Post by Carlo on Oct 31, 2011 0:01:54 GMT -5
Note: I'm not sure if I have to inb4blog here because you guys seem nice enough but you probably don't give a shit about me either...... I'm just here to talk about my feelings now because i'm feeling a bit emotional about things besides doing an 8km race in rowing today and have the riggers (contraption where the oars lay) explode off during the last 100m. Anyways thats another thing. And this is no way of declaring how much of a fanboy I am.....well maybe....ALSO THE PART THAT IS REALLY THE POINT will be towards the end. So feel free to skip the bullshit:
A large chunk of this seems like an album review or some sort of write up. This is not meant to be an album review or some shit like that. And I'm not trying to explain what really goes on in this album (Alyssa already did that:P) I am just describing how I interpret it. Again my concerns/hopes will be at the end
Introduction
So I'm a simple boy in Vancouver in high school that is not really fully understood because all my friends listen to douche-tronic(not that it's a bad thing) and I have been absolutely obsessed with three things. Owen Pallett, Owen Pallett's Heartland, and the fucking music in Owen Pallett's Heartland.
Let me explain my routine to you. I wake up at 4:17am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with an alarm usually starting with E is for Estranged and ending with either 'Lewis/Action' or 'The Great Elsewhere' get in the car, play 'Red Sun No. 5' up until 'Oh Heartland Up Yours' and then get to rowing. Rowing: Pain --> Satisfaction. Then I get on the bus to school either go from Lewis/Shirt --> What Do You Think Will Happen Now, or I start with Midnight directives, skip 'Red Sun No. 5' --> 'Oh Heartland Up Yours' (because I already listened to them in the morning), and see how far I can get. Then in the afternoon I go to rowing and repeat the cycle, but I let a little of HPC and the other EPs/LPs in there.....
There's something that fascinates me about Heartland. Yes, the work with the orchestra is amazing as well as the singing, lyrics and narrative. But it's the whole experience that gets me, and I cannot listen to any other thing besides it. Maybe I'm just a close minded douche but I don't know. Maybe it's the way I choose to immerse myself in it. Loud volume, head phones or good speakers. Pictures in my head what I imagine Spectrum being and the story playing out in my head. If I had time I would try to interpret every little thing about because that's what what amazes me.
Or maybe I'm just a huge geek and like stories. But 'Imelda', 'No Face', 'Mount Alpentine', 'Lewis', 'The Great White Noise', 'The Fire of Sutur', 'Wellawoods of Belvedere', 'the Cutlass', . I know you never intended Heartland to be that way, to have any sort of 'canon' (I saw an interview somewhere) but that's how it is in my head and it's great.
Music
Now the Music. My first experience was sort of confused. I didn't really know what to make of it. But by the third or fourth play, 'Lewis Takes Action' found a place in my head. It immediately became my favorite song of anything (and still is). It's just so, I'm not sure how to explain it, it's catchy? it's fun? it sound cheerful'? After awhile I noticed Lewis/Shirt and then the others just fell into place, and I love them all almost equally now.
The climax of The Great Elsewhere always zones me out of anything, or when the woodwinds come in in E is for Estranged. The energy of Midnight Directives, the mysteriousness(?) of Keep The Dog Quiet and the rethinking of What Do you Think Will Happen Now?. And if you've seen some of my posts before, I have an almost sickly obsession of the orchestra. None of you fucks can replicate it. No synth, no computer, no ANYTHING can replicate it. I bought the scorebook and wish to play it with our Chamber Orchestra and i'll attempt to sing it (?)
The visual/narrative part
The sound machine or the magic box thing I talk about here in my head is the Heart of Spectrum. It transmits the mood, colour, and feeling of everything in spectrum
Now the visual part. The overall theme in my head is colourful, real and full of nature, for the most part.
Midnight Directives- I see this farm being torn apart by a grand tornado injecting colour into the surroundings with Lewis embarking on his trip.
