12.12.12 - BETWEEN 12k

Out Now-

CD and Digital Download on 12k- http://www.12k.com/index.php/site/releases/between/

Between:

Corey Fuller + Tomoyoshi Date (Illuha) • Simon Scott • Marcus Fischer • Taylor Deupree

Recorded live at Kinse Ryokan, Kyoto, on October 8th, 2012.

Reviews:

Vital Weekly (NL): "Oddly enough, halfway through this thirty-eight minute piece, the word that sprang to mind was 'jazz'."

Brainwashed (.com): "The amount of caution and restraint used by each performer is admirable."

Hatena (JP): "木と水が、柔らかい電子の音によって深く深く共鳴するような音響の連鎖、生成、持続。本作を喩えるなら、そんな言葉が思いつく。"

Chroniques (FR): "Un album jetant des ponts entre des lumières intimes, rappelant ce qu’il est possible, et surtout nécessaire, de faire ensemble."
 

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The electric glow of the street lights fade into the blue evening fog. The broken path narrows and gradually leads away from the wires that hang precariously and endlessly above our heads.

A solitary tree stands detached in a quiet urban environment. Between the branches the cold night air teases small sounds out into the wet air; a whispering voice, bark creaking as the tree responds, unknowingly, to conditions of the landscape. Its leaves litter the cobblestones as the warm transient display of autumn passes. A voice calls, echoing among the low buildings. Several miles away, where nature hushes the city, a small river runs where the shallow water is pure and clean. A dark shape passes close by, its large wings disappearing into the darkness ahead. It heads in, back towards the blue glow. I love this place.

A small group sleeps on marble steps ahead, full of life but still. In goes one coin and then another, until I make my choice as the journey is completed. Bicycle baskets full of paper, spine and tentacle, their small sounds clicking, tapping, scraping. The floorboards are creaking. Small details shared. Between.

• CAT.NO:12k2026
• RELEASE:December 12 2012
• FORMAT:CD
• EDITION:500  
• http://www.12k.com/index.php/site/artists/between/

UK Tour 2012

Autumn/Winter 2012:
_
I would like to say huge thanks to everybody in Japan that came to the two shows in Kyoto, Matsumoto and Tokyo (at both SuperDeluxe and the Yogenji Temple). It was fantastic to visit Japan and I met so many amazing people, talented musicians and it was a pleasure to tour with such a great group of (12k) artists.

I have some UK live dates approaching... I hope to see some of you at the performances in Bristol (10th), Manchester (11th), Leeds (12th) and in Cambridge (14th) : http://www.simonscott.org/dates.php

Finally look out for a special www.12k.com label release on 12th of the 12th 2012!!!! The photograph below (taken by Marcus Fisher who is the ghostly figure on the left of the photo behind Taylor Deupree) may give you a clue as to who is on the release and where it was recorded...

Arigato!

>

Quiet October- 12k Japan

This October I am delighted and excited to announce that I will be touring in Japan (6th-13th) with several other 12k label artists including label boss Taylor Deupree, Illuha and Marcus Fischer. We will be playing special live events in Kyoto, Tokyo (at SuperDeluxe:https://www.super-deluxe.com/room/306/ ) and in Matsumoto. I will performing tracks from my recent 12k album 'Below Sea Level' and using my Fenland field recordings to form live improvisations.

Look out for a special 12k showcase at the Yougenji Temple in Tokyo on 13th Oct featuring live collaborations between Taylor Deupree, Aoba, Ichiko, Tomoyoshi Date (Illuha/Opitope), Chris Willits, Fourcolor, Asuna, Minamo, Sawako, Corey Fuller (Illuha), Moskitoo,  Marcus Fischer and I.

http://www.kualauktable.com/event/yougenji04/yougenji04.html

http://www.kualauktable.com/event/12kJapan/12k2012.html

'Below Sea Level' CD + Journal (Deluxe package includes a hand drawn sketch, CD, Exclusive live set from Kraak Gallery in Manchester, Download and 80 page Journal) is OUT NOW!

Buy: http://www.12k.com/index.php/site/releases/below_sea_level/

'Below Sea Level' Reviews: http://www.12k.com/index.php/site/reviews_all/below_sea_level

Finally I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who has listened, enjoys and has supported my music.
Bye for now, Simon.

Below Sea Level (reviews, Interviews and shop links)

My new album "Below Sea Level" is OUT NOW on 12k. More information:
http://www.12k.com/index.php/search/tag_results/tag/simon+scott

The album is available to buy on CD in my web shop:
http://www.simonscott.org/shop.php

For the "Deluxe Edition" featuring 80 page hardback book, exclusive live set, CD, download and an original _sealevel~ hand drawn illustration please go to the 12k site shop:
http://shop.12k.com/products/500470-simon-scott-below-sea-level

THE ALBUM REVIEWS: 

• 12K1071-FLUID RADIO

  VIEW
  "...He has finally reached back to this sort of seminal moment where he was at one with the world, simply inhabiting the moment..... Magnificent"

• 12K1071-THE MILK FACTORY

  VIEW
  "Scott builds particularly striking soundscapes here."

• 12K1071-THEPOSTROCK

  VIEW
  "Ein filigranes Zusammenspiel von Natur und Technik trifft hier zusammen."

