composer who lives in the clouds making music for birds (and games and animation)! 🇵🇭🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈


🎹✨soundcloud☁️🎵
soundcloud.com/paperaviator

I discovered Miracles of Modern Science maybe like, 9 years ago on some defunct free music website. They're essentially a rock band (though "rock band" feels too reductive...) consisting of only chamber instruments (vioin, cello, double bass, mandolin) and drums. Despite not having any guitar and a very light ensemble, their music goes incredibly hard and is full of innovative songwriting and arranging. They are incredibly underrated. Supremely underrated.

Since MoMS has miraculously come back after 7 years with their song Birthday Cake, here's some song recommendations + notes about their outstanding arranging skills!

licks licks licks (what is this, lick city?)

Despite the mandolin being a potential substitute for rhythm guitar, it's only used as such about 30% of the time (The treble range + very bright tone don't make it a super good fit for that). In lieu of rhythmic chords, MoMs uses these intricate, contrapuntal licks, like in Dear Pressure. I absolutely love how it builds up to a playful hocket-y texture between the mandolin and strings in the chorus, almost akin to a dubstep drop (their cover of Break the Rules by Charli XCX also has a fun drop-like breakdown section). Dubstep was very popular at the time, so that's why I draw that comparison specifically. When the mandolin is playing chords, the violin and cello help create these thick voicings, but still break away to fill the gaps in the vocals with more melodies.

MoMS are masters at underlicks (a term i'm stealing from this tiktok). Underlicks are basically a secondary melody the supports the vocals, providing greater interest than standard accompaniment (arppegios, strummed chords, etc.). I think this is just inherent to the fact that they have mostly melodic instruments, but still admirable none the less.

I could basically put every song here as an example of underlicks, but I love their most recent single, Birthday Cake, where the underlick of the chorus get lyrics at 2:35 and then underscores the mandolin solo (which is cleverly transcribed via cake decorations).

arranging, techniques, and composition!

MoMS also really use their instrumentation to their fullest!

I feel like if you think "rock with strings," you just think of a string orchestra performing cinematic arpeggios and big chugging chords. This can usually feel kinda contrived and cliche, but MoMS's string arranging skills are anything but!

The Chop is full of unique colors, starting with this interesting cello + violin harmonic lick.
The second verse has this playful call-and-response between the vocals and strings with aggressive atonal phrases featuring glissandos, harmonics, and double stops, over some funky palm-muted mandolin.

Don't Feed the Party Animals feels like a surf rock tune mixed with 20th century expressionism and atonality. The song starts with this aggressive ricochet double (triple?) stop on the cello. In the second half of the chorus, there's these really haunting chords that remind me of Verklärte Nacht by Schoenburg, and some really sick pizzicato lines in the second verse.

Also like, their covers??? Dang! This arrangement of Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears sounds so full and close to the original, despite not using any of the instruments in the original songs (except, ya know, drums). Love the harmonics before the bridge... so pretty~

really cool lyrics!

Not only does MoMS have killer musicianship, but their lyrics are extremely creative as well!

Eating Me Alive was my first MoMS song, and it talks about the physical pain of internal conflict by having internal organs argue about what's the right choice, playing off the idea of listening to your heart, but letting other organs (namely, the spleen) speak up too.

Follow Your Heart (Or Something) explores the very real feeling of chasing your dreams, but achieving... underwhelming results. I feel like this song kinda foreshadowed their long hiatus ("We can do, we can do what we want, but maybe not for long"). The music is somehow both ironically optimistic, yet earnestly hopeful.

All their lyrics are great and explore such interesting subject matter!!! It's hard to pick more; the ones I've already shown above are great examples of their lyricism as well.

cool very low budget music videos

if you've been watching the videos, you probably noticed how creative every single music video is. Evan, the lead singer and bassist, seems to direct most of their music videos, and I love how simple, yet effective each video's concept is.

I don't really have to explain it, you can just see for yourself lol. Here's another music video that I love!
https://youtu.be/y3mBKr5p2Po?si=0vx-GsaZpMtd2sc-


I love Miracles of Modern Science!!! Please listen to them! That's all! Bye


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