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.[1] It peaked at number 46 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart.[2]

High Water
Studio album by El-P featuring The Blue Series Continuum
Released	March 9, 2004 (2004-03-09)
Genre	Electronic, jazz fusion
Length	44:06
Label	Thirsty Ear
Producer	El-P
El-P chronology
Fantastic Damage (2002) High Water (2004) Collecting the Kid (2004)

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	71/100[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
BBC	unfavorable[5]
Dusted Magazine	unfavorable[6]
JazzTimes	favorable[7]
Pitchfork	7.2/10[8]
PopMatters	favorable[1]
The Village Voice	A–[9]

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.[3]

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."[9] 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."[4] 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."[8] 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."[8] 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."[1]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Please Stay (Yesterday)"	2:37
2.	"Sunrise Over Bklyn"	10:33
3.	"Get Your Hand Off My Shoulder, Pig"	6:34
4.	"Get Modal"	5:06
5.	"Intrigue in the House of India"	6:33
6.	"Something Is Wrong"	4:09
7.	"When the Moon Was Blue"	6:42
8.	"Please Leave (Yesterday)"	1:51

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

Chart	Peak position
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[2]	46

References

1. Braidwood, Stefan (April 30, 2004). "EL-P: High Water". PopMatters. Archived from the original on February 10, 2005. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
2. "El-P: Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
3. "High Water (Mark) by El-P". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
4. Jurek, Thom. "High Water - El-P". AllMusic. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
5. Marsh, Peter (2004). "El-p High Water Review". BBC. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
6. Bivins, Jason (March 10, 2004). "El-P - High Water". Dusted Magazine. Archived from the original on February 3, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
7. Segal, Dave (June 1, 2004). "El-P: High Water (Mark)". JazzTimes. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
8. Moore, David (October 31, 2014). "El-P: High Water / Collecting the Kid". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
9. Hull, Tom (September 28, 2004). "Jazz Consumer Guide (2): The Caribbean Tinge". The Village Voice. Retrieved June 25, 2020 – via tomhull.com.

External links

• High Water at Discogs (list of releases)
• High Water at MusicBrainz (list of releases)