-based work, as Filfla. The album uses many dominant rhythmic structures such as on the opener "02" which couples catchy guitar harmonic hooks with sliced melodic beats or the beautiful "Rowboat" in which Sugimoto collaborates with long-time friend Naoko Sasaki/Piana (Happy) using a variety of instrumentation and vocals. Similarly, a majority of the work on Letter of Sounds finds itself working around tight, syncopated micro-rhythms.
Of course Letter of Sounds is not without its delicate undercurrents and warm, stretched-out, whispy tones that have become signature to Sugimoto's sound (the gorgeous finale "Frame"), but his desire for a more up-front and structured approach continues the evolution from a style he has mastered into new, more challenging territory, and expands his palette as an artist

Artist: Sebastien Roux
Title: Songs
Price: $13.00
Catalog #: 12K1036
Released: 2006

 

Tracklisting and preview MP3s:

01 The Prepared Piano Song
02 The Metallophone Song No. 1
03 The Classical Guitar Song
04 The Cello Song
05 The Metallophone Song No. 2
06 The Harp and Contrabass Song
07 The Guitar and Drums Song

Songs is the much-anticipated follow-up to Parisian sound designer and musician Sébastien Roux’s beautiful cd Pillow (Apestaartje, 2004). The simple title of Songs hides a deep work that Roux states is based in mathematics, symmetry (and assymetry) and organized randomness. Songs is a skillfully and beautifully rendered album of gentle and sometimes not-so-gentle acoustic instruments and melodic granular clouds. Each song is titled simply by the instruments that make it, thus stressing the process involved in their production. From the ubiquitous guitars, piano, and drums to the more exotic metallophone, harp and contrabass, Roux combines these acoustic instruments with digital sounds and makes a point to keep the focus on the instruments themselves, allowing for their subtleties and idiosyncrasies to come to the forefront.
Roux’s music is personal and multi-faceted; From warm and drowsy ambient tones to digital fests of errors and erratic rhythms to a more song-structured approach hinting at a distant relative of submereged pop music. His influences include musique concrete, folk songs, and electronic music and his work at IRCAM in Paris wraps his ecclectic tastes into an expertly produced work of digital sound that does not rely on one particular sound or motif but rather highlights a breadth of processes and unique sonic juxtaposititons.

Artist: Antti Rannisto
Title: Aaniesineita
Price: $13.00
Catalog #: 12K1034
Released: 2005

 

Tracklisting and preview MP3s:

01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11

12k is proud to release Ääniesineitä, the debut full-length CD by Antti Rannisto. Rannisto [b1978] is a Finnish artist whose ultra-spare sound was formed via a diverse background of hip-hop, house, and experimental electronic music. Despite the highly improvised and free-form influences, Ääniesineitä is highly calculated music so stripped down to the basic elements that subtle shifts in panning, envelope, or phase become instruments in themselves. He explores the ideas of rotation in much of his music, utilizing repetition and overlapping, out of sync structures that create networks of hypnotic patterns.
Ääniesineitä is a minimalist foray that defines Rannisto’s sound and breaks away from 12k’s recent mold of organic and melodic microsound. The beating of a sinewave over a 4/4 kickdrum, or a blipping polyrhythmic loop creates ever-shifting patterns forming his style that is too sparse to be called techno, but far too rhythmic to ever be called ambient. His palette is simple, pure, colorless, and free of any unnecessary sound or movement. It is minimalism in the truest sense. It is challenging music that demands attentive listening.

Artist: Bretschneider + Steinbruchel
Title: Status
Price: $13.00
Catalog #: 12K1033
Released: 2005

 

Tracklisting and preview MP3s:

01 Spirale
02 Antenne
03 Funktion
04 Periode
05 Phase
06 Spektrum
07 Basis
08 Passage
09 Position
10 Faktor
11 Impuls
12 Frequenz

