words & photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

What a great show last night (2/6). And well run. Doors were at 7:45, and the show started promptly at 8. Final Fantasy (Owen Pallett) played about an hour with the addition of Matt Smith which made it "Ffiinnaall Ffaannttaassyy."

After one or two songs Owen invited us to move around and explore the space, to listen from different places in the room. The majority of the crowd stayed seated, but around 30 of us were moving around throughout. The sound really did change depending on where you stood because multiple amps were set up across the stage and each amp was pumping out different sounds. As you can see in the photos, they had free apples, the "Best Seat in the House" and the "Massage Chair".

Owen made it sound like this was the last time he'd be playing this way - that from now on he'd be playing with orchestras, rather than doing the looping that has somewhat defined him up to this point. Last time after tonight (2/7) that is.

And yes, they ran some of the electronics through an apple. More pictures and the setlist below...

Continue reading "Ffiinnaall Ffaannttaassyy (Final Fantasy & Matt Smith) @ The Kitchen, NYC - pics"

Owen & Matt

Final Fantasy (singer, composer, and arranger Owen Pallett) is known for his process-based experimental-pop solo violin performances, which allow the audience to witness the construction of his densely textured, layered, intricately polyphonic songs in real-time. For this new project, Final Fantasy presents a dynamic set of live violin and electronics with musician and composer Matt Smith. Through a complex sampling and spatialization process that is half-rehearsed and half-improvised, Pallett and Smith re-create a site-specific version of the more dissonant and abstract Final Fantasy repertoire. [The show at the Kitchen called] Ffiinnaall Ffaannttaassyy also anticipates the forthcoming release of Heartland, the follow-up to Final Fantasy's recent Polaris Prize-winning album, He Poos Clouds.

Final Fantasy released two EP's in 2008. Grizzly Bear's Ed Droste listed then on his top 10 of 2008. Owen Pallett's top 10 of 2008, and his new Final Fantasy video, below...

Continue reading "Final Fantasy adds NYC shows w/ Matt Smith, new video, new album Heartland, and Owen's top 10 of 2008"