High Water (El-P Album)

''High Water'' is a collaborative studio album by El-P featuring The Blue Series Continuum. It was released through Thirsty Ear Recordings on March 9, 2004. It peaked at number 46 on the '' Billboard'' Independent Albums chart.

Critical reception

''High Water'' was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 71 based on 9 reviews.

Reviewing for ''The Village Voice'' in September 2004, Tom Hull said this album "shows more meat" than the previous two Blue Series Continuum albums, "probably because El-P carves what the band gives him rather than smothering it in sauce." Thom Jurek of AllMusic gave the album 4 stars out of 5, saying: "In sum, it's a moody and haunting record with a few highs, a few lows, and lots of shades of blue to make your way through." David Moore of ''Pitchfork'' gave the album a 7.2 out of 10, saying, "El-P's edits and subtle production work strengthens the ensemble's more indulgent moments." He added, "El-P sometimes seems reluctant to interfere with the ensemble's improvisation, which is a shame considering that the album's strongest tracks show him taking the reins from individual players." Meanwhile, Stefan Braidwood of ''PopMatters'' said, "El-P has now proven beyond all doubt that he merits a further word in his description, and that word is: genius."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

* El-P – composition, production, arrangement, mixing
* Matthew Shipp – piano
* Daniel Carter – reeds, flute
* Steve Swell – trombone
* Roy Campbell – trumpet
* William Parker – double bass
* Guillermo E. Brown – drums
* Harry Keys – vocals (7)
* Tim Conklin – recording
* Scott Hull – mastering
* Cynthia Fetty – art direction, photography
* Loretta Wong – design, layout

Charts

References

External links

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{{Authority control

2004 albums
El-P albums
Thirsty Ear Recordings albums
Albums produced by El-P