owen pallett - island (2020)

out in your region tonight

AAAAAH

fair play, gatecrashing the 1975 love-in like this

― imago, Thursday, 21 May 2020 22:21 (fifteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

whaaaat

Guitar-based songs were surprising but really worked live. Excited to hear this.

listened to the first half before going to bed. gorgeous stuff. fire mare especially

Dear lord, the 1975 album, the new CRJ, and now this?? What a magical day

oh shit

"a bloody morning" is intense

all my faves putting out records this week

lewis gets fucked into space!!!!!

― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Saturday, 1 July 2017 22:50 (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

alas i need to sleep now but i've advance-screened A Bloody Morning (of course) and yeah this is everything that was promised and more

the alternate "fire-mare" is incredible

Alfred Gets Overloaded By New Music

very very good album as expected. "lewis gets fucked into space" has a really different feeling to that one live in a hallway video from 5 years ago but i still love it

It's not out yet here in Canada, so am glad a bud of mine passed along the Boomkat listing w/ minute-long clips:
https://boomkat.com/products/island-d3d96221-586c-4ecf-a613-4c6e7f364412

i love the overlapping vocals on "fire-mare" so much

this is very beautiful. all the guitar tracks sound like Nick Drake, which I love and thoroughly not something I would have expected. 

0wen can and should correct if me if he comes in here, but I think the two big influences in terms of the presence of guitar on some of the new songs are/were Jennifer Castle and Buffy Sainte-Marie?

new gunna too

"lewis gets fucked into space" is really, really lovely

love the spare bass drum

really, really <3

<3 the spare _bd!

this fucking rules

Yeah, lovely album.

this is extremely beautiful

it's a beautiful, windy summer morning after a sudden overnight storm. feels like appropriate weather.

I was about to describe some of the string arrangements (the bits that feel like the ring modulator bit of Lewis Takes Action) as Grisey-esque but then thought twice because I only listen to one piece of music by him and deleted the post... but maybe they are Grisey-esque.

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/owen-pallett-surprise-releases-new-album-island-tells-us-about-the-music-that-influenced-it/

thanks for that, looks like we were all correct in our guesses so far - Nick Drake, Buffy Sainte-Marie :)

video for "A Bloody Morning" from that link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Tvi4v_j0M&

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfjtI_72VmQ

going back to the orchestral performance of the first part of the album from a few years ago to compare is really interesting

https://music.apple.com/gb/album/island/1509744953

the track-by-track notes in the editors notes section here is fascinating too

this is a beautiful record

Excited to get this, just watched the video for 'A Bloody Morning' and oof, the feels.

the guitars! It's a perfect May-in-Florida album.

Stunning record, especially the parts that have a hint of Talk Talk.

of all the days to be at home trying to frantically prep a presentation my boss has to give in 2.5 hours (that I just learned of 30 minutes ago) while also waiting on workers to come fix my bathtub ;_;

Snowy Gets Fucked By a Plumber

i've spent all day listening to this record and it's so immense, maybe even better than heartland

the strings (the playing, and the arrangements) on this are incredible. On "Paragon of Order" I get the sense of Angela Morley or Jean-Claude Vannier; not just on that song, but its opening is the one that's set me on edge.

Been waiting all day to listen, going to absorb the whole thing during a long walk.

good music to make gazpacho too

how badly i wish for it /
that we can be angels and not this bullshit

god i cant wait to listen

Oh it is stunning. Paragon of Order and A Bloody Morning really hit me on the first listen, but it’s all so immediate tbh. The sequencing, the arrangements, everything is really effective at making you visualise the film of it.

"paragon of order," jesus

Thanks for the kind words, you guys, I really appreciate it :')

It's wonderful

Sound of the Engines hits me hard.

I am a wound unhealing.

the sequencing is so good

listening now. love how gradually this is building

godkiller's alive!

I thought they were fucked into space

just cracking it, "Transformer" is lovely.

Are there loads of motific references to <i>Heartland</i> in the orchestral arrangements? I can't actually put my finger on them, but it <i>feels</i> like there are.

ugh square brackets

I’m just keeping up with all the albums released this week but I can safely say this one and Moodymann might be the best ones imho. The long hiatus was worth it.

Are there loads of motific references to <i>Heartland</i> in the orchestral arrangements? I can't actually put my finger on them, but it <i>feels</i> like there are.

― in twelve parts (lamonti),

I haven’t read any interviews or reviews yet so I don’t know if it’s on purpose but every movement here seems to reference his past albums in some way? Movement three would be the Spectrum - Heartland era. The overall feeling I get is that every movement represents a progressive evolution in Owen’s sound. Like a career revision.

