High Places - '03.07 - 09.07' (Thrill Jockey) Released 30/06/08

Maybe it’s something in the water. Or maybe the winds blow in just the right directions. Whatever the cause, Brooklyn seems to pack far more than its fair share of forward-gazing pop experimentalists intent on ripping the rulebook to shreds these days. High Places is a valuable addition to the fold.

A must for fans of Panda Bear’s cut and paste masterpiece ‘Person Pitch’, ‘03/07/09/07’ (the months between which these songs were originally released on by now hopelessly obscure 7” discs) creates a similarly unified whole from what is essentially a collection of singles and their flipsides. Initially, the low-key, appealingly ramshackle atmospherics of fluid, slippery tunes such as ‘Head Spins’ and ‘Sandy Feat’ create an impression of the duo – Robert Barber and Mary Pearson - crafting tracks at home in the wee small hours for their own pleasure, mindful not to wake their neighbours with their sonic explorations. ‘Freaked Flight’ cuts out before it properly starts, almost as if frightened by an angry knock on the wall from harassed neighbours.

Listen closer, though, and the skewered, skittery beats, tinged with Caribbean grooves and cutting edge electronica that power the twosome’s dream-pop cuts step centrestage, propelling the mysterious soundscapes into something vastly more arresting than another budget Beach Boys project submerging their sweet melodies under several deluges’ worth of underwater echo. There are hints of Rings and a fuzzier, furrier version of early Animal Collective in the cracked fairytale dancehall of ‘Universe’ and ‘Greeting The Light’, which dips sugar-coated tunes in an ocean of reverb. The highlight – the hypnotic, flute-driven stomp ‘Granola’, seemingly cobbled together with an assortment of improvised percussion gathered during a raid through kitchen cupboards – could almost be fellow Brooklynites Black Dice in an uncharacteristically sunny, organic mood.

‘Jump In’, High Places implore on another slice of enchanting, echo chamber-dwelling domestic dub that glows like a chant-powered tab of aural sunshine. I suggest you take their advice. This one’s bound to take you higher.