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there are 10 titles on 12k in stock.
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first in stock on
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digital-musics
electro-acoustic-composition

12k (usa) #12k 2004 cd

taylor deupree1am” compact disc

  • 1am (21:21)
12k press release...
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.

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threads:
digital-musics
guitar-themed
minimalism-drones
electro-acoustic-composition
electro-acoustic-improvisation

12k (usa) #12k 1046 cd

christopher willits / ryuichi sakamotoocean fire” compact disc

  • toward water (8:11)
  • umi (2:56)
  • sea plains (9:03)
  • sentience (8:17)
  • chi-yu (8:30)
  • cold heat (7:46)
  • ocean sky remains (11:20)
click the play button to hear an excerpt of "toward water"
just a lovely set of pieces co-composed by ryuichi sakamoto & christopher willits, with each contributing their trademark piano / electronics and guitar/computer (respectively) timbres into an epic swirl of frozen / granular smear & the occasional unfettered acoustic/electric line/strum.
12k press release...
willits + sakamoto
ocean fire

cat.no: 12k1046
release: february 2008

christopher willits and ryuichi sakamoto’s new release, ocean fire, is a sublime soundtrack for the ocean. it is an intense and stirring wash of cascading tones and textured harmony. willits + sakamoto surprise with rare form in this collaboration, creating a sound world unlike anything they have produced previously. each artist has gently pulled the other into new sonic territory. sakamoto’s gorgeous processed piano sound reflects willits’ beautiful shimmering clusters of notes, a new aspect of willits’ pioneering guitar/computer approach. together, their sounds merge effortlessly, creating deep and seamless swells of gigantic melodic waves.

ocean fire was recorded live at sakamoto’s studio in nyc in spring 2006. the improvisations found their final form through some further editing in the months to come, and final mastering by clayx in berlin. we hear the artists exploring their relationship to each other, new sounds, and the ocean’s boundless force and importance. this release is dedicated to the healing and restoration of our fragile oceans.

sakamoto is a living legend in music. his numerous releases in ymo, and his grammy award-willing solo work has inspired two generations of fans and artists. christopher willits is a young talented artist who has shown he can do just about anything. in the late-nineties willits began integrating his guitar playing with unique custom digital processing, and has since been instrumental in redefining the sound palette of the guitar. overlapping all forms of music, sound, and visual art, willits’ work defies genre and retains a presence of it’s own. 12k is proud to release this work that pairs one of its core artists with a legendary composer.

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threads:
digital-musics

12k (usa) #12k 1042 cd

pjusksart” compact disc

  • tander (7:57)
  • kontur (2:19)
  • dur (4:16)
  • flyktig (5:10)
  • myk (4:07)
  • rim (1:32)
  • vag (3:34)
  • rav (5:08)
  • hul (4:56)
  • anelse (4:42)
  • rom (4:54)
  • dempet (3:18)
  • stadig (3:20)
12k press release...
sart is the debut full-length cd from norwegian duo jostein dahl gjelsvik and rune sagevik, collectively known as pjusk. first heard on 12k’s blueprints (12k1039) compilation, pjusk’s sound can be characterized as warm, dark, delicate, and wet. sart builds a cavernous scape that listens like a surreal storybook, utilizing a combination of electronics, dub, rhythm, found sounds such as tape machine noise, fans, and ski lifts as well as field recordings from around the world. it is in their inspiration from very human events, such as private conversations, empty rooms, or smells, that gives pjusk’s music a strangely familiar yet very disconnected and alien mood. they are very interested in the presence or disappearance of man and mankind’s impact on nature, building on this dichotomy of tension as they create their work.

difficult to immediately classify, pjusk carry on the organic and tonal tradition of 12k’s recent output but twist it into darker and more narrative territory. sart is a beautifully produced debut that clearly carves out the artists’ own niche in electronic music.

+

pjusk is a duo from the westcoast of norway. jostein dahl gjelsvik started doing electronic music in the early nineties techno scene and layed live around the country with the neural network band. a dozen releases have since appeared both solo and in various bands. most prominently the circular project which released several acclaimed albums on the same label as the biosphere work of that era.

rune andre sagevik was an early party promoter way out in the vividly beautiful countryside in the deep fjords. he started doing electronic music a decade ago. the pjusk project began when jostein many years later heard one of these tracks on the radio. he liked it so much that he made contact with rune and a fruitful, productive collaboration started in 2005. in the two years that have passed they have released work on compilations and their debut cd sart, on 12k in new york.

