New Final Fantasy EP (1 Viewer)

[thisgreg]

Final Fantasy was a bit of a silly name.

The most unGoogle-able name since Gomez and Girls.

Except for that brief period when i changed the name of my band to google, disaster.

Whelan's on March 18th.

Heartland is, based on one listen, really fucking good. Much more elaborately produced than his first two records and a lot of synths instead of strings going on.

Really can't wait to check this out now, sounds great.

 

[Sweetie]

Listened to the Butcher streamed on Stereogum. really great.

Domino has a sample single up too for free download

 

[coast to coast]

Whelan's on March 18th.

Heartland is, based on one listen, really fucking good. Much more elaborately produced than his first two records and a lot of synths instead of strings going on.

Great news about the gig!
Heartland is phenomenal. I've been listening out of it for about two weeks. Wouldn't agree about less strings, given that there's an orchestral string section on it! But it is different to He Poos Clouds certainly.

Also check this shit out:
http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/cod/concerts/20091023owenp

Canadian radio broadcast/podcast of his concert with Nova Scotia Symphony Orchestra, including a cover of Van Dyke Parks' Palm Desert. Great recording.

 

[floodzer]

Whelan's on March 18th.

Sweet. It aint listed yet. Any idea when tickets go on sale?

 

[Unicron]

Sweet. It aint listed yet. Any idea when tickets go on sale?

Nope, saw it yesterday on the FN twitter. I'm sure Foggy will post the details up here when the time comes.

 

[rettucs]

27 euro?

what the fuck

what a ripoff

 

[coast to coast]

27 euro?

what the fuck

what a ripoff

Steep for Whelans, but I'll definitely pay it.
Maybe he'll have that orchestra with him.

 

[rettucs]

I paid it too.

but still. 27 euro?

I'll have to put my snowshows on e-bay so I can eat this month.

 

[coast to coast]

You're right it is too much money. The six quid of it to ticketmaster is the most galling part though, as usual.

 

[worthit]

only €24 on www.tickets.ie including charges. It's an extra €1 for postage is all. Always check if gig's are being sold through tickets.ie as they're always €3 cheaper.

 

[coast to coast]

ooh yeh i actually bought tickets for this on tickets.ie.... it was the panda bear one that i had to pay 3 quid each extra on from ticketbastard.
still a quality week of gigs.

 

[Lili Marlene]

Heartland, the third album by Owen Pallett, is a panoramic and orchestral work; a song cycle of Contemporary Fiction, and Owen Pallett’s finest work to date. It will be released on 15 January 2010 in Ireland on Domino.

Heartland’s narrative concerns a young, ultra-violent farmer named Lewis and is set in the imaginary landscape of Spectrum. Pallett describes the concepts behind the record: "The album is about the beginning, middle and end of a relationship. But it’s sung from the point of view of the object of my affection.”

Recorded over nine months, Pallett enlisted the services of the Czech Philharmonic in Prague and travelled to Reykjavik to use Valeifgr Siggurdson’s Greenhouse studio, home to such sonically widescreen masterpieces as Bjork’s Medulla & Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s The Letting Go. Collaborating on Heartland are drummer Jeremy Gara (Arcade Fire) and mixer Rusty Santos, who previously worked on Panda Bear's Person Pitch.

The composition of the record is diverse, oscillating between 19th century military music, 70s analog synth-pop, Russian futurism and American pointillism, often in the space of a few bars. According to Pallett: “The songs were designed to be as dense with polyphony as the Final Fantasy live shows can become. While writing it, I kept an image in my head of putting so many notes on the page that the paper turned black.”

The result is a multi-layered orchestral work played with the immediacy of a singer-songwriter or electro bedroom auteur. As Pallett notes: "The album was compositionally modelled upon the principles of electronic music”. In effect Pallett treated the orchestra like a vintage modular synth, programming the parts accordingly: “The string section can function as a white noise generator, the winds clatter like an eight-step sequencer, and the brass rises and falls like an enormous oscillating filter.”

This process echoes the live shows where Pallett layers parts over and over one another to produce a dense set of orchestral flourishes, something approaching a one man orchestra playing the Rite of Spring with a wholly pop heart. Running in counterpoint to this composition method is Pallet’s incredible sense of melody and his resonant voice. His singing on Heartland infuses the songs with empathy and drama, weaving itself among the strings and percussion, soaring at times on “Lewis Takes Off his Shirt” and “Tryst With Mephistopholes” through the drama of the narrative.

Owen has written string and orchestral arrangements for numerous releases, including the Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible, Grizzly Bear’s Yellow House, Beirut’s The Flying Club Cup and The Last Shadow Puppets’ The Age of the Understatement. Most recently he wrote orchestral parts for Pet Shop Boys’ Yes, played violin on Mika’s The Boy Who Knew Too Much and contributed string arrangements to the Mountain Goats album, The Life of the World to Come.

Heartland is a unique modern musical statement. A record comprising twelve concise songs informed by the traditions of pop, which are based on one long narrative concept, and played by an orchestra. The result is an extraordinary piece of work ringing to the sound of its distinct sense of ambition, warmth and emotion.

people give out to Sting when he does this kind of thing