Post by Matt Kivel

It may be strange to acknowledge, but New York's Animal Collective might just be the most influential indie group of the last 3 years. Ever since "Sung Tongs" came out, bands just keep cropping up with mixing boards and samples pushed heavily to the forefront. Deeply layered reverb, ethereal harmonies and tribal percussion are all components of this now commonly used aesthetic -- displayed in the sounds of artists like El Guincho, Health and now Brooklyn's High Places.

High Places is a duo comprised of vocalist Mary Pearson and percussionist Rob Barber. The Echoplex stage seemed like a bit of a stretch for the band who have only recently begun to enjoy some notoriety in the online music press. As a result, the crowd was thin and a bit bewildered by Pearson's breathy refrains and Barber's wildly undulating electronic beats.

There are shades of shoegaze, Steve Reich and Tropicalia in High Places' sound, but their live performance definitely left room for improvement. The vocals and looped samples coagulated to form this sort of vague, impenetrable wall of sound that made it difficult to digest the complexity and catchiness of some of the tunes. It's evident that they are very much a studio project at the moment, but their set hinted at a rich and rewarding album lying beneath the oblique sonic constructions.