Owen Pallett’s music is intricate and densely layered, frequently concealing a sprawling lyrical theme buried just beneath the surface of his lovely arrangements. He has played with Arcade Fire, Beirut and Grizzly Bear (to name just a few), as well as writing string arrangements for Fucked Up, The Last Shadow Puppets, The Rumble Strips and The Mountain Goats. But he has started to establish more of his own personal musical identity as of late, shedding the Final Fantasy moniker that he used when recording the Polaris Prize winning He Poos Clouds, and releasing an album under his own name for the first time with the sublime Heartland.

I was fortunate to be able to ask Owen a few questions about how things have changed for him since coming under a larger public spotlight, how the new album coalesced for him, and he’s able to liken me to Lili Taylor’s character in Pecker and jokingly admit to not knowing who Arcade Fire are. It’s a bit of a convoluted interview, just like the artist himself I guess. But Heartland is clearly one of the best records to be released this year, and this conversation sheds some light on the creator of that gem, Owen Pallett.
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There are several moments during Heartland, Owen Pallett’s superb new record, where the songs reach a level so intensely personal and revealing that it almost feels uncomfortably invasive, as if we’re unavoidably listening in through paper thin walls on Pallett tentatively starting a relationship that eventually dissolves into tears and anguish. But the intimate portrayal that reveals itself over the course of the album is so gripping and compelling that you can’t really focus on anything else, becoming a nameless participant in the affair just by witnessing its dissolution. And if all that sounds like too much of a soap opera for you, nonetheless give Heartland a chance, for this wonderful album is far more operatic than soapy, and the arrangements are all quite lush and gorgeous, soaring effortlessly along with Pallett’s dulcet vocals. The Meta-narrative is just a part of the story that unfolds on the album, with Pallett’s lively compositions coming to vibrant life with the help of (amongst others) the Czech Philharmonic, Nico Muhly and the subtle drumming of Arcade Fire’s Jeremy Gara. It all adds up to a riveting, engaging album that surprises as much as it soothes, keeping you listening with rapt attention while allowing your thoughts to roam free along with the cadence of the music. Continue Reading

Following the announcement of new his album Heartland (January 18th 2010), Final Fantasy, aka Owen Pallett, has now been confirmed to headline the Union Chapel in London on January 25th.

Tickets for the Union Chapel on sale exclusively from TicketWeb from Friday 13th November at 9am

Luxury Pond is the brainchild of Toronto based musician Dan Goldman. His self titled album features the talents of Daniela Gesundheit (aka Snowblink) and Ryan Driver amongst others and also features the string arranging talents of Owen Pallett. Of which more, later….

For people out there that have never heard of you. Give us three reasons why they should…

You like boy/girl vocal duets wrapped in strings and synths
You like songs about pre-historic sharks
This is your favourite colour

Can you recall the moment when you first decided you wanted to become a musician?

it might have been around the time my father yelled at me for failing math, to which I replied “I don’t need to care about math anyway because I’m going to be a musician” I was about 15. That and discovering Jimmy Page, of course.

You have a lot of collaborators on the record- Ryan Driver, Owen Pallett…How did those come about?

Owen worked on my last album, Through A Revolution, in exchange for a pair of military mitts I bought at a garage sale for $1. I met him through Mike Olsen, a cellist with whom I used to play in a band called kitchenmusik. (Owen and Mike did the strings for many notable disks including Funeral by Arcade Fire). I know Ryan through the Tranzac, which is an incredible hub for a very wide range of music in Toronto. The first show I did with him was in my project Cover Band, a band that covered the hits of luminaries such as Britney Spears (Toxic) and Metallica (One)

Where do your songs come from? What’s the inspiration behind the record?

My songs come from careful observation and collage work.

Luxury Pond, the album, is a response to Through A Revolution; I took the elements I loved most about the first record, like Owen’s strings, and the idea of contrasting tightly woven arrangements with glitchy improvised ideas; then I put these ideas into a live scenario. Revolution is a sound sculpture that I crafted over several months in my bedroom, whereas Luxury Pond is a documentation of people playing together over the course of a day in the studio.

Name your Top 5 records.

in no particular order:
A Ghost Is Born by Wilco
Hejira by Joni Mitchell
Houses of the Holy by Led Zeppelin
Either/Or by Elliott Smith
A River Ain’t To Much to Love by Smog

What was the first gig you ever played and was it a success?