composers; Frank Bretschneider and Ralph Steinbrüchel, sharing their sounds and styles. Status began in the Spring of 2003 when they designed their own sound sequences and samples and sent the material to each other, waiting and hearing what the other will create out of it. They played this game for nearly 2 years, sending sequences and tracks back and forth until both of them were satisfied with the result.
When the minimal 120bpm rhythmic structures of Frank Bretschneider and the austere sonic minimalism of Steinbrüchel get together, a rare piece of atmospheric rythmics is created. Sometimes very melodic, sometimes abstract, sometimes very rhythmic, sometimes nearly pop, and always minimal. Detailed, fragile and full at once Status shows where rhythmic and abstract music can get together, how different sonic worlds combine to create a unique listening experience.
Bretschneider is a founder of Germany’s art/music collective Raster-Noton and has released some of the most engaging albums of the decade. Following last year’s Gold (raster/noton) and the stunning Aerial Riverseries (Whatness, 2002), Looping I-VI (And Other Assorted Love Songs) is Bretschneider’s 2nd 12k cd, following Rausch (2000) and appearances on 12k’s critically acclaimed compilations. His music can also be found on such well-known labels as Mille Plateaux, Audio.NL, Fällt, and Bip-Hop.
Steinbrüchel, born in 1969, studied Communication Design at Central Saint Martins School in London, where he acquired a Masters of Arts and Design with distinction. He now lives and works as a musician and graphic designer in Zurich, Switzerland. In 2002 his composition Zwischen.raum (Domizil15, Zurich, 2002) was distinguished with the Max Brand Award for Electronic Music (phonoTAKTIK.02 Festival, New York). In the same year he received a compositional scholarship from “Pro Helvetia”, Arts Council of Switzerland, to work on his release Circa (Line_012, New York, 2003). In March 2004 the Mini CD-Rom –00:dedaih, which contains an audio/visual installation by Steinbrüchel/Brusa, was published on the label synchron (sync03). In the fall of 2004 his second solo cd Skizzen (Binemusic, Bine 006CD) and the collaboration ATAK004 with Kim Cascone (USA) and Jason Kahn (CH) were also released.

Artist: Taylor Deupree + Kenneth Kirschner
Title: Post_Piano 2
Price: $13.00
Catalog #: 12K1032
Released: 2005

 

Tracklisting and preview MP3s:

01 08.09.2004
02 01.09.2005
03 09.15.2004
04 11.11.2003

Deupree & Kenneth Kirschner’s post_piano 2 continues the two New York composers’ collaborative investigation into the intersections of digital minimalism and experimental piano composition. Working with his childhood acoustic piano and the accidental sounds of an imperfect recording environment, Kirschner first composed a simple, austere “piano sketch” to serve as raw material for the project. This sketch was then passed on to Deupree, who created three new compositions entirely out of sounds derived from Kirschner’s piece. The two then collaborated on editing the new recordings, which transform the original piano sketch into a diverse array of sounds both familiar and unexpected. Like their previous CD, post_piano 2 is released as an open source project, and the composers invite other artists to continue the interpretation and transformation of their work in an ongoing process of open collaboration.
Kenneth Kirschner on post_piano 2:
“Taylor and I wrote post_piano in 2002, and since then I had added to my studio an actual acoustic piano – in fact, the very piano on which I first started studying at the age of 5. It’s an old piano, with an old sound, and I knew I wanted to use it for post_piano 2. But my studio doesn’t exactly offer a pristine environment for recording acoustic instruments – not least because an elevated train runs by the window every few minutes. My idea, therefore, was to emphasize the environmental sounds of the space, and create a piano piece that was as much a series of field recordings as an actual studio work. The result was “November 11, 2003” – a spare, fragmentary piano sketch recorded using techniques that ranged from the relatively high-tech to the very, very low-tech. This formed the source material for the entire project. And from that point on, the process was similar to our previous CD: the piano sketch was handed off to Taylor, who chopped it up in the computer and built new compositions from the resulting fragments. I encouraged him to focus as much on the accidental sounds – the passing subway, the street noises, the creaking of the old piano’s mechanisms – as on the piano notes themselves. Taylor wrote three long pieces using three distinct approaches, and each transforms the piano sketch into something new while still evoking the character of the original. His tracks have a modern, state-of-the-art sound – yet they never let you forget that what you’re hearing was once a piano. We then collaborated on the editing of these pieces, which make up the first three tracks of the CD. The final track is “November 11, 2003” itself; the CD thus concludes at the project’s beginning, with a coda that reveals the origin of all the sounds that preceded it. And as with the first post_piano, we’re presenting this new CD as an open source project: it’s released under an open license, and we eagerly look forward to hearing how our friends and colleagues take these old sounds and find new uses for them.”
Taylor Deupree (b. 1971) is a sound artist, graphic designer, and photographer residing in Brooklyn, New York. On January 1, 1997, he founded 12k, a music label that focuses on digital minimalism and contemporary forms. In 12k’s 8 years of existence it has released 32 CDs and become one of the most respected experimental electronic labels in the world. Deupree also records for a number of other labels including Spekk (Japan), Ritornell/Mille Plateaux (Germany), Raster-Noton (Germany), Sub Rosa (Belgium), BineMusic (Germany), Fällt (Ireland), and Audio.NL (Netherlands).
Experimental composer Kenneth Kirschner was born in 1970 and lives in New York City. An advocate of open source music, Kirschner makes his work freely available online through his website, www.kennethkirschner.com. His music has also been released on CDs from Sub Rosa (Belgium) and 12k (US), as well as online through term (US), tu m’p3 (Italy), Tibprod (Norway), Addenda (US), Conv (Spain), Test Tube (Portugal), Autoplate (Germany) and Thinner (Germany).

