Final Fantasy - and why impulse buying is cool

I wondered a couple of weeks back if last year's end of year round-up from Pitchfork would throw up any gems. The answer is a resounding YES. Final Fantasy is a band I hadn't come across before. It's actually not really a "band" so much as a quasi-solo project. In this case of Toronto-based Owen Pallett who seems to have flourished as a collaborator with high-flyers like the Arcade Fire ( he did the orchestral and string arrangements on both Funeral and Neon Bible) while his own rather brilliant output has dipped under many radars (including mine until now). Via the Pitchfork list I heard a track called "The Butcher" which it said was the 99th best track of 2008 (is that damning with faint praise?). I loved it and swiftly went online to research and ended up buying three CDs from this nice record shop in Canada, which is also a co-operative co-founded by Owen Pallett.



The discs duly arrived mid-January. Now it's always exciting receiving such exotic goodies from afar, but I don't mind admitting that my heart skips a few extra beats when I buy records I have hardly heard. It's a risky business; more so when your lead has come from a track already picked out as a standout which could just mean it'll be downhill from there. And undoubtedly, I've had my fair share of disappointments, but oh the joy, the delicious sense of EUREKA!, when a gem is uncovered. And to be perfectly honest, there's a distinct feeling of reflected brilliance when ones own nose for for sniffing out quality is shown to be so damn keen. Of course me blogging about me discovering this proves the latter point! Final Fantasy is what I'd call a true gem - a pearl in fact - and along with my newly acquired complete collection of Ghost Box recordings, the CDs have been on constant rotation since they arrived. The music couldn't be more different to Ghost Box's stuff mind you. This is baroque chamber pop with occasional operatic flourishes, in the vein of the Divine Comedy, circa "Promenade" (though stranger, more off kilter and just a little lo-fi). The prominence of strings and the excellence of the string arrangements are the most distinctive features but Owen's voice is smashing; a delicate, slightly tremulous tenor (which is occasionally winningly overwrought) . It's not unlike Zach Condon's (Beirut), another collaborator, who also contributed to the most recent of the records, "Spectrum, 14th Century". This is the one that features "The Butcher" along with four other tracks. It's great EP and like the others has some really good artwork.

It is actually true that "The Butcher" is probably the standout track from this EP but the pick of the three CDs is undoubtedly the second album "He Poos Clouds" (apparently a compliment - your shit don't smell natch). This is a magnificent collection featuring a number of beautifully rich songs. My favourite at the moment is the heart-wrenching "I'm Afraid of Japan" which reminds me of nothing so much as the existential movie masterpiece, Monsieur Hire. I'm doing some monthly compilations this year and it's plain that Final Fantasy and Ghost Box will feature prominently on January's and maybe beyond. Brilliant stuff.