Seaworthy interview May 30, 2007

cameron from Seaworthy sent this along. an interview with him from last year (?) before the release of Map In Hand on 12k.

PDF can be downloaded here

album of the week: Solo Andata “Fyris Swan” May 23, 2007

i had the joy of both meeting and playing with Solo Andata (well, one of the duo, at least) last month in Australia. Kane gave me a copy of their debut on Hefty called “Fyris Swan” and i’ve been listening to it non stop this week.. really beautiful work. i highly recommend you pick it up.

i’m happy to say as well that i’ll be releasing a limited edition cd “live in melbourne” featuring excerpts of the live sets from that evening from myself, solo andata, and seaworthy. this will be out on 12k in a month or two… a midi-summer treat.

this will hopefully NOT be the only time we hear Solo Andata on 12k…..

check them out..!

soon: 12k remix T #1 May 18, 2007

a series of t-shirts where i ask a graphic designer to remix the 12k logo.

the first shirt if by Fallt designers Fehler and is printed on 100% American Apparel t-shirt (color: asphalt).

available some time in June. most shirts will be size M and L, with lesser quantities of S and XL. if you have any special requests, or want one of the limited girl spaghetti-strap Ts, please email me or leave a comment here.

soon: Jodi Cave “For Myria” May 18, 2007

available in June is Jodi Cave’s 12k full-length called “For Myria”.

On his cd debut, UK sound artist Jodi Cave creates seven short compositions united by themes of singularity and natural randomness. One of the most immediate features of For Myria is its restrained sound palette. Like an instrumentalist who has laid a small collection of choice instruments out in front of him, Cave creates beautifully intimate collages, each touching on maybe only 2 or 3 sounds, woven together by computer processing which has been pushed into the background, utilized more as a compositional aid than a sound source. With instruments such as harmonium, clarinet, and guitar, through field recordings, stones, and scraps of metal, Cave paints a most introspective music in blurred swatches of minimal color… The tones are musical, delicate, punctured by the scraping of close-mic’d found objects rattling across the stereo field.

Cave’s choice of instrumentation helps him create pieces that exist as singular objects, each ebbing and shuffling with accidental dynamics. There is a very tactile and earthy feel to his work as he lets the sounds take a natural course, influencing and sculpting them with his own studio techniques.

Who (or what) is “Myria”? It is not known, but , Cave says… “It sounds yellow…”

+

Featured on 12k’s Blueprints compilation (12k1039, 2006), Jodi Cave was brought up outside of Sheffield playing the clarinet. His influences come from the art world via work from the likes of Yves Klein, Ad Reinhardt, and Agnes Martin. He strives to blend technology and and art in the most natural of ways.

More postal rate info May 14, 2007

just a quick update… it looks like mailing compact discs must now be classified as “packages” as opposed to “large envelopes” due to the fact that they are not “flexible”… the downside of this is that “packages” even if they are the same weight as “large envelopes” cost twice as much to ship. so, without being any heavier or any bigger, the cost of shipping within the US to our customers is doubling. and i, sadly, will probably have to increase the cost of our cds as a result.

the old rates in our shop are going to stay in effect until later this week at the earliest when i can visit the post office and go over this all with them.

a major pain in the ass.. and, if you’ve been following any news headlines (cnn, etc) you’ll see the a lot of companies are quite upset about this new system as it’s really adding costs which they have to pass onto their customers.

US Postal rate update pt. 2 May 13, 2007

it looks like the increase in postage rates are getting a bit more complicated.. as the whole system is no longer based on simply WEIGHT but size and thickness of package as well.

many businesses are not only confused, but protesting this new system as the USPS has not been very clear on the new rules.

i’m still trying to figure it out for myself.. as a result, i still may have to increase the cost of domestic orders… but i’m not sure… however, some orders in the coming days may be a bit late as i figure out the system and where the typical 12k cd shipment falls.

apologies in advance for any delays.. and if anyone has any good information, please let me know!

US Postal rate increase update May 7, 2007

as i mentioned the other day, the US Postal Service is increasing the rates of all mail domestic and international starting on May 14th of this year. After reviewing the impact on 12k, i have decided *NOT* to increase the cost of our cds and shipping. while the new rates absolutely affect us, and everything we mail out, i don’t want you pass the cost on to our customers.

we’ll soak up the extra costs for now and just see how it goes.

US Postal rates going up on May 14th May 4, 2007

on May 14th, the US Postal service is increasing the rate of all mail, both domestic and international, all sizes and weights. i am hoping to not have to increase cd and shipping costs as a result, but that remains to be seen.

i haven’t looked into the new rating system yet.

stay tuned. and enjoy the weather!

Taylor Deupree “Landing” now available in 12k’s shop May 2, 2007

my ROOM40 cd-EP “Landing” is now available in 12k’s online shop. you can find it in the OTHER LABELS section down near the bottom.

more info on LANDING can be found here via Room40.

BOOMKAT had this to say about it:
Well where the hell did this one come from? This brand new mini-album (20 minutes long) from 12k founder and general purveyor of totally awesome music Taylor Deupree has dropped another audio bomb on us, the unsuspecting masses and yet again I’m left reeling. A successor to the wonderful ‘Northern’ and continuing Taylor’s drifting exploration into beautiful melodic and harmonic structures; this further builds on his previous work and incorporates yet more elements into his now patented synthesized drone-work. There’s guitar in there, elements of what sounds like cheap Casio keyboards, atmospheric sound… really over the many years Taylor has been producing this is the first time when those rough edges have truly been smoothed away to reveal something shockingly beautiful and warming to the core. This is still droning avant-garde ambience, there’s no doubt about that, but what was once confined to the world of the academic, an unblinking land of grey and back-biting pseuds is now open for all to get involved, for all to fall in love with and for all to embrace with open arms. This is also in some way indicative of the way the 12k label is going, although it’s always been one of the finest labels of its kind we’re now seeing their outlook reach much further than it used to taking elements of pop, post rock and indie music into the fold, something I have to say I couldn’t have predicted back in the days when I was chasing Sogar cds. A definitive statement in the genre this isn’t only the best thing I’ve heard from Taylor since ‘Stil’ (my favourite of all his released material) but is also the best thing I’ve managed to grab from the lovely Room 40 label. You’ve probably anticipated this one – ‘Landing’ is an Australian tour only CD and will not be repressed, it’s limited to 500 copies and we have a handful… please be quick to avoid disappointment! Stunning.