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Upcoming live shows

The VIllage Orchestra, Erstlaub, Mandelbrot Set, Fighting Kites
2008-08-31
Cafe Oto, Dalston, London, UK
click for more info

Production Unit
2008-09-05
w/ Various Production, Jackmaster
Sub Club, Glasgow, UK
click for more info

The Village Orchestra, Production Unit
2008-10-23
w/ A.R.E. Weapons, SJ Esau
Last.fm/Netaudio night at Shunt, London, UK
click for more info

the Highpoint Bloglife

Friday, August 8, 2008

nosehair pt II

hello! slightly self-indulgent of me to be posting up these mixes, but here's part two of the Nasty As Nosehair mix, this is the more techny/dubstep end:

http://highpointlowlife.com/downloads/nastyasnosehairmixptii.mp3

tracklisting is:

1. Voltaic - Darkhaze
2. Funckarma - Nays Of Dight
3. Zomby - Liquid Dancehall
4. Joker - Snake Eater
5. Martyn - Vancouver
6. ASUSU - Bruwa
7. Timeblind - Wander The Earth Like Cane
8. Kit Clayton - Aspoket
9 Geoim - Reminissin
10. Surgeon - Whose Bad Hands Are These (Autechre Mix)
11. Young Bloods - Burning Up
12. Redshape - Steam
13. Maurice - This Is Acid
14. The Marcia Blaine School For Girls - Team
15. The Village Orchestra - 2562 remix
16. Chip E - Time To Jack
17. DJ Maxximus - Rms
18. Natasja - Ildebrand I Byen 2000F Dub Remix
19. Zomby - The Lie

Labels: dj, downloads, mixtapes

Thursday, August 7, 2008

nasty as nosehair

yar, been kinda hectic with the Stray Ghost release and getting some promotion out for the upcoming Towards The Singularity gig - all good stuff!

Theres an excellent gig on tomorrow evening in london, Nitefreq with 808 State, I-f and Arthur Russel all playing in the main room. The small room is a party hosted by People's Music Store, where me and Mat/Fisk will be playing a 2 hour back to back DJ slot - it's gonna be a tough one to follow as we'll be on right after the amazing Ikonika (saw her DJing again on sunday at FWD - she's sooo good!!). I've been putting together a big set in Ableton for it. Heres a hip hop styled run-through i did last night and rendered as mp3:

Nasty As Nosehair Mix

tracklisting is:
1. Dev79 feat. Bezel - That Philly Shit
2. Flying Lotus - Robo Tussin feat Lil Wayne
3. J Live - The Upgrade (instrumental)
4. Ad Bourke - Flight Deck
5. Cappablack - Facades and Skeletons
6. Viktor Vaughn - Raedawn
7. Up Hygh - Acid
8. Busta Rhymes - How We Do
9. Bretzel Zoo - The Dunk
10. Frank N Dank - Spitkicker
11. Miles Benjiman - Chop That Wood (instrumental)
12. Kirby Ditko - Hulk Smash

(p.s the title "Nasty As Nosehair" comes from a line in the Viktor Vaughn track!)
(p.p.s theres one bit at the end of the mix where i seem to have forgot the delay is on!)

Labels: dj, downloads, gigs, mixtapes

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

complicated man

top marks to Mat/Fisk for finding out where the Dr Dre XXplosive sample comes from!
The song it's from is called "Bumpy's Lament" by Soul Mann & The Brothers, and its from the Shaft soundtrack. You can have a listen at:
http://www.last.fm/music/Soul+Mann+and+The+Brothers/+videos/+1-O8PN4v-Lud0?b=1
quite funny to hear, as the original is super slow in comparison.

I received that Samiyam "Rap Beats Vol. 1" this morning - had it on about twenty times already. I mentioned how the Hyperdub release was like small vignettes, well that one is nothing compared to Rap Beats - made up of 24 tracks, with the longest track being 1min 46. They average around the 1min30 mark, but surprisingly it holds together really cohesively. Too many of them for me to pick out any highlight tracks at the moment, but all of them sound excellent.
You can buy from Warpmart if so inclined.

