Owen Pallett A.K.A. Final Fantasy releases his new album, Heartland, on January 11th, but by heading over to Domino Records, you can download an mp3 of it's first single 'Lewis Takes Action' right now.

It's an 'enter your email' kind of scenario, but by entering you'll go into a draw to win a copy of the 7" single.

Which is nice.

continue reading>>

Final Fantasy performs "Lewis Takes Off His Shirt" a brand new song from his upcoming album "Heartland" before the rain starts to pour and stage hands urge him to stop

WATCH

continue reading>>

video for "Horsetail Feathers" by Final Fantasy -- from the EP "Plays To Please" (available on limited edition 10" vinyl from Blocks Recording Club, CD from Slender Means Society and States Rights Records and for download on iTunes).
Music video directed by Tracy Maurice.



In the read more Horsetail Feathers done for La Blogotheque

continue reading>>

video for "Blue Imelda" by Final Fantasy -- from the EP "Spectrum, 14th Century" (available on CD and limited edition 10" from Blocks Recording Club and for download on iTunes). Music video directed by M Blash.

Final Fantasy - Blue Imelda

continue reading>>

New Final Fantasy music video off the first of his two upcoming EPs Spectrum, 14th Century the video is for the track "The Butcher" and is directed by Jesi the Elder

continue reading>>

They're world leaders in esoteric indie pop-rock, so surely those Canucks have a thing or two to say about dealing with life's problems. The Believer magazine reckons so, and has roped in some of em to act as agony aunts for this month's issue. Contributions from Final Fantasy's Owen Pallett and Tegan & Sara below...

Dear Sedaratives,

Are babies worth the hassle of pregnancy?

An Unwilling Mother,
Jacksonville, Fla.

Dear Unwilling Mother,

This is an excellent question. I don’t have any children, nor am I a woman, so I went to an expert: my mother. She said, “No. The nine months of pregnancy are just the beginning. Once the baby is born, you will lose your identity. Your baby’s birth will also be your death. Not literally, of course, but the death of the vibrant, exciting woman that you’ve spent your whole life working on. You will lose contact with friends. Your writing will suffer. And the so-called ‘bliss of parenthood’ is a sham too. You’ll find yourself talking less about your beautiful new infant and more about the weight you’ve gained.”

Thanks, Mom! I love you too.

Owen Pallett, Final Fantasy
Toronto

*

Dear Sedaratives,

My little brother said we should smoke some weed together, but I don’t want him taking pictures and blackmailing me with them. Should I address this to him directly or is there a way I can get around it without bringing it up at all?

Warmly,
Dale Shipley
Naples, Fla.

Dear Dale,

It’s a trap. My older sister publicly resolved to discontinue her addiction to nicotine at midnight on January 1, 2007. She declared her abstinence from the habit and promised, in a binding agreement with a friend, to pay one thousand dollars to anyone who caught her inhaling. At 3:23 a.m. on January 1st, 2007, my sister arrived home from the bar, under the influence of alcohol, and disturbed my slumber by blasting songs from her electro-pop side project while dancing around the inflatable mattress I was sleeping on in her living room. She then proceeded to smoke her face off while mocking my good behavior. I quickly turned on my video camera and captured her in the act. I then used the incriminating tape to receive my thousand-dollar reward. I also called her “watpagin” for three months following a predictive text mishap from the same evening. Don’t ever trust a sibling not to sell you out for laughs or money.

