Hightpoint Lowlife will be hosting two parties at the end of the month to celebrate the release of the forthcoming new EP from Dutch duo Funkarma. The 12″, entitled Dubstoned EP1, will be released on 25 June 2008 on Highpoint Lowlife and is the first in a series of dubstep-infused EPs from the duo.

Requirements Of A Modern, the launch parties, will be held at Plastic People in London on 25 June and Cube Cinema in Bristol on 27 June, with live sets from Funkarma, Ikonika and Fisk Industries.

For further details, check the Highpoint Lowlife website.

Highpoint Lowlife

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Magnetism, That Electricity
HPLL026
Highpoint Lowlife 2008
12 Tracks. 74mins46secs

For some time now, the excellent Highpoint Lowlife have refocused their outputs by publishing extremely limited hand crafted CDR editions, but the quality of the music released has in no way waned, as recent releases by Tigrics and Erstlaub have shown. Magnetism, That Electricity is the latest project initiated by label head Thorsten Sideb0ard, and follows the Analog For Architecture DVDR compilation released a year and a half ago. The project was devised primarily to be pressed on vinyl and released as a double EP, with four very different acts from the HPLL stable given the full run of a side each. Answering the call are atmospheric drone rockers Mandelbrot Set and electronic outfits Fisk Industries, The Village Orchestra and The Marcia Blaine School For Girls. Continue Reading »

ERSTLAUB
On Becoming An Island
HPLL025
Highpoint Lowlife 2007
01 Track. 43mins49secs

Second in the Highpoint Lowlife series of exclusive digital releases and very limited CDRs is the latest offering by Scottish artist Dave Fyans, here operating under his Erstlaub guise. Hailing from Perth, on the East coast of Scotland, Fyans has previously been spotted on the excellent Some Paths Lead Back Again compilation put together by the Marcia Blaine School For Girls crew just under three years ago, where he contributed three tracks as Daigoro. More recently, he contributed a remix on the digital-only companion EP to the Marcia Blaine album, and he has self-released a handful of CDR albums. Continue Reading »

TIGRICS
Synki
HPLL023
Highpoint Lowlife 2007
09 Tracks. 73mins13secs

After a few months of non activity due to a deep rethinking of intentions and aspirations, the ever-excellent London-based Highpoint Lowlife are back in business, having decided to focus largely on extremely limited numbered CDR releases, with digital albums made available from the label’s website. This process, which mirrors the label’s Analog For Architecture DVD-R of a few months back, aims at recapturing the original Highpoint Lowlife ethic and provide music enthusiasts with unique artifacts rather than mass produced items.

Inauguring this new phase for the label is Hungarian musician and illustrator Tigrics, born Róbert Bereznyei, who hails from Budapest. Continue Reading »

The excellent Highpoint Lowlife will be releasing two very limited albums in coming weeks, starting with Tigrics’s Synki on 16 October, followed by Erstlaub’s beautifully titled One Becoming An Island on 30 October.

HPLL recently affirmed its commitment to releasing music as beautiful artefacts destined to collectors, and to this effect, both albums will be released at just 100 physical copies on CDR housed in white DVD cases, with handdrawn artwork by Tigrics for his album and artwork designed by Mathieu Ranson for Erstlaub’s release. Both albums will also be made available as digital FLAC download from the HPLL website from the respective release date.

Synki features nine original tracks using field recording and ‘his own micro modular mad scientist composition’, while On Becoming An Island features just one ambient track spreading over just under forty four minutes.

Highpoint Lowlife | Tigrics | Erstlaub

THE MARCIA BLAINE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
Halfway Into The Woods
HPLL024
Highpoint Lowlife 2007
11 Tracks. 61mins01secs

Scotland has been delivering some fine electronic acts with insistent regularity, from the beautifully melodic and innovative Boards Of Canada to some of the acts from the Benbecula stable. The Marcia Blaine School For Girls, a trio hailing from Glasgow, have released some very promising EPs on Static Caravan, Awkward Silence and Metal On Metal, since they first appeared in 1997, and the compilation of Scottish electronica they put together for Highpoint Lowlife in 2005, Some Paths Lead Back Again, which predominantly featured work from the collective and its satellite projects, as well as tracks from the likes of Izu or Chris Dooks, was a rather tasty appetizer. Continue Reading »

MARSHALL WATSON
Math And Other Word Problems
HPLL019
Highpoint Lowlife Records 2006
09 Tracks. 47mins52secs

Seattle-based Marshall Watson returns to the Highpoint Lowlife shore with a second collection of brushed electronic tones and chilled moods. Follow up to The Time Was Later Than He Expected, released almost two years ago, Math And Other Word Problems sees Watson dive deeper into warm melodic electronica to explore a much wider range of soundscapes and atmospheres. While he was at times showing a certain lack of maturity on his debut, this sophomore effort is much more cohesive and mature.

Wrapped in gentle dub, crisp minimal techno and lush electronica, Watson’s compositions become wonderfully fluid and evocative as he punctuates this album with cinematic moments and intricate sequences. All the way through, he alternates between expressive layered soundscapes and more intimate minimal structures to finely balance the general atmospheric tone of the record. Continue Reading »