A collection of .aiff audio from digital sound designers around the globe.the structuring code for the future of synthetic environments.
.aiff is a brief look into the near future of 12k showcasing new artists and samplings of upcoming full-length releases. This compilation is also an important landmark in 12k’s evolution: it explores more experimental sounds and compositions alongside the minimal, synthetic post-techno for which the label is known.
(all tracks are previously unreleased)
Taylor Deupree: USA: 12k
Owner of 12k, Taylor Deupree offers “Kita,” a cyclical experimental track built up from not-quite-synced loops of tiny sounds and rhythmic elements. All of the sound generation and composition was done in software on a macintosh computer. “Geo” picks up from where 1998’s Comma, full length cd left off with minimal, synthetic techno although not quite as clean and straightforward as its predecessors.
*0: Japan: Mu-Label
*0 is Nosei Sakata from the Shibuya-Ku area of Tokyo. He runs his own cd-r label called Mu and has caught the attention of many of his contemporaries with his debut release “0.00.” “Psi” is a stripped-down exercise in frequency and rhythm using raw sinewave computertones. *0 is part of the new wave of Japanese minimalists exploring this computerized anti-music.
Komet: Germany: Rastermusic
Frank Bretschneider is well known as a founder and artist of the Raster.Music label in Chemnitz, Germany. “Street,” originally composed as part of a project called ‘Manhattan,’ has mellow ambient washes that slowly morph into rhythm. “Linien” lays a bleepy triplet beatbox rhythm over stark tones and modulations. Komet’s clean, precise sound and synthetic rhythms are a perfect match for the 12k aesthetic.
Shuttle358: USA: 12k
“Gone” is a glimpse into the sound of Shuttle358 and the upcoming full-length release, Optimal.LP. Dan Abrams, an art student from california, superbly blends soothing and sparse ambient tones with bursts of noise and other digital interruptions creating a very listenable ambient/experimental hybrid. Optimal.LP (12k1005) will be released in the spring of 99.
Klip: Greece: 12k
Klip is Savvas Ysatis from Athens, Greece. Known for his past work as Omicron (KK (Belgium), Instinct (USA)) and collaborations with Taylor Deupree as SETI, Futique, and Arc, Savvas now records for the world-renown Tresor Records in Germany. “Lowlands” is from a never-released Omicron album of stark alien soundscapes.
Kim Rapatti: Finland: Dum Records
Founder of Dum Records in Finland, Kim Rapatti’s “Mainio” is a perfect blueprint of the Finnish techno sound; a minimum of icy sounds woven together in loopy, hypnotic form.
Goem: Netherlands: Audio.nl
Goem are Frans De Waard, Peter Duimelinks, & Roel Meelkop. Creating compositions with usually no more than a kick drum and simple oscillators, their productions explore rhythm and negative space. “Comp Drie” is a brooding piece with distorted high frequencies and a rumbling low end.
The packaging for .aiff was mechanically designed and laser cut from translucent mylar by Dan Abrams based on the 12k floppy disc logo. The package contains a clear insert card with the track listing and credits.
