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 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 »