Owen Pallett - Heartland

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.

Pooland

he poos hearts?

no, wait. he hearts poos.

I think he means the set of aesthetic priorities that electronic composers might be said to have - what exactly these are isn't something I'd be in a position to state, but it does seem that composition, for electronic composers, is a different activity from composing on standard instruments of the symphony in some ways, right? or maybe not, just thinkin'

― Lee Dorrian Gray (J0hn D.), Thursday, February 4, 2010 2:40 PM (2 weeks ago)

been ruminating on this idea as i'm listening to this album repeatedly the last couple of weeks. it hit me watching a live clip from ifc. it's the looping, i think, the way he (and other electronic composers) records a phrase to have the exact same thing loop over. the sensibility is the same if you are recording that loop live or copy/pasting midi notes or letting a drum machine run over the same beat etc etc. this isn;t to say that acoustic instrumentalists don't use or even rely on repetitive phrases, but save for the most precise players there's going to be some variation in timbre or micro-imprecisions in rhythm. the loop otoh is always "exactly" the same.

there's a lot of variation in chord structures, but as a point of reference, "e is for estranged" is essentially the same chord structure throughout but it took me a long time to figure it out. the addition and removal of layers is much more akin to electronically produced (at least 4 me at any rate). it's to his great credit that he doesn't allow this repeating structure get stale and has enough going on that the song moves.

i want to say something clever like this is technical wizardry disguised as a beautiful chamber pop album or vice versa, but i don't think either facet is hidden at all. it's like "i'm fucking talented, let's waltz :D"

man, I know I can be accused of bias here, but this is the BEST. FUCKING. ALBUM. Like, every song makes me go "fuck yeah dude this is the best song on the record" only then the next one comes up. And it's the same thing again. BEST. FUCKING. ALBUM.

Yeah, this is going to be hard to beat for my favorite of the year.

loooool i've been listening to this tonight!

Owen's vocal melodies are INSANELY great on this. Seriously. The vocal melodies. A++

"I took a No-Face by his beeaaaak, and broke his jaw, he'll never speak again (ahhhhhhhh)"

Cannot overstate the greatness of the vocal melody on this line.

"about face, about face"

I've really tried to like this, guys ("Lewis Takes Off His Shirt" is still in my iPod), but this still sounds malnourished.

dogg what u mean, this album is walking around town all bloated and blowin out inappropriate farts from eatin so good

m bison I wish to subscribe to your newsletter

Finally gave this a full listen last night -- very lovely on first blush. Owen's voice is the standout for me here because it reminded me of nobody so much as Joe Cassidy from Butterfly Child, one of my all time favorite and far too obscure bands. Something about the combination of ease, vulnerability and evident skill.

i can't listen to this one enough! when have i last been so obsessed with a recent album? stunning music.

i think i'm looking forward to seeing owen this may more than just about any show i've ever anticipated

this album is incredible btw

I love this.

What do people think of Dan Deacon's remix of Lewis Takes His Shirt Off?

I'm guessing this is a bit of a grower, eh?

It sounds interesting at first listen - not sure if I'm "blown away", as most people here are, though.

it will haunt u in yr dreamz

Owen's record is great

this album is so fantastic - my favourite for the year so far definitely.

It's one of those that's pretty easy to walk away from during/after first listen and then 100times easier to walk back to time and time again. It reminds me of Scott Walker or Coil in the way that the arrangements completely immerse you into the music. Still haven't listened to it on headphones but very much looking forward to the experience.

What do people think of Dan Deacon's remix of Lewis Takes His Shirt Off?

not feeling it as much as i'd like to /:

otoh this still sounds worth investigating:

Lewis Takes Off Shirt 12″ Track List:

A

1: Lewis Takes Off His Shirt (Album version)

2. Lewis Takes Off His Shirt (Dan Deacon Remix)

3. Lewis Takes Off His Shirt (Benoit Pioulard Remix)

B

1. Lewis Takes Off His Shirt (CFCF Remix)

2. Keep The Dog Quiet (Simon Bookish Remix)

3. Midnight Directives (Max Tundra Remix)

owen, why do you hate providence

04-08 Toronto, Ontario - Queen Elizabeth Theatre
04-10 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
04-11 Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater
04-12 Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall
04-13 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center
04-14 Pittsburgh, PA - Andy Warhol Museum
04-15 Washington, DC - Black Cat
04-18 Indio, CA - Coachella Festival
04-20 Boston, MA - Institute of Contemporary Art
04-22 New York, NY - Webster Hall
04-24 Baltimore, MD - Metro Gallery
04-25 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
04-27 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
04-29 Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
04-30 Austin, TX - The Mohawk
05-05 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
05-08 Seattle, WA - The Crocodile
05-09 Vancouver, British Columbia - The Vogue Theatre
05-10 Victoria, British Columbia - Alix Goolden Hall
05-11 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
05-13 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
05-14 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
05-28 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound Festival
06-01 Paris, France - Villette Sonique Festival
06-02 Helsinki, Finland - Tavastia

05-14 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge

o my calendar has been marked~!

tempted to drive up to austin 4 that show

I'll be at the Denver show.

no britisher show? :(