Indie rock DIYers High Places recently performed at The Whitney Live series. You can stream their entire set right here.

Before You Press Play

Hometown: Los Angeles (via Brooklyn)

The Facts: Multi-instrumentalist Rob Barber was joined in Brooklyn by vocalist, and degree-holding bassoonist, Mary Pearson in 2006 while each were pursuing solo-endeavors. The two melded into High Places and separated themselves from the DIY scene of North Brooklyn by layering Pearson's dream-enducing vocals over Barber's dialed-in cacophony of beats.

Having recently jumped to the west coast for the less brutal weather patterns, we caught up with High Places -- with a new album under their arm -- at The Whitney Live concert series.

The Sound: This recording offers a glimpse into the organic process High Places employs for building a song. Like chemistry class for the ears: Just imagine Prof. Barber, wielding an electric guitar, hunched over looping equipments and drum box while Prof. Pearson is poised in front of the mic, with one hand on a distortion dial, a wooden  noise-maker and flute. The sound starts simply, with one basic element, and swells to a complex compound with hints and winks to its minimalistic point of entry.

Latest Release: High Places vs Mankind (2010), Thrill Jockey

He Said, She Said: "It's not that Brooklyn's High Places remind me of a lot of things I like already -- minimal, bleary indie pop like Beat Happening or Young Marble Giants; subaqueous psychedelia from Ricardo Villalobos to Martin Denny exotica; girlish nursery-rhyme vocals; New York City; heavy syncopation; pentatonic scales; kissing -- it's that I usually only get to have them all together when I'm dreaming." -- Mike Powell, Pitchfork

"High Places is a wonderful example of a band that comes alive in a home studio, where willful indulgence is actively encouraged and a parade of mundane household objects spring into musical life. It’s easy to imagine Pearson and Barber gleefully skipping around their Brooklyn apartment, bashing wooden spoons against pots and pans and miking up cups, glasses, and broccoli. (Okay, maybe not broccoli.)" -- Nick Neyland, Prefix Mag

Set List:
1. On A Hill, In A Bed, On a Road, In a House
2. On Giving Up
3. Golden
4. Canada
5. The Longest Shadows
6. Namer
7. Constant Winter
8. The Storm
9. When It Comes
10. From Stardust To Sentience