The Toronto musician and producer Owen Pallett has been best appreciated for his behind-the-scenes work a former classical music student, hes written string arrangements for Grizzly Bear, the Arcade Fire, and Beirut under the name Final Fantasy. But Palletts new album, Heartland, finally finds him stepping into his own. Heartlands been a long time coming Pallett started talking about it in 2006 and tells the story of a farmer named Lewis who lives in the imaginary world of Spectrum. Its a fairy tale for adult hipsters. Songs like Lewis Takes Off His Shirt are lush and symphonic, offering a direct contrast to the violent nature of the lyrics, and incorporate string and woodwind sections with Palletts high, elfish voice and his signature violin looping technique. With Snowblink, Cataldo. ERIN K. THOMPSON
Sat., May 8, 8 p.m., 2010