I might be off but that was my first impression.

another day of listening to this a lot and it's absolutely my favourite thing he's ever done

me too

also i do like that band versions of two songs are thrown on the end as a nice extra but i entirely agree that the album versions are a much better fit (and i prefer them in isolation too, otherworldly strings 4eva)

i really adore the alternate "fire-mare" but it wouldn't have worked as well on the album for the obvious reasons. the alternate "paragon of order" isn't bad but it's missing that melody that comes in at about 3:44 which is my favourite thing on the album version

I'm they/them these days <3

A few people have been mentioning movements and I didn't get it, until I blinked and looked at the track listing and was like "oh the segues look like the beginnings of movements" lol. The album is divided in four but the instrumental segues are not the dividers, the sides are. A: 1-5, B: 6-9, C: 10-13, D: 14-15

The alt versions were originally to fill the fourth side-- I cut three songs pretty early on but hadn't figured out how to keep the album a double. I got really attached to the alt versions in the sequence, it works, it sounds to my ears like "In Darkness" is the final scene and the alt versions are the closing credits

ah were those cut songs from when you were talking about it as being ~70 minutes long? the alt versions do work really well at the end like that, which is rare for those sort of bonus tracks

side C is an absolute hell of a side. i mean they all are. but that one my god

Yeah, it was a full 74 minutes. I finished that version in MIDI form in February 2017, circulated to friends, got mixed-positive feedback ("it's great but the demos are better") and so in 10 days I cut it down to 50 minutes and integrated the demo ideas. ("Fucked" for example, didn't have guitar on the MIDI version, it was more like the video from 2015.) Two of those cut songs have been deleted. One of them ("Vengeance") was originally gonna need a choir and I messaged DJP about it! But the songs didn't fit, they've been deleted. The other one ("Oh Bishop") is gonna be released somehow at some point but I'm basically taking Greg's drum parts on it and starting from scratch

i recall you telling me about Oh Bishop! send it to an ILM compilation lol

the overlapping vocal melodies on "fire-mare," ahhhhhhhh

i love this record

couldn't tell you whether i love heartland, in conflict, or this more, prob depends on the day

fire-mare may have surpassed oh heartland up yours as my fav op song

I'm in love with this record. Must have played it eight times yesterday and today, and it unfolds and shares something of its secret every time. It's stunning, and so intimate. I'd hate to use the word 'subdued', because there's fire in the belly of this record, but it creeps up on you way more than that it sets you alight.

I think both 'versions' work really well on the record actually, like encores of two very important pieces of the record. 0P gone done it again, damn. <3

I just began listening to this and the ice cream truck rolled down my street with its sorta broken jingle playing and I wasn't sure it wasn't part of the recording.

as i listen to this i realize how much of the last 10 years i have spent trying to sing like owen

polar vortex is in fuckin 9/8 time and its so pretty

Just saw "Greg's drum parts" and excitedly googled to confirm that that's Greg Fox (whose LP release I'm really looking forward to next month). Hope that unreleased song sees the light of day!

... I still need to listen to the new album. Gonna switch off Merle Haggard after this song and do that :)

I’m still sad that collaboration didn’t work out but the album is incredible. Congrats, fgti

i cannot swim in a certain slant of light

I'm afraid this joins the list of "gorgeous albums that build huge lyrical/sonic worlds almost entirely out of hyper-insular subject matter" which I find a weirdly alienating (possible) trend. I recognize this is My Fault

The piano in the beginning of Saints drives me wild in the best way

and the piano in Polar Vortex, which is so so pretty

Interview here with Q in Canada
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-DwLAn2EWI

And a performance of Polar Vortex
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGWuMbNVCoM

In a EAC#G#AE (?) tuning which feels kinda Joni, though not sure if that's one she's actually used.

this is great owen. You got skinny dude!

https://pasteboard.co/6eec9ba7-0a79-484f-808e-1d63a9bb3dbc
The imagery is very fitting for "A Bloody Morning" and it kind of encompasses the whole album. I like when images/music perfectly encapsulate a strange feeling. I'm not listening to the lyrics that much as I play this album on youtube. I don't need them to understand the album's undertones.

https://i.imgur.com/VZJcC6h.jpg

what's up with this nerd and his --> songs, eh? EH!?!!

