Using samples, loops, found sounds, household appliances, and a highly developed sense of childlike joy and wonder, High Places create some magic on their debut full-length album. The duo of Mary Pearson and Robert Barber take a get-in-where-you-fit-in approach to their sound, splicing in elements of indie pop, electronica, world music, dub, and outer space kids music and ending up with a sound that isn't miles away from what fellow sonic adventurers like Panda Bear or El Guincho are doing, but retains more than enough individuality and invention to be totally unique and original. Credit Barber's amazing ability to weave bits and bobs of noise and sound into a blipping, jerky music that soothes the ears and makes your feet want to move. It could have easily ended up a jumbled mess or a corny gimmick, instead it sounds like a thoroughly modern update on the kind of primitive music humans have been making all along. Pearson's vocals too deserve all kinds of praise. They are unfailingly sweet without being sugary, sometimes treated and trippy but always directed straight for the heart. She gives the whirlwind of sound a stable and very human center. Within the group's hermetically sealed and unified world of sound there is enough variation to keep things very interesting, whether it's stuttering dance beats on "Gold Coin," the heavenly clouds of what sounds like bells and strings but could be anything on "Papaya Yeah," the almost Chinese guitars on "The Storm," or the clattering steel drums on "The Tree with the Lights On It," Barber and Pearson show a mastery of atmosphere and dynamics without sacrificing the beauty of the melodies and the impact of the songs. High Places' debut lives up to the promise of their singles (and then some) and is hopefully the first of many impressive and inspiring records to come from the duo.
Sometimes the cold metallic sheen of the loop-based, electronic and beat-laden can be a little too sophisticated in its modernity to transcend its exclusivity to the dance faction, which is a shame, because often the loop-based, electronic and beat laden can be fairly warm and inclusive, without sounding like a field recording of a toolbox [...] No related posts.
More >
Earlier this year, High Places, aside from touring to great effect with Liars and Deerhunter and picking up a good slice of Pitchfork hype, released (and I did a pretty rubbish review of, because I liked it but couldn’t think of anything significant to write) 03/07-09/07, essentially an expanded EP collection and precursor to this, their debut album proper, only admittedly one that is only 2 mi.
More >
This is a review I did a few weeks back, actually for class, and while a bit late, I like this record and think it's worth posting about.Brooklyn duo High Places has a friendship that most of us can only dream of. Mary Pearson and Rob Barber met in 2006, and moved in with each other two days later. Their beguiling, abstract pop took longer to emerge - earlier this spring, they released a shim...
More >
MP3: High Places - GoldenMP3: High Places - From Stardust to SentienceThe new eponymous record from High Places is very much worthy of it's self-titling in that it is a fine representation of the group and all of it's strengths. What was merely hinted at on the group's singles collection "03/07 - 09/07" is realized to it's fullest potential; it is two people's musical outlet at it's greatest ho...
More >
Earlier this year, High Places, aside from touring to great effect with Liars and Deerhunter and picking up a good slice of Pitchfork hype, released (and I did a pretty rubbish review of, because I liked it but couldn’t think of anything significant to write) 03/07-09/07, essentially an expanded EP collection and precursor to this, their debut album proper, only admittedly one that is only 2 mi.
More >
Sometimes the cold metallic sheen of the loop-based, electronic and beat-laden can be a little too sophisticated in its modernity to transcend its exclusivity to the dance faction, which is a shame, because often the loop-based, electronic and beat laden can be fairly warm and inclusive, without sounding like a field recording of a toolbox [...] No related posts.
More >
© 2006-2009 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved
 "High Places")