Artist: Shuttle 358
Title: Chessa
Price: $13.00
Catalog #: 12K1030
Released: 2004

 

Tracklisting and preview MP3s:

01 Ash
02 Chessa
03 Blast
04 Duh
05 Marche
06 Nerf
07 West Nile
08 Melt
09 Logical
10 Dead Leaves
11 Scrapbook

Without a doubt Shuttle358 has become one of the most admired artists to emerge from modern electronic music’s sea of musicians. From the humble beginnings of a demo CD in 12k’s mailbox to 4 critically acclaimed cds, Dan Abrams is, to some, the one credited for bringing a warmth and human touch back into what has often been considered a very cold, sterile genre. It began with 1999’s Optimal.lp (12k1005), a groundbreaking debut release that immediately defined the Shuttle358 sound; a hybridization of the then-emerging “microsound” genre with Eno’s true ambient explorations. In 2000 Abrams outdid himself with Frame (12k1011) by honing his sound design and exploring production techniques at rates that made his “now” quite brief and creating what was to become one of the most sought-after cds in the 12k catalog. Also with Frame emerged Abrams photographic influences which he explains:
"my photos take the concept of framing “real life” quite literally. more specifically, i focus on pieces of life that are left behind, but still part of us. thats why often i leave the human presence out from situations that usually have many people. in that case, i am capturing the moment that an object (or space) is left behind or about to be left in a state of stillness. it is parting temporarily from its human companion. or simply, i am capturing our life as humans from the point of view of those objects. but in the end, they tell the story about our lives because the subject of my photos are the objects of humanity."
Chessa is the third release from Abrams’ Shuttle358 moniker on 12k and he continues to do what he does best: attempt to move microsound away from the world of theory and towards absolute real life. LIke his photographs, Chessa is music about, and to be listened to in, unexpected places. It is a narrative, a simple slice of life that plays out through the incidental photography of the cd cover. To achieve this Abrams fuses irregular granular sound particles, like the movements of everyday life, with a deliberate melodic base that captures emotion and simplicity.
Chessa is packaged in an expanded 6-panel digipack that features Abrams’ photography which is an equally important part as the music. He is planning a printed series of works as well as an online gallery of images to develop this unexpected story.

Artist: Motion
Title: Every Action
Price: $13.00
Catalog #: 12K1027
Released: 2004

 

Tracklisting and preview MP3s:

01 Untitled
02 Moog Edit
03 Alt X
04 Funkturm
05 Moken Edit
06 Lookback Layback
07 Move/Still: AV Edit
08 Lazy Audio
09 Making Spaces
10 Reise
11 Miles Away
12 Overtures: Heatwave Mix
13 Tones of White

12k presents “Every Action,” the 3rd full-length release from the UK’s Motion (Chris Coode) and the follow-up to 2002’s critically acclaimed “Dust” (12k1019). In addition to his work with 12k (Dust, as well as a collaboration with Doron Sadja on 12k’s recent Two Point Two compilation, and an MP3 only release on 12k’s term. series) Coode has worked with Fat Cat and also released the debut Motion cd “Pictures” (now out of print) on his own imprint.
The work on “Every Action” spans from 1999-2004, some of the material created around the time “Pictures” was produced, sharing that release’s more obvioius tonal and melodic content. Using a stipped-down setup of studio equipment Coode crafts his sound by sampling, processing, resmapling, reprocessing.. back and forth, like generations of tape transfers or photocpies of photocopies, until the final results are smeared and distorted ghosts of the original: detuned, groaning, fragmented. Despite the digital sources, Coode’s music is highly organic, utilizing randomness, openess and dysfunction to create an oddly ambient and quieting sound made from stressed melodic flickering and skittering, tones, drones, and overprocssed textures.
Motion is important in Coode’s work, too; slow motion formed in grainy timestretches punctuated by dynamics that swell and disappear creating odd suggestions of performance, structure, and deconstruction built from his always live mixdowns.

Artist: Various Artists
Title: Two Point Two
Price: $19.00
Catalog #: 12K1026/Line_016
Released: 2003

 

2 CD

Tracklisting and preview MP3s:

12K Disc
01 Air.aif by Sawako
02 Villa E-1027 by Sebastien Roux
03 Unnatural Template by Taylor Deupree
04 Egg from a Fetus by M. Fell
05 455 by Ken’ichi Itoi
06 Looping 4 = D by Komet
07 Local Times by Sogar + Uison
08 Specification.Fourteen by Taylor Deupree + Richard Chartier
09 3Small by Doron Sadja + Motion
10 Les Pyromanes N’Eteignent Pas Les Feux by Ghislain Poirier
11 June 8, 2003 by Kenneth Kirschner