Cheers,
Sara Quin, Tegan and Sara
Calgary

Click here to buy The Believer online and check out the rest of the article.

continue reading>>

the folks over at Sterogum have put together 12 tracks of bands covering the Icelandic songstress.
more in the read more

Tracklist
1. Liars - "Army of Me"
2. Dirty Projectors - "Hyperballad"
3. High Places - "Modern Things"
4. Bell - "It's Oh So Quiet"
5. Pattern Is Movement - "Enjoy"
6. Evangelicals - "You've Been Flirting Again"
7. Xiu Xiu - "Isobel"
8. Final Fantasy & Ed Droste - "Possibly Maybe"
9. White Hinterland - "I Miss You"
10. El Guincho - "Cover Me"
11. Atlas Sound - "Headphones"
12. No Age - "It's Oh So Quiet" (Alternate Take)

its a really well put together thing below are two of my favorites off it

MP3>Liars -Army of me


MP3>Final Fantasy & Ed Droste - "Possibly Maybe"

to download the full thing head over to Stereogum

The New video for Bjork went online today you don't get the full effect of the 3D on the streaming version but the video will be out on DVD and comes with 3D glasses as well see it here "Wanderlust" single is due out on 14/04/08

continue reading>>

Is a new Final Fantasy song performed live at the Owen Pallett curated Maximum Black festival last week in Berlin:

continue reading>>

The musical God that is Owen Pallett is to curate the 'Maximum Black' Festival', stopping in Berlin, Vienna & London. Being fairly confident of Pallett's impeccable taste, I'd imagine this fest will be pretty interesting, even if I've never heard any of the acts on the bill.

They are: Six Organs of Admittance, Frog Eyes, Dirty Projectors, Alexander Tucker, Stephen O'Malley & Final Fantasy himself.

See the lineup investigated after the jump.


On first look, my faith is immediately justified. Here's Six Organs of Admittance with 'Shelter From The Ash':



Wow. I shall be tracking down that album.. well, now.

Next up, Frog Eyes. This is pretty interesting.



Again, kudos Mr Pallett. Here's Dirty Projectors doing a Blogotheque Take Away show (my advice is to skip to 4.15 and watch the second song, Depression, performed in McDonalds- tis excellent):



Alexander Tucker seems pretty interesting- experimental psychedelia- but has no youtube prescence that I can find, so you'll have to check out his solitary song on myspace.
Click

Sharing a stage with Mr Tucker as part of a once-off live duo will be Stephen O'Malley. Who, oh lord, is part of a Death Metal band. Called Sunn O))). They are.. strange:



Hmm.. well, three out of four aint bad. Oh, and as a bonus for our friends on the continent, their lineup also includes Deerhoof. Sorry, London.

The 'Maximum Black Festival' kicks off in two weeks time. You can check out the details here.

continue reading>>

Is this (relatively) new one from Final Fantasy, 'What Do You Think Will Happen Next?'.

It's typically great work from Owen, a particular highlight for me being the crescendo.

Enjoy:



Click for mp3

continue reading>>

Myself, Conor & Dylan checked out the Foggy Notions X-Mas do in Whelan's last night. The FN folks had laid out a nice spread of mince pies, jellies & Christmas crackers, while the stage was decked with tinsel and the obligatory Christmas tree. The opening band 'You're Only Massive' were pretty interesting, their final song (something about being too cool to dance) was kickass. Hopefully they'll be able to expand their live show in the future, as unfortunately it felt a little bit Karaoke with only the vocals being played live.


Final Fantasy played a very different set to Tuesday night's Vicar St show, treating the crowd to mostly new songs & covers. It got pretty lively at a few stages, particularly during 'This Is A Dream Of Win & Regine' (one of the few omissions at Vicar St), when an impromptu influx of balloons had Owen batting them away with violin & bow as he played. The brief set was rounded off with a spectacular rendition of 'Peach, Plum, Pear'. Owen seemed much more at ease during this performance than his previous one, joking around and conversing with the crowd. All hail the festive spirit, I guess.




Girl Talk was pretty damned energetic for a man playing from a laptop, bopping around like a maniac between sporadically jumping in the air and doing the splits. Nice. We didn't get to hang around for most of his set, but from what I heard it seemed like a night of much crazy dancing was ahead.


So good job, Foggy Notions, a Christmas celebrated in style!

Photos courtesy of Niamh over at 'So It Goes'. Thanks Niamh!

continue reading>>

My third time seeing Owen Pallet perform in less than twelve months, and the man seems incapable of putting on a bad show.

