He Poos Clouds (studio album) by Final Fantasy

I found this one to be a little top loaded. The first three tracks are fantastic, particularly This Lamb with it's slightly frenzied piano motif and unexpected transitions. I love the way the chorus hangs on slightly longer than you expect. After that the album loses momentum, the later tracks lacking the drama of Owen Pallets best work. I prefer the wall to wall hookfest that is Heartland.

Really just a masterful work of pop. I have an embarrassingly large man crush on Owen pallett. If you get the chance, I would really recommend watching some of his live performances on youtube or in concert. It's just him, a violin, a piano, and a loop pedal. Really impressive musically.

On a cool side note, 8 of the ten songs on this album are themed after each of the schools of magic in dungeons and dragons.

From craola 07/31/2014 22:53

dividesbyzero: Beautiful write-up. I enjoyed reading that.

In early 2010, Owen Pallet, criminally underrated string arranger for and occasional touring member of Arcade Fire released the monumental “Heartland”, a work of expertly orchestrated indie pop wrapped up in a concept album about a young misanthropic farmer in constant dialogue with his creator. The album was a work of unbridled genius and outward expression, showcasing Pallet’s range as a songwriter with everything from the slow ballad of “E is for Estranged” to the anthemic “Lewis Takes off His Shirt”. If not one of the best, “Heartland” was certainly one of the most impressionable albums of 2010. But before Heartland, even before “Owen Pallet”, there was Final Fantasy, and there was “He Poos Clouds. Working mainly of string arrangements for other artists, Owen Pallet’s early solo work under the (evidently copyright infringing) moniker “Final Fantasy“ exists in sharp contrast to his moderately more notorious post-Square Enix lawsuit album. This contrast can be seen most clearly through “He Poos Clouds”, an album who’s brilliance stems from every place that Heartland’s did not. Heartland was a robust work of passionate expression and grand orchestration, and to that end, I view He Poos Clouds as the introverted counter-part to it’s almost equally extraordinary successor. He Poos Clouds, as mentioned before, is everything that Heartland is not. It is a largely personal affair, bolstering neither anthemic center-tracks nor any kind of the heavily romanticized orchestration that pervaded Heartland. Where Heartland was self-pronounced, its predecessor was timid, delicate even. Where the former was outwardly emotive, the latter was self-conscious and fragile. From the simply orchestrated dynamics and suppressed vocals of “Arctic Circle” to the lonely isolation depicted in the title-track, to the many images of death timidly viewed and pondered upon in “I’m Afraid of Japan”, the album covers such a broad range both musically and emotionally that one can forget its almost minimalist structure. There are very few pieces to this album, but the way in which Pallet refines the usage of each one of them with such precision that a track consisting of nothing more than a repetitive string section, a soft tenor voice, and the sound of the wind, can feel like the broadest and most immersive of soundscapes; soundscapes upon which Pallet lays his thoughts and emotions, expressing them through stories or series’ of images in a way such that his intent is understood and his own emotions are felt by the listener; emotions which range from bright cheerfulness to unbearable neglect and isolation. And that is really the key to this album, empathy. This is an album of intimacy, of vulnerability. The lonely child, whose only idols and friends are found between the pages of a book, whose mind wanders, sometimes into dark and dangerous places, who tends feels uncomfortable in world in which he feels out of place, and who, ultimately, is just in need of someone, anyone, anyone who can stave off the loneliness, and, if he is very lucky, is willing to love. This is the music of that lonely child

From Defago 04/27/2013 17:11

Pleasant enough, but not overly interesting

This is, in my opinion, one of the most under-appreciated albums in music. Owen Pallet is a genius, and although mostly known for his work arranging strings for Arcade Fire, his solo discography just as impressive as his top-notch string work with Arcade Fire. This album will always be a personal favorite of mine