I told Patrick I would write about this before Pitchfork, but I didn’t get to it in time. Thinking about High Places makes me feel very sentimental. I first heard High Places when they played with Lucky Dragons, Bobby Birdman, and YACHT at il corral. I went with Jon and we got there too early and met Jennifer Fodor of G-RAD (this was before G-RAD beat us) and went to an arcade. I really like High Places. They had already run out of CDRs when we saw them so I subsisted on downloads from their myspace. (Later I bought this seven inch on Ancient Almanac.) But my point is that they needed to put out a legit album and the rad cuties at eMusic just did, 03/07 — 09/07 on eMusic Selects. Ok, here is the scoop. eMusic Selects is “a brand-new monthly program featuring exclusive music from handpicked, unsigned new artists.” Whoa! To me this sounds heartfelt. They really want to help out new artists. It benefits the artist and it benefits eMusic. So far I think it has worked. And guess what? February’s releases? Not only High Places, but also Breathe Owl Breathe. I’ve been really digging both albums a lot and I’m going to tell you why. Or why you should buy them right now to support these rad artists.
Now the music. High Places consists of Rob’s sweet beats and Mary’s ethereal singing. Rob only uses tiny drums and shakers, but the sound is so full you would think there was more. There is no more! Well, there is. There is Mary’s singing. You can’t have one without the other. They sort of just move in your mind to be one solid noise and you forget that shakers can’t sing. Or I do. Mary’s voice is always echoed in this perfect way. You can imagine it. When they play she moves and dances around singing with bells around her wrist. When I say ethereal I don’t mean ethereal like Lavender Diamond, the pace and the attitude is different. Lavender Diamond ethereal feels delicate and light. High Places ethereal feels light, but full. Full in a lofi way or in a low treble way. The best way to understand is to hear:
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03 Banana Slugs/Cosmonaut
(Plus High Places always favorites my photos of the Margot and Travis.)
Breathe Owl Breathe is not an artist I was terribly familiar with before I got Ghost Glacier EP. I knew those Michigan folks were deep into it, but otherwise no. Ok. Immediate reaction: familiarity. Not familiarity like “I think I’ve heard this before”, but familiarity in the way “I think I’ve ALWAYS heard this.” It feels like a distant memory. A fond distant memory. Probably from your childhood. But like a positive experience. Not like when you were chubby and were bad at sports. More like a sunset or a Sunday afternoon. I suppose also sentimental. Their music feels like a fond memory. That’s the best I can say it.
Breathe Owl Breathe would be filed under “folk” I suppose because they play folky instruments. Their voices are comforting and make me weepy. Such mellow vibes!
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04 Ghost In The Morning Moon
Two excellent tunes. Thanks for sharing them!