I also received the Bomb It! DVD which i've mentioned a few times in the past. recap: global graffiti culture documentary, covering origins of graf from trains in the Bronx (i believe is also covers historical graf up to that point) up to and including all the current hotspots from tokyo, berlin, sao paolo, nyc, barcelona and so on. I'll post more fully a review of it after we've watched it. Mr Spendlove has generously allowed us all to head round to his house to watch it there!

There will also be an official London premiere coming up on August 16th at the Tate Modern - should be good to see it on a big screen!

Labels: bomb it, dr dre, mixtapes, samiyam, shaft

Monday, June 16, 2008

dilla-gence

rar, what a pretty good weekend...

Friday went along to the Jahtari/Werk nite at Plastic People, which was pretty ace. When i first arrived Lukkid was just starting and did a pretty good chopped up soul/hip hop set. Some other decent stuff over the evening, one guy who i *think* was Newworldaquarium, played an excellent detroit-style set with loads of little recognizable snippets of tracks including a Nexus 21 track which me and Matt/Spendlove got excited about. The total highlight of the evening, and the reason most everyone was there, was for Disrupt - fuck, by that point the volume was up so loud i was almost feeling queasy with the bass thud - it was perfect for his set and everyone was skanking to his 8-bit-videogame-dub.

Saturday i was recovered enough by the evening for the Warp Brainfeeder night which has a massive lineup - Ras G, Samiyam, Rustie and Hudson Mohawke, Kode9, Flying Lotus and Mala. Quite a decent crowd of us out for it, and the whole evening was excellent. That venue, Hearne Street Car Park is great too, spacious enough to relax and not feel cramped, with external areas to the main dance-room, and somehow escaping the non-smoking laws - my guess is that its classified as a private party, judging by the use of drink tickets and the setup.

Finished off sunday with some light-weight movie action to see the new Hulk movie, which was actually better than i expected, sort of in the same league as the latest Iron Man movie - not amazing but tied in enough with the Marvel comics universe to appease comic geeks and enough in-jokes to keep you amused.

Feels like a slow start to the week today though, but i found a few new free downloads to be start the week right:

Theres a download of Flying Lotus' live set for radio one last year, shorn of the radio one bits. Link found via his myspace blog:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VSR24FW5

New mix went online over the weekend from DJ Synflood featuring an excellent mix of the hip hop such as Flying Lotus, Daru, Dilla, Madvillain and more.

Best of all - via J Dilla's wikipedia entry i found a free mixtape of unreleased Dilla production with Busta Rhymes. Grab is from here. Via mickboogie.com

Labels: dilla, downloads, flying lotus, mixtapes, weekend

Monday, April 14, 2008

dance to the radio

hey!

The label mix i put together for Electronic Explorations went live this afternoon. Check out the website and grab the popdcast from http://electronicexplorations.org/the-show/week-020-highpoint-lowlife/.

The whole show is really good and just super well done. thanks loads to Rob Booth for asking to a mix. The tracklisting for the HPLL mix is:

01 - Feld - tut tut
02 - Funckarma - Pable Cath
03 - Fisk Industries - Blood
04 - Mandelbrot Set - Astronomy and Allied Sciences 1b
05 - Erstlaub - Scanning For Daybreak
06 - Erstlaub - Island (TVO's 'Departure (38)' mix)
07 - The Village Orchestra - The King Of All Tears (excerpt)
08 - Production Unit - Single Water Body
09 - Dalglish - dasda
10 - The Marcia Blaine School For Girls - The Ratio

Coming up this thursday, 17th April, The Wire magazine have asked us to come into the Resonance FM studios and join them for the evening on their regular show "Adventures In Modern Music". Me and Mat/Fisk will be going along to play some tracks and talk about the label, which should be a lot of fun! It goes out between 9pm and 10:30pm BST on 104.4FM , or you can tune in via the resonance website

