Music from Germany

Recorded at ADA in Peter Brötzmann’s hometown Wuppertal as part of his 80th birthday concerts, Naked Nudes brings together two of his most unusual collaborators, Heather Leigh (pedal steel guitar) and Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello) for one of the most elegiac releases in his discography. The relationships between the players are tonally odd: woozy, mournful, almost baroque blues or even more chamber music in feel, the quality of the interplay is subtle and natural, like modern ballads. In the recordi…

*300 copies limited edition* " Born in the mid-60s, German musician and sound designer Uwe Zahn came on the scene of electronic music with his debut full-length album for DIN, titled “Atol Scrap.” In the very same year of 2000, the influential City Centre Offices label has signed Arovane for his majestic “Tides,” which has withstood the test of time for over two decades now. Back then, electronic music was split between the dance floors and the bedroom listening, with the latter carrying the now…

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 A Strangely Isolated Place, among others. With Reihen he takes his characteristic pointillist synthetic structures and impeccable sound…

*In process of stocking. 2023 stock* 12k continues in its tradition of collaborative releases presenting a first-time pairing between German artist Arovane and 12k’s Taylor Deupree. Having become aquainted through their shared love of music technology, Uwe Zahn (Arovane) and Taylor Deupree only found it natural to work on a project together based around one of their favorite synthesizers. As Zahn recalls: “After a long email conversation, Taylor and I came up with the idea of ​​recording an albu…

"If music really is a form of rapid transportation, then I have found my mode of transport. Suspense brings apprehension before something happens. It’s a fact. The next time you’re in a snappy nightclub, tap your foot to the memories of your day fading out under the blue lights. The fiercest way to walk anywhere is on your toes. “Here I am,” you blurt out, but everyone already knows you, because a bass is a foghorn that guides us out of exhaustion. The days are doing a little number on us all of…

Cluster was the pioneering German duo of Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius. Formed on the cusp of the 1970s, they were a part of West Germany's nascent Kosmische Musik scene. The group would use restrained improvisational techniques similar to Gruppo Nuova Consonanza, working with both electric and acoustic instruments (organ, guitar, tone generators, cello, etc.) to create a singular sound that Julian Cope called "a huge beating heart, planet-sized and awesome." Following the release of…

Cluster was the pioneering German duo of Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius. Formed on the cusp of the 1970s, they were a part of West Germany's nascent Kosmische Musik scene. The group would use restrained improvisational techniques similar to Gruppo Nuova Consonanza, working with both electric and acoustic instruments (organ, guitar, tone generators, cello, etc.) to create a singular sound that Julian Cope called "a huge beating heart, planet-sized and awesome."  Originally released in …

*Limited edition of 500 copies.* "HD“ can be described as Atom™‘s electronic quintessence: a blend of pop, electronic abstraction and powerful grooves - an invention Atom™ stands for and which was popularized through previous releases, classics in the electronica genre, such as "Pop Artificielle“ and others. Here is what the artist says:As so often I was asked to say and write something about the recording you are currently having in front of you: "HD“. To any musician this is no doubt a complic…

*2023 stock* "This sprawling double album is the last Embryo title to feature the great guitarist Roman Bunka. Here, as on many of the band's other recordings, the basis sextet led by Christian Burchard is augmented by dozens of other musicians to varying effect. For starters, Embryo's live recordings are always their best. That is testified to here, as well, since the album was recorded in studios all over Europe, and features a live performance from Munich. It's the sprawl that testifies simul…

First-ever vinyl release on 180-gram 2LP black vinyl limited to 500 copies worldwide. Gatefold premium matte sleeve with spot gloss and OBI. Hand-numbered Lunz art print signed by Story/Roedelius. New liner notes from Tim Story. Contains two previously unreleased bonus tracks from the Lunz sessions. Curious Music and Groenland Records are pleased to announce the 20th anniversary special edition release of Lunz by Tim Story and Hans-Joachim Roedelius.This very special release comes newly remaster…

You know everyone, Canadian saxophone giant Francois Carrier his long-distance musical friend also from Canada, Michel Lambert, probably the best free improvised sideman John Edwards and the legend of the European free music world Alexander von Schlippenbach. New quartet, in the studio recording made at the beginning of this year!

*200 copies limited edition. In process of stocking* On “Red Circle”: Though severely cut, Red Circle doesn't exactly sweep along. It has a deliberate pace as Kallabris sets up the score of thirteen chance acquaintances who plan and carry out the sacking of our acoustic consciousness... Understatement is the method of these compositions for a small modular synthesizer. If there ever was something like heist music, this here surely is. (Vincent Canby, with a few minor changes and adaptions).

The continuously edited, autonomous piece of code as which Atom™ defines itself enters the hot state of flow. »Neuer Mensch« (»new human«) is the relentless, visceral expression of metamorphosis. A projection of the metahuman horizon, an exercise in shedding the exoskeleton. Dead tissue is being torn off in radical body movements. Dead ideas are crushed by feet, dancing the dance of brutal elegance. Somatic exorcism via hyper realistic surfaces of binary noise. Physicality. Unseen geometries dre…

Limited Edition CD slipcase celebrating Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto's VIRUS series. The slipcase can accommodate the 5 CDs Vrioon, Insen, Revep, Utp_, and Summvs (reMASTER) and comes in an eco-friendly, cream shaded Muken paper.Design by Carsten Nicolai.

Limited Edition Vinyl slipcase celebrating Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto's VIRUS series. The slipcase can accommodate the 5 LPs Vrioon, Insen, Revep, Utp_, and Summvs (reMASTER) and comes in an eco-friendly, cream shaded Muken paper.Design by Carsten Nicolai.

In process of stocking Released for the first time in 2011, 'Summvs' is the fifth and final installment of Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto's V.I.R.U.S. series. The title 'Summvs' refers to the Latin word "summa" (eng. sum) and "versus" (eng. towards); it serves as a metaphor for the work being oriented towards a collaborative result. The album features "Microon" compositions containing recordings of a 16th tone interval tuning piano - Piano Metamorfoseador Carrillo en Dieciseisavos de Tono. The a…

Released for the first time in 2009, ‘utp_’ is the third installment of Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s V.I.R.U.S.'s series. It was commissioned for the 400th anniversary of Mannheim, Germany. The flowing 10-section multimedia work derives its shape from a rasterized structure of the southwestern city, founded in 1608. The recording documents the work’s debut performed by Ensemble Modern at the National Theatre in Mannheim. The music embraces the electronic, piano-based palettes, an expanded ar…

In process of stocking Initially released in 2006, Revep is the third collaboration album between Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto and the third installment of V.I.R.U.S.'s five album series. Remastered in 2021 in collaboration with Calyx Studio, the album's recordings are accompanied by three new compositions titled "City Radieuse", "Veru 1", and "Veru 2". "City Radieuse" was composed for the 2012 short cinematic essay titled "Cité Radieuse" and part of Carsten Nicolai's "future past perfect" ser…

Tip! Finally out "Subterraneans" from Alva Noto feat. Martin L. Gore & William Basinski. An instrumental cover version, made by the electronic music pioneers together with the Depeche Mode's musician, of the famous song from David Bowie's album "Low", originally realised in 1977 for RCA.

In the spring of 1977, two musicians – Han Bennink and Peter Brötzmann – disappeared into the depths of a German deity named Dark Forest…