Mental Floss: 2 guitarists, drummer, no bassist playing Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd songs in the high school gymnasium. Success? Depends on what you mean. I felt pretty pumped as I carried the PA system out of the gym and up the stairs post-gig. Yeah, if anything I think it succeeded in making me want to continue making music.

What one piece of criticism has stuck in your mind and was it justified?

I tend to play ahead of the beat and need to learn to chill out. Yes it was justified and I think I still need to learn the lesson in other areas of life, like hitting “send” too soon too often.

What one thing has caused you to waste your free time in the past 6 months?

Waiting on hold for tech support with Primus telephone to fix my VOIP phone.

If you weren’t making music, what do you think you’d be doing?

Some kind of psycho-therapist, perhaps. I’m pretty good with other people’s problems.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?

Taking inventory at grocery stores after closing time. I’d count all the soup packets and enter the totals into a little hand-held machine. Then move to the bean section, then the cookies. Pretty mind numbing. The job did help me pay for a bicycle trip from Seattle to San Francisco I did when I was 16, though.

What is the first song you put on when you wake up?

CBC Radio 1

We’d like you to make us a mix-tape. Pick five track with a theme of your choice.

The theme is: Nonsense We Love

I Am The Walrus by The Beatles
Spiders by Wilco
Food Roulette by Dion McGregor (this is a legendary recording of a man’s sleep talkings )
Songs To Aging Children by Joni Mitchell
Eid Ma Clack Sha by Bill Callahan

And finally one Canadian band we should listen to (that isn’t your band)
Tough one, Ro! Here are 5 I can’t choose between:
John Southworth
Bruce Peninsula
Great Aunt Ida
Metal Kites
Mia Sheard

You can find Luxury Pond on the web here and listen to the track ‘Boulders’ as part of Oh! Canada Volume 3

Photo by Crazy Bobbles

The product of nine months of work in four countries, Final Fantasy has announced details of his third full-length, following 2006’s He Poos Clouds LP and 2008’s Spectrum 14th Century and Plays To Please EPs.

It will be called Heartland’s and will be available on double 10” vinyl, compact disc and digital formats in the early days of 2010, released by Domino Records worldwide outside of Canada.

Preceding Heartland’s release, Final Fantasy will do a west coast Canadian tour with the Toronto group Timber Timbre as a special guest. This will be followed by an appearance at the Halifax Pop Explosion, playing a full programme of songs for looped violin and voice and backed by the Nova Scotia Symphony.

To finish the year, he’ll be touring with The Mountain Goats on their November tour of the United States.

Jet Black is the fourth proper studio album from Gentlemen Reg, the recording moniker of Canadian songwriter Reg Vermue. He seems to be a quiet sort of character, but the kind that keeps good company. He’s performed with Final Fantasy and ‘guested’ with Sufjan Stevens. The Constantines regularly make up his backing band and he’s even managed to fit in the occasional appearance with the indie-rock behemoth Broken Social Scene. Continue Reading

Canadian musician Final Fantasy (aka Owen Pallett) has announced a new London headlining show in May 2009, his first since February 2008.

Playing at the beautiful Union Chapel, the Arcade Fire collaborator will play old and new material. Supports will be announced at a later stage. 

Tickets for the show are priced at £12.50 and are available via TicketWeb as of 9AM, Friday 13th March 2009. 

So that’s: 

MAY
28th Union Chapel, London (08444 771 000 / www.ticketweb.co.uk)

Simon Bookish recommends… “Blue Imelda” by Final Fantasy

“My friend Owen [Pallett] made an EP called Spectrum 14th Century, which is definitely one of my favourite things from this year. For me, it’s representative of a fantastic new development in pop music, a kind of new ambition. There’s a lot of it about at the moment – musicians with big ideas, resourcefulness, intelligence, some daring. ‘Is anything more beautiful than failure?’, in the words of the first song on the EP. Spectrum is concerned with a fictional mediaeval society and its deity, who is also called Owen, and his ambivalent relationship with his worshippers. ‘Every morning I listen to confessionals; I don’t give a shit about the bulk of it, still, I keep it professional.’ So it has this sci-fi Canterbury Tales lyric and is set to the strangest, lushest music, all soaring strings, acidic woodwind, steel drums and field recordings of birdsong. It’s challenging and funny and beautiful, so I recommend you buy the whole EP.”

Simon Bookish is the stage name of Leo Chadburn, a classically trained composer, vocalist and performer based in London. His album Everything/Everything is out now on Tomlab and has been nominated for TLOBF’s Album of the Year. Click here to vote.

Simon Bookish on MySpace