Labels: downloads, mix, mixtapes, new releases, podcast, radio, the wire

Saturday, April 12, 2008

mic terror

i've mentioned this guy on the blog before, but i have to stress how good his shit is. The mixtape, Terror Dome Volume 2, mixed by Million $ Mano is just excellent. I've been sitting here with a beer and a smoke putting together a set for the lastfm gig tomorrow and listening through this album now, its sounding so good. I especially recommend track 3, "Mixtape Shit".

If you didn't grab it before, download the mixtape at his myspace

Labels: downloads, mic terror, million $ mano, mixtapes

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

'history of hip hop' mix series by The Rub

shit, this looks ace - http://www.itstherub.com/radio.htm#history

history of hip hop from '79-'99, all downloadable and mixed up by The Rub, one mix for each year, with their selection of the best and/or fav tracks from the year.

I found it via http://www.weareie.com/.

only problem is which mix to go for first, they all look ace! I've opted for '86!

Labels: downloads, hip hop, mix, mixtapes

Friday, April 4, 2008

weeeekender

yes! weekend is here again!

tonite could be a long one:
it was Mat/Fisk's birthday on tuesday and he's having a drinks tonite which should be fun. The Marcia lads are down in London for the weekend too, so gonna hook up with them for University of Dub later tonite as well. I've never been, and even though i'm balking at the £12 entrance fee, i want to go along and check it out - heard so many good things about it. hopefully should be some relaxation for the rest of the weekend though as its been a hectic one this week!

Heres a couple of downloadable mixes i've come across this week:
Serge doing a mix of Clone Classics records, all nicely proto-house/italo stuff, super good!
http://alainfinkielkrautrock.blogspot.com/2008/03/clone-classics-mix.html

Hudson Mohawk mix via the North South Divide's regular podcast series:
http://www.northsouthdivide.com/podcast/nsdpodcast_270208_wireblock.mp3

Labels: clone, downloads, fisk industries, hudson mohawke, marcia, mixtapes

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Redshape and Rustie

No, not on the same bill, which would be astoundingly good, but two totally unrelated mixes i've been listening to!

I'm planning to head up to Glasgow next month to see Redshape play at Numbers alongside The Village Orchestra which should be ace. I've been really excited about Redshape for a few months now, and been tracking down as much as i can from him. His own site at http://www.shapedworld.com/ doesn't have much info, just his discography. Hiding in the listings there you'll find a link to download "Redshape Live At ADE 2006". Its pretty excellent.

I was checking Rustie's myspace this morning again, and hadn't noticed before a link to http://www.thisisluckyme.com, a loose collective of scottish DJs and producers. They have a download section there which includes a mix from Rustie which is well worth downloading, full of well chunky hip hop.
Theres also a pretty interesting Rustie interview over at http://lazeruspit.blogspot.com/2008/01/rustie-interview.html. Curiously I think he looks quite like Kit Clayton in that image!

Labels: dj, downloads, mix, mixtapes, redshape, rustie

Thursday, January 17, 2008

new mix

I recorded this last night, just sorta selecting tunes for DJing at "Magnetism, That Electricity.." next saturday.
A blend of hip hop, electronica and dubstep, just pretty much going for a chunky head nodding set. A lot of these are tunes i been picking up recently which i've been really feeling.
Download the mix here.