Keep the Dog Quiet- is sort of distorted, and messed up, dead bodies, fires and a huge violin resembling what an air raid siren does declaring some sort of Marshall Law. Mount Alpentine, is this geological disaster on a mountain with Lewis and his horse pushing through.
Red Sun No. 5- I see this from Owen's Perspective. He is observing Lewis from his fortress sitting on an elaborate throne wearing an orange and blue cape, with an extremely complicated bottom of top. Consisting of the Spectrum Crest and many other images decorated by gold. A sound machine (The Magic Box) is projecting the ARP 2600 sound deep within the fortress to Lewis. It is ancient and electronic, with organ-esque pipes things where Owen's deepest thoughts and emotions are kept.
Lewis Takes Action- is graceful and violent, very colorful. A strange coloured rainbow peaking out from Mt. Alpentine, is observing Lewis's abilities. The cockatrice is dead, and celebration starts.
The Great Elsewhere,- Lewis on on a ship. It doesn't quite resemble a large sail driven ship. It flies with blimps on either side. It is a huge ship with Lewis in an elaborate captain's dress up with a large amount of crew who are disciplined and organized. They fear Lewis. It floats towards this new undiscovered world, and Lewis first notices Owen's omnipresence. There is an aurora in the sky broadcasting a white noise. He is there to personally convert the natives to talk to Owen but then eventually get attacked by them and runs back to the ship, spear in shoulder and all. In defense, Owen protects Lewis by attempting to hold the Natives back, but they were to powerful. The ship becomes damaged and limps it's way back into Spectrum.
Oh Heartland Up Yours- Lewis is back at some sort of residence, and thinks everything is done after what went down in the last two songs. Then he realizes that he is being used and that it is wrong. His eyes change colour and he dons an outfit that is all black. A call to war.
Lewis Takes Off His Shirt- This is sort of back in time. When Owen was sort of observing Lewis and his good looks closely. It is happy and cheerful with colours bright and everything. There is an erie tone.
Flare Gun- Lewis has nothing to do with this one. Owen is standing on the balcony of his fortress on Alpentine breathing the fresh air and broadcasting his message through a megaphone beyond belief. It is too epic. Citizens of spectrum are dressed in their most ceremonial outfits and are celebrating and praising Owen. Owen on a white horse sends off his broadcast to farther lands and 'recruits' them. This time Owen is wearing a green and yellow outfit, with an elaborate head dress and striped socks.
E is for Estranged- Owen is alone in the fortress. His sound machine, his magic box, is sending a creepy quarter tone sounds echoing throughout his residence. He is a remorseful and extremely emotional. His horses are now where to be found. All he is wearing is a modest gown.
Tryst For Mephistopheles- Lewis and his horse both incredibly angry pushing up Alpentine. The whole scene is happy. Owen and his box are happy and thinking 'everything is gonna be alright'. He is powerful and has completed his tasks, killed the cockatrice etc. Owen is arrogant and has no counter-measures or security systems in his fortress. Lewis shows up in Owens throne holding an iron spike. Owen turns around and the colours distort, and the sound machine broadcasts ugly tones. Once Owen is killed and disemboweled, the Magic Box struggles to survive, the colour blue disappears as well as high frequency notes, and then the other colours until only red and orange are left, and low creepy bass notes. Spectrum is in a state of emergency without knowing it. The one children worshipped, the one looked up too, the fatherly figure of all is dead. The Magic Box eventually stops, and colours disappear. Spectrum is in disarray and in Black and White.
What Do You Think Will Happen Know- Spectrum is in flames, it is cold, wind blows angrily and one cannot make up what is there and who is talking. Everything looks like it was liquefied. The orchestra is note fueling the colours anymore, instead a boring piano. But at the end. 'The sun goes up' and colour is injected back into the kingdom. The vultures fly again, and everything goes back to normal but there is something incredibly different about it but I don't know what. Lewis peaks over the the mountain side and sees a figure standing beside an ancient fountain and that figure, Owen turns around in his Flare Gun clothing with a reassuring stare and magic box is all harmonic again. And then it ends. Abruptly. We have questions. But they won't be answered
Me and my concerns IMPORTANT PART
Clearly Heartland has impacted my life and is still impacting my life in some way. I learnt some pieces on the piano, I talk about it way too much, and Owen Pallet's twitter, this site and Alpentine.com are my Google Chrome first automatically opening pages.
