Poirier achives a tense, unresolved beauty.. something about it makes me not want to listen to music for a while after hearing it. Here's the 12k press release:

12k is proud to announce the debut release from Montreal native Ghislain Poirier. Il n'y a pas de Sud...

In an alluring departure from the sound of 12k's recent output, Il n'y a pas de Sud... blends broken melodies and sonic slips with a very stripped down version of the berlin techno sound. The result is a sparse blend of rhythm and space with a slow diffused groove as beats flux and vibrate beneath lo-fi oscillations of warm chords and clouds of bass.

Il n'y a pas de Sud... was created using an ageing PC with so little processing power that Poirier is forced to compose each work in parts and later piece them together. Using this approach he pushes himself to make the most of very little, which he does very well, and has developed a unique and fresh signature sound proving that the latest, most trendy software isn't necessary to create captivating sound.

Musical accomplishments aside, Ghislain Poirier is also a visual artist. He has had many solo exhibitions of his paintings and drawings in the city of Montreal, notably at the Maisons de la culture Côte-des-neiges, at the Galerie de l‚île-des-moulins and at Atom Heart.

Il n'y a pas de Sud... is a brilliant work from a new face in minimal electronic sound.

Ultra-minimalist. From 12k.com:
'0/r is nosei sakata (*0) and richard chartier. the collaboration was realized in mid 1999 entirely through the mail between the US and japan. raw tones and sounds on minidisc were sent to chartier and returned to *0 with new sounds and tracks made from *0's original sounds. this back and forth continued several times, the track titles indicating this process. the cd also includes two tracks "r" and "0" which are original solo works by each artist inspired by the collaboration.

although the two have never before collaborated, their sound and aesthetic are a perfect compliment to each other. chartier's sparse sinewave sculptures have been described as "impossibly extreme tonal stuttering" (the wire, UK) and "soundtrack to a wall-socket" (ambience, australia) while "*0 taps the potential full-frontal lobe attack of power-electronics in the momentary, powerful static bursts which erupt throughout" (gil gershman). the result is an album of the extremes. from the ultrahigh frequency of "0r" (an intro that many may not even hear, registering in at around 18khz, just below the upper limit of human hearing) to the 40hz basspulse of "0/r.". static and nth generations of digital sound simultaneously whine and click with machine precision and break away in fractured compositional space.

nosei sakata (*0):

*0 is nosei sakata from the shibuya area of tokyo. he runs his own cd-r label called mu and has caught the attention of many of his contemporaries with his debut release "0.00." *0 is part of the new wave of japanese minimalists exploring this computerized anti-music. his 12k debut was a previously unreleased track on the ".aiff" compilation. his next full length album is due for release on meme in japan.

richard chartier:

richard chartier is a painter, designer, and sound artist who resides outside of washington dc and has been working with sound since 1989. he has recorded work for meme (japan), microwave/staalplaat (netherlands), and intransitive recordings (boston usa). he is currently working on a collaboration with sound artist taylor deupree and a yet untitled work set for release before 2000.

recently his sound installation "arranging between patterns" was featured at the wpa/corcoran projectspace in washington dc as part of the exhibit "FUZZY." in october his paintings will be exhibited at antennae gallery in washington dc.'

Electro with vocals (hence the "oral").. comes with a lyrics sheet/poster

Cool electro-punk.. Adult's most adventurous release. Dig the Sartre reference.