One of my friends IM'd me some time ago and asked, have you heard of Final Fantasy?

Yeah! I said, I liked Final Fantasy 7 the best - I played that one for weeks back when I was in College. No! They said. Final Fantasy, the band. The Band? I asked. Yes - the band. Check out this mp3 of "The Dream of Win & Regine."

Oh my God. How cool is this? An.. indie violinist?!

Then I read the Wiki entry. Actually I read this one first.

From Wiki -
Owen Pallett (born September 7, 1981) is a violinist and singer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is the principal member of the band Final Fantasy, which is essentially a solo project, although Leon Taheny is also credited as drummer and engineer.

As Final Fantasy, Pallett has been noted for his live performances, wherein he plays the violin into a sampler controlled by foot pedals, which then loops back one or more of the previously played musical phrases as he plays additional parts simultaneously. He has also performed with more traditional string quartets as backing musicians.

Nice. I'd seen Howie Day and KT Tunstall live, employing the same method on guitars and vocals - but I just had to see it done with strings instruments.

Owen did not disappoint. Live he employed a violin, a series of samplers and the occasional keyboard part to create lush, orchestrated musical backings which he gently sang over.

This actually ended up being one of the longest "indie" shows I'd ever been to - with Final Fantasy playing for almost an hour and a half, deftly recreating his records one layer at a time. I especially liked seeing how he created some of the effects heard on the recorded versions of his songs - plucking a heavy bass riff, then reversing it to get an eerie droning beat.

Several covers were also incorporated into the set - Mariah Carey's Fantasy (of course), Bloc Party's This Modern Life and Joannna Newsom's Peach, Plum, Pear. Each one honoring the original while being completely Owen Pallett at the same time.


Live MP3s:
Intro
That's When The Audience Died
This Lamb Sells Condos
Hey, Dad!
Many Lives - 49 MP
Y'All
The Arctic Circle
This Is The Dream Of Win & Regine
The Miner Becomes Forgetful
Song Song Song
Peach, Plum, Pear (Joanna Newsom Cover)
Spell For A Weak Heart
Fantasy (Mariah Carey Cover)
Better Than Worse
This Modern Love (Bloc Party Cover)