12k Music News

Swiss sound artist Zimoun continues and transforms the material from his solo project 'One & Two' with Taylor Deupree on 'Wind Dynamic Organ, Deviations.' Both albums were created entirely from recordings of the Wind Dynamic Organ (Prototype III), an extraordinary instrument housed in Bern Minster and developed by Daniel Glaus and his team at the Bern Academy of the Arts. Unlike a traditional organ, this prototype allows the wind pressure and air volume of each pipe to be shaped in real time and produces tones that breathe and blur at their edges. On Deviations, the pair push these organic tones into new territory by layering, bending and re-contextualising them into evolving ambient structures. A quietly radical exploration.

Swiss sound artist Zimoun returns two long-form works sculpted entirely from the Wind Dynamic Organ (Prototype III) in Bern. Built by Daniel Glaus and his team at the Bern Academy of the Arts, this one-of-a-kind instrument transforms air into something palpable and tactile - wind pressure, airflow and tone are all fluid while shaping sound that shimmers between breath and vibration. Zimoun spent years recording and experimenting with it, coaxing warm, resonant tones, and what results is immersive and uncanny. His vast reverberations and slow-moving harmonics seem to breathe and explore a new frontier in acoustic minimalism.

An elaborate, authoritative acoustic re-imagining of Taylor Deupree’s seminal electronic album Stil. (2002), Sti.ll is the result of a multi-year collaboration between Deupree and arranger/producer Joseph Branciforte to bring Deupree’s explorations of extreme repetition and stillness into the world of notated chamber music. Clarinet, vibraphone, cello, double bass, flute, and percussion stand in for the digital loops and granular processing of Deupree’s original, with meticulously notated arrangements preserving the all rhythmic, formal, and textural complexity of these compositions. Transcribed and arranged by Greyfade’s Joseph Branciforte and performed by an ensemble of notable New York creative musicians — Madison Greenstone, Ben Monder, Laura Cocks, Christopher Gross, and Sam Minaie, alongside Branciforte and Deupree themselves — Sti.ll is a landmark recording situated between the electronic and acoustic worlds.

You've always been able to hear the West Coast in Monocoastal, but it's particularly present when you shut your eyes after 12 months of lockdown stopping you from visiting the region. Less active L.A., and more observing in Oregon, Fischer's career didn't end with this in 2011 and the multi-disciplinary artist has produced great things since, but the album is certainly one of turning points in terms of reputation and note.

The idea of slowly watching time unfold in un-rushed places is also highly appropriate. Among the washes of tape and the waves of refrain that make up this beautiful, meditative outing, you'll hear takes and half-harmonies from found instruments including a piano and xylophone. Overall, it feels like a place removed from linearity. A liminal masterpiece, if you are that way inclined.

Corey Fuller and Tomoyoshi Date are the Illuha duo but for this new Tobira album they link with percussionist Tatsuhisa Yamamoto. He is a skilled drummer who has worked alone on Black Truffle but has also collaborated with Jim O'Rourke, Eiko Ishibashi, Keiji Haino, Phew and Oren Ambarchi among others. This new record focusses on electro-acoustic sounds that are run through with all manner of precise sonic details and are carried by Yamamoto's unique playing style and singular sense of groove which were recorded over two sessions. That playing style finds him playing very lightly with closely mic'ed drums so plenty of softness is captured and then interwoven with layers of Rhodes, piano, distant synths and metallic murmurations.

Multi-disciplilnary Swiss artist Zimoun makes large-scale installations of noise and movement from cardboard, DC motors and other industrial objects. He has shown them in prestigious museums and galleries across the globe and now in his new album ModularGuitarFields I-VI he has relied on just one instrument, the Tenor Baritone Guitar, which he has then fused with elements of a modular synth setup and a vintage 1960s Magnatone Amp. It is a deliciously atmospheric work of raw sound, hints of psychedelia and gritty microsounds that are like scone sculptures that evolve as you listen and make for a hypnotic experience. Each new listen reveals a fresh layer to get lost in and as such makes for a fascinating album.

12k is very happy to welcome Uwe Zahn, aka Arovane, to the roster. Arovane, a well-respected artist in the field, hailing from within the German countryside, has been active since the early 2000s beginning with releases on City Centre Offices and DIN in the heyday of the IDM and microsound years. He has since gone on to release work with n5MD, Pure Magnetik, and Strangely Isolated Place, among others. With Reihen he takes his characteristic pointillist synthetic structures and impeccable sound design and lays them in a web of fagility, decay and etherealism that feels like new a new direction for Zahn.

Snowmelt is a new record by Australian artists Seaworthy (aka Cameron Webb) and Matt Rosner, the long awaited follow up from their 2010 collaboration Two Lakes. Matt Rosner continues to explore the natural world to inspire his work based out of remote Western Australia. His most recent release being No Lasting Form (Room40). Webb's output as Seaworthy has been sparse in recent years as he continues to pursue a career in environmental research, focusing on urban wetlands and their ecosystems. This marks the first substantial release since Wood, Winter, Hollow, a collaboration with Taylor Deupree in 2013.

