Rating: 
Brooklyn duo High Places recently released their newest LP, a self titled affair, to much critical claim. Those kids over at PFork gave it an 8! Having come across it ourselves, we opted to look deeper into the album in attempt to uncover the mystery.
Upon first listen, most will find that the music, well, there really doesn’t seem to be much music. Sure, there are some electronic beats dancing here and there with a little mixture of the kitchen sink thrown in for good measure, but there really isn’t anything along the lines of what the majority of the world would define as music. A close examination might reveal that the skeleton for almost every single song on the album stems from too much indulgence into someone’s collection of Animal Collective B-Sides.
Some refer to such music as IDM, or Intelligent Dance Music. Listening, you might find it difficult that the word intelligent has been mentioned at all because clearly it takes very little intelligence to create this music. It’s reminiscent of the stuff all your nerdy friends were making on their own computers back when things like Garage Band were just coming into play. Simpletons.
However, despite obvious lack of creativity, or melody for that matter, there is a highlight all over this album, almost blanketing the sheer horridness. That savior is Mary Pearson, the vocalist for the band. Her range is not all that grand, but she is precisely what most listeners seem to be enjoying these days. She is your girl next door indie songstress, albeit one who has chosen to make this album. One would love to find here step outside the confines of this one-dimensional genre in search of deeper melodies or more creativity.
Those of you who consider yourself intelligent should not listen to those in love with this band, well, you are intelligent, so you should be informed. Listen, listen, then check back with us at ATH so we know that we weren’t too far off on this one.
A few weeks back, you may have heard this track from Luke Roberts from his upcoming record,Sunlit Cross, which is due out in just about a month, and I’m delighted to share that Roberts has released another track from that album that’s a perfect sample of alt-country. “Untitled Blues,” has got this mellow acoustic guitar partthat rolls through the track and Roberts’ vocals have got just enough twang on them to be considered some sort of country. Not to mention, the intermittent slide guitar part that joins the instrumentation adds that extra depth to the track that will set it apart from the rest of the songs that you hear today. Take a listen and don’t forget aboutSunlit Cross, which is out October 14th viaThrill Jockey.