Tracklisting is:
1. Cool Kids - Black Mags
2. Modeselektor - The Death Medley
3. Ghislain Poirier - Hit & Red
4. Andreas Tilliander - Stay Down
5. Mic Terror - Gold Around My Neck (prod. by Tony Baines)
6. Jay-Z - excuse me miss (rustie rmx)
7. Loefah - Yours
8. Chipmunk - If Only You Believed
9. Benga - Dominion
10. Madvillain - Accordion
11. Headhunter - Drop The Waste
12. Skepta - Serious Thugs Dub
13. The Bug - Poison Dart (Skream remix)
14. Plastic Little - Crambodia (pink skull remix)

I've been discovering a lot of great chicago hip hop at the moment - the Cool Kids, Mic Terror, Million $ Mano. I picked up the Cool Kids track from emusic.com, and the Mic Terror track is from a mixtape you can download on his myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/micterrormusic. Mat/Fisk has been a big fan of Ghislain Poirier and from what i had heard i was quite into it, but after listening to his recent Bastard Bass mix over at Pitchfork Media, i'm totally sold! excellent mix. Andreas Tilliander's couple of recent releases which he describes as "Acidub" have me totally addicted. The one on this mix is prob my fav, "Stay Down", but also really feeling "Bonnadub". The Jay-Z track - well, like everyone else i get wet finding any new Rustie tracks! I think that was from his myspace page. Loefah is a new one sided vinyl - tho i apologise for the quality of this rip - i need to re-rip it as the bass just sounds distorted. Chipmunk track is ace fun, and then closing the mix with a couple of dubstep tracks and then an excellent track from Plastic Little, which i believe is Spank Rock, Ghostface Killah and Amanda Blank - I'm slightly confused by the credits on the 12" - from the 12 it looks like the band name is called Crambodia, but when i try and google info on it, the band seems to be called Plastic Little.

anyhoo, hope you enjoy the mix!

Labels: ableton, dj, downloads, gig, live show, mixtapes

Monday, December 10, 2007

post-party post

rar! thanks to all came along on saturday evening for the xmas party, and made it such a good night! Excellent sets all round from max, michael, mat, and then an amazing headline set from Mandelbrot. If you enjoyed the Mandelbrot set, then definitely go along and see em this coming sunday at Bardens Boudoir, where they will be supporting the stellar Lullabye Arkestra from Constellation Records. More details at: http://www.last.fm/event/402058.
There were quite a few pictures getting taken, which should hopefully appear on flickr in the next few days - *edit* - Max just posted some pics up at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/_imax/tags/highpointlowlife/ - *edit*

I'm mooching around the office today, not really feeling much like working (the dayjob office at Lastfm, not the Highpoint Lowlife "office"!), but i've been getting a load of new music lately which is keeping me going - the best of which is having discovered Rob Hall's website and his monthly mixes to download. http://www.rob-hall.co.uk/. The December one is up at the moment, however, they're only up for a month and then changed over. With a bit of google searching you can find archives of the last ones tho. The December mix is number eight. Really nice dancefloor mix of old detroit and classic techno, seamlessly worked together in what i can only guess to be Ableton Live as they're so well mixed, with loads of snippets and samples of tracks worked into the mix. Other new musics i been feeling are the Rod Modell album 'Incense and Blacklight' on Plop, which is really ace. Even though i am enjoying the Deepchord presents Echospace material, the Rod Modell album has a wider sound pallette and more diversity to it, rather than just the Basic Channel template that seems so fashionable at the moment. Speaking of that fashionable sound though - i have been really enjoying the Murmur album 'Undertone'. Its perfect cold weather ipod music for enjoying.

In a totally different vein, my other top listen of the week is Kano's Mixtape Bootleg. Not sure how old this is - i found it via browsing plunder.com - but its fucking ace. As much dubstep as i been enjoying, for the most part i'm not into the vocal style of most grime, with the quickfire rapping just seeming like technical dexterity, but not having much actual flow or musicality. However, the Kano material just seems to leave more space to hear whats going on, to hear the actual lyrics and working with the music, rather than just spitting over the top of it. The Kano mixtape has a load of amazing production on the music, but doesnt stick completely to that wobbly sub-bass, and at times veers much more into a real dirty hip hop vein. Well worth checking out!

Labels: detroit, downloads, foundry, gig, grime, mixtapes, party, xmas