New Band: Miracle Fortress

Miracle Fortress is but one man; Montreal native Graham Van Pelt. This young multi-instrumental has just released his debut album, Five Roses on Secret City/Rough Trade, and a darn fine one it is too. The Montreal scene seems endlessly productive at the moment and shows no sign of slowing down. Van Pelt moulds together a number of the elements that have made the music of that city (and its twin in the indie stakes, Toronto) so exciting; the lyrical excitement of Wolf Parade (who he toured with in a previous ensemble), the propulsive excitement of The Arcade Fire, the multi-layered shimmeryness (it is a word) of Broken Social Scene and the proggy pretensions of Godspeed You Black Emperor and its off-shoots. It's a pretty adventurous debut, also bringing in shades of shoegaze (there's that genre again) and kraut to form a really interesting listening experience. If you like it, he released an EP beforehand that is no doubt also worth checking out. In other words, Five Roses is really great stuff. Go to myspace for more info, or you could support the wonderful people at Rough Trade by getting it from their site...

Miracle Fortress - Next Train
Miracle Fortress - Blasphemy