My extreme sadness came about today when I opened up my computer and went to OPs twitter and saw 'Finally closing the book on "Heartland" w 4 shows, next week, w band and orchestra in NL. #memories'. I HAVE NEVER SEEN HIM LIVE BEFORE. And I would kill to see Heartland performed.
I am so frustrated because he came here to Vancouver earlier this year and performed his Heartland songs which I have come to love way too much. I missed it. And now shouldn't I be excited that he is moving on to something else? That he'll come back to Vancouver with something new? The answer is yes and no. I'm all for opening my mind to new things and changed people, but I really have immersed myself into Owen's Heartland 'book' and did not complete an essential chapter of seeing it live. I know after these 4 shows he'll occasionally play some 'old' Heartland stuff, but I will never get to see a Heartland dominated concert. And you Netherlands people, I am so jealous. Owen + live orchestra is my dream. I just really hope it is documented so I can maybe have a pretend concert with my TV
. And I have no way of getting myself to Netherlands because A. I am 15 years old and B. I have tons of school work that I can't miss and I have no money.
I know I sound like a dick, but I wish Owen would only make orchestral albums from know on but I know he won't
.
This post doesn't really have an objective or anything I'm just posting my thoughts.
I am just angry and sad beyond belief how unlucky I am not to see it performed live. And yes I know i'm whining but I don't really give a fuck. My friends find it weird that I listen to this incredible music. Sometimes they really don't like me. I'm alone for quite some time. But I guess that's what happens when your a teenager. You exaggerate the most useless bullshit.
Heartland is really something that always gets along with me. It seems to solve my problems. It is Owen's masterpiece which I immensely appreciate.
Heartland has really been part of a chapter i'll remember for the rest of my life. It was 'that' album of my teenage life.
(Sorry if this was poorly written)
A large chunk of this seems like an album review or some sort of write up. This is not meant to be an album review or some shit like that. And I'm not trying to explain what really goes on in this album (Alyssa already did that:P) I am just describing how I interpret it. Again my concerns/hopes will be at the end
Introduction
So I'm a simple boy in Vancouver in high school that is not really fully understood because all my friends listen to douche-tronic(not that it's a bad thing) and I have been absolutely obsessed with three things. Owen Pallett, Owen Pallett's Heartland, and the fucking music in Owen Pallett's Heartland.
Let me explain my routine to you. I wake up at 4:17am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with an alarm usually starting with E is for Estranged and ending with either 'Lewis/Action' or 'The Great Elsewhere' get in the car, play 'Red Sun No. 5' up until 'Oh Heartland Up Yours' and then get to rowing. Rowing: Pain --> Satisfaction. Then I get on the bus to school either go from Lewis/Shirt --> What Do You Think Will Happen Now, or I start with Midnight directives, skip 'Red Sun No. 5' --> 'Oh Heartland Up Yours' (because I already listened to them in the morning), and see how far I can get. Then in the afternoon I go to rowing and repeat the cycle, but I let a little of HPC and the other EPs/LPs in there.....
There's something that fascinates me about Heartland. Yes, the work with the orchestra is amazing as well as the singing, lyrics and narrative. But it's the whole experience that gets me, and I cannot listen to any other thing besides it. Maybe I'm just a close minded douche but I don't know. Maybe it's the way I choose to immerse myself in it. Loud volume, head phones or good speakers. Pictures in my head what I imagine Spectrum being and the story playing out in my head. If I had time I would try to interpret every little thing about because that's what what amazes me.
Or maybe I'm just a huge geek and like stories. But 'Imelda', 'No Face', 'Mount Alpentine', 'Lewis', 'The Great White Noise', 'The Fire of Sutur', 'Wellawoods of Belvedere', 'the Cutlass', . I know you never intended Heartland to be that way, to have any sort of 'canon' (I saw an interview somewhere) but that's how it is in my head and it's great.
