Owen Pallett, who was recently voted Canada's hottest act, is the creative force behind He Poos Clouds, an album recently crowned with Canada's first Polaris Music Prize. The album's layers of prancing violin sequences and "thin, stupid vocals" (according to the band's official Web site) are best-suited for a lively game of Dungeons and Dragons, complete with elves, twenty-four-sided die.

Pallett is no stranger to great music. He's toured with fellow Canadians Hidden Cameras and the Arcade Fire and played shows with Jon-Rae and the River. The additional experience pays off well on He Poos Clouds, which showcases a more confident Final Fantasy than the one displayed on last year's debut, Has a Good Home. "The Arctic Circle" kicks things off with a crazed lead violin (Pallett's instrument of choice) and enough Chocobo-hunting melodies to kill a Moogle. See, role-playing games are to Final Fantasy what pimped-out rides are to Xzibit: their X to the Z. Take the charming "If I Were a Carp," which sounds as if it were lifted from a robot-riding scene in Final Fantasy VI.
It's tracks like the naively charming stomp of "Song, Song, Song" and the piano-driven melodies of "This Lamb Sells Condos" that serve to make He Poos Clouds a worthwhile pursuit. The shouting on the title track and "Many Lives -> 49 MP" bring back memories of that other Torontonian underdog, the Most Serene Republic. The album has all the charms and magic potions of your favorite RPG (that's "role playing game") and the quirkiness of your favorite indie-rock bands. Put it on after some D&D and give yourself some pure nerd time.

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Artist: http://www.finalfantasyeternal.com/