High Places is a band originating from

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, that subsequently relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California. The band is a duo comprising multi-instrumentalist Rob Barber and vocalist Mary Pearson. Pearson and Barber met while Mary was completing a music degree in bassoon performance at

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

and Rob was working in visual art, teaching lithography and etching in New York. Both were performing as solo musicians at the time, Mary as Transformation Surprise, and Rob as the Urxed. The two began collaborating under the name High Places in May 2006, after Mary relocated to New York. High Places, has performed at the

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...

the

New Museum The New Museum of Contemporary Art, founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker, is a museum in New York City at 235 Bowery, on Manhattan's Lower East Side. History The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-named New Sc ...

and

the Kitchen The Kitchen is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary avant-garde performance and experimental art institution located at 512 West 19th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was founde ...

in New York City. They have performed at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was des ...

as part of

Doug Aitken Doug Aitken (born 1968) is an American artist. Aitken's body of work ranges from photography, print media, sculpture, and architectural interventions, to narrative films, sound, single and multi-channel video works, installations, and live perf ...

's SONG 1 (2012) in Washington DC. In Berlin, they have performed via

Volksbühne The Volksbühne ("People's Theatre") is a theater in Berlin. Located in Berlin's city center Mitte on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz (Rosa Luxemburg Square) in what was the GDR's capital. It has been called Berlin's most iconic theatre. About The Vol ...

and

Berghain Berghain () is a nightclub in Berlin, Germany. It is named after its location near the border between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain in Berlin, and is a short walk from Berlin Ostbahnhof main line railway station.

's main room. With

Lucky Dragons Lucky Dragons is an experimental music group consisting of Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara. Based in Los Angeles, California, the band are noted for their unusual sound, described as having the ability to make "'everyday sounds' become alluringly ...

they have performed collaboratively in the group's 2008

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition in ...

performance, as well as at the

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's o ...

, and REDCAT. Rob has played drums in the

Boredoms Boredoms () (later known as V∞redoms) is a rock band from Osaka, Japan formed in 1986. The band's sound is often referred to as noise rock, or sometimes Japanoise (Japan’s noise music scene), though their more recent records have moved towar ...

88 Boadrum ''77 Boa Drum'' is a live album by Japanese experimental music group Boredoms, recorded on July 7, 2007, at the Empire–Fulton Ferry section of Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. It was released on two CDs, plus a 20-min ...

Los Angeles

LACMA The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 1961, ...

performance, and performed as part of the

-curated

2010 benefit. High Places have toured with

Toro Y Moi Chaz Bear (born Chazwick Bradley Bundick; November 7, 1986), known professionally as Toro y Moi, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and graphic designer. He is often recognized as a spearhead of the chillwave genre in the 2010s, ...

Deerhunter Deerhunter is an American indie rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 2001. The band currently consists of Bradford Cox (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Moses Archuleta (drums, electronics, sound treatments), Lotus Plaza, Lockett Pundt (guitar, ...

, Liars,

No Age No Age is an American noise rock duo consisting of guitarist Randy Randall and drummer/vocalist Dean Allen Spunt. The band is based in Los Angeles, California, and was signed to Sub Pop records from 2008 to 2013. No Age's fourth studio album, ''S ...

Yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

Dan Deacon Daniel Deacon (born August 28, 1981) is an American composer and electronic musician based in Baltimore, Maryland. Deacon is renowned for his live shows, where large-scale audience participation and interaction is often a major element of the pe ...

and

Xiu Xiu Xiu Xiu ( ) is an American experimental band, formed in 2002 by singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart in San Jose, California. Currently, the line-up consists of Stewart (the only constant member since formation) and Angela Seo. The band's name co ...

High Places’ self-titled debut was recorded by Rob and Mary in their apartment in Brooklyn’s Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood between January and May 2008.

Discography

Albums

*'' 03/07–09/07 (Compilation)'' on

Thrill Jockey Thrill Jockey is an American independent record label established by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards and based in Chicago. History Richards started the label in 1992 with $35,000 of family and personal capital, while ...

(2008) *''

High Places High Places is a band originating from Brooklyn, New York, that subsequently relocated to Los Angeles, California. The band is a duo comprising multi-instrumentalist Rob Barber and vocalist Mary Pearson. Pearson and Barber met while Mary was comp ...

'' on

(2008) *''High Places vs. Mankind'' (March 23, 2010) *''Original Colors'' on

(2011)

7" EPs

*''High Places'' (2007) *''Picture Disc'' (2007) *''Vision's the First... b/w Namer '' (2008) *''Can't Feel Born 12"''(2010)

Splits

*''with Aa Wedding 7"'' (2007) *''with

Polaroid 7"'' (2008) *''with

Soft Circle Soft Circle is the project of New York City based musician Hisham Bharoocha. His debut album, '' Full Bloom'', was released January 23, 2007, on the Eastern Developments Music record label. His sound is characterized by looped guitar riffs, drums ...

12" on

PPM Records Post Present Medium (or PPM) is an Independent Record Label l started and run by Dean Allen Spunt, also from the band No Age. Spunt started the label in 2001 with the release of a 7" by Portland/Olympia post punk band The Intima. Initial fundin ...

'' (2009)

Compilations

*''Grown Zone'' on States Rights Records (2007) *''Mistletonia'' on

Mistletone Records Mistletone is an Australian independent record label, tour promoter, booking agency and publicity company founded in 2006 by Ash and Sophie Miles. Label roster Current * Avey Tare * Bachelorette * The Bats * Beach House * Cash Savage and the L ...

(2007) *''Love And Circuits'' on Cardboard Records (2008)

Other

*''6 song demo CD-R'' (2006) *''Can't Feel Born 12"'' (2010)

References

External links

High Places
at MySpace
High Places blogHigh Places Album Review at PitchforkHigh Places 03/07-09/07 Review at Pitchfork High Places 7" Review at PitchforkHigh Places at NPR Music
{{Authority control Musical groups from New York (state) Thrill Jockey artists Musical groups established in 2006