The venue was all seated, and we arrived well before support band 'Miracle Fortress' started, to find that nearly all the seats on the ground floor were already taken up by fans who had no doubt been waiting for this show for quite some time. Pallet eventually took the stage and launched into a string of five or six songs which reminded all in attendance exactly why they were there.

My personal highlight of the set was 'Many Lives 49 MP', which has recently become one of my favorite FF songs. The crowd were treated to a bunch of tracks from Owen's forthcoming third album, 'Heartland', some quite experimental and some more traditional, but all fantastic. I shall continue to salivate as I wait for its release.

Owen seemed a tad disconcerted at (a) the size of the venue & (b) his on stage sound (he was experimenting with a four-way mix), but even with these gripes he put on a hell of a show. I can honestly say that there is no performer in the world who has entertained me more than this man. For the entire duration of his set the childish grin did not leave my face for a second.

According to Nialler9, Owen will be appearing as the special guest at the Foggy Notions Christmas Party in Whelan's on Thursday. Woo hoo! Tickets are on sale now at 12.80 a pop.




Photo courtesy of Cathy. Thanks!

continue reading>>

Owen Pallet AKA Final Fantasy plays Vicar St this Tuesday, in what is more than likely going to be one of the best shows of the year. Having already seen him twice myself, I couldn't possibly recommend his live performances highly enough. The coveted title of 'greatest gig I've ever seen' might as well be a fight to the death between his Whelans show and his Electric Picnic slot.

As a warm up for Tuesday, here's a selection some of the best Final Fantasy clips I could find online. Enjoy.

Arctic Circle (with Do Make Say Think):



This Modern Love (Bloc Party cover):



The CN Tower Belongs To The Dead:
(The change at 2:48 is just so damned good..)



This Lamb Sells Condos:



Peach, Plum, Pear (Joanna Newsom cover):
(I've posted this here before, but it definitely warrants re-posting. I love the original, but this just makes a mockery of it)



Many Lives- 49MP



Fantasy (Mariah Carey Cover):



No Cars Go(Arcade Fire cover- although, is it really a cover?):



Wow, wow, wow. Tuesday- don't miss it!!!!

continue reading>>

It seems Oxegen feels it is capable of depriving decent festivals (Elec Pic) of yet more acts that would be more suited to playing the latter. So in order to fit in as many of these acts as possible, this years Oxegen fest will be extended to three days. This does kinda make sense, as most Oxegen goers seem to get down to punchestown on Friday anyways, and are always left arsing around with nothing to do all night. Other than steal things. And set fire to anything they can't steal. But that's Oxegen for ya.

Hopefully the Picnic is gaining enough of a rep that it'll still be able to pull at least some of the acts it wants to, unlike last year's Arcade Fire debacle. Still, it was the small acts that made the picnic for me (and the unique Picnic charm), and I can't see MCD fighting the Picnic organisers over the likes of Final Fantasy.

Lets just hope a mainstream act don't pull a masterpiece out of their asses and leave me forced to come crawling back to MCD, like the infamous Stadium Arcadium year.

Talented bastards.

continue reading>>

Woo Hoo!

You should too.

Get on it!

continue reading>>

We thought it may not happen, but it turns out there is a god, and he's booked Owen Pallet for Vicar Street. So here it is folks- gig of the year- December 12th, tickets are €23.00, on sale tomorrow from tickermaster and all usual outlets.

Honestly...... miss this at your peril.

Here's the full story from Aiken:

"Final Fantasy aka Toronto's Owen Pallet, has played three times in Ireland to date. Back in May 2006 he made his debut as Final Fantasy in Whelan's in Dublin. An audience largely made up of curious folk looking to find more out more about the mysterious figure who had scored the string arrangements on Arcade Fire's Funeral album and who had, in the past, contributed to a variety of Canadian groups such as Picastro, Hidden Cameras, and Les Mouches. Bowled over by the outstanding display of technical musicianship, raw pop emotion and starry overhead projections, they came back in droves when he returned to the venue in October 2006. Those lucky enough to get into the venue (many were turned away) will most likely remember this performance for the rest of their lives.

