[MP3] High Places: "The Start" & "From Stardust to Sentience"

We still don't really understand all the hubbub about High Places ' first release 03/07 - 09/07 -- we tried listening and absorbing, but the form outweighed the function just a little too much for our humble tastes--but with the upcoming release of HP's official debut High Places they've managed to pack a bigger punch into a more accessible package and now we're beginning to see what all the fuss was about in the first place.

[MP3] High Places - The Start

Album opener "The Start" adequately brings listeners right to the point of this little musical adventure: lap-based instruments are for those old-fashioned folk who prefer sitting to standing, while the laptop-on-a-pedestal approach proves much more suitable for today's stand-up and stand-out crowds. Trade in your banjos, guitars, upright basses, pianos, drum kits, and all else, because in High Places' musical lexicon they're no longer needed once they've been uploaded and post-processed. In fact, they're outcasts. It may have taken 27 years for most people to figure this out, but Byrne and Eno were on to something when they unleashed the sample-based fury of My Life In The Bush of Ghosts in 1981.

[MP3] High Places - From Stardust to Sentience

Try to find something resembling an instrument with three dimensions taking up physical space on this album and you'll be left saying "well that sorta sounds like..." and "if you reversed engineered that particular sonic cluster-fuck, it might sound like..." -- this is what makes HP's music so hot. You can't even try to ignore some of these sounds. It's like when you make strange noises to a puppy who then cocks his head in curious confusion. See, humans are born curious sound-seekers, but the radio destroyed it for us. Luckily for bands like High Places (and other boundary-pushers like Deerhunter and Animal Collective), we're starting to cock our heads in wonder once again.

High Places is out September 23rd on Thrill Jockey .