Line Disc:
01 Induction Piece 1 by AE Lab
02 Ten by Vend
03 For Thomas Wilfred (#3) by Steve Roden
04 Archival 1992 by Richard Chartier
05 One by Asmus Tietchens + David Lee Myers
06 Eventuell by Steinbruchel
07 Virilio-Cubes Soundtrack by Thom Kubli
08 Uhliko by Skoltz_Kolgen
09 Worry by William Basinski
10 ...And Shuttled Across the Sky by COH

Over the course of 7 and 4 years, respectively, 12k and LINE have been at the forefront of minimalist digital music. They have established themselves not only as a home for some of the most important contemporary electronic sound artists but also as labels who are not afraid to introduce new artists and give them the opportunity to create a unique and recognized voice for themselves in the crowded world of electronic music and sound art.
With the release of Two Point Two, the continuation of 12k and LINE’s joint double cd series, the labels showcase their own aesthetics and highlight some of the current and future artists that will be at the forefront of their release schedules for the next year. Packaged in a stark-white double-CD digipack that features the design and photography of Taylor Deupree and Richard Chartier, all of the tracks on Two Point Two are previously unreleased.
CD1 shows 12k’s current interest in melodic and acoustic instrument-based electronic compositions and experiments in deconstructed rhythmic structures. CD2, the LINE disc, continues the documentation of conceptual and installation work by artists who explore contemporary, digital minimalism and the subtlety of texture.
In addition to featuring much of the label’s established roster, Two Point Two brings together several artists in unique collaborations including joint projects from Sogar and Cheason (of Fonica) as well as pioneering artists Asmus Tietchens and David Lee Myers (Arcane Device). Two Point Two presents a cross section of electronic artists’ unique sound palettes, from the haunting piano intro by Sawako, to Steve Roden’s fragile digital/acoustic sculpture to the disjointed videogame techno of Kyoto’s Ken’ichi Itoi and the dark pulsations of COH.

Artist: Kenneth Kirschner
Title: September 19, 1998 Et Al.
Price: $13.00
Catalog #: 12K1024
Released: 2003

 

Tracklisting and preview MP3s:

01 September 19, 1998
02 September 27, 2002
03 February 8, 2003

Kenneth Kirschner’s music combines the influence of the 20th century avant-garde (most importantly Morton Feldman) with the techniques and technologies of contemporary electronic music. His methods mix a systematic use of chance procedures with the sort of rigorous editing only possible in the digital environment. An advocate of the freedom of information, Kirschner makes his work freely available online, and releases material on CD under intellectual property licenses that encourage, rather than inhibit, the music’s free proliferation and appropriation.
12k is pleased to present September 19, 1998 et al., the first available CD collection of Kirschner’s highly varied output. The opening track, “September 19, 1998,” juxtaposes a spare, Cagean piano line with percussion sounds derived from found household objects, principally kitchenware. “September 27, 2002” is a dense, polyrhythmic study in the possibilities of software synthesizer sound design. The final piece, “February 8, 2003,” transforms tiny, unconsciously selected fragments of the composer’s mp3 collection into a flowing assemblage designed to evoke the late-period orchestral music of Feldman. (All of Kirschner’s pieces are titled for the date on which they were begun.)
Kenneth Kirschner was born in 1970 and lives in New York City. His music is available at www.kennethkirschner.com. post_piano, a collaboration with Taylor Deupree, was released by Sub Rosa in 2002

Artist: Doran Sadja
Title: A Piece of String, A Sunset.
Price: $13.00
Catalog #: 12K1023
Released: 2003

 

Tracklisting and preview MP3s:

01
02
03
04
05

Doron Sadja's debut release, a piece of string, a sunset, is a five movement CD exploring the subtle fluctuations in tone and amplitude created by the combination of sinewaves nearly identical in pitch. Utilizing a 144 note per octave scale, a piece of string, a sunset is made up of chords containing notes 1/12 a semitone apart, with a heavy emphasis on pitches near the threshold of human audibility. These extreme frequencies are combined with the randomatomization of data/sound files, the sparse pulse of rhythmic static, and the continuously present expressive meandering of a sul pont Violin (played by Amie Weiss) and loops of manipulated guitar (played by John Anderson) forming a highly synthetic yet still organic body of music.
Doron has collaborated with 12k's Motion, during a recent extended stay in London (a portion of which will be released on the 12k/LINE double cd compilation in autumn 2003), as well as Pony (Matt Mehlan, Seve Martinez, andAnthony Lowe), John Anderson, Climax, and dancer Jean Copeland. His liveshows include laptop, homemade electronics, accordion, and/orcassette loop and mixerloop manipulation. Doron is currently studying Technology in Music and Related Arts at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio and is also the co-founder of the electronic music label Shinkoyo.