High Places High Places by: Thomas Mendelovits Tue:21-Oct-08 Label: Thrill Jockey Year: 2008 WB rating 73 out of 100

Considering the always fascinating roster of the newly fledged Melbourne-based Mistletone records, together with the positive reception of the High Places singles collection 03/07-09/07 from earlier this year, High Places arrived with some anticipation behind it. And, initially, there was a lot to be sweet on. Mary Pearson’s vocals for one, honest and nursery rhyme-like but never cloying, were a joy to encounter. Furthermore, across the Brooklyn duo’s (Pearson is joined by multi-instrumentalist Rob Barber) debut, the sheer depth of the various acoustic and electronic samples, the myriad percussion and the intriguing Afro/Bhangra/Gamelan/Hip-Hop beatery was enough to provoke immediate hope for a sustained enjoyment of the record. Like Animal Collective, Múm, or, in a more dance-based realm, El Guincho, High Places definitely make pop music, but the idea is as much to test the bounds of melodic and rhythmic accessibility as it is to, quite literally, bring music to our ears. In the first sense at least, High Places is a success.

For any lover of oddball pop, the primary reaction to High Places will be one of wonderment at the melange of sounds Pearson and Barber have put together. Lo-fi, organic and often untreated save for delay and reverb, no less the samples – recorded by the duo themselves – stray at the borders of cognisance through the unlikely ways in which they are placed together. Impressionistically, the predominating tones recall African drums and Kalimba (thumb pianos), Latin shakers, steel pans and wooden and metal Gamelans, but it wouldn’t be surprising if none of those were used at all and indeed, if the same sample wasn’t used twice across High Places. ‘Golden’ perhaps best articulates their ethnomusicological hip-hop, beginning as it does with what could be a sample from a Balinese orchestra, before introducing an Indochinese or Northern Indian Bansuri flute, and all set to a beat somewhat reminiscent of a low-key M.I.A. While the backbeats may be hip-hop in essence, the building up and dropping of samples borrows as much from classical electronica. ‘Namer’ shows this debt more than most, going from a Gamelan-like motif into a New Wave-esque beat. In another vein, ‘Vision’s The First…’ begins with a fantastic sound of what could be a chopped-up, panned chord organ or which could just as easily be a sequenced synth. Throughout, the fun is partly in the guessing or, if you’re not that way inclined, the experiencing.

The drinking in of High Places’ thick yet bouncy sonic concoction can indeed be an intoxicating swirl. For all its fun, however, High Places can be, at times, an only superficially engaging record. In places, the bevy of samples clutter and crowd the core ideas to such an extent that it confuses what the duo are trying to achieve. Failing to offset this, Pearson’s vocals do not maintain focus, often assuming the form of yet another instrument. On ‘Namer’, she competes with various chimes and clacks in the verses, and on many tracks (‘A Field Guide’, ‘Gold Coin’) the melodies are not quite as strong as you hope them to be. While their fear of stasis and staidness is laudable, in choosing to put so much into their record, much of High Places often sounds without context or reason; the samples degenerate into the random, the beats aren’t really beats and the melodies don’t carry much weight.

Throughout High Places one gets the feeling that the duo may have aimed that little bit too high. The best tracks benefit from a resonance that comes from having such a strong idea that swamping it would have been a crime. As such, ‘Vision’s The First…’ and ‘From Stardust to Sentience’ are the only truly great moments. ‘Vision’s’ contains the best example of Pearson’s charming lilt as well the record’s best realised melody and, unlike in many songs, even the mid-section tonal shift of Bhangra horns have a logic to them here. ‘From Stardust to Sentience’ is a strange parting blow: the most simple of all the tracks, it sounds more like it could be one of Pearson and Barber’s early attempt as High Places than an intimation of what may be to come. Sadly, however, coming at the end of the record, the poignant backing melody and catchy jungle-like brushed rhythm of ‘From Stardust’ shows how little there actually is across High Places to sink your teeth into. Having only one such track, but pretty much nailing it, it’s like they were loathe to entertain the possibility of any such primitive resonances more generally.

Overall, High Places is a record that is more admirable than lovable. Be this as it may, the High Places sound is so assured and so original, that we can only hope for a stronger third effort.