An Introduction to Owen Pallett('s solo musical releases)

[kit]

Hey! While we wait for the release of the remastered albums, I wonder if any of you have ever created a playlist of Owen's music as an introduction for a friend/enemy/lover, and if so, what were your choices? 

I made a playlist (with an accompanying informational document, it's a little facetious so don't take it too seriously) for an interested friend of mine, and narrowing it down even as much as I did (not enough) was really difficult. Are there any tracks besides the obvious (Lamb, Lewis's Shirt) that you think absolutely must be included?

[unctious]

Here’s what I wrote up in a google doc in 2016, among intros to other artists:

Owen Pallett (formerly Final Fantasy). He was the strings arranger and a violinist for Arcade Fire, and he composed the soundtrack for the movie Her, but his solo releases are transcendent. Much of the time when he plays live, he uses a looper to build the layers of his song as he performs. I think what gets me about his music is that his vocal lines mimic melodies you'd expect to hear in orchestral music, which lets it dance and flick around the instrumentation instead of always standing out as the primary focus. Some major albums:
He Poos Clouds won the first Polaris Music Prize. It’s heavily rooted in fantasy worlds, from Dungeons and Dragons, to video games. Each song actually corresponds to a school of magic from D&D. This was my first experience with Owen, but he has some incredible earlier stuff as well.
To get a sense of that album, check out:
This Lamb Sells Condos
He Poos Clouds, the title track
The Arctic Circle
Heartland is about an ultraviolent farmer named Lewis who leaves his life to go on a crusade in the name of his god, Owen. Lewis lives in a fantasy world called Spectrum, and the album is almost entirely written from Lewis’s point of view as he grapples with god, duty, and adventure. Brian Eno has described the songs on this album as truly feeling dangerous, which I think is great way of describing the surprises that pop up in instrumentation and song structure. The tracks you should check out to get a feel of the album are:
The Great Elsewhere
Lewis Takes Off His Shirt
Lewis Takes Action
Tryst With Mephistopheles
Honestly just listen to the whole damn album, it’s incredible.
In Conflict is Owen’s most recent project, and it was a short list nominee for the Polaris Music Prize a couple years back. It’s much more personal, and has a number of images and anecdotes from Owen’s real life. The tracks to check out are:
The Secret Seven
In Conflict
The Riverbed, which is definitely the banger on the album, but not one of my personal favorites
Soldier’s Rock, which is probably my most listened to track on the album

[adrestia]

This rocks!! I love all of your descriptions on your google doc. The playlist is nice too- never would have thought to include some of his Les Mouches stuff, but you picked some good ones!

I've been wanting to make a formal playlist on Spotify to get my friends into Owen's music for ages. That's honestly the main reason I've been waiting for the remasters so enthusiastically. Once I get around to that, I'll post it here.

If I were to make a playlist, I'd definitely start with some of the more upbeat Final Fantasy loop-pedal classics (This is the Dream, Peach Plum Pear, Furniture, CN Tower) just to grab attention and establish a sense of style. Then broaden that with the slightly more orchestral He Poos Clouds (He Poos Clouds, Many Lives, This Lamb). Then rounding off with a full orchestra in Heartland (Lewis/Shirt, Tryst, E is for Estranged) and topping it off with In Conflict (The Riverbed, I Am Not Afraid, In Conflict, Secret Seven). Maybe peppering in The Butcher and some other non-album releases here and there.

I feel like to the average listener, He Poos Clouds is a good jumping off point. I love Heartland, but it did take me a really long time to get into it- now it's one of my favorite albums. The merit of Heartland though is that I can say "this is an album about a farmer who realizes he's a fictional character and then aspires to kill god (the songwriter) in order to obtain narrative freedom" and that concept will intrigue nearly anyone   Alternatively, In Conflict could also work- that's how I was introduced to his music, specifically through The Riverbed. I've definitely shown some of my nonbinary friends I Am Not Afraid and they've been into that one for obvious reasons too.

Another thing I tell people is that Owen used to work with Arcade Fire. A lot of people love Arcade Fire, so that tidbit is a good primer. If I'm more familiar with the person's music taste, there's usually a 75% chance an artist they like has some affiliation with Owen just because he's worked on nearly everything in the indie genre, so that's also a good thing to share.

[kit]

Dec 31, 2019 11:45:10 GMT -5 adrestia said:

I feel like to the average listener, He Poos Clouds is a good jumping off point. I love Heartland, but it did take me a really long time to get into it- now it's one of my favorite albums. The merit of Heartland though is that I can say "this is an album about a farmer who realizes he's a fictional character and then aspires to kill god (the songwriter) in order to obtain narrative freedom" and that concept will intrigue nearly anyone   Alternatively, In Conflict could also work- that's how I was introduced to his music, specifically through The Riverbed. I've definitely shown some of my nonbinary friends I Am Not Afraid and they've been into that one for obvious reasons too.

I agree, He Poos Clouds seems especially appropriate for first-timers—starting my playlist with Blood Orgy might seem a little alienating, but the friend I made it for is really into harsh noise and crazy electronic stuff, and I think those who can handle Les Mouches tend to really love it. The songs on He Poos Clouds are dark and dramatic but also there's this underlying current of humor (as in the title) and freedom to get esoteric and weird that I think makes it exciting as well as accessible.

My first and all-time fave will probably always be Heartland, but I know at least one nonbinary friend of mine who dove into Owen's stuff after hearing I Am Not Afraid and feeling a really powerful connection to it.