Meanwhile, Irish music fans have been familiarising themselves with Final Fantasy's two albums, Has A Good Home and He Poos Clouds. So much so, that by the time Pallett took to the stage at the Foggy Notions tent at Electric Picnic in September 2007, a large portion of the 1,000 plus throng were able to sing along on several of his songs. The performance was stellar. The reaction was ecstatic. Pallett stumbled off the stage declaring it was the best show he had ever played and that it would probably never be topped."

To celebrate this joyous announcement, here's the first video I saw of Final Fantasy, Owen covering Joanna Newsom's 'Peach, Plum, Pear':



****EDIT
As pointed out by Blathnaid, ticketmaster has this gig listed for Tuesday December 11th. I assume that'll be the correct date. Darn Aiken Promotions- get your facts straight! Thanks Blathnaid!

continue reading>>

Albums Of The Year: 2006

Having not been able to stop listening to 'The Flying Club Cup', and knowing that it'll more than likely be on my end of year honors list, I figured I'd do a recap of last year's top albums.

Here they are (in order):

10. ISLANDS- 'Return To The Sea'

This album is a total gem- any band that can make a chirpy feel-good pop song about conflict diamonds deserves credit.
There are at least four standout tracks on 'Return To The Sea', ranging in style from recorder led pop, to dark rap-rock, to the downright unclassifiable.

Listen:
Where There's A Will There's A Whalebone





9. Arctic Monkeys- Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'

Saw what you will about the Arctic Monkeys, the fact that this album is packed to the brim with smart, catchy & edgy pop songs is undeniable. This record stayed in my stereo for months after it came out.

Listen:

The View From The Afternoon



8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- 'Show Your Bones'

I'm truly a shameless pop whore. My criterion for good music include pop-sensibilities as an essential. Yeah Yeah Yeahs took the character and visceral energy of their debut and to this added the pop that I so love. 'Show Your Bones' was the result, and damn was it good.

Listen:

Cheated Hearts



7. Final Fantasy- He Poos Clouds

Apart from having the album name of the year, 'He Poos Clouds' has a handful of beautiful and disturbing tracks (each based on one of the different schools of magic in Dungeons & Dragons- nerds rock!). On this (his second album) Owen Pallett wrote each piece for a string quartet, resulting in a deeper, fuller album that it's predecessor 'Has A Good Home'.

Listen:

This Lamb Sells Condos




6. Fujiya & Miyagi- 'Transparent Things'


This genre-bending album from the Brighton three-piece is the best electro-funk-indie-chillout-dance album I've ever heard.
Enough said.


Listen:

Photocopier







5. Cansei De Ser Sexy- 'CSS'

Every once in a while an album comes along that is destined to become a staple of parties everywhere (Thriller, As Heard On Radio, Danse Macabre, Crossroad..), CSS is such an album.
It's as dancy as it is rocky, and it has eleven tracks of non-stop wholesome goodness- no fast forwarding needed.

Listen:

Off The Hook




4. Red Hot Chili Peppers- 'Stadium Arcadium'

It's often said about this album, but this is a band on the top of their game. To produce an (almost) flawless two disc album at this stage in their career says only one thing: the Chilis are in this for the long haul. This collection has nods to their earlier 'funky monk' stage (Animal Bar, Storm In A Teacup), the standout hit singles the band have become known for (Dani California, Tell Me Baby) and a handful of songs on which the band digress from the formula to tread relatively new ground. For me, it was this latter category which proved most rewarding. Tracks like '21st Century' and 'Strip My Mind' promise a lot from what I hope will be a very long future for the Chili Peppers.
As long as they don't get Navarro back.

