As
featured in "Igloo
Magazine":
Active / Freeze is the first disc on Taylor Deupree's 12k label to
be issued in a lot of 1,000, twice the quantity of all previous releases
in the catalog. And for good reason, the label has been gaining steam
ever since it was founded by Deupree in January of '97. This collaboration
sees the joining together of two forces that have long been a part
of the techno and ambient scenes, and both artists have demonstrated
their own talents through a constant evolution in sound. And the 12k
label itself, home to only a dozen releases so far, is tracking it's
own evolutionary course in electronic music. Whereas early albums
varied from exquisite high-glossed atmospheric ambience ('thesecretnumbertwelve')
to hard-hitting techno tracks ('ARC vs T.O.I.S.') to subtle IDM-slanted
programmings ('Drum Komputer' or 'Comma,'), the later half of the
catalog focuses more on sounds that are heavily experimental and increasingly
abstract. Often clumsily referred to as "glitch music" or "clicks
+ pops" in the music press, this fairly new soundform is still taking
shape as it explores the new archetecture of sound design software,
the idiosyncracies of failing studio equipment, and an entirely new
level of sonic minimalism.
Such 12k compilation
releases as .aiff and 12k1008 are superb introductions to this rapidly
growing style of sound, and feature a great pool of talent involved.
Active / Freeze continues this journey. Created by sending updated
soundfiles back and forth between them, Tetsu and Taylor develop the
sounds that would be used for the album in their own studios, giving
each artist the home court advantage. Little by little, sounds are
mixed, edited, chopped up, and recombined (among a vast selection
of other less adjective-friendly treatments) using various DSP techniques,
such as granular synthesis, until this digital stew satisfies. Sounds
are altered at a very basic level, previously unattainable with the
technology of the day. At once crunchy, organic, and soothing, this
album required repeated listenings for it to really click with me
(no pun intended). I placed the disc in the player on -repeat- mode
per Tetsu's recommendation, and allowed the sounds to drip into consciousness
as I went about my daily activities. I did find that my incidental
mood at the time heavily influenced the manner in which I percieved
the sounds. What at first seemed like an overly complex wall of stimuli
began to take on a different character as I noticed new aspects of
the sounds, and whole new sounds that previously went right over my
head unheard. So this disc reveals a little more about itself with
each listen, I've had it for a couple months now and am still hearing
new elements that I could swear were not there before! As with many
releases in the 12k catalog, this disc is sure to be hard to find
before long, so don't hesitate to pick it up if you see it. |