Miracle Fortress and Big Spider's Back (When the Stars Align)

Music of the highest caliber has the ability to take you out of your present existence and transport you somewhere entirely new and otherworldly. Instrumental music in Explosions in the Sky vein tends toward this feeling, but very rarely do I find a vocalist capable of such a feat.

Enter Miracle Fortress. Centered around Graham van Pelt and his immense multi-instrumental ability, Miracle Fortress revels in the subtle beauty of sound. Van Pelt's vocal delivery goes beyond gorgeous melodies and adds expert intonation and phrasing that make his music soar. Nothing embodies these qualities like "Have You Seen In Your Dreams", the second track off Miracle Fortress' debut Five Roses, where van Pelt's wispy voice is layered on a bed of syncopated guitar, driving bass and atmospheric synth.

Miracle Fortress: Have You Seen In Your Dreams

Perhaps my favorite aspect of Miracle Fortress is when lyrics are dropped for pure melody and the music transforms into a sea of beautiful frequencies, with wave upon wave of sound. The currents and eddies of these songs are the genesis of intangible aural worlds. Both "Poetaster" and "Blasphemy" share this undeniably affecting trait.

Miracle Fortress: Poetaster
Miracle Fortress: Blasphemy

Now to the original reason for this posting: Big Spider's Back. I've been meaning to write about Miracle Fortress forever (then again, I've been meaning to write about many things for a long time) but Big Spider's Back finally gave me the final push to get this finished. This is mainly due to the fact that the two are similar in many respects. Both are singlehandedly ran by multi-instrumentalist wizards and both make gorgeous pop songs that explore the deeper meanings of sound rather than relying solely on lyrical ability. If you liked Miracle Fortress, you will like Big Spider's Back. He's less well known and Seattle-based, so what's not to like?

Big Spider's Back: Stay on the Other Side
Big Spider's Back: Great Divide


More:
Miracle Fortress [MySpace] [Last.fm] [Amazon]
Big Spider's Back [MySpace] [Last.fm] [Amazon] [via]