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Heartland, the third studio album from apparent final fantasy nut and Canadian ‘indie rock’ (is it different up dehr, eh? I’m from Minnesota, so I can say that and not be racist) Owen Pallet is, well… how the hell do I talk about an eclectic clusterfuck of instrumental masturbation? As the first of his albums to be released in Japan, it is being packaged under his name, as opposed to his historical moniker of Final Fantasy to avoid conflict with Square Enix Holdings Corporation. What a fucking fruitloop. It’s a video game. Christ.

I digress. Obviously.

The concept behind the album is apparently one-sided dialogues between a young and very violent farmer speaking to his creator, according to Pallet himself. WTF? For the most part I couldn’t get past the fact that the happy ditties and complex lyrics made me feel like I was in a fucked up cartoon musical. It’s like orchestral jazz and a 1970’s concept album in a fistfight with the roadrunner and Elmer Fudd behind a Cure show. Seriously.

Ok, the backing of the Czech Symphony is pretty awesome, if you’re into that kind of thing.

I get the feeling that this is one of those albums that requires listening to over and over, and each time something new comes out. Like herpes. Oh wait. Anyway, “Red Sun No. 5” is growing on me, with its rather ghostly and somber progression. Or I’m hallucinating. Who’s to say. I hear patients is a virtue… maybe in a couple of months I’ll be able to get past wondering if Wile E. Coyote is going to drop a fucking rock on my head when I listen to Heartland. Or I’ll just go back to cranking Monster Magnet and mainlining espresso.