Tuesday 12 January 2010



Finally, Owen Pallett

(photo: heinekenmusic.ie)

Late last month, on the cusp of releasing Heartland (out in North America today), Owen Pallett announced that he would no longer be using the name Final Fantasy to release music.  He made an official statemnt citing:

“I began playing solo violin shows in 2004.  Although it was essentially a solo project, I named the band Final Fantasy, as the experience–and the tone of the material–was reminiscent of the hours and hours I had spent as an adolescent playing those epic JRPGs.  But the laws of trademark infringement exist for good reason, and so I am voluntarily retiring my band name.  In the new year, my record Heartland is coming out, and it is my first to be released in many territories, including Japan.  With this in mind, I feel it is in my own best interests to definitively distinguish my music from Square/Enix’s games.”

Fair enough.  No one wants any trouble with the copyright gods (yours truly included).  He goes on to say that his previous records are slowly going to be released with the name change, which might mean that anyone holding copies of those two records under the original moniker might just have a collector’s item on their hand (maybe).  No matter what name it’s released under, Heartland marks Pallett’s big return to the musical fry after winning the inaugural Polaris Music Prize with He Poos Clouds and releasing a pair of EPs last year.  There will be a full write up on Heartland coming to these pages soon enough, but for now, I think it’s safe for me to post this last goodbye to the Final Fantasy name, one of my favourite cover songs of all time:

MP3: Final Fantasy “This Modern Love (Bloc Party cover live)”
Myspace: Owen Pallett





by J. Di Gioia | Comments Off

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