the 12k archives July 27, 2007

“.aiff”.. “thesecretnumbertwelve”…. box of 12k1000-12k1006

whenever a new 12k (LINE, Happy) release comes out, i put a few away for safe keeping. today i realized the archive cabinet was getting out of hand, so i’m organizing it all… and stumbled across quite a bit of nostalgia from the last 10 years… i’ve got multiple copies of most 12k releases.. from the very first “thesecretnumbertwelve”… fun to see all of this stuff.. and how 10 years of really hard work boils down to a floor full of cds. one day, perhaps there will be an auction consisting of 1 of each of every title released….

for now, here are some photos….

box of early stuff again

sogar + others

“stil.”.. “occur”… “e.a.d.g.b.e”….. +

the lot…

sawako “hum” now available @ iTunes July 26, 2007

since the cd has sold out we have made Sawako’s excellent HUM cd available via iTunes and other online stores.

you can find it on iTunes HERE<a href=”

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12k1044 Giuseppe Ielasi “August” July 26, 2007

to be released in september:

GIUSEPPE IELASI “AUGUST”

12k presents the latest solo work from Italian composer Giuseppe Ielasi. August is the 4th full-length cd from Ielasi following his critically acclaimed debut Plans (Sedimental, 2003) and the stunning Gesine and s/t (Häpna, 2005, 2006).

August takes a more linear approach to Ielasi’s composing with sounds stretched like like layers of gauze forming a thick, soft blanket. Utilizing piano, hammond organ, guitars, dobro, synthesizers and shortwave radio, Ielasi creates deep, warm drones and suspended, scratchy melodies with a hint of despair and melancholy that make this a very introspective album. His trademark guitar and live approach to instrumentation are in the forefront yet set behind an expertly processed veil of subtle electronics. The textures are unabashedly acoustic but buried and moody enough as to question their origin.

August is a haunting, but beautiful album that falls neatly between the starkness of Gesine and the scattering rhythmic complexity of s/t. LIke music for a farewell, an ending of ends, August is moody, static, slow and emotional.

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Ielasi, Born in 1974, lives near Milan, Italy. He started playing guitar in 1988, and worked for many years in the area of ‘improvised music’ (long term collaborations with Renato Rinaldi in the duo Oreledigneur, Alessandro Bosetti, Michel Doneda, Ingar Zach, Dean Roberts). He has performed live with Taku Sugimoto, Jerome Noetinger, Mark Wastell, Martin Siewert, Nmperign, Brandon Labelle, Nikos Veliotis, Gert-Jan Prins, Phill Niblock, Oren Ambarchi, Thomas Ankersmit and many others. In recent years his main interest has been in site-specific solo performances, still using guitars as primary sound sources but integrating microphones and multi-channel speaker systems in order to create complex networks for sound diffusion in relationship to space. In 1998 he founded the Fringes Recordings label.

the wet Glade Festival in the UK July 23, 2007

quite a crazy, muddy, wet, and i believe sometimes harrowing and dangerous time at the Glade Festival in the UK last weekend. many 12k artists were there… Richard Chartier, Sawako, Mark Fell.. and good friends like Mr. Stephan Mathieu.

check out these pictures!

http://homepage.mac.com/malapertb/PhotoAlbum34.html

12K T-SHIRT STOCK UPDATE July 19, 2007

AS OF TODAY, THESE ARE THE AVAILABLE QUANTITIES OF THE NEW 12K T-SHIRTS:

SIZE SMALL = 12
SIZE MEDIUM = 11
SIZE LARGE = 8
SIZE XLARGE = 0

Review of “Landing” July 19, 2007

from heathenharvest.com

Imagine that Brian Eno’s been commissioned to re-write the backing track to one of Sigur Ros’ slower songs into an ambient soundscape. Then imagine that Spiritualized’s Jason Spaceman has come around to complain about the noise and asks if the music can be turned down a bit. If you can somehow imagine that then you’ll have something slightly more up-beat than Taylor Deupree’s “Landing” EP.

