- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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UncutNov 23, 2011Primal yet precise, these obliques beats and blocky grooves loom out of the lush ambient foliage like the crown of a Mayan temple in the Yucatan jungle. [Dec 2011, p.87]
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Oct 7, 2011High Places' third album finds the duo of Rob Barber and Mary Pearson all the more comfortable and assured in a realm of moody electronic pop for the 21st century, at once drawing on familiar roots and putting distinct, enjoyable spins on the results.
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Oct 7, 2011On the beautifully airy Original Colors, the ambient pair seem weary of making a good impression.
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Oct 20, 2011Living a dead-eyed disco dream somewhere between Nite Jewel and Chromatics, this new incarnation is dark, weird and basically awesome.
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Oct 17, 2011It is as "original" as this band is going to get, and for that we should be contented.
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Under The RadarNov 3, 2011The duo continues to tighten up the rhythmic oddities that initially defined them, cleaning up those frayed handmade edges just a hint more. [Oct 2011, p.100]
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Oct 17, 2011If there's a flaw on Original Colors, it's that these 10 songs are so closely related--in tempo, vocals and instrumentation--that they're enjoyable enough on their own but become an undifferentiated blob when played back-to-front.
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Oct 11, 2011So while High Places have neatly avoided getting stuck in a rut on Original Colors, daring to reinvent themselves into a more motion-friendly group, fans of their first couple of albums should still find the overall mood sufficiently low-key to provide easy access.
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Oct 7, 2011High Places v. Mankind, took just criticism for being a run-of-the-mill indie record with no charisma, Original Colors is a more than respectable rebound.
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Nov 2, 2011There is also a notably darker, murkier imperative at the heart of Original Colours and the results are sometimes a little introverted.
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Oct 10, 2011Their approach is too fragile. Even as High Places grow up, seeing darker realms, leaving behind youthful nostalgia, they are not yet able to reach the top.
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Oct 10, 2011It's something bigger, wilder, and less pop structured.
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Oct 13, 2011For a group who traded so well in whimsy, who got off to such a kaleidoscopic start, Original Colors can feel unusually drab.
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Oct 18, 2011Original Colors isn't extraordinary music.
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Oct 13, 2011Ultimately, High Places have succeeded in doing something that, on paper, seems an impossibility: they've managed to make an album that is undeniably focused around rhythms sound like an absolute slog.