Fortress Of Graves - The Gear SLut Project: One

Fortress Of Graves

Gear SLut Project: One
self-released; 2013

3.9 out of 5

By Dan Alcantara

I grew up in a tiny town in Arizona called Florence. When I was younger, I remember my parents driving us to Mesa to run errands or do shopping that we couldn't do in the other small cities that nobody has ever heard of. Every time we drove to Mesa, we would pass a city called Apache Junction. I always thought it was just a traffic light that we had to wait at. It wasn't until a long time later that I even processed it is a city in its own right. It's a name that I haven't heard or thought of in at least 15 years so I was surprised when it came up here, with the music of Travis Graves. He's a keyboardist and composer that works under the moniker, Fortress of Graves, making minimal electronica with some of the best synthesizers ever made.

After spending time working on techno and house music under a different name, he's apparently decided to mellow out and work with sparser arrangements that feel roomy but warm. There isn't a hollow sound on the album Gear SLut Project: One save for the cowbell from a Roland TR-808, the drum machine that has kept time for more hit recordings than any other.

While listening, my immediate frame of reference and comparison was the late great Postal Service but more so to Crystal Castles. I hear that mostly in the beats. They feel very well arranged, not too busy and not making you wonder why they're there at all. There's also the added bonus of this being an instrumental record that you will not once become bored with. I've listened to a lot of instrumental music, from classical to guitar virtuosos like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. The common thread running through the music performed by virtuosos is that you very quickly get bored and tune it out. There's just too much going on and there isn't any soul in it. Here, though, there seems to be emotion in the music.

It could be as simple as Graves' choice of synthesizers, particularly the Moog Voyager. It could be that he was really working hard to make something that was interesting. It could be that there isn't a song over four minutes on this album, a much welcome change from other projects I've heard. In any case, this is a solid album and I'm looking forward to hearing more from the Gear SLut Project that Graves is working on.

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