Owen Pallett - Heartland

A collab with OMD, wow...
A friend of mine told me how you played the opening songs of Dazzle Ships as an encore at a gig in Utrecht last year (or was it '08?) - I was sooo pissed I wasn't there. Luckily I now have tickets for the Amsterdam gig in march.

Just to be clear, this isn't something that particularly sounds like "let me arrange everything to imitate synths," at least not to me -- it's just something to think about when the arrangements/instruments behave in ways that are a little unexpected. It might not have occurred to me if I hadn't read it somewhere and then thought, you know: ah, yes, those strings there do do that, don't they.

I think I made the "voice mixed too low" note when talking about He Poos Clouds, but it doesn't seem like an issue to me here. (Maybe because the sonic profile of this one is lower and warmer? It felt like more of an issue when the voice was up against a lot of mid-rangey strings.)

BTW, am I alone in this experience, or does this album present to other people at first as great but not-super-lively, and then repeated listening reveals it's way, WAY more lively than you thought at first?

Four kestrels manoeuvre in the dark.

BTW, am I alone in this experience, or does this album present to other people at first as great but not-super-lively, and then repeated listening reveals it's way, WAY more lively than you thought at first?

Absolutely. The first listen was very impressive, but I was almost too enmeshed in the arrangements and the leaps forward/sideways in terms of what Owen's been doing with percussion and countermelodies and texture. The second and third were spent wrapping my head around what the hell was going on with Lewis and his wife and Cockatrices and such. And while clearly the melodies were embedding themselves in my brain, it wasn't until recently that I realized how much the album really drives itself forward. There's a KICK to it that appeared in moments on the last two (Dream of W&R, Song Song Song, etc.) but it's somehow less stately/mannered than Has a Good Home and He Poos Clouds.

Plus, things like

For a man can be bought, and a man can be sold,
And the price of a hundred thousand unwatered souls
Is a bit of meat and a bit of coal.

should not be nearly as catchy as they are. Humming this shit EVERYWHERE. Haven't seen Owen since the He Poos Clouds preview at Lambi - at the time translating the string quartet parts for solo violin was mind-blowing...looking forward to seeing how the new arrangements morph for live concerts.

Oh, and while Owen's around answering questions about recording procedures and stuff...where does Spectrum 14th Century fit in?

If Heartland is totally from the perspective of Lewis, is the EP a collection of disparate voices just supplementing with context? Are any of those "Lewis" songs as well, or should we just treat them as vaguely connected bonuses? (Specifically is The Butcher supposed to be in the voice of "Owen, God of Spectrum", because that's the only way I can make head or tails of it).

http://www.comixconnection.com/uploaded_images/286100~Portrait-of-Baby-Crying-Posters-713652.jpg

Thanks for the kind words! I'm preemptively banning myself.

Question though Owen- did you decide to just go by your name after they printed up all the sleeves to your records? I noticed when they shipped in they all say
Final Fantasy on the spine and theres a sticker on the front with you name. Just curious.

I think Owen's checked out of this thread. Or at least from answering questions. Which makes sense.

This is from P4k:

From now on, Owen Pallett will be known as Owen Pallett-- we'll have to put those bad jokes about hit points and geeks in sweatpants to rest. According to a message from Pallett, "the laws of trademark infringement exist for good reason, and so I am voluntarily retiring my band name."

http://pitchfork.com/news/37436-final-fantasy-changes-nameto-owen-pallett/

Eh oh well.

Yeah but I was wondering how last minute that decision was, since it still says Final Fantasy on all the record sleeves, but the sticker says his name. These dull little things hold my curiosity.

Oh shit. I seriously read

Question though Owen- did you decide to just go by your name

And then went to Pitchfork. I'm tired. Sorry dude.

I'm not THAT behind here.

No problem haha.

:-)

I think his voice suits the music well. Good pairing.

Little snatches of Oh Heartland, Up Yours really remind me, vocally, of Aimee Mann circa the Magnolia soundtrack.

This is a terrific record.

My copy is labelled up with Owen's own name, incidentally.

Really now? Spine too? Neato.

Yep, spine too; from Amazon's preferred merchant.

i like this record a lot and feel a bit guilty about whining about how long it was taking to come out on pwen's other thread

Great record owen!

