Dance & Electronic 2011: 20 Best Albums (Page 18) • Year In Review • exclaim.ca

Features > Year In Review > Dec 2011

18. Miracle Fortress Was I The Wave? (Secret City)
If you told a Miracle Fortress fan a few years back that Graham Van Pelt would be reinventing himself as a beat-loving electro-pop artist, they would have likely stared at you in shock and disbelief. But that's exactly what happened with this year's Was I the Wave? Taking a sharp left turn from 2007's indie rock-styled Five Roses, the Montreal songwriter pulled a full-on metamorphosis with its follow-up, and the move ― along with that excruciatingly long wait ― was well worth it. Combing ear-grasping melodies with melancholic, dance-ready instrumental backdrops, Van Pelt took his project to new heights with Was I the Wave?, not only proving lightning can strike twice, but that game-changing gambles are well worth it when they pay off so nicely. Sure, our "bedroom club" term may not have taken off in 2011, but we stand by our definition of Miracle Fortress's newfound inner sound. Rarely has electronic music come across as personal and from the heart as it does on Was I the Wave?
Brock Thiessen

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14Comments

December 03, 2011Ranta9652

Nice to see Amon Tobin and Zomby on there. Their new albums are kindred spirits, IMO.

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December 03, 2011Nameless Poseur9654

any chance of a Spotify playlist? Rdio isn't available in my country (Spain).

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December 05, 2011Nameless Poseur9667

not the greatest list.... very safe easy choices, missed a lot of great albums like Clams Casino, Machinedrum, 2562,KODE9 & SPACEAPE, JAMIE XX & GIL SCOTT-HERON,ARAABMUZIK,Sepalcure,Martyn Ghost People, OMAR S,Motor City Drum Ensemble - DJ-Kicks to name a few... katy b sucks btw

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December 05, 2011Nameless Poseur9670

Katy B does suck... I like a lot of the list, but agree that Kode9&Spaceape, Jamie XX & Gil Scott, and Araabmuzik coulda/shoulda made the list and I know they did receive votes, just not enough. Thanks for the additional suggestions though, more music to check out is always a good thing.

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December 05, 2011TheChief9680

Jamie XX and Gil Scott-Heron are featured in the Groove (soul & world) list.

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December 05, 2011Ranta9682

Yeah, I have my doubts that anyone who openly admits to being a fan of electronic music would have voted for Katy B. She's more for pop fans who want something a little more underground than Lady GaGa but not quite as challenging as Emika (who released a significantly more interesting and beautiful dubstep-ish album on Ninja Tune this year).

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December 06, 2011Nameless Poseur9738

where's pictureplane or jessica 6 on here?

bad list, bad list....

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December 07, 2011Nameless Poseur9750

Rustie @ 5? wow. ballsy.

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December 07, 2011Nameless Poseur9756

Toddla T is so underrated! Glad to see him included

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December 07, 2011Nameless Poseur9759

hey where's that thing that i like?

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December 08, 2011Scott9775

Hmm, Ninja Tune usually means I'll give it a shot, so I'll have to check out the Emika album mentioned above. For other albums that didn't make the list, I really dug Gold Panda's Companion and Grouper's Alien Observer.

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December 08, 2011Nameless Poseur9783

kuedo - severant

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December 08, 2011Nameless Poseur9785

Yay! Wallpaper Music

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December 09, 2011Ranta9808

I can also vouch for Kuedo, a stellar record placed somewhere between the new Boxcutter and Com Truise.

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