High Places

Originally released back in February as an eMusic-exclusive digital compilation, Brooklyn’s High Places have thankfully issued this informal first album as a primer two months prior to their proper debut. Accumulated from a seven-inch, as well as various stray tracks, 03/07 – 09/07 is a self-explanatory collection that is every bit as cohesive and novel as their forthcoming LP. Describing the music of Mary Pearson and Robert Barber is a difficult task; it’s a fluid collage of woozy sounds built upon the resourceful layering of field recordings, worldly percussion, DIY drum loops, glockenspiel, guitar and Mary’s airy pipes. And in the case of the blissfully wispy "Shared Islands” or the tribal swoon of "Granola,” it sounds like it was recorded in a drainpipe flowing with liquid Ecstasy. Their overwhelming summery vibe has found them name-dropped frequently beside tropically-flavoured acts like El Guincho and Abe Vigoda but like those two bands, High Places are in a universe of their own.