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threads:
bedroom
digital-musics

12k (usa) #12k 1041 cd

moskitoodrape” compact disc

  • paddle (4:18)
  • skie (2:48)
  • de siii? (2:21)
  • manima no lemon (6:35)
  • tarantella (2:50)
  • terrier (4:09)
  • shaggy (1:40)
  • tip toe blues (3:22)
  • wham & whammy (4:08)
  • watashi no neml tabi (4:29)
12k press release...
moskitoo
drape

cat.no: 12k1041
release: february 2007

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.

+ + +

12k is also releasing a limited edition cd single features remixes of “wham & whammy” and “skie” by frank bretschneider, mark fell, and taylor deupree.

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threads:
digital-musics
electro-acoustic-composition
guitar-themed
modern-psych

12k (usa) #12k 1040 cd

seaworthymap in hand” compact disc

  • dusk, 30th september 2005 (0:38)
  • map in hand pt. 1 (prologue) (2:01)
  • map in hand pt. 1 (3:35)
  • map in hand pt. 2 (3:34)
  • map in hand pt. 3 (4:42)
  • map in hand pt. 4 (4:33)
  • map in hand pt. 5 (2:25)
  • map in hand pt. 1 (reprise) (2:03)
  • map in hand pt. 4 (epilogue) (4:49)
  • map in hand pt. 6 (6:33)
  • map in hand pt. 7 (2:22)
  • dawn, 2nd october 2005 (0:41)
click the play button to hear an excerpt of "map in hand pt. 4"
12k press release...
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)

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first in stock on
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threads:
digital-musics
guitar-themed
electro-acoustic-composition
minimalism-drones

12k (usa) #12k 1038 cd

fourcolorletter of sounds” compact disc

  • 02 (6:34)
  • rowboat (4:57)
  • season (4:04)
  • fountain (4:47)
  • flyaway (6:36)
  • vignette (6:23)
  • leaves (14:19)
  • frame (4:20)
click the play button to hear an excerpt of "vignette"
12k press release...
fourcolor
letter of sounds

cat.no: 12k1038
release: september 2006

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.

* packaging note: as fourcolor's cd air curtain (12k1029, 2004) was the commercial introduction of the revised 12k logo, letter of sounds launches a new, more streamlined digipack design in celebration of 12k's upcoming 10-year anniversary. in addition to the changes in layout the new digipacks feature a matte varnish which allows for richer colors and sharper lines than the previous digipacks.

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threads:
digital-musics
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musique-concrète
out-guitar

12k (usa) #12k 1036 cd

sébastien rouxsongs” compact disc

  • the prepared piano song
  • the metallophone song no.1
  • the classical guitar song
  • the cello song
  • the metallophone song no.2
  • the harp and contrabass song
  • the guitar and drums song
click the play button to hear an excerpt of "the guitar and drums song"
in the running for one of my records of the year (2006) is this set by my friend sébastien roux. there are very few people who have found musically interesting ways of keeping the musique concrète traditions of yore alive in the digital age, yet séb has done so with apparent ease, yielding this weightless set of electro-acoustic etudes for scattered instrumentation and in-depth computer processing.

at times spare, others gratifyingly complex in its arrangements, songs is, for me, something of a benchmark in this post-ina-grm/fennesz landscape. i give it my highest recommendation...
12k press release...
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.

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threads:
minimalism-drones
machine-music
digital-musics

12k (usa) #12k 1034 cd

antti rannistoääniesineitä” compact disc

  • ääniesineitä 1-11
  • ääniesineitä 7
click the play button to hear an excerpt of "ääniesineitä 7"
12k press release...
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.

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threads:
digital-musics
minimalism-drones

12k (usa) #12k 1033 cd

frank bretschneider / steinbrüchelstatus” compact disc

  • spirale
  • antenne
  • funktion
  • periode
  • phase
  • spektrum
  • basis
  • passage
  • position
  • faktor
  • impuls
  • frequenz
click the play button to hear an excerpt of "spirale"
12k press release...
12k presents status, the result of two of the genre’s most talented, and diffferent, 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.

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threads:
digital-musics
electro-acoustic-composition
minimalism-drones

12k (usa) #12k 1032 cd

taylor deupree / kenneth kirschnerpost piano 2” compact disc

  • 08.09.2004 (11:17)
  • 01.09.2005 (10:09)
  • 09.15.2004 (12:14)
  • 11.11.2003 (18:48)
click the play button to hear an excerpt of "01.09.2005"
12k press release...
taylor 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).

previous record label:
 10th avenue freeze out 
...and that's everything on 12k in stock.
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next record label:
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