Way nding is Christopher Bissonnette’s sixth solo studio release and his rst, of hopefully many, for 12k. The album embodies an evolution of Bissonnette’s work, moving from an exclusively synth-based series of explorations to an amalgam of electronics and acoustic methods. Each track seeks to nd grandeur on a diminutive scale. Bissonnette’s focus has shifted from sweeping pastoral drones to introspective passages with delicate melody and elusive harmonies interlaced with studio and eld recordings. This minute scale is also re ected in a photographic series that studies the domestic landscape of home. The sequence of images transforms the banality and insigni cance of the familial interior into expansive vistas and bucolic panoramas. Way nding is Bissonnette’s most intimate and gauzy work to date and executed with beautiful restraint.

Both Stephen Vitiello and Taylor Deupree are seasoned collaborators. Each new collaboration is a new context, a new conversation and a unique opportunity to learn. Vitiello has worked with musicians such as Scanner, Steve Roden, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Machinefabriek. As an artist often
represented in galleries and large scale sound installations he has also had the frequent opportunity to work with visual artists from the likes of Tony Oursler to Julie Mehretu and Joan Jonas. Deupree has a long history of collaboration including early works with Christopher Willits and Richard Chartier as well as Marcus Fischer, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Bon Iver's S. Carey. Fridman Variations is Vitiello and Deupree's third release
together and continues their tradition of exploring their unique form of experimental improvisation.
Stemming from a live performance at NYC's Fridman Gallery, Fridman Variations was co-produced by the gallery and will remain as part of the gallery's publications. Fridman Gallery is a visual exhibition space that also boasts a unique dedication to experimental music through their annual New Ear Festival, at which Vitiello and Deupree performed and recorded the main piece for this album.
Side A of Fridman Variations is the live recording, edited for vinyl while side B contains two pieces made with some of the same source material as the live performance and intended to be related, but entirely new, works. Guitar, modular synthesizer and a small tape synthesizer are at the heart of these songs. The improved layers draw on buried melodies and hint of feld recordings and found textures. Not overly melodic, not
overly noisy, Vitiello and Deupree like to fnd the edge between the pretty and the obscure, often suggesting more than laying their intentions bare. This type of sound is one that the duo often explores as an opportunity for Deupree to adventure beyond his melodic comfort zone and for Vitiello to work and experiment with new instruments and how they interact with his signature guitar.
One of the biggest inspirations to the artists for this work was the hushed and dreamy state of the audience during the performance. The late-night ambience added to the immersive quality of the surround speakers and helped to channel creativity and a sense of sharing
Both artists feel that recording live performances is an opportunity to capture a unique moment that simply won't happen again. Despite a performance's faws or imperfections the energy and interaction is a special moment in time for the performers and audience. The opportunity to not only document it for the listeners who were present but also to be able to share the moment with those who weren't there is a positive one.
To further be able to expand on the ideas in the controlled studio environment serves to enrich the experience and further the communication.

Corey Fuller Is One Half Of The Duo Illuha On 12k And Break Is His Frst Solo Recording For 12k. A Crashing Wave, The Breaking Dawn, An Impact, The Crushing Of Emotional Spirit... The Breaking Of A Storm. These Are All Relevant Ideas Behind His Choice Of A Title For This Highly Emotional Abum. Fuller Has Addressed The Universality Of Human Struggle Without Going Into Specifcs Of His Own Personal Waves. The Ideas That We As Humans All Share Many Of The Same Diffculties Is Both A Launching Point And A Message He Wishes To Share With Break — The Catharsis.
While Illuha's Music Is Known For Its Attention To Small Sounds And Light Textures, Break, While Equally As Fragile, Sees Fuller Working With Much Heavier Elements. Still Highly Melodic, The Work Pulls And Churns Between Harmony And Tension, Weight And Air, The Crash Of A Wave, The Pull Of The Undertoe. The Album Is Focused Intensely On Melody And Harmony, Progressions More Carefully Composed Than The Serendipitous Found Sound Of His Work With Illuha.
The Piano Is Often At The Center Of These Songs, An Instrument (his Own) That Has Become Much An Extension Of His Own Body. His Own Voice Plays An Important Role As Well, Sometimes Lyrically Ethereal And Sometimes Just A Breath Signifying The Ever-fragile Thread Of Life. Beautifully Recorded
In His Tokyo Studio, The Sounds Are Captured With All Of Their Inherent Physical Faws. As Fuller Himself States About The Piano Being recorded In A Way That You Can Hear The Bones, Like An Open Ribcage, Moving Contorting...' Everything On Break Is There For A Reason, Not Just The Sound And Soul Of The Piano But The Electronic Elements As Well, Rattling Bass Tones And Dramatic, Emotional Waves Of Synthesizer Rising And Dissolving.
If A Single Word Can Be Used To Describe Break It Is Physical. From The Instruments And Techniques Used To Produce The Album To The Concepts Of Vulnerability Of The Human Body. Break Is An Emotional Riptide Where Violence And Rest Struggle To Be The Last Voice.


i) Adrift
ii) Asunder
iii) Aground

Will Samson returns with a new album Harp Swells after more than ten years of crafting delicate sounds that are often led by his own tender voice. Now back on Taylor Deupree's experimental label, he fully immerses himself in the ambient world he previously considered only a side project. Thse record is a real meditation that sees him move away from the melancholy of his past and towards more bright and optimistic melodies. His aim is to heal himself through music and this record has six movements, each of which is based around his use of a 70s portable reel-to-reel tape recorder known as the UHER 4200. It makes for a widescreen and mesmeric work that stretches out in all directions around you with glistening melodies and slowly shifting energies that truly uplift.