B12 are a British
electronic music duo consisting of Mike Golding and Steve Rutter.
First appearing in the early 1990s under a variety of monikers, including Musicology, Redcell and Cmetric,
the duo were often mistaken as hailing from Detroit, their sound being comparable to the so-called second wave of
Detroit techno. This was compounded by the signature style of their initial releases on their own imprint B12 Records, limited editions on coloured 12" vinyl with cryptic messages etched into the run-out grooves, and the fact that Golding and Rutter tended to shy away from the press, and rarely gave interviews, which added to the mystery of their identities.
Their sound is usually categorised as
techno
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...
,
ambient techno, and
IDM. Recurring themes of science fiction and futurism can be found in nearly all B12 releases and track names.
Career
Golding and Rutter met in the late 1980s through a mutual appreciation of the
techno
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...
sound coming out from
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
from artists such as
Juan Atkins and
Derrick May.
Upon seeing the success of
Plus 8 Records
Plus 8 (also spelled as Plus8) is a Canadian techno record label, based in Windsor, Ontario. Along with Underground Resistance and Planet E, Plus 8 was one of the early producers of Detroit Techno's 'Second Wave' music at the start of the 1990s ...
in early 1990, they were inspired to do the same, and in 1991 founded
B12 Records as an outlet for the music they and their friends
Kirk Degiorgio (a.k.a. As One), and
Steve Pickton
Steve Pickton a.k.a. Stasis is an English electronic-techno musician, record producer and sound engineer. He started with a release on B12 Records under his Stasis moniker. After that, he released quite a number of 12"es and albums on several ...
(a.k.a. Stasis), were producing. Writing under various monikers they released a series of 12" vinyl records, each with a limited run of coloured vinyl, and messages hand-etched into the run-out grooves.
In 1992, B12 appeared on the
Rephlex CD ''
The Philosophy of Sound and Machine'', and the seminal
Warp Records
Warp Records (or simply Warp) is a British independent record label founded in Sheffield in 1989 by record store employees Steve Beckett and Rob Mitchell and record producer Robert Gordon.Southern, Richard (2003) "Label of Love: WARP", X-RAY, A ...
''
Artificial Intelligence Volume I'' compilation,
alongside
Aphex Twin
Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic music, electronic styles such as techno, ambient music, ambient, and jun ...
,
Autechre,
The Black Dog, and
Richie Hawtin. A full-length album ''
Electro-Soma
''Electro-Soma'' is the debut studio album by British electronic music duo B12. It was released on Warp on 29 March 1993 and is the fourth release in Warp's ''Artificial Intelligence'' series. Some of the album's tracks had been previously releas ...
'' followed in 1993,
a compilation of tracks from early B12 Records releases, as part of Warp's continuing
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
series.
B12 continued to release records on their own imprint, and also released a pair of split releases in conjunction with 'A.R.T. (Applied Rhythmic Technology)', a label run by their friend
Kirk Degiorgio.
In 1996 their second full length ''
Time Tourist
''Time Tourist'', or ''TimeTourist'', is an album released by B12 in 1996 on Warp. The inventive packaging for the album makes it appear as if TimeTourist is an educational computer game written in a dystopian year 2166 and which looks back on ...
'' was released on Warp,
with artwork by
The Designers Republic
The Designers Republic (also tDR, and styled as The Designers Republic™) is a British graphic design studio based in Sheffield, England, founded in 1986 by Ian Anderson and Nick Phillips. They are best known for electronic music logos, a ...
, featuring a painting by Trevor Webb of a futuristic London. The album contained mostly new material, although the track "Scriptures" had been previously released in 1994 on the ''
Artificial Intelligence II
''Artificial Intelligence II'' is a compilation album released via Warp on 30 May 1994. It is the eighth and final release in Warp's ''Artificial Intelligence'' series. It peaked at number 16 on the UK Compilation Chart.
Critical reception
John B ...
'' compilation.
Both ''Electro-Soma'' and ''Time Tourist'' were re-released in the United States on the
Wax Trax!
Wax Trax! Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago. It began as a record shop in Denver, Colorado, opened by life partners Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, who sold the store in 1978 and moved to Chicago. In November of that ...
/
TVT label.
Also in 1996, ''B1215'' (the unlucky 13th release on B12 – cat. numbers 12 and 13 were never used) was pressed, but only a handful of white label promo copies were ever released. This was to be the last release on B12 Records for over a decade. Due to the limited numbers pressed of each release, original B12 vinyl is sought after by collectors and can change hands for large amounts of money.
In 1998, ''3EP'' was released on Warp Records, a tribute to Jazz musicians
Dave Brubeck
David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...
,
Joe Morello, and
Ron Carter
Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded nu ...
(each track was named after them). The EP was not released in the United States. After 3EP's release, B12 retracted from public space without explanation, and were not heard of or seen again until 2005.
A number of poor-quality illegal bootlegs of old B12 material began circulating in late 2004, claiming to be represses. Obviously not cut from the original plates (they were missing the etched messages in the run-out grooves), it is thought they were probably taken from recordings of the old vinyl, or ripped from CD. Whether or not this was the reason B12 reappeared is not known.
In 2005, Golding and Rutter announced they were restarting B12 Records, and would be making available the complete back catalogue, remastered, on a 12 disc CD box set. They began playing live shows again, and a new Redcell track, titled "Back From The Edge" appeared on a limited CD series on
Seed Records
Seed Records has been the name of multiple record labels.
1970s American label
Seed Records was a record label started in 1972 by Paul Clark, a musician involved in the Jesus music movement. The label ran until circa 1981, when he started ...
.
In June 2007, the full release of 1996's ''B1215'' and new material ''B1216'' was announced, staying with the limited edition coloured vinyl format with etched messages in the run out grooves.
In May 2008, B12 released their third album (their first album in 12 years) called ''Last Days of Silence''.
Discography
References
External links
b12records.com– official B12 Records website
obsolete.com/b12– old B12 Records website
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{{DEFAULTSORT:B12
Intelligent dance musicians
British techno musicians
British electronic music groups
Electronic music duos
British electronic musicians
Musical groups established in 1990