Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds

I totally assumed I'd already written about this, but I've actually just written about every other Final Fantasy/Owen Pallett record I own except this one. He Poos Clouds was the first Final Fantasy record I got, but somehow possibly the album of his I'm least into. Has a Good Home has The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead, the first song of his I heard and still one of my favourites, Heartland I just (eventually) tried really hard with and In Conflict is really incredible, so it gets a lot of play. As a result, this one doesn't get played all that often. It's an interesting album, but also one of the hardest to listen to - he rarely stays in the same place very long and few songs have an obvious structure to them. Of course, it's no wonder that it won the Polaris Music prize, since they almost always pick something edgy and difficult (in a good way).

There are some strong songs - the title track, This Lamb Sells Condos, Song Song Song and Many Lives -> 49 MP. The latter I eventually picked up on a 7" single, because I felt bad I hadn't found anything else I really wanted to buy. I found this LP in Bart's CD Cellar in Boulder on what turned out to be the first Record Store Day (or the before, or after, I can't remember). After being so impressed with The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead I was definitely pretty excited to play it, although I couldn't say exactly where it sat in the pile of records I brought back from that trip.

Format: 12", gatefold
Tracks: 10
Cost: £8.13 new
Bought: Bart's CD Cellar, Boulder
When: 18/04/08
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: none

Final Fantasy - Spectrum, 14th Century

On August 2nd 2009 I saw Owen Pallett for the first time, or Final Fantasy, as he was known back then (the flyer for the show has been inside this sleeve since that day). I've been to a lot of gigs in my time, but that one was particularly memorable for a number of reasons - his set was incredible; I'd never seen one man get so much out of one instrument; the venue was lovely; the applause was so great that he agreed to play a few more songs in car park after the show finished - I've never known so many people be so silent so that everyone could hear his unplugged violin and voice.

At the end of the show (and before the after-show) I bought this 10" record from the merch table. They also had the Plays to Please 10" which I've still not heard. I can't remember why I picked this one, but I did based on no information. I guess I liked the cover. Anyway, it's a nice EP. It's loosely related to his 2010 album Heartland and musically I'd say they're quite similar too. Most notably, neither have as many stand-out moments as the albums around them - around this time he seemed to be writing very nice but ultimately very similar songs; the closer The Ballad of No Face is the only one that really stays with you after the record is over. It's a nice EP though.

Format: 10", booklet
Tracks: 5
Cost: £10 new
Bought: Gig, Cardiff
When: 02/08/09
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code

Final Fantasy - Many Lives -> 49 MP

On the 20th August 2015, The Record Deck was moored in central Oxford, just a short walk from my flat. I had the day off because we were going to Green Man Festival that afternoon, so went down there in the morning to see what they had for sale. As is often the case with second-hand records, the overlap between the stock and the sort of music I'm into was minimal. The guy who runs it asked me what music I collected, a question I suspect more often gets answered with niche things like "like-70's Americana" than with "punk-rock, post-rock and bits of metal", which is the true answer. I responded with "modern rock" because that felt like the right answer. I think we both knew I wasn't going to find much there.

I searched through all the boxes, because I had the time, and found a total of two interesting records - this one and the first Lupine Howl record, a band I'd never heard of but was drawn in by the Spiritualized connection. I bought both. This Final Fantasy record is exactly the sort of record I'd ignore in a second hand shop, but I was so surprised to see anything I knew of I thought it was worth picking up. At £2 it was a totally acceptable price.

I know Many Lives -> 49 MP from the album He Poos Clouds - it's a fun late-album track that benefits from some shouted backing vocals. Turns out I love gang vocals in any context. The b-side, The Miner Becomes Forgetful, is nice enough - mostly piano with little flourishes of violin. The back of sleeve has the details of the two other b-sides that were on the cd single but not included here, which just feels lazy.

Part of the reason I bought this 7" was that I was going to see Owen Pallett (as Final Fantasy is now known) at Green Man that weekend. I'd seen him in London in the December beforehand and was amazed by how great he was. It'd been a long time since the first time I saw him in Cardiff and the new songs sounded incredible, so I was still on something of a high from that; it was one of the gigs of the year. I was super-excited to see him at Green Man and so it was never really likely to live up to my expectations - it was great, but it's hard to enjoy yourself as much in a muddy field at the end of a long weekend compared to the comfort of a nice seat in Queen Elizabeth Hall. That said, the few of us at the front dancing around to The Riverbed and Internal Fantasy were having a great time. I didn't need to buy this 7" but the timing ties it firmly to those two live experiences, which I like about it.