Music
Now the Music. My first experience was sort of confused. I didn't really know what to make of it. But by the third or fourth play, 'Lewis Takes Action' found a place in my head. It immediately became my favorite song of anything (and still is). It's just so, I'm not sure how to explain it, it's catchy? it's fun? it sound cheerful'? After awhile I noticed Lewis/Shirt and then the others just fell into place, and I love them all almost equally now.
The climax of The Great Elsewhere always zones me out of anything, or when the woodwinds come in in E is for Estranged. The energy of Midnight Directives, the mysteriousness(?) of Keep The Dog Quiet and the rethinking of What Do you Think Will Happen Now?. And if you've seen some of my posts before, I have an almost sickly obsession of the orchestra. None of you fucks can replicate it. No synth, no computer, no ANYTHING can replicate it. I bought the scorebook and wish to play it with our Chamber Orchestra and i'll attempt to sing it (?)
The visual/narrative part
The sound machine or the magic box thing I talk about here in my head is the Heart of Spectrum. It transmits the mood, colour, and feeling of everything in spectrum
Now the visual part. The overall theme in my head is colourful, real and full of nature, for the most part.
Midnight Directives- I see this farm being torn apart by a grand tornado injecting colour into the surroundings with Lewis embarking on his trip.
Keep the Dog Quiet- is sort of distorted, and messed up, dead bodies, fires and a huge violin resembling what an air raid siren does declaring some sort of Marshall Law. Mount Alpentine, is this geological disaster on a mountain with Lewis and his horse pushing through.
Red Sun No. 5- I see this from Owen's Perspective. He is observing Lewis from his fortress sitting on an elaborate throne wearing an orange and blue cape, with an extremely complicated bottom of top. Consisting of the Spectrum Crest and many other images decorated by gold. A sound machine (The Magic Box) is projecting the ARP 2600 sound deep within the fortress to Lewis. It is ancient and electronic, with organ-esque pipes things where Owen's deepest thoughts and emotions are kept.
Lewis Takes Action- is graceful and violent, very colorful. A strange coloured rainbow peaking out from Mt. Alpentine, is observing Lewis's abilities. The cockatrice is dead, and celebration starts.
The Great Elsewhere,- Lewis on on a ship. It doesn't quite resemble a large sail driven ship. It flies with blimps on either side. It is a huge ship with Lewis in an elaborate captain's dress up with a large amount of crew who are disciplined and organized. They fear Lewis. It floats towards this new undiscovered world, and Lewis first notices Owen's omnipresence. There is an aurora in the sky broadcasting a white noise. He is there to personally convert the natives to talk to Owen but then eventually get attacked by them and runs back to the ship, spear in shoulder and all. In defense, Owen protects Lewis by attempting to hold the Natives back, but they were to powerful. The ship becomes damaged and limps it's way back into Spectrum.
Oh Heartland Up Yours- Lewis is back at some sort of residence, and thinks everything is done after what went down in the last two songs. Then he realizes that he is being used and that it is wrong. His eyes change colour and he dons an outfit that is all black. A call to war.
Lewis Takes Off His Shirt- This is sort of back in time. When Owen was sort of observing Lewis and his good looks closely. It is happy and cheerful with colours bright and everything. There is an erie tone.
Flare Gun- Lewis has nothing to do with this one. Owen is standing on the balcony of his fortress on Alpentine breathing the fresh air and broadcasting his message through a megaphone beyond belief. It is too epic. Citizens of spectrum are dressed in their most ceremonial outfits and are celebrating and praising Owen. Owen on a white horse sends off his broadcast to farther lands and 'recruits' them. This time Owen is wearing a green and yellow outfit, with an elaborate head dress and striped socks.
E is for Estranged- Owen is alone in the fortress. His sound machine, his magic box, is sending a creepy quarter tone sounds echoing throughout his residence. He is a remorseful and extremely emotional. His horses are now where to be found. All he is wearing is a modest gown.
