Reviews
Final Fantasy
He Poos Clouds
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Add to del.ico.us.Review Date: 2006-07-20
If there’s one Canadian musician today who could bring the disparate fan bases of indie rock and classical music together under one roof, it would be Owen Pallett. The Toronto violin prodigy, when not perfecting his own brand of delicate baroque-styled pop, jams with the eccentric geniuses like Win Butler (Arcade Fire) and Joel Gibb (The Hidden Cameras); yet his music has enough mass appeal to be courted by the likes of Stuart MacLean (who recruited him for his Vinyl Café sideshow after hearing his 2005 release Has a Good Home).
He Poos Clouds is the unfortunately-named (more on that later) second album Pallett’s released under his video game-inspired moniker Final Fantasy. In interviews, Pallett’s spouted off some malarkey about the album being inspired by the “eight schools of magic” from NES classic Dungeons and Dragons. Blah, blah, I say; while I’ve no doubt Pallett would find inspiration from such a source (and what guy in his mid-twenties doesn’t have some connection to the 8-bit video games of yore?), such talk only serves to distance people from what really is a very mature sophmore album.
“Arctic Circle” proves to be an ambitious choice for an opener, both musically and lyrically, yet a completely appropriate one. Pallett’s violin swoons and soars as he comments cynically on modern relationships: “Tell lies, tell dirty lies, tell diggory lies / ‘Til you’re lying in his bed.” Perhaps it’s Pallett’s sincere, slightly androgynous crooning (often evoking a less-polished Antony and the Johnsons), or the transcendent chromatic-scale coda, but the song never gets dragged down into bitterness.
The two lovers in “Arctic Circle” could well be the embittered couple featured in “This Lamb Sells Condos,” which begins with a jaunty piano line, and segues into a Sufjan Stevens-inspired children’s chorus midway through. “If I Were a Carp” follows, combining Pallett’s dissonant, icy violin with images of imperiled sailors and thrones constructed of bone. “I’m Afraid of Japan” swoons like the soundtrack to an Ang Lee film, as Pallett strives for some sort of religious understanding, while “Song Song Song” bops along percussively. No two tracks evoke the same mood, yet there’s never any doubt that it’s Pallett pulling all the strings (pun intended) behind the scenes of He Poos Clouds.
Which brings me to the title. As has been mentioned in numerous articles and reviews on the album, Pallett intends the title of He Poos Clouds to be complimentary - as in, one whose shit is so sweet that it’s actually a big, fluffy cloud. But like the nonsense about video game parallels, it makes the album difficult for the uninitiated to get into. Of course, I’m not begrudging Pallett his right to title his album with two unpronounceable parentheses if he wants to (oh wait, Sigur Ros already did that). But Owen, when I play your brilliant single “Many Lives - 49 MP” for my parents, and tell them the title is actually “Pallett Opus No. 8,” well I feel a bit like I’m living a lie. And I can’t give out my first 9.0 grade when I loathe my own reflection, now can I? I’m glad we both agree.
-Trevor Pritchard
Tracks to hear: “Arctic Circle,” “This Lamb Sells Condos,” “I’m Afraid of Japan,” “Song Song Song,” “Many Lives - 49 MP”
Score: 8.8
- Trevor Pritchard