With three tracks spread over 19 minutes, this enigmatic little disc takes us into some delightfully sparse arenas but, like walking on the edge of a glacier, it’s the silence that seems to matter most. Low, throbbing drones and single-note guitar phrases float in an aura of massiveness that is only intensified by their transience. For the brief duration of this CD it takes over your awareness and leads you into a state of aural white-out that is somehow, for all its delicacy, more extreme than even the harshness noise recording. The supremely minimalist clam-shell/single sheet packaging simply adds to this sense of absolute otherness.

As a reviewer it sometimes seems that records like this, skirting so very close to perfection in what they’re trying to achieve, are almost a personal affront. You’re reduced to scrabbling for superlatives and adjectives when none really suffice. All that really needs to be said is that you should get this record…if you can. One of the few pieces of information that can be gathered about this CD is that it’s a limited edition release to support an Australian tour so it may not be widely available, which is an absolute shame.

call for more size XL t-shirts? July 17, 2007

with the size XL tshirts sold out, i have had one request for one… if enough people want an XL, i can put in an order for more. please email or leave a comment here with your email address if you missed out on the size XL but still want one.

jodi-cave.com July 13, 2007

12k artist Jodi Cave has put up a website for himself. besides information on the 12k releases it contains links to some new audio.

Deupree/Willits “Live In Japan, 2004” (12k2001) – a few back in stock July 12, 2007

13 more copies of the first 12k Limited Series cd have surfaced and will be madea available in the online shop shortly. This release was limited to 500 copies and sold out quite quickly.

you can get information here:

12k2001

12k Japan Tour 2007 July 4, 2007

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TOKYO
DATE: 2007.7.13.fri
PLACE: SUPERDELUXE
FEE: 2,500yen(+1drink order)
ACT: Christopher Willits, Moskitoo, FourColor
Guest Live: Gutevolk

INFO: cubic music(http://www.cubicmusic.com/)

……………………………………………………………………………………..

KYOTO
DATE: 7.15(sun) 17:30 open / 18:00 start
PLACE: Metro(www.metro.ne.jp) TEL: 075.752.4765
LIVE: Christopher willits, Moskitoo, Ken’ichi Itoi(PsysEx) , FourColor
FEE: adv. 2,000yen / door 2,500yen
ORGANIZER: cubic music
SUPPORTER: shrine.jp
INFORMATION: cubic music (www.cubicmusic.com / 03-3481-9790)

……………………………………………………………………………………..

NARA
DATE: 2007.7.16.mon
PLACE: sample
OPEN/START: 17:00-23:00
FEE: 3000yen (with 1 drink)
LIVE: Christopher Willits, moskitoo, FourColor, monospin, kaneko, yuki
Motohiro
and more..

INFO: sample (http://sample.sakura.ne.jp/)

……………………………………………………………………………………..

OSAKA
DATE: 2007.7.17
PLECE: Osaka@sansui
OPEN/START: open 18:00 /start 18:30
FEE: adv. 2000yen/door 2500yen
ACT: Christopher Willits, MOSKITOO, FourColor, Vampillia strings
quartette. PAPRICA, and more
INFO: www.dipdisc.com

………………………………………………………………………………………

HIROSHIMA
DATE: 2007.7.18.wed
PLACE: AINA HANINA
OPEN/START: open 18:30/start 19:00
FEE: adv. 2000yen / door 2500yen [one drink order]

LIVE:
christopher willits, moskitoo, FourColor
stabilo (speaker gain teaddrop), cta
persimmons (novel sounds), junya hiramoto
etc…

INFO: http://stabilo74-loadbang.hp.infoseek.co.jp/

……………………………………………………………………………………..

Christopher Willits Live in Kanazawa

KANAZAWA
DATE: 2007.7.20.fri
PLACE: Kanazawa Social
OPEN/START: 8:30pm open / 9pm start
FEE: advance 2000yen / door 2500yen+one drink

PERFORMANCE:
Christopher Willits
kyoka (from groopies)
SIGIRIYA
3000NDL
DJ Yoshimitu
max
KANAZAWA
DATE: 2007.7.20.fri
PLACE: Kanazawa Social
OPEN/START: 8:30pm open / 9pm start
FEE: advance 2000yen / door 2500yen+one drink

PERFORMANCE:
Christopher Willits
kyoka (from groopies)
SIGIRIYA
3000NDL
DJ Yoshimitu
max