Looking Further Backwards: The Intense And Chaotic 2012

2012 been chaotic, intense and overloaded year. Every season it is getting harder and more complicated to follow all the progressively expanding intellectual music scene worldwide as the new genres and talents tend to emerge quite rapidly. Inbox is always full of new records which vary from industrial, experimental to ambient or noise. The spectrum of brilliant and promising music is enormous and this fact sometimes makes us dissociate a little bit from this peculiar madness. It is a gloomy feeling when many musicians and record labels starts competing with each other involuntarily. Anyway, there is not only the shadows that shroud the situation. We agree that this commotion is a reason high-quality production and innovative projects to be born, but sometimes it is hard to discover them all and even more harder to listen to them.

2012 was quite fruitful in terms of releases. There were even several unexpected comebacks, reunions. The amount of music is huge and it is sometimes very hard to immerse in every interesting album properly, contemplate it, appreciate it. Moreover, for some records, one year is simply not enough. However, here we put some of releases we managed to enjoy properly. If you are a real music lover you know that even in 2022 you can find amazing record that was released in 2012 and wonder ‘Where I’ve been in 2012? Why I haven’t found it earlier? Who was listening to this masterwork at that time?”. Take a look at these noticeable records and compare with your own music vision, discuss and share your thoughts about the situation in music in 2012 with us.

Justinas Mikulskis
Cut Hands - Black Mamba [Very Friendly]
Andrea Parker Et Daz Quayle - Private Dreams And Public Nightmares [Aperture]
Raime - Quarter Turns Over A Living Line [Blackest Ever Black]
F.C. Judd - Electronics Without Tears [Public Information]
Thought Broadcast - Emergency Stairway [Editions Mego]
Iibiis Rooge - Hespherides [Weird Forest Records]
Lee Gamble - Diversions 1994-1996 [Pan]
Emptyset - Collapsed [Raster-Noton]

Radvile Nakaite
Demdike Stare - Elemental [Modern Love]
1991 - 1991 [Astro:Dynamics]
Orcas - Orcas [Morr Music]
mmpsuf - Retina [Not On Label (mmpsuf Self-released)]
Kane Ikin - Sublunar [12k]
Various - Eat The Dream: Gnawa Music From Essaouira [Sublime Frequencies]
Loscil - Sketches From New Brighton [Kranky]
Simon Scott - Below Sea Level [12k]

Paulius Ilevicius
Andy Stott - Luxury Problems [Modern Love]
Konx-Om-Pax - Regional Surrealism [Planet Mu]
The Caretaker - Patience (After Sebald) [History Always Favours The Winners]
Actress - R.I.P [Honest Jon's Records]
Belbury Poly - The Belbury Tales [Ghost Box]
Laurel Halo - Quarantine [Hyperdub]
Windy & Carl - We Will Always Be [Kranky]
Trust - TRST [Arts & Crafts]

Music is endless and that is a fact (while there is no absolute vacuum in our daily routine). We wanted to distinguish some of the original records that were re-pressed in the 2012. Seems that some of the artists solid works disobey the time and sometimes re-born with a bigger energy than they were originally released. Now when music scene is full of kaleidoscopic influences from different times, cultures and authorities it is a really appropriate period for these records to shine and compete with fresh experiments. Our honor goes to these talents music who are still effective and invincible by time.


Monoton - Monotonprodukt 07 30Y++ [Desire Records]
Alvarius B. - Alvarius B. [Abduction]
John Cage - Shock [EM Records]
Porter Ricks - Biokinetics [Type]
Etat Brut - Mutations Et Prothèses [Sub Rosa]
Various - Traces One [Recollection RRM]

Our mix series and interviews uncovered secret and unexpected parts of artists, attracted people from all over the world. It was an invaluable, exciting and educational experience for us to meet these talented and friendly personalities, to find a way to work together, to create rich and significant content. We wish to believe that it also was an inspirational charge for our readers too. We invited almost every person by ourselves. We follow their meaningful work closely everyday and want to share the memorable records that were released in 2012 by the people and their projects who contributed for our journal.


Scanner - Colofon & Compendium 1991-1994 [Sub Rosa]
Nick Edwards ‎– Plekzationz [Editions Mego]
Lawrence English ‎– For/Not For John Cage [Line]
High Wolf - Know Thyself [Sun Ark Records]
Machinefabriek - Colour Tones [Fang Bomb]
Merzbow / Lasse Marhaug - Mer Mar [Editions Mego]


Kreng ‎– Works For Abattoir Fermé 2007 2011 [Miasmah]
36 - Lithea [3six Recordings]
Team Doyobi ‎– Digital Music Volume 1 [Skam]
Pillowdiver ‎– Cassette Recordings [Analogpath]
BJ Nilsen & Stilluppsteypa - Góða Nótt [Editions Mego]
HTRK / Tropic Of Cancer - Part Time Punks Radio Sessions [Ghostly International]


Trepaneringsritualen ‎– Deathward, To The Womb [Release The Bats Records]
Spacemen 3 / Sun Araw - That's Just Fine / I'm Gonna Cross That River Of Jordan [The Great Pop Supplement]
Steve Roden ‎– Berlin Fields [3LEAVES]
Anduin ‎– Stolen Years [SMTG Limited]
Astor - Alcor [Kye]
ASC - Lost Sync Part 1 & Part 2 [Samurai Horo]

That was our team's subjective view and sincere hints to 2012. Next year we will continue our journey through music and art universe trying to reveal new talents. We have set some goals for ourselves too as we will try to increase our team and create richer content. Also, we have already started to plan our mixes' schedule for the whole year 2013, we are going to expand out horizons by taking interviews from the more variable persons starting from people working in NASA laboratories and finishing with solid choreographers. Everything we do is just a strong love to what we call art and what we want to experience in this grimy world every day.

Our team wishes, that everyone will respect and support to each other in the music industry, share social connections, opinions, management knowledge and casual advices. We would like to thank especially to our dear readers and supporters (without you we would probably find it hard to exist), music friends, co-workers, colleagues and other friendly blogs, webzines, magazines. Also we want to thank Margarita, who has left our team, for all the great work she has done.

Let the 2013 bring us much more pleasing surprises and inspirations to aim passionately for our dreams.

All the best,

Secret Thirteen team