• 12K1071-LEND ME YOUR EARS

  VIEW
  "A stand-out album of glowingly warm, densely textured excursions into landscape & memory."

• 12K1071-CHAIN DLK

  VIEW
  "A sort of osmosis between acousmatic pastorale and lively natural elements."

  TEXTURA

  VIEW

  "He has granted access to what for many will be a new locale and provided enlightenment about its dramatic history."

  • 12K1071-EXPERIMEDIA

    VIEW
    "The album's seven tracks form a seamless and coherent narrative of carefully sculpted motifs."

  • 12K1071-BRAINWASHED

    VIEW
    "The sound of 1990s shoegaze dissembled into its most rudimentary components."

  • 12K1071-GO MAG

    VIEW
    "El talento se le intuía, en fin, pero todavía faltaba por llegar su gran disco, esa obra que confirmara definitivamente su posición entre los grandes del ambient. Y ese disco es Below sea level."

  • 12K1071-AMBIENT EXOTICA

    VIEW
    "Wonder! Scott’s devotion to this project results in a fantastic journey through the Fenlands of England."

  • 12K1071-MONSIEUR DELIRE

    VIEW
    "Delicate tracks featuring fine interactions between instrument (mostly electric guitar) and digital treatments."
    
    

    

    I have also recently had two nice features when I was interviewed about the new album. listening and certain other music related interests of mine:

    - M3 (2012)

    INTERVIEW

    VIEW

    "After English shoegaze heroes Slowdive broke up in 1995, drummer & sound designer Simon Scott decided to embark on his own experimental sonic journey, in addition to setting up his label, KESH Records. M3 met up with Simon to discuss his musical projects, diminishing attention spans and why active listening should be taught in schools…"  

    + (a very nice feature where I take a music writer out to the Fens to demonstrate how Below Sea Level was created):

    THE LIMINAL (2012)

    VIEW

    "Simon Scott and the sounds below sea level."

    Finally...

    Many thanks to everyone who has supported this album of mine, listened to my music and those who have attended, promoted or are planning to come to my live performances. I am humbled and honored to hold your listening attention! Thank you.

    
    

    Simon

    
    

    

    
    

    

    

    *For sounds, photos and more information go to the 12k website: http://www.12k.com/index.php/site/releases/below_sea_level/

    ~ 
    
    

    
    

New album OUT TODAY on 12k : Below Sea Level ~

May 29th 2012~

I am very proud to announce that my new album project Below Sea Level is released worldwide today on respected and influential US label 12k. The CD is accompanied by an 80 page journal featuring Fenland field recording notes, charcoal and ink illustrations, an essay that reveals the contextual background of the project and my 35 mm photography all captured during the two years the project was created.

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www.12k.com: "The Below Sea Level project was born from Simon Scott’s desire to musically explore the desolate and controversial environment of the Fens in East Anglia, UK. The memories Scott has of visiting this area as a child makes this a poignant and highly personal project that explores nostalgic familiarity with a desire to capture the musicality of the landscape. For two years Scott ventured into this former wetland with hydrophones and self-built recording devices to explore the land that is cartographically below mean sea level, trace the devastating history of this environment caused by the drainage of the land, and arrange it into conceptual musical and visual project. Below Sea Level explores the aesthetics of active listening and digitally disects the natural and man-made recordings Scott discovered within the Fens. He creates epic interwoven soundscapes that blend the recognizable (eg.: birdsong) with undistinguishable sounds, sometimes confusing what is natural and synthetic. Scott presents an abstraction of a place that is arranged and manipulated for aural contemplation outside of the Fens (in alien environments) where the music collaborates with each unique listening environment. Below Sea Level is released on CD and as a download but also comes as a deluxe version which is based around a hard-bound, full-color, 80-page journal. This journal features an essay Scott wrote titled "An Exploration of the Subterranean Fenland Environment" and also contains field notes, sketches, and photographs that he created while working on the project. Each copy of the journal comes with a unique, original, inked sketch signed by SImon Scott as well as a download of the entire album and an additional 30-minute live recording of some of the Below Sea Level material from a concert in Manchester, UK. A bundled version of the journal and CD is also available".

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Reviews have been humbling and positive:

 

Fluid Radio- "Rather magnificent... but is so much more than the evocative collection of environmental field recordings, luminous drones and ephemeral guitars found on this record."

Ears Lend- "Simon Scott's Below Sea Level package for 12k is one of the year's key releases - not just a stand-out album of glowingly warm, densely textured excursions into landscape & memory, but also a hugely impressive 80-page book of thoughts & photography that bid to shore up an increasingly fragile environment, if only by expressionist preservation".

Vital Weekly- "Great spacious music, with an excellent sense of field recordings. Classic 12K release, to which I should probably remark that given 12K more recent releases towards pop oriented material, this is perhaps a bit of an odd ball or a bit retro for 12K. Even when I like this, it sounds like some of the older releases on 12K".

The Milk Factory- "a particularly beautiful package in which Simon Scott not only showcases his music, but also an area of natural beauty which was the backdrop to his childhood". 4.7/5 

May 29th 2012- Below Sea Level released on 12k

Go to www.12k.com to order the CD and 80 page journal.