Tryst For Mephistopheles- Lewis and his horse both incredibly angry pushing up Alpentine. The whole scene is happy. Owen and his box are happy and thinking 'everything is gonna be alright'. He is powerful and has completed his tasks, killed the cockatrice etc. Owen is arrogant and has no counter-measures or security systems in his fortress. Lewis shows up in Owens throne holding an iron spike. Owen turns around and the colours distort, and the sound machine broadcasts ugly tones. Once Owen is killed and disemboweled, the Magic Box struggles to survive, the colour blue disappears as well as high frequency notes, and then the other colours until only red and orange are left, and low creepy bass notes. Spectrum is in a state of emergency without knowing it. The one children worshipped, the one looked up too, the fatherly figure of all is dead. The Magic Box eventually stops, and colours disappear. Spectrum is in disarray and in Black and White.
What Do You Think Will Happen Know- Spectrum is in flames, it is cold, wind blows angrily and one cannot make up what is there and who is talking. Everything looks like it was liquefied. The orchestra is note fueling the colours anymore, instead a boring piano. But at the end. 'The sun goes up' and colour is injected back into the kingdom. The vultures fly again, and everything goes back to normal but there is something incredibly different about it but I don't know what. Lewis peaks over the the mountain side and sees a figure standing beside an ancient fountain and that figure, Owen turns around in his Flare Gun clothing with a reassuring stare and magic box is all harmonic again. And then it ends. Abruptly. We have questions. But they won't be answered
Me and my concerns IMPORTANT PART
Clearly Heartland has impacted my life and is still impacting my life in some way. I learnt some pieces on the piano, I talk about it way too much, and Owen Pallet's twitter, this site and Alpentine.com are my Google Chrome first automatically opening pages.
My extreme sadness came about today when I opened up my computer and went to OPs twitter and saw 'Finally closing the book on "Heartland" w 4 shows, next week, w band and orchestra in NL. #memories'. I HAVE NEVER SEEN HIM LIVE BEFORE. And I would kill to see Heartland performed.
I am so frustrated because he came here to Vancouver earlier this year and performed his Heartland songs which I have come to love way too much. I missed it. And now shouldn't I be excited that he is moving on to something else? That he'll come back to Vancouver with something new? The answer is yes and no. I'm all for opening my mind to new things and changed people, but I really have immersed myself into Owen's Heartland 'book' and did not complete an essential chapter of seeing it live. I know after these 4 shows he'll occasionally play some 'old' Heartland stuff, but I will never get to see a Heartland dominated concert. And you Netherlands people, I am so jealous. Owen + live orchestra is my dream. I just really hope it is documented so I can maybe have a pretend concert with my TV
. And I have no way of getting myself to Netherlands because A. I am 15 years old and B. I have tons of school work that I can't miss and I have no money.I know I sound like a dick, but I wish Owen would only make orchestral albums from know on but I know he won't
. This post doesn't really have an objective or anything I'm just posting my thoughts.
I am just angry and sad beyond belief how unlucky I am not to see it performed live. And yes I know i'm whining but I don't really give a fuck. My friends find it weird that I listen to this incredible music. Sometimes they really don't like me. I'm alone for quite some time. But I guess that's what happens when your a teenager. You exaggerate the most useless bullshit.
Heartland is really something that always gets along with me. It seems to solve my problems. It is Owen's masterpiece which I immensely appreciate.
Heartland has really been part of a chapter i'll remember for the rest of my life. It was 'that' album of my teenage life.
(Sorry if this was poorly written)
(or maybe it would be in Canada...)
I have yet to hear The Great Elsewhere recording live with an orchestra as well as some other songs but......... TELL ME ABOUT IT PLEASe
A nice side effect of bootlegs/remixes/alternate versions is they delay potential burnout. Either way, allow me to identify this as the best sounding recording of 'The Great Elsewhere', although YouTube quality worsens it: 
It's just because his music is wonderful 
