Last Friday evening, I managed to check out the Maximum Black festival at the Forum in Kentish Town, featuring Six Organs of Admittance, the Dirty Projectors and Final Fantasy. The bill had been put together by Owen Pallett (aka. Final Fantasy), and it reflects his diverse tastes. I had two other bands lined up to take this week's Bands to Watch post, but I was so amazed by this show that it was that the other selections will have to wait until next week's post.
The show started with Six Organs of Admittance, and unless you enjoy watching two guitarists throttle cats on stage, I would suggest ignoring they exist. That they have somehow managed to get into Pallett's favorite list really isn't a surprise given their weirdness, but screeching guitars just wasn't my thing. Up next were the Dirty Projectors, fronted by Dave Longstreth. These guys are really good in a Talking Heads kind of way. Longstreth even does David Byrne's chicken-head movements, and if he had been wearing a really big suit, it would have completed the image. They function well as a band, and the drummer is killer. The projects latest album Rise Above is a take on Black Flag songs, and they do it really well. The only downside is that the quirky front-man and female harmonies get a little bit old after 45 minutes. Longstreth puts together new groups of musicians for each Dirty Projectors album, so each album sounds very different. Unfortunately it means that its difficult to play tunes from other albums where the musicians onstage haven't had a had in the creating of the music, so they avoid it. Thus, the set was entirely composed of tunes from the new album. Worth watching, but I'm waiting for a little bit more from this group.
The real treat of the night was Final Fantasy. Owen Pallett's one man act named after the famous video game is just phenomenal. Seriously. This is easily one of the top shows I have seen live. Pallett works wonders with a violin and a looper, and when that is coupled with his sweet tenor voice and visual effects courtesy of a projection artist working her magic (whose name I unfortunately have forgotten), the show is mesmerizing. Pallett straddles the pop/composition/classical world with soaring violin solos, awesome rythmic sounds, and lyrics that at times can make you weep (just listen to "The CN tower belogs to the dead". Final Fantasy is his beautiful creation, and his latest album He Poos Clouds, is worth every penny. The fact that he is from my hometown, is an obvious geek, and appears to not take himself too seriously, only adds to his charm. I can't wait to hear what other gems he comes up with.
