Going in for our "lucky 13", CTM – Festival for Adventurous Music and Related Arts Berlin – is pleased to announce the first confirmed performers of its hotly-anticipated 13^th edition! An essential reference point for adventurous and innovative music globally, CTM.12 returns January 31 – February 5, 2012 to take over longtime partner venues such as HAU and the Kunstraum Kreuzberg / Bethanien, as well as new partners Passionskirche, Gretchen, Kater Holzig and Horst Krzbrg. We are also extremely pleased to announce the return of our partnership with Berghain, bigger than ever this year, with 4 days of programming in the main Berghain room as well as in the Panorama Bar and the intimate Berghain Kantine. Through these varied locations CTM provides a panorama of some of Berlin’s most current and exciting cultural and nightlife venues, and creates an impressive panoply of environments that support its diverse and unique 2012 festival program.

As always, CTM runs parallel to and in cooperation with Berlin’s festival for art and digital culture, transmediale, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2012.

With an extensive program of concerts, discourses and an exhibition space, CTM.12 is appropriating the festival theme SPECTRAL to explore the current reemergence of all things ghostly and dark in experimental music, avant-pop, and art – and to speculate about its possible causes and inherent potentials. Read more about the theme here.

Navigating through the complexity, diversity, and unease inherent in Spectral, we are pleased to announce the first batch of artists confirmed for CTM.12:

Opening night homage to Éliane Radigue (FR) with Charles Curtis (US), Carol Robinson (US), and Bruno Martinez (FR). Active for over 40 years, Radigue is considered by many a pioneer in electronic music, using synthesizer and tape to create pieces of long duration and deep contemplation. The celebrated virtuosos Charles Curtis (cello), Carol Robinson (basset horn) and Bruno Martinez (basset horn) will be performing Radigue’s first instrumental work, "Naldjorlak", written between 2005 and 2008, specifically for this trio. Flushing out this showcase are an artist talk with Éliane Radigue herself, as well as a very special presentation of her piece "PSI 847" (1972/73) from its original tape recording.

30 years of Touch with Eleh (US), Jana Winderen (NO), Hildur Gudnadottir (IS), Charles Matthews (UK), and Marcus Davidson (UK). An event absolutely not to be missed, British label Touch celebrate their thirty-year anniversary with a star-studded roster including this year’s Prix Ars Electronica winner Jana Winderen, several organ performances including a rare appearance by The Eternal Chord, and a whole-group improvisation, all culminating with a highly-anticipated performance by the synthesizer enigma Eleh.

A revisitation of the Zodiak Free Arts Lab with music by Conrad Schnitzler, Wolfgang Seidel (DE) and his Free Arts Lab project, Qluster (Hans-Joachim Roedelius + Onnen Bock, DE), Borngräber & Strüver (DE) and more. Nurturing open experimentation between music, art, and performance in the late 1960s, the Zodiak Free Arts Lab provided one of the crucial focal points for the musical awakening of artists and bands such as Kluster, Ash-Ra Temple, Tangerine Dream, Human Being, and more. The program will highlight several of the Zodiak’s key figures and includes Wolfgang Seidel performing Schnitzler’s "Cassette Concert", an improvisational work that sees Seidel combining recordings made by Schnitzler into a coherent piece. A rarely presented automated performance on disklavier, Schnitzler’s "Piano Works", will also be shown, as well as Seidel’s own Free Arts Lab project. Another influencial Zodiak member, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, appears in guise of his new project Qluster, which continues the improvisational, electro-acoustic explorations begun with Schnitzler and Moebius as Kluster at the time of the Zodiak. For their appearance at CTM, Qluster will be bringing out a full arsenal of analogue gear that rarely follows them on their live performances. A range of other musicians that relate to these musical currents, as well as several talks with participating artists round out this program.

Mouse on Mars album launch with support from Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop (DE), the new project of Kreidler drummer Thomas Klein Sølyst (DE) and DJ Elephant Power (BE). Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma of Mouse On Mars have spent the past two decades creating some of the most inventive and beguiling electronic compositions to bridge the worlds of electronic and rock music. Reinvigorated after a long pause, the duo claims to be "writing their most exciting new stuff for years – possibly decades". Find out for yourself as they premiere their long-anticipated 11^th album, Parastrophics, to be released on Modeselektor’s influential imprint Monkeytown Records in late February.

World premiere of Mohn (Wolfgang Voigt & Jörg Burger, DE). With a first album expected for spring 2012 on Kompakt, Voigt (GAS, Mike Inc) and Burger (The Modernist) will be performing an AV concert of dark, slow-motion techno that combines variants of ambient music, bass drum and a lot of plasticizer to embark on a quest for the sublime.

Tri-Angle showcase with Balam Acab (US), Holy Other (UK), oOoOO (US), with support from Kuedo (UK) and Puzzle (INT). A young, US label that has been garnering attention since its debut in 2010, Tri Angle features a tightly-curated roster made up of a new generation of artists that draw influences from ambient, bass and other established genres to create music that defies easy description, though attempts have been made with labels such as witch house or drag. Showcase highlights include the European premiere of Balam Acab, a new liveset by oOoOO, as well as a DJ set by Leisure System resident Puzzle.

A German debut, Tim Hecker (CA) will perform his concept album Ravedeath, 1972, which takes the currently perceived devaluation and abuse of music as a starting point to address motifs such as musical disobedience, acoustic destruction, and a pervasive negativity. For his performance Hecker will specially mic the church organ in order to overlay the instrument’s natural sounds with digital real-time processing.

Other confirmed artists for which we will be revealing program info soon:

Ben Frost Trio featuring Borgar Magnason and Shazad Ismaily (IS/US)

Cosmo Vitelli (FR)

Cut Hands (UK)

diskJokke (NO)

Grouper with Jefre Cantu-Ledesma (US)

Haxan Cloak (UK)

Harmonious Thelonious (DE)

Heatsick (UK)

Hieroglyphic Being (US)

IAMTHATIAM (US)

Ital (US)

Kangding Ray (DE)

Kassem Mosse (DE)

Kettel (NL)

Loud-E (NL)

Mark Fell (UK)

Mika Vainio (FI)

Morphosis (LB)

Pole (DE)

Pre-Cert Home Entertainment presenting the music of Applehead, Slant Azimuth, Anworth Kirk (UK)

Roly Porter (UK)

Stellar Om Source (NL)

Keep checking back as we reveal more of the festival’s program structure, as well as the many more artists to come!

CTM.12 DISCOURSE PROGRAM (CONFERENCE)

In addition to a comprehensive music program, a discourse series developed in collaboration with the philosopher, psycho-historian and author Andreas L. Hofbauer will address the festival’s theme by pursuing questions concerning art, theory, and music. Ghosts Off the Shelf is an exhibit created by the curator, art critic, and architect Thibaut de Ruyter at the Kunstraum Kreuzberg / Bethanien, and explores the artistic use of the exponentially growing capacities of technical archives and their “inherent ghosts”. The exhibit opens on 27 January as part of a comprehensive partner program within which a number of independent Berlin art, music, and media spaces will present their activities.

Early Bird Festival passes as well as professional and press accreditations will be available shortly.