Band of The Week Number 2 - Final Fantasy

ShoulderChip

Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy is Owen Pallett, probably most famous for his string work with Arcade Fire.

Most of his gigs are just him with his violin and a loop pedal.

Here's some of his stuff (sorry the live recordings aren't the greatest quality):

That's When The Audience Died:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zWMh7Mlh8A

The CN Tower Belongs To The Dead:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDLFWPx-KFk

This Is The Dream of Win And Regine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fOh9POGXgU

This Modern Love (Bloc Party):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFXJKp-NgR8

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Kid V

Ye he's brilliant. I never hear that much about him though.
The Bloc Party cover is amazing, the original is my favorite of their songs.

yevveh

Adore CN Tower and Dream of Win and Regine. Whole first album is great but haven't got into the new album yet. Bloc Party cover is great.

Anybody know how his multi-looping thing is working out? You know, the one he debut'd (?!) in Vicar St.? I wasn't there, but it sounds like a cool idea.

Sinfonia

Quote function didn't quite work there did it, mutha****a? :pac:

calex71

saw him in vicar street last year, great night, support was miracle fortress who's album im quite enjoying at the mement, seems Canada is producing a lot of good stuff these days, at the moment theres maybe 10 canadian bands i would listen to regulary

johnny_ultimate

Yeah fantastic songwriter. One of the best live acts around. Miracle Fortress are also great as mentioned above: that was one of my favourite gigs in years.

Still think this Lambs Sell Condos is my favourite of his, has been my ringtone for years at this point and still don't tire of it. Hes also rumoured to be helping Win and Regine put together some stuff for the soundtrack of Richard Kellys the Box, which is something to look foward to!

Great covers too! This Modern Love is stunning.

jill_valentine

Folks who were at his last show would do well to get their asses over to the official Final Fantasy forum, where they shall find a nice memento of a great show.

http://shzine.proboards10.com/index.cgi?board=fantasy

And since he's all brilliant and Canadian, Mr. Pallett is quite cool about you doing so, too. He swings by that forum quite regularly though, so be polite.

conqueror90

I've listened to a bit of his stuff, and although I wasn't completely crazy about it, it's definitely interesting. I suppose I should pick up one of his albums and give him a proper listen. Any recommendations album-wise?

jill_valentine

Heartlands is the new one on the way, but people always argue about whether they prefer He Poos Clouds or Has A Good Home. Today, I prefer He Poos Clouds. And there's quite a bit of his unreleased stuff available (with his permission) on his forum, if you rummage a bit.

Eh... that's also Owen Pallett on the current bunch of Flora ads, but he considers that a gig to pay the bills rather than "A Final Fantasy Project". AFAIK, you can buy it on iTunes, listed under Lewis's Dream by Owen Pallett.

Sinfonia

Initially, I preferred Has A Good Home, mostly for the songs posted in the OP, they seemed more accessible than most of the stuff on He Poos Clouds.

HPC has taken over for me, but then the instrumentation has expanded a lot, so the two albums are very hard to compare. There's a Sufjan-ish vibe off some of HPC, so I suppose it sounds less original, to put it a bit harshly - I'd never heard any pop music quite like HAGH before that album. I love string music, and I love writing for strings, and it's nice to hear string-heavy work outside of the 'art' music world.
Overall though, the composition on HPC is much stronger and more complex than HAGH, so it's a winner for me...looking forward to the next release