High Places / Telepathe / Mirror Mirror

Because I don’t get out to so many gigs these days, it’s over a year now since I've been to an Upset! The Rhythm show. That’s a great shame, because their gigs are always ace. But I still check the website to see who they’re putting on, and have a listen to the bands. Most of them I haven’t heard of before and almost all of them are worth checking out.

Last month they put on a show by High Places and Telepathe. After some quick Googling and downloading, here’s what I found.


High Places are Mary Pearson and Robert Barber from Brooklyn. If I were being very lazy I would say ‘a bit Animal Collective’, and although that’s not quite accurate, they do share something of a kindred spirit with the other more famous Brooklyn band. They’ve got a very nice line in glitchy, burbling electronic backing on which they lay some lovely meandering tunes, some of which could even be described as pop. The tracks, most of them pretty short all blend together nicely, making the album 03/07 – 09/07 (guess when the songs were recorded?) a pleasing and continuously woozy listening experience. One for languid summer evenings I think.

Download: High Places - Canary


The sound of Telepathe isn’t a million miles away from High Places, just as their place of abode isn’t (Brooklyn too, natch). They have a similar aesthetic – electronica with tunes on top, but Telepathe are a bit more dancefloor friendly, particularly with their remixes. The name’s pronounced Te-le-path-ee apparently and I also hear that they’ve been working with David Sitek on some new material. That’s bound to be interesting at least, most likely great.


Download: Telepathe – Sinister Militia

And as a bonus extra we also have Mirror Mirror, the project of Telepathe’s Ryan Lucero, who have just released a 7 inch single on the increasingly reliable Half Machine Records. It’s a less electronic affair, with some gorgeous vocals and harmonies, echoey effects and a slightly spooky feel. Quite lovely.

Download: Mirror Mirror – New Horizons

Download High Places' o3/07 - 09/07 from emusic. They have a new 7 inch out on Upset The Rhythm records - buy it direct from UTR. Download Telepathe stuff from emusic as well. Order the Mirror Mirror 7 inch from Half Machine records.