Gravious- Futurist EP - Highpoint Lowlife 036

Gravious, otherwise known as Alistair Jackson, is one of Glasgow's finest proponents with a fresh take on Dubstep. Having recently returned from his first ever Australian tour, he is full of energy and as he talks about the ideas and sounds behind his latest release, the 'Futurist EP', which is already gaining radio support and exposure from DJ's such as Mary Anne Hobbs and Ikonika (You can find 'Jupiter Jazz' on Ikonika's recent mini-mix for Vice magazine

Ali started making music in 2001 after being shown the basics of DIY production by a friend. After experimenting in a variety of styles, he was converted to the fresh sounds of Dubstep, Dark Garage and Broken Beat after hearing the selections of DJs such as J Da Flex and Femme Fatale in early 2004. From this starting point, he quickly discovered the bass-heavy productions of Kode9, Digital , Horsepower, Skream, Groove Chronicles and Ghost – and was instantly hooked.

Taking inspiration from these sounds, Gravious also brought in elements from his wider musical tastes in both electronic and traditional music to add new perspectives. Artists most inspirational to him include The Sound of London, Boards of Canada, LTJ Bukem, Kyuss, Aphex Twin, and Autechre.

This is Gravious' fifth release, with 4 previous records under his belt through the HotFlush imprint, on both the main label and the Scuba sub-label.

Gravious - Futurist EP
Tracks :
1 Jupiter Jazz
2 Vultures
3 World Of Tomorrow

Audio samples of the tracks can be found on the Gravious myspace page.
Futurist EP is out on the 11th May on Highpoint Lowlife

10-20 : Highpoint Lowlife 034

Artist: 10-20
Title: 10-20
Format: longplayer
Label/Cat: Highpoint Lowlife / hpll034

10-20's self titled album is a claustrophobic hulk of a release, constructed from parts of discarded machinery, short-circuiting currents of krautrock, broken hip hop structures, dense aquatic substreams and spectral elements, all of which are funnelled towards a single cohesive hypnotic pulse.
Based in devon, the coastal and elemental forces of the producer's hometown are evident in the scope of intricate sounds layered and woven into rough shorn textures, where only a filtered ghostly impression of club-land's influence can be discerned within the resultant sound.
Displaying a versatility in composition the album follows an arc from opening track 'miluvs''s vaccum sealed melody, the vertiginous ascent of 'nei'; the viscous sluggishness of 'jjuvxszla', confused machine-funk of 'wdtrhjvelgrad', and the amniotic warmth of 'InB'; culiminating in the post-gravitational trajectory of 'arcadeagle' and dub-soaked pressure of 'sA' before the elegiac closing descent of 'unde'.

Track listing :
1. Milvus
2. Nei
3. JJuvxszla : Download Track
4. Wdtrhjvelgrad
5. InB
6. Arcadeagle
7. sA
8. Unde

10-20 is released on Highpoint Lowlife on March 15th, keep an ear out for it!!

Production Unit : Half Of A Hole : Highpoint Lowlife 033

Something new on Highpoint Lowlife by Production Unit, resident DJs at Glasgow's monthly wonky/dubstep/techno night, Numbers, (where Rustie, Jackmaster and that whole crew also stem from), and alongside The Village Orchestra, he's also one of the members of long running art terrorist music makers, The Marcia Blaine School For Girls.

Two distinct tracks woven together through a maximal use of low-end and dancehall derived rhythms and space:
The more technoid attack of 'A Little Hope' comes on with a thundering beat and a snaking synthline, before the wall of bass surges forward and shredded vocal textures create a hypnotic hook, all building toward an epic finale, before finally collapsing into a shimmering pool of syrupy ambience.

'Dem Sirens' on the other hand is a languid and woozy half time steppa, with a slow kick drum pounding out an incessant and skewed, almost hip hop beat, punctuated with finger clicks and tightly locked transparent layers of synth and melody, like a skunk hazed boogie down productions instrumental.

You can listen to full previews over at Last.fm

Kwaidan

Kwaidan is a one-off project inspired by Masaki Kobayashi's movie of the same name. Mat Ranson, known more for his work under his Fisk Industries guise, turns his hand to a longer format narrative, dispensing with his more usual hip hop styled rhythms for a more fluid darker style of slow burning techno.

Awash with kinetic energy, the music bristles with texture and ghostly treated sound sources, aiming to hint at the eerieness of Kobayashi's original ghost stories. Two tracks, each close to 12 minutes, and wound around a similar trajectory, built upon intricate punchy drum programming, pounding out an incessant rhythm with waves of sawblade synths vying for attention against an aggresive low-end bass, trying to rend and pull apart the forward motion.

Using the longer time frame, themes are able to fully develop and be explored with subtle nuance, slowly building up a sense of dread and claustrophobic foreboding, whilst simultaneously allowing more space for the sound to breathe, and a more natural flow and ebb to the listening experience.

This is the first in Highpoint Lowlife's series of digital 12"s - high quality mastered releases, available exclusively only as FLAC or 320kbps MP3s.

Sound sample for track 2 : Masaki, is available over at the HPLL site here and you can buy the digital EP for only £3.00 here

Erstlaub - I Am The Line Drawn In The Sand Between The Living And The Dead

The Highpoint Lowlife Label continues to push the boundaries of electronic music with their new release by Erstlaub with I Am The Line Drawn In The Sand Between The Living And The Dead. Isolationism / ambient / sweeping atmospheric drones are the order of the day on this release, but if any of that sends you scurrying for your latest Diplo mix CD then fear not, as whilst this release does require a delicate ear, its by no means harsh or sonically aggressive.
I am the line gradually builds and takes the listener on a dark electronic trip across its 46 minute duration. The piece was recording in one take using a Nord G2 engine and a couple of delay units with no overdubs or edits.
Many lovers of experimental music have probably at one time or another sat through a lengthy piece of minimal experimental music, only to have it pass them by and then the CD is promptly ejected and left forgotten in the rack, this on the other hand, I feel, many will come back to again and again.

Erstlaub - I Am The Line Drawn In The Sand Between The Living And The Dead is part of Highpoint Lowlife's limited edition runs with just 100 copies pressed and is available to purchase now on CD (at just £5 which is a bargain) and 320kbps MP3 download via the Highpoint Lowlife website.

Funckarma : Dubstoned EP1

The Highpoint Lowlife Label are set to drop a brand new EP from Funckarma in the latter part of this month. Made up of two Dutch brothers, Don and Roel Funcken, Funckarma released their first EP in 1999 on the Djak-Up Bitch (DUB) label. Since then they have unleashed a fury of releases on labels from Neo Ouija, n5MD, U-Cover, to Hymen, not including their work under other guises such as Cane, Quench, and their hip hop project with a trio of US MC’s under the name Shadow Huntaz, released on Skam records. We recently heard its five tracks and can confirm that the Funcken brothers have produced a cracking EP, imagine the Funckarma of old with their crunchy electronic wall of sound styled beats, abstract but accessible electronic rhythms and then throw some Dubstep influences into the mix.

There's a preview MP3 sample for those wishing to hear this EP available here

As well as releasing the EP, Funckarma will also be promoting the release of the record with two rare UK appearances, one at Plastic People in London on June 25th and another at Bristol's The Cube Cinema on June 27th. Support from Hyperdub's Ikonika, and Highpoint Lowlife's Fisk Industries.