Format: 7"
Tracks: 2
Cost: £2 second hand
Bought: The Record Deck, Oxford
When: 20/08/15
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code

Owen Pallett - In Conflict

I started listening to Owen Pallett when he was recording under the name Final Fantasy. I'd been given a mixtape with the huge The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead and shortly afterwards I had the opportunity to see him in Cardiff - it remains one of the best shows I've ever seen - he played entirely solo with a loop pedal and then played a bunch of songs in the car park after the show finished. About 20 or 30 people were stood in absolute silence watching him play violin and sing un-amplified. It was quite something.

Six years later, I finally went to see him play again. I think there'd been opportunities to see him in between, but I think I was worried about ruining my memories of that Cardiff show. This show was a seated show in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, a building on the south bank in London that I'd not been to before. I can't remember what I knew about the show in advance - quite possibly very little - I didn't even know if it was going to be solo or with other musicians. I dragged along my friend Rich thinking he'd probably quite enjoy it. Plus, he worked a few doors along the river, so it was at least easy for him to get to.

Owen played that night with a chamber music orchestra, a drummer and a bass player (as well as a few songs solo) - it was quite a grand set-up compared to what I'd been used to. I remember really enjoying it, but it being very different to the last show (which was a good thing). However, the highlight of the night hit when he played a couple of songs with all the musicians at the same time. It was like watching a live drum 'n' bass remix of classical songs. The drummer in particular was beating the shit out of his drums and the effect was incredible. If I'd just seen those two songs alone I would have left happy. I couldn't have pictured a show more different to the one I saw six years before and I certainly wouldn't have expected to enjoy it so much.

Those two songs turned out to be The Riverbed and Infernal Fantasy, two consecutive songs from his most-recent-at-the-time album, In Conflict. I'd heard a lot of noise around the album release, but after my moderate enjoyment of Heartland I was wary of rushing out to get another album. After the London show I bought In Conflict as soon as I found a copy (the LP includes a bonus track that isn't on the mp3 download - Bridle & Bit - a very interesting song with female vocals). It's a great album with a strong mixture of songs - I Am Not Afraid and The Secret Seven are really great. But for me, three songs towards the end of the album are what I look forward to the most. The Sky Behind the Flag quickly picks up the pace as the drums and beat get moving fast but then The Riverbed hits even harder from the outset and is the highlight of the album. It's probably the most obvious "rock song" that Owen's ever recorded, but it turns out that style of writing with his musical stylings work incredibly. Then we are treated to Infernal Fantasy, which features some almost-gang vocals towards the end. It's very strangely weighted album for me - I listen eagerly awaiting those songs towards the end - but it makes for a very rewarding listen.

Format: Double 12", gatefold sleeve
Tracks: 14
Cost: £20 new
Bought: Truck Store
When: 14/01/15
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code

Owen Pallett - Heartland

The first I heard of Owen Pallett was on a mixtape given to me by an Australian friend. She had included the song The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead amongst 15 or so other songs that tried quite hard to prove she had a cooler taste in music than me (I responded with a cd starting with Guns 'n' Roses to prove that I didn't care). It was undoubtedly one of the highlights and I eventually bought his two albums as Final Fantasy. Some time later he played in a church in Cardiff and it was a lovely show. Watching one man with just a violin and a loop pedal play such intricate songs was fascinating and impressive in equal measures. The applause was so great he even played a few songs unplugged in the car park afterwards for us. I'd heard of bands doing that but never seen it. I've also never seen so many people so deadly quiet, just listening. It was a very good show indeed.

A few months after Heartland came out I was in Cardiff for the weekend, so went back into Spillers (where I'd spent many hours during the time I lived in Wales). I bought a few things, including this LP, in what would turn out to be my last trip to Spillers before they moved into the arcade. Whilst Banquet serves me well for punk records, Spillers is still the place to go for alternative indie things like this. For probably quite a few reasons, I never got into this one properly, so I'm going to sit back and listen to it now.

Well, it's now forty-five minutes later and I'm slightly more keen on the record than I was before. Lewis Takes Action through to Lewis Takes His Shirt Off are all great songs, as is the closer. The rest still doesn't quite grab me. Concept records are often tricky (the theme here has similarities to Fucked Up's David Comes to Life, a concept album I adore). All in all, not a bad record, but not my favourite of his. Certainly still worth a listen.

Format: double 12", gatefold
Tracks: 12
Cost: £12 new
Bought: Spillers
When: 17/04/10
Colour: black
Etching: no
mp3s: download