Finally listening, and it sounds like what would happen if Josh Groban went slightly insane or took some drugs.

Good way, in a.

Josh Groban? No. Just no.

inspired by that 45rpm to 33rpm thread I slowed down some Joanna Newsom and the singing sounded quite a bit like Owen.

my few listens to this album have been real satisfying and I still don't have a real grasp of what it's doing (it's kind of just drifting awesomely by), so I expect to be back in a couple of weeks saying how amazing it is.

Is there a good online shop for buying indie vinyl (UK based)? That is trustworthy and not too expensive? I hate living in a town with only a shitty hmv to rely on and now want to buy this.

(Sorry we have an incredibly shitty vinyl store that tries to rip you off even if you know what you are looking at and doesn't seem to know anything about music that hasn't been on the cover of Mojo.)

you probably already know it, but Boomkat? http://boomkat.com/ - not exactly cheap, but 'okay' pricewise I'd say.

Ah cheers. No, I've never really bought records online unless they were from rapandsoulmailorder.com's sale section

How much is their shipping? The only thing I could think of to knock it up close to their free shipping mark (the GSH) is out of stock :(

erm, think it's about £2 for a double LP? Not entirely sure, though.

ordered. cheers merdy

wahey. I'd better get commission on this.

Well if ever there was a place to ask the duke himself.

Bump before this falls off. I am awaiting an opportunity to listen to this on my big AKGs. Things keep happening to prevent me.

So this is fucking immense. Way better than the first two (which I still liked).

just caught myself singing out loud some of the more dragon quest sounding bits at work ("the stony hiss of cockatrice has cast us into serfdom! i close my eyes and spur imelda down the mountainside - for a liberated spectrum!") — felt 'nerdy'

Haha--I find myself singing "I will not sing your praises..." all the time.

this = awesome

should probably hear this huh

dude it's incredibly good

unsurprisingly; I'm really enjoying this. Will be putting it on repeat methinks.

yeah i dont have much else to say other than this is epic and kind of really good

just caught myself singing out loud some of the more dragon quest sounding bits at work

or on the bus! or on the street! or...well, anywhere. and then you get really self-conscious about how ridiculous you sound!

I work in the student shop at Goldsmiths College. The staff get to pick the music that plays; today I kicked off my shift with Heartland. Some guy comes up to the counter and we start talking about it. Dude's gotta review it for The Quietus apparently. My brush with music writing 'fame' haha.

you want lyric embarrassment, try accidentally muttering "I've got a taste for liquid gold / I'll bludgeon til the body's cold" while waiting in line at a McDonald's

^^ the most effective method I've ever found of enlarging my Personal Space

(obligatory cock ring joke)

If Heartland is totally from the perspective of Lewis, is the EP a collection of disparate voices just supplementing with context? Are any of those "Lewis" songs as well, or should we just treat them as vaguely connected bonuses? (Specifically is The Butcher supposed to be in the voice of "Owen, God of Spectrum", because that's the only way I can make head or tails of it).

I read "E is for Estranged" as being from Owen's point of view as well, and then started to notice the melodic similarities to "The Butcher" toward the end of it - neat if I'm right.

I'd never heard any of Owen's other music before listening to this - it's some astonishing music. I had no idea my subconscious had been craving a long-form orchestral-pop concept album so much, but hey no complaints here

Pooland

for some reason listening to this makes me want to read dave sedaris. an odd sensation i know.

man, it's been forever since i listened to "he poos clouds"
i remember it being mailed to me and thinking it was a TERRIBLE name and then i fell in love with the album
still feeling the same 15 years later reallyl!

Thought Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project was excellent, film and soundtrack both. I've never felt better about my life as a hoarder.

I'd never heard Has A Good Home before

SPOILER: it's great

<3 thanks DJP

btw, I scored this and it's coming out May 8

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/neon-spaceship-earth-release-coronavirus-1234585849/

coooooool was already on my must watch list!

remastered Has A Good Home sounds so goooood. <3

can't wait for Island!

island out tonight !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! https://www.instagram.com/p/CAdyxJcA8XE/

fair play, gatecrashing the 1975 love-in like this

https://music.apple.com/jp/album/island/1509744953

oo!

WHAT

ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

owen pallett - island (2020)