Thursday 28 April 2011
Everything works
I was going to forgo actually writing a traditional (or traditional-like) review of the new Mircale Fortress album Was I The Wave? and try my hand at a short story that would somehow encapsulate my feelings about the record, à la Said The Gramophone. It turns out that’s not so easy to do. Not because the album doesn’t lend itself to interpretation and beautiful imagery (it does), but because I am a terrible writer. For real.
Graham Van Pelt (for he is Miracle Fortress) deserves better than my feeble attempts at fiction. Was I The Wave? is a layered web of synthetic beats and rhythms that manages to hold onto its humanity even with an electronic heart. It’s an album of textures and sound as opposed to song and melody, so what you end up with at the end of 40 minutes is more like a sonic oil painting than a record. “Awe”, “Wave”, “Before” and “Until”–the album’s four instrumentals act as a frame for the other six songs to exist in; they establish a perimeter around the record and give it its depth and complexity. Like I said, this is an album built on synthesizers and sequencers–more so than Van Pelt’s previous Miracle Fortress LP, Five Roses–but somehow he’s managed to infuse the songs with spontaneity and life rarely achieved by other electronic artists. “Everything Works” and “Raw Spectacle” both have that human touch.
There are moments, though, like on “Immanent Domain” and “Tracers”, where I have to look around and make sure I’m not back in 1983. I used to cringe at some of the cheesy bass lines and tinny synths I would hear back in my youth, and I have to admit that I caught myself gritting my teeth for a couple bars on each of these songs. the moment passes quickly, though, and is soon forgotten.
So I spared you my unpleasant prose (or did I?) in the hopes that I you won’t be afraid to give Was I The Wave? a listen, or head out to catch Van Pelt live next month:
05/01/11 – Winnipeg MB @ Lo Pub
05/02/11 – Regina SK @ The Exchange (with Shad)
05/03/11 – Saskatoon SK @ Amigo’s (with Shad)
05/04/11 – Calgary AB @ Republik (with Shad)
05/05/11 – Edmonton AB @ Brixx (with Shad)
05/07/11 – Vancouver BC @ Fortune Sound (with Shad)
05/14/11 – Quebec City QC @ Le Cercle (with Tonstartssbandht)
05/20/11 – Montreal QC @ Torn Curtain (with Mozart’s Sister)
and in June when Miracle Fortress join Junior Boys:
06/09/11 – Toronto ON @ The Phoenix
06/10/11 – Ottawa ON @ Maverick’s
06/12/11 – Cambridge MA @ The Middle East
06/14/11 – New York NY @ Webster Hall
06/16/11 – Washington DC @ Black Cat
06/17/11 – Philadelphia PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
06/18/11 – Charlottesville VA @ Jefferson Theater
06/20/11 – Atlanta GA @ The Earl
06/21/11 – Nashbille TN @ Mercy Lounge
06/22/11 – Louisville KY @ Headliners
06/24/11 – Chicago IL @ Metro
06/25/11 – Pontiac MI @ Pike Room
Was I The Wave? is out now on Secret City Records.
MP3: Miracle Fortress “Raw Spectacle”
MP3: Miracle Fortress “Raw Spectacle (Pantha Du Prince remix)”
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