Philip Glass calls them "knee plays" in Einstein and I like the idea of it, not songs but transitions. Early days, I wanted all the segues to able to be independently sequenced into their own continuous track... the "→" on the first album segues into the "→" on the second album. But that was over-shooting, like, I'm aiming for "immersive", not solipsistic, so I gave that idea up

<3

my fav knee play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL9Rjn7EiRw

Never heard of a knee play before, and just dove into Einstein on the Beach for the first time. This is so far removed from anything I've ever listened to before, but I like it so much. I feel like I'm listening to something wonky--like there's a depth I'm not equipped to access, but I'm still finding myself affected by it. I'm sure there's a Philip Glass thread already, so I'll probably head over there for more recommendations.

Took a couple days off from Island after spending a lot of time with it, but returning now to listen again with fresh ears. Something I want to start considering while listening to all the Spectrum-related material is what snippets we can gather about denizens other than Lewis--what was their relationship to Owen? What can we learn by thinking about them (or their relative absence in the broader narrative)? It's possible the thread doesn't lead anywhere that deep, but it will be a fun exercise nonetheless.

Not as much talk about this album here as I expected. I can only assume I'm not the only one fully engulfed in its stark, naked glory. I tread carefully and save playing it for moments when I can be all ears, and alone, listening to it. Any description I try and give will be an embarrassment, but it awakens something almost primal within me, something deeply personal. It has an insanely powerful effect on me - it's almost too much. At the best and worst of times 'Island' just destroys me in the best and worst possible way.

This album was kind of saving me last week when I was really struggling. It's hard to articulate just how much these songs move me.

Hoping there's a vinyl announcement soon.

Kind of listening to it sparingly because it's such an imposing record. A Bloody Morning is such a monstrously powerful piece of music. It hits as hard as The Riverbed.

Feels like Island has generally got very little coverage in fact but I would be surprised if people didn't come around to it.

people = more journalists i mean

I didnt even know this had come out til just now stumbling upon it by chance. And I just listened to/watched the video for A Bloody Morning and I am crying, why am I crying? I never cry at anything and I can't stop, jesus fuck.

I just found a file called "Transformer (Guitar Demo)" from something called Art Week 2016 on an old harddrive and it's the first song off this record.

https://unlimitedfreemilkshakes.bandcamp.com/album/art-week-2016

I know it was written a few years ago but I’ve not come across another verse that captures 2020 quite like this one:

“I’ve mistaken self-indulgence for self-care
But do not be scared
Surely some disaster will descend and equalize us
A crisis will unify the godless
And the fearless, and the righteous”

Haha I was thinking about how apt that lyric is the other day.

The line is meant to be wistful and a little myopic, and I felt guilty about its meaning during the pandemic, seeing as the reverse (if anything) is true, global disasters only deepen class divides, i.e.

In lieu of "normal methods of album promotion" I've been making lil videos and posting them to Instagram, I did a cover of "River Man" last week

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBMMdvigNhx/

mmmm one of my fave songs. nice cover! would love to get that commercially if it's available anywhere!

good job on the music to recorder: the marion stokes project btw, i enjoyed

xpost

I think maybe the prophetic certainty about an all-encompassing disaster is what hits pretty close to home about now--and the truest section being mistaken self-indulgence for self-care. I play competitive video games and drink myself into a stupor saying I'm treating myself, but self-care for me is almost never giving into my urges; self-care at it's best for me is discipline.

I'm surprised to hear about your guilt fgti, because I didn't take Lewis's perspective as a truth in my reading. I took it as a continued demonstration of a longstanding Achilles heel of Lewis's. In personal crisis, he becomes blind to inequities perpetrated by himself and others:

Disillusionment with farmlife (personal crisis) -> Violent crusades (replacing one systemic order with another)
Disillusionment with crusading (personal crisis)-> Owen's murder (unilaterally destroying a system of order)

We see him start to come to terms with this in Saints: "Nobody wanted him dead," followed by a shift in the violence he perpetrates as described below.

Emptiness in the wake of an Owen-less existence (personal crisis) -> Reconnecting with previous violence through the adolescent invincibility Lewis feels leading to Sound of the Engines (anarchic violence, in a way. Maybe imposing the only order he knows, which is personal conquest. And failing, in this instance.)

Emptiness in the wake of an Owen-less existence (personal crisis continued) -> A Bloody Morning (at best, negligent violence; at worst, spiteful and angry murder)

Lewis doesn't come around to full redemption, based on the lyric above--he's still outsourcing the salvation of others: first to Owen, then to anarchy, then to some disaster. But always to something bigger than him for which he acts as a catalyst.

That was my reading, anyway, which I think absolves the author. Feel somewhat conflicted about talking about my reading to the author themself.

It's fine, there are people posting on my own forum their theories and they're gratifying to read.

That's an interesting interpretation. When I think about Lewis, I think that he's "instinct", the amygdala-- what you term as "crisis" is, to me, just the instinctive animal mind behaving the way it does. Owen is "rational thought", the cortex. The two individuals are figuratively different beings, but literally part of the same entitity-- just as Werther and Charlotte are aspects of Goethe

And thanks johnny.. I'm auditing the score to "Recorder" again this afternoon to see if I feel good enough about it to release it as a separate OST-- when the movie was finished I was feeling discouraged about it but time might've changed my mind

it's really good!

FYI, Owen performance in about 90 minutes on blogotheque’s Instagram live: here

This is great. A beautifully slow 'I Am Not Afraid' on guitar now.

I find Instagram live is not a great format for anything but this was still fab.

"A Bloody Morning" is also my favorite (I hadn't even noticed that lovely verse Roz likes).

It reminds me of late eighties John Cale.

Agreed Lamonti. This was the first of these 'lockdown' shows I've watched. W/ 40mins or so it was a perfect length (ie. not longer).

I miss the vibey keyboards on the new live version of Lewis Takes Off His Shirt but change is good! You must really trust your guitar straps OP :)

Thanks for watching! Yeah that guitar strap combined with some extra sun on my shoulders has left me feeling raw today.

really big fan of the drums in "a bloody morning"

almost like it's a good drummer ;)

oh it's greg fox! of course!

tbr it is so great hearing Fox doing something a little more restrained than usual, his touch and sensitivity really comes through

as a big possession fan i love the "paragon of order" lyric about sisters faith and chance

Searched but didn't get a hit - is there a cd version coming?

Brad you’re the only person in the world who caught that and yes you’re right

CD/vinyl in November? I’m getting a whopping NINE releases all pressed at the same time (soundtracks, reissues etc)

Also I broke edge yesterday and had some White Claws at a Pride party and I just realized that I changed my username to remind myself of a new product idea that’s a hybrid of wet wipes and hot pockets

Thanks for the cd info! I will be patient.

Was holding out for a CD but could t Stan RKT anymore so bought files the other day. This is wonderful. The Drake-y guitar is beautiful and unexpected- that note is well deserved.

Thank you, Owen.

That’s a strange typo.

this album unfortunately seems like it was very overlooked in general but it's absolutely one of the best this year

Thanks guys! I posted about it on Facebook, but last month I got a really nice note from "The Estate Of Nick Drake" (his sister and her partner). They said they "could hear the ghosts of Nick and Molly roaming through these songs" and that they "rejoiced that they were in such wonderful hands" :) They also gave me a book of Molly's poetry. So sweet!

aw that is very dear!

oh that is just the nicest thing

incredible

Wow

aw that’s so lovely

awesome. now put out a studio version of riverman!

'Grats, fgti.

And I second ulysses's suggestion.

Wonderful.

And thirded! :)

Way ahead of you :)

Also I'm gonna be releasing the "demo version" of the album from 2017, download-only, included with the vinyl release in November. Certain songs ("Transformer") are virtually the same, others ("A Bloody Morning", "In Darkness") are completely different.

Nice. It’s an incredible album.

Yeah I'm still listening to this all the time and it's also made me revisit In Conflict and Heartland a lot in recent months.

And revisit Nick Drake actually. Boy he was good.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/697807065

Owen on TrueAnon Twitch playing and talking w/ Yung Chomsky

oh hey
https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/musician-owen-pallett-on-being-thoughtful-about-each-decision-you-make/

the description of their lyric writing process makes me seriously want to try it myself

What you do is before you go to bed, you open up your web browser, and pick a songwriter whose lyrics you really admire. So let’s say that person is Cass McCombs

Missed opportunity to shoo in Gaz Coombes imo

Great interview!

Yeah Max transcribed what I was saying as "pre-writing" which sounds kinda gross

I was saying "free writing" but I guess I was mumbling

oh hey, some upthread prayers have been answered

https://evernewohcanada.bandcamp.com/track/river-man-nick-drake-cover

niiiiiiiiiiiiice

Wow, that's remarkably faithful.

yeah, real fidelity and love shining through

fgti, can i assume you have heard and/or are a fan of the andy bey version? or are into andy bey in general?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SlN_hP3kYc

oh god this is so good

Yep I know it and love it :)

figured! bey is important to me.

Is there still a November vinyl release in the works, or has the ever-roiling shit show of 2020 ruined that too?

I approved a side-split on the vinyl that was wrong. Test-pressing arrived and the track order was bad (because I approved an incorrect tracklist) so we had to get a repress. It's my fault! But yeah shit-show 2020 also has been making it slow, also. Pre-order for vinyl will be up November, delivery in January

I got some videos coming in the next month and a Tiny Desk, that's exciting

I listened to this album an awful lot cycling back from the beach into the city this summer, and I can tell you it is good for that, particularly with a warm pre-storm wind around. Looking forward to putting it on the turntable through winter — and some more videos!

looking forward to that tiny desk

Revisting Island while stemming the ebb of a low depression on this foggy DC day.

struggling to think of a more perfect melody than the one in the chorus of "paragon of order"

it is a beautiful song on a beautiful album imo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0_JKdTkjus

here's the tiny desk. really lovely to hear the reworked old songs too, the new arrangements with guitar are wonderful

1-5 in my top played tracks on my Spotify round up are from this record.

Is https://www.secretcityrecords.com/artists/owen-pallett/ the best place to keep checking for a physical (cd) release? (Other than the man posting himself?)

Pre-orders for physical are scheduled to go up next week.. I'll post about it on this thread when they arrive so you don't need to keep checking :)

Feel very much like I should buy the most lavish bonus-encrusted version available

https://www.dominomusic.com/releases/owen-pallett/island/exclusive-limited-double-lp?fbclid=IwAR2uFkAd63CtyZhpnBcl-QcKfdocOu1_F1zhX3dj_kfulP8l_Gjr-vFll7c Bonus-encrusted version here

New video, too, if you please. Eric Kostiuk Williams is the BEST

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny0tDu4qVgI

wow that's quite something! both videos from this album have been really so great. did you commission roughly what visual storyline you wanted from Eric (beyond the initial scenario) or was it all his interpretation?

holy fuck i LOVE EK William, what a great collabo! He's a lovely lovely human in the scant time i had meeting him too; so nice to see the two of you connected.

further reference: https://www.instagram.com/kostiukwilliams/

The first artist I thought of when listening to "A Bloody Morning": John Cale.

I can't wait for you guys to see the second video (on Monday!) it's so, so great, Eric is great. imago, the videos were storyboarded by Eric and I both. The final shot of "Paragon" was the result of the two of us talking enthusiastically about the zoom-out shot on Kylie Minogue's video for "Slow"

The first artist I thought of when listening to "A Bloody Morning": John Cale.

Yep, definitely, it sounds like Wrong Way Up. Rollie told me the other day that he thought I picked the wrong first single, and I really agree-- "A Bloody Morning" was always meant to be a "deep cut", a kind of cathartic moment in the middle of a more subdued album. We ended up using it regardless because of how strong the video turned out.

TSJ covered "A Bloody Morning" and it received the second-highest score of the year! http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=29609

(on Monday!)

oh here it is!! so the three best tracks off Island (imo) all have videos now :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHks5ssvsgI

spectacular obv

TSJ otm, everyone go vote etc

It is extremely moving to read such generous and invested responses to that song, I am tearing up a lot over here

TSJ score well deserved!

I say this every time I see his reviews but I've played soccer with Vikram Joseph and he's the loveliest

Lovely takes on the song, one by one, and very otm (and deserved).

Out now streaming, somehow i didn't know Owen did this score!
https://pitchfork.com/news/arcade-fire-and-owen-pallett-releasing-her-score-for-the-first-time/

Physical formats of this are out in April.

Very happy to be able to pick Islands up on vinyl. It's sounding glorious this afternoon.

"the box" when

xpost to myself that obviously should be just Island. I was getting XX confusion.

the music in On the Count of Three is so good, didn't realize til the credits that it's an OP score

I heard a tiny instrumental snippet in a NPR bumper (aka 'button') and spent a couple minutes trying to figure out where it came from. After determining the music was from this album I relistened to all of it again. It's as brilliant as I remembered it being -- but now all the songs are stuck in my head 24/7, causing every thought and feeling to be filtered through meloncholia. Sleeping is also rather difficult.

But damn songs like Transformer and The Sound Of The Engines...

yeah, this is their best, i firmly believe. if they're fine with being ranked, lol

they should stop working on bad movies and do another album!!!!!!!

Wonderful concert tonight, my first time seeing them live in over 14 (! fuck !) years. Old faves aside, the tracks from Island really do shine live, "Fire-Mare" especially, brought me to tears!