Listen:

Strip My Mind


3. TV On The Radio- 'Return To Cookie Mountain'

To hear an album full of as many original ideas as 'Cookie Mountain' is a rare and precious thing. From the arrangement to the production, TVOTR have painted a wild and vivid picture that sucks you in from the get-go. It's hard to pick a highlight, as different songs seem to resonate with different moods, but as a lead single and a first plunge into the world of TVOTR you could do much worse than the thumping, howling 'Wolf Like Me'.

Listen:

Wolf Like Me


2. Joanna Newsom- 'Ys'

'Ys' could be a folk opus; it could be a classical suite; it could be an epic poem. It is certainly unique, and it is certainly a overpowering masterpiece. These five tracks are woven tight with layer upon intricate layer of strings composed by the legendary Van Dyke Parks, held together by Newsom's precise plucking of harp strings, and a voice so much more mature than on her previous effort. I can honestly see this album being studied in years to come, or being sought out on vinyl and played with the reverence that's right now reserved for the likes of 'Dark Side'. An absolute classic.

Listen:

Cosmia


1. Cursive- 'Happy Hollow'

With 'Happy Hollow' Cursive have delivered everything that you could possibly want in an album. The concept allows for Tim Kasher's lyrics to explore small town ignorances and hypocrisies through the most cutting and insightful compositions of his career. Reading these words alone sent shivers down my spine, only to be repeated tenfold when they were put to music. From the first passionately urgent chord, Cursive have the listener is in the palm of their hand. Personally, I must admit I wondered where the band would go after the departure of Cellist Gretta Cohn. She had without a doubt contributed to the dynamic of the fantastic 'The Ugly Organ' and I worried about hole she would leave. Fortunately that hole has been plugged with passion, Wizard Of Oz fueled dementia, distortion and a messed-up brass section. Oh, and when this record rocks it fucking rocks. If you don't already own this, get on it.

Listen:

Dorothy At Forty

Notable Mentions:

Knife: 'Silent Shout'; Broken Social Scene: 'Broken Social Scene'....more? Probably....

Click here for 2007 albums of the year list

continue reading>>

Having heard the bad news about Final Fantasy's new album not being finished any time soon I took my own advice and bought Beirut's new album 'The Flying Club Cup'. Even having only listened to it about three times at this stage (not bad, seeing as it's only lunchtime) I can safely say that it has blown me away.


I enjoyed Gulag Orkesta, but didn't really 'get into it', so the quality of the follow up has kinda taken me aback. It still has the strong Eastern-European influence present in Zach Condon's earlier work, but this album seems much more focused- with the emphasis heavily on the songs.

The songs in question are strikingly compelling, the arrangements always complimenting their interesting time signatures and impassioned vocals. Owen Pallett's string compositions have seamlessly slotted into the overall theme of the album, with several moments that one could easily imagine being belted out by a crazed gypsy at a bonfire.

I think this shall remain in my stereo for quite some time, as I ponder whether or not the title is an allusion to Quidditch.

Buy the album here.

Here are some tasters:

Cherbourg

Cliqout

In The Mausoleum

continue reading>>

Shane over at The Torture Garden has posted a new Final Fantasy interview. You can check it out here.

In a brief summing up:

- don't hold your breath for the new album (damn!).
- contrary to rumor he will more than likely not be coming back to Ireland before Christmas (damn damn!).
- we can all bide the time by checking out the new Beirut album, on which Owen features heavily and had a hand in writing.

continue reading>>

Ok, so I saw one of these quite a while ago featuring Arcade Fire but didn't realise til today that there's an entire series. They're great little impromptu performances by artists posted on blogotheque.
Here's the one that got my attention today, a performance by one of my favorite artists at the moment, Final Fantasy AKA Owen Pallett. Word on the street is that Owen is coming back to Dublin at some point before christmas. Oh, the excitement.

#65.1 - Final Fantasy - Pour Light is spent
Uploaded by lablogotheque

Rest assured I shall be posting more of these shows in the near future.

continue reading>>