Final Fantasy at The Independent 10.25.2007:



















































I know Owen Pallett is so indie it hurts -- his reputation for aloofness and ironic self-deprecation being at the crux. He even had an overhead projector slideshow that my jaded-to-preciousness self thought would be annoying, but it instead just added to the charm and earnestness of his songs. He is one talented indie boy, and his show was, as expected, low-key but spectacular.

Opening act Cadence Weapon was a pleasant surprise, and good enough to buy the CD. Just his DJ alone was worth the ticket price.

Tableside, pre-Fantasy and post-Scrimshaw, at Fly:

1) I just bought tickets to see Final Fantasy at The Independent in October. I am stoked!

On a seemingly unrelated note...

2) ...this weekend I picked up the brand spankin' new, 180 gram vinyl reissue of John Cale's 1973 album Paris 1919. This is another goodun from the excellent folks at 4 Men With Beards, who caused many a flurry of excitement when they recently reissued PIL's Metal Box.

Which, while a fetching prize, is not in my grubby little hands, but Paris 1919 is, and...

3) ...not only is one of my blog sidebar namesakes on this album, but the title track is one of my favorite John Cale songs ever. Yummier on warm, delicious vinyl -- curled up on the couch with tea or in the kitchen making something exquisite on a rainy Sunday afternoon required.

Leading me to the fact that...

4) ...Final Fantasy does a equally beautiful cover of this lovely gem, which I am very excited to see live in just a couple of months.

My conclusion?

5) Life is good!

For the uninitiated:

Paris 1919 by John Cale.

Paris 1919 covered by Owen Pallett (AKA Final Fantasy):

I know, but try to block out, that there are people out there who steal celebrity trash to try and make a buck. But I am more traumatized by the fact that there are people out there who actually buy said trash.

At least this auction has, at this writing, redeemed my faith in humanity with zero bids.

Yeah yeah, I know -- those of you who know me will be like, oh hell no saudade, what about your celebrity "trash" from various concerts?

Yes, 'tis true, I have many mementos from different shows I've attended, my personal favorite being the mask David J of Bauhaus tore off his face and threw into the audience during a particularly intense bassline in 'Telegram Sam' at San Francisco's Fillmore. Joy!

But, yes, anyway, three excuses for my behavior:

1) I don't pay for mere memorabilia.
2) Anything I keep is from a show I attended and is related to the performance, or is personal correspondence. No used water bottles, thanks.
3) Good lord, an empty dogfood can or a nasty hairpiece? Bitch, please.

NP: Final Fantasy, 'He Poos Clouds' from the album of the same name.

Thanks to a boot of an April Final Fantasy show posted over on B(oot)log, I wrote the name of this album down on a post-it and stuck it in my wallet for my next trip to the record shop. Totally forgot about it for nearly two months, and then today -- Eureka!

Owen Pallett is the man behind Final Fantasy. A composer, singer, and classically trained violinist and pianist, Owen creates many of his songs by multitracking various sounds he conjures from his instruments, much like Andrew Bird (who, for some reason, I've never really been able to get into, though I'm really enjoying FF).

For a really fun example of how this goes down, Mariah Carey style, check it: