Owen Pallett - Heartland

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5...according to our Brian on Fri 15 Jan, 2010.

Final Fantasy is no more, say hello to lawsuit avoiding skamp Owen Pallett. he's got a big new "home" though, Domino mansions in London, UK. And his new album is called 'Heartland'. I must say, this delivers for me where the damp squib that was the new Animal Collective EP didn't. It's very cinematic sounding, bursting with whizzy, spine-tingling string & brass arrangements, yearning, dramatic vocals & a breathless, magical energy. It makes me feel like i've gone to see a big West End production for Christmas, such is the widescreen aura & wondrous scope of imagination. A richly textured dreamscape indeed is this record, I cannot quite put my finger on what it reminds me of but The Magnetic Fields, Animal Collective, Patrick Wolf & the Beach Boys all spring to mind throughout! CD w/booklet/LP innit.

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Owen Pallett used to be called Final Fantasy, but now after the intervention of legal eagles he’s recording under the name Owen Pallett.

·        After stints playing in Les Mouches, Hidden Cameras, Picastro and other Toronto bands, he released debut album Has A Good Home in April 2005. Final Fantasy’s second album He Poos Clouds, written and arranged entirely for string quartet, is a satirical song cycle based on the eight schools of magic codified by Dungeons & Dragons.

·        The past few years have seen Owen constantly touring as Final Fantasy, his “one-man band.” During these travels Owen performed at Laurie Anderson’s 60th birthday party and curated 2008’s Maximum Black Festival, featuring Deerhoof, Stephen O’Malley, Dirty Projectors, Max Tundra and others.

·        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. In this year alone, 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 Owen's first album for Domino

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