tunes of 2010 #3

01 - the longest shadows by Speaker Snacks

High Places - 'The Longest Shadows'




Holy Roman Army - 'Speed To My Side'




Logikparty - 'Japanese Flag'




Peverelist - 'Better Ways Of Living'


Hannibal by Caribouband

Caribou - 'Hannibal'




The Tallest Man On Earth - 'You're Going Back'


Shutterbug by Big Boi and Cutty by coolhunting

Big Boi - 'Shutterbugg'


Lewis Takes Action by DominoRecordCo

Owen Pallett - 'Lewis Takes Action'




Eluvium - 'The Motion Makes Me Last' (Four Tet remix)




Sleigh Bells - 'Rill Rill'


Odessa (Nite Jewel Remix) by Caribouband

Caribou - 'Odessa' (Nite Jewel remix)




LCD Soundsystem - 'All I Want'

High Places

There's an interesting interview with Mary Pearson of High Places over at http://www.theaquarian.com/2010/06/24/interview-high-places-square-off-against-mankind/.

Pearson and co-conspirator Rob Barber originally formed High Places in New York in 2006. Since then, they've released a number of beguiling early 7"s (collected on 03/07-09/07) and two albums, their self-titled debut LP and this year's High Places VS Mankind. Their sound is unique and striking: a hard-to-categorise mix of electronic and folk influences, it can feature aquatic, woozy rythms and textures, household percussion, hypnotic child-like vocals, treated samples, bongos, kalimba...their music can range from the dub-tinged, pulsing 'The Longest Shadow' to the tropicalia-flavoured, almost-primitive simplicity of 'Head Spins'. At times there's a tribalistic, spiritual vibe emanating from their music, with its back-to-nature aesthetic and folky, field-recording ambience. They're genuinely one of my favourite discoveries of recent years, and they reached a mind-blowing peak with 'From Stardust to Sentience': it's utterly transcendent, one of those tunes that sounds like it was beamed down from the ether, with the musicians not so much creating it as channeling it.



High Places VS Mankind saw them in something of a transitionary phase, with Pearson's vocals pushed up in the mix, a more pronounced electronic influence and a more direct approach, but they're still a fascinating prospect. Their show upstairs in Whelan's earlier in the year was magical, and the duo have often expressed an interest in playing art galleries and mixing art forms as well as more conventional rock gigs.



High Places - High Places vs. Mankind by Speaker Snacks

Video: High Places - The Longest Shadows

High Places VS Mankind, the second album proper from the LA-based duo, marks a shift in sound from their previous work. Rob Barber and Mary Pearson made their name with a striking, unique sound that combined treated samples, aquatic beats, hypnotic child-like vocals and the use of household instruments for percussion. On their latest release, Pearson's vocals, which previously tended to blend in with the ambience of the music, have now been pushed up in the mix, while much of their new material is more direct and forceful. It may be a different approach, but High Places are still capable of magic, as on the album's opening track, 'The Longest Shadows'. Here's the self-directed clip for the track:



Stream the album below:

High Places - High Places vs. MankindbySpeaker Snacks

Ganglians and High Places to play Whelan's

Ganglians are easily one of this blog's favourite bands of the last year: combining the lo-fi garage-friendly sound associated with many of their Woodsist labelmates with a pastoral vibe that's not a far remove from Fleet Foxes, the two records they released in 2009 - Ganglians and Monster Head Room - were compelling affairs. They'll be playing a gig upstairs in Whelan's on May 21st, a week before they join the Primavera Sound 10th anniversary celebrations.

Before that comes the visit of Brooklyn-based experimentalists High Places, who'll also play upstairs in the same venue on the 5th of May. They've released a new track from their forthcoming album as a free download, link from Pitchfork:

http://downloads.pitchforkmedia.com/High%20Places%20-%20On%20Giving%20Up.mp3