Remix Sunday: Miracle Fortress versus Daft Punk

I love both Miracle Fortress and Daft Punk, so for me this is just about the best thing ever.

Daft Punk - Digital Love (Miracle Fortress cover)

- a.m.p.m.

Contest: Plants and Animals' Parc Avenue Prize Pack

Montreal's Secret City Records have about as solid of a track record as a label could ever hope for. With only four artists on their label to date, they already boast one Polaris Music Prize winner (Patrick Watson), a fellow 2007 nominee (Miracle Fortress), and international sensations the Go! Team. So it's not surprising that when the ladies and gentlemen at Secret City start talking about their newest addition, basically everyone in the independent music scene listens.

The new guys are Montreal's Plants and Animals, whose first full-length on the label was released yesterday. The album, described as "an epic-rock-pop-soul train", is a very solid addition to the label's already impressive discography. And lucky for all of you kids, we've got a couple to give away!

Thanks to the nice folks at Secret City, we've got two copies of the new album, Parc Avenue to the first two people who can correctly tell us "what does the woman's t-shirt say on the cover of Parc Avenue?" Act now, and you'll also receive a copy of Plants and Animals' 2007 EP, with/avec. That's pretty damn sweet.

Email us your answer with "I love both Plants and Animals" in the subject line to contact@bridgingtheatlantic.net along with your full contact info, including mailing address.

The band plays tomorrow night, February 28th at Zaphod's in Ottawa, and as part of Chart Magazine's Canadian Music Week showcase, March 6th at the Horseshoe in Toronto. There are also rumours about an in-store at Criminal Records the following day. Keep an eye on their website for this announcement, as well as full tour dates.

Plants and Animals - Bye Bye Bye
Plants and Animals - Faerie Dance

- bbbykmbrly.

Spiral Spinning Round

Considering Dan Snaith's previous work as Manitoba and under current moniker Caribou, his new album Andorra feels logical in terms of musical progression, albeit while sounding more free-spirited than ever before. I thought The Milk of Human Kindness was a great album because Snaith balanced hip hop influenced rhythms ("Lord Leopard") and progressive Beck-like sounds ("Yeti"), while constantly reverting to psych-tinged 60's production and guitar ("Bees"). The percussive elements would shuffle, but the mood created on "Bees" was the constant that felt like a spine great ideas would stem from and branch out. The variety is less apparent on Andorra, but it seems as though he used that song as a jumping off point for this new effort.

The instrumentation on Andorra shifts pretty effortlessly between classic sounding string parts and digital melodies provided by keys and synths. The product could be placed somewhere between Sufjan Stevens and Miracle Fortress in terms of style, meaning that layers are at the forefront though the songs themselves are earnest and straightforward. There are a few electronic departures, the most obvious being the last two songs "Irene" and "Niobe". However, the prevalent sound is brightly coloured pop relying on flutes, bells, chimes, and various vocal effects. That sensibility is the selling point, from opener and single "Melody Day" to the fluttering "Eli". There comes a point in the latter when a strong saxophone part creeps into the wall of sound, making the song burst at its seams. Where Milk might have suddenly changed direction on a song like this, Andorra pursues its target, building steadily to a peak never before reached on a Caribou record.

Andorra's one of the stronger Canadian releases of '07, pick it up if you get a chance.

Caribou - Melody Day
Caribou - Eli

- brad

Fortress of Solitude

The first time I saw Think About Life perform it was a sweaty, dingy affair in an Ottawa basement (59 Argyle!), complete with good friends, genuine music lovers, and pizza slices on the house. During their performance and immediately following the show, I noticed that the personality of guitarist Graham Van Pelt was visibly different than that of his fellow members. He did less of the talking and lacked Martin Cesar's swagger as well as the cathartic energy of Matt Shane. Still, one knew that being a part of this band, an off-the-wall, unconventionally spastic electro-rock outfit, must have meant that Van Pelt possessed some unseen quality comparably awesome to the more visible traits exhibited by the dude screaming and the soaking-wet, skinny drummer.

Miracle Fortress is Van Pelt's unveiling party (*though it came out late May, I've been on the road for a while, missing just about every key release of the summer). Five Roses is the masterpiece, and is without question a demonstration of the individual talent he channels subtly into Think About Life. That band's self-titled debut was a summer album for all the writers here at BTA. It reflected the freedom and irresponsibility of the humid months; it was raw, loud, and explosive. Five Roses is a completely different aesthetic, but a summer album just the same. While an early Miracle Fortress song 'Eschatology' re-created the Think About Life style with a little less tumult, the songs on the debut carve out a whole new sound. Like with Panda Bear, the Brian Wilson comparisons have been identified by almost everybody who has gotten hold of this album. The songs on Five Roses are laden with subdued vocal melodies that gradually build towards bright conclusions, all the while sprinkling keyboard and peppery percussion in the gaps to achieve those Wilson-like textures. This is most evident on 'Have You Seen In Your Dreams', where hand claps work alongside vocal echo effects. 'Maybe Lately' develops from start to finish in a very similar way. The standout track of the album is 'Hold Your Secrets To Your Heart', showcasing Van Pelt's strongest singing and a softly pulsing rhythm that hypnotically coasts to the song's end. The first time I heard it I was on the other side of the country in British Columbia, and the astonishment I was feeling from the mountains and natural beauty of the landscape was encompassed perfectly in this one song. I vividly remember making that connection, and not many songs are capable of inducing such peace. It will be an extremely good second half of '07 if this doesn't make it into the top 10.

Miracle Fortress - Have You Seen In Your Dreams (YSI)
Miracle Fortress - Maybe Lately (YSI)
Miracle Fortress - Hold Your Secrets To Your Heart (YSI)

- brad