High Places exist within a realm of experimental sounds. Repetitive samples, home-crafted percussion, and minimalist vocals imbue their sparse electronica-pulsating world. The outcome feels both foreign and warm. Mary Pearson and Rob Barber have together created a unique sound steeped in soft, wispy female vocal melodies, brisk beats, and rhythmic lines produced on folk percussion and household objects. It is music inspired by beauty and nature, whose artistry leans towards organic resonances. The subtlety of their music whispers images, allowing the listener to fill the landscapes with their own contemplations. This association might bring to mind the amorphous, dream-inspiring work of Animal Collective’s Panda Bear.

Live, the two create layered recordings with Pearson manipulating her vocals with delay and reverb, playing hand percussion, and creating and controlling various loops. Barber triggers percussive sounds from his drum pads, adds ambient vocals, and plays an array of rhythmic instruments to create the certain tone that is High Places. The songwriting is expansive and fluid, while the musical ideas produced are concise. A state of meditation is encouraged by their creations and this seems apt as Barber has been on record saying that music is pretty much the only thing that calms him down and enables him to relax.

High Places’ self-titled debut was recorded in Pearson and Barber’s Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood apartment in Brooklyn in 2008. And the music has that true, artsy Brooklyn feel. The two met in 2006, when Pearson was living in Michigan and both were pursuing solo projects. Once she moved to New York, they began collaborating, exchanging ideas and giving each other little bits to work off of and respond to. Their unexpected first performance came in May of 2006, when Rob was offered a gig that he didn’t want to play alone. A demo and U.S. tour dates came soon after. In 2008, the group signed with Thrill Jockey Records to release their debut and, shortly thereafter, a collection of singles under the title 03/07-09/07.

mp3: High Places – Cosmonaut – High Places EP (2007)
mp3: High Places – A Field Guide 1 – High Places (2008)

The band’s most recent record, High Places vs. Mankind (March 2010), offers a new era of the band’s experimental pop. It takes their music to a more densely atmospheric place with slow dance-heavy grooves. The sound is more mature, more complex, with Pearson’s voice more prominently set against High Places’ thick psychedelic landscapes.

The recently transplanted from Brooklyn to Los Angeles where they frequent the mountain-filled parks that now surround them. The pair’s name actually refers to a place where one has a better vantage point and can gain broader perspectives, so this spot seems apt. Their music tends to speak of their love of mountains, rooftops, and other metaphorically high places. Yet the sounds of the city aren’t far away, which likely prompt the ever-present looping of industrial utterances within their music.

mp3: High Places – On a Hill in a Bed on a Road in a House – High Places vs. Mankind (2010)

The duo is on a U.S. tour and will stop this Wednesday at the Hi-Dive in Denver.

High Places’ upcoming tourdates:

Mar 30 – Kilby Court, Salt Lake City, Utah
Mar 31 – Hi Dive, Denver, Colorado
Apr 1 – Slowdown Jr., Omaha, Nebraska
Apr 2 – Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Apr 3 – Schubas, Chicago, Illinois
Apr 5 – PJ’s Lager House w/ City Center, Detroit, Michigan
Apr 7 – Kungfu Necktie, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Apr 8 – Market Hotel, Brooklyn, New York
Apr 9 – Mass Art, Boston, Massachusetts
Apr 10 – Diamond Junction Bowling Lanes, Palmer, Massachusetts
Apr 16 – May 21 – Europe

This video shows one of the High Places’ early performances in NYC.

MySpace | Website

Grizzly Bear just released an extraordinary claymation video to go along with the song “Ready, Able”, off of their summer release Veckatimest (2009). The video, directed by Allison Schulnik, depicts creatures as their colors and forms melt and morph in a fantastical natural world. The music provides a gorgeous backdrop. As the song floats along, so does the story.

The band’s eccentric sound incorporates lush choral arrangements, atmospheric folk melodies, and exploratory song structures. The harmony-laden, lush grandiosity of their swelling tunes, feature dreamy vocals from all four members. The resulting resonances and melodic swirls offer a seductive, boozy elegance. Their music plays like the Beach Boys mixed with Nick Drake, fused with the theatrical feel of Devotchka and a touch of David Byrne.

mp3: Grizzly Bear – Ready, Able – Veckatimest (2009)
mp3: Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks – Veckatimest (2009)
mp3: Grizzly Bear – Fine For Now – Veckatimest (2009)

Grizzly Bear formed in 2000 in Brooklyn with members Daniel Rossen (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Ed Droste (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Chris Taylor (bass, backing vocals, various instruments, producer) and Christopher Bear (drums, backing vocals). Droste wrote the first album as a form of catharsis after a bad breakup. He gave the CD to his friends and a copy found its way to Bear and Taylor, who liked what they heard. The two met Droste by way of a friend and offered postproduction and remixing help on the songs. The result was Horn of Plenty (2004). Rossen joined to perform guitar on the live shows. In 2006, the band had the good fortune to support TV on the Radio, in 2007, Feist, and in 2008, the band opened for Radiohead on the second leg of their North American tour. On the last date, guitarist Jonny Greenwood named Grizzly Bear his favorite band. Other admiring fans of the group include Fleet Foxes, Jeff Tweedy, CSS and Beirut.

Grizzly Bear | Myspace

Download through Amazon: Veckatimest