3. WATSON TWINS Talking To You, Talking To Me
4. SPOON Transference
5. RETRIBUTION GOSPEL CHOIR 2
6. TOM WAITS Glitter And Doom Live
7. THEM CROOKED VULTURES Them Crooked Vultures
8. JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD Heavy Days
9. TEGAN AND SARA Sainthood
10. EELS End Times
11. GOV’T MULE By A Thread
12. OH NO ONO Eggs
13. AVETT BROTHERS I And Love And You
14. BEACH HOUSE Teen Dream
15. OK GO Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky
16. ALBUM LEAF A Chorus Of Storytellers
17. R.E.M. Live At The Olympia
18. RAVEONETTES In And Out Of Control
19. SURFER BLOOD Astro Coast
20. NORAH JONES The Fall
21. SCRUFFS Conquest
22. DAWN LANDES Sweet Heart Rodeo
23. WHITE FANG Whatever
24. HELIGOATS Goodness Gracious
25. SOFT PACK The Soft Pack
26. FLAMING LIPS Embryonic
27. HEADLIGHTS Wildlife
28. LOS CAMPESINOS! Romance Is Boring
29. MIDLAKE Oak And Julian
30. FILMS Oh, Scorpio

ADDS

1. CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG Irm
2. HOT CHIP One Life Stand
3.  YEASAYER Odd Blood
4. SWAMP CABBAGE Squeal
5. YUKON BLONDE Yukon Blonde

Violin virtuoso Owen Pallet has finally dropped the Final Fantasy mantra in favor of his real name and to celebrate, the Canadian has released what might amount to being his best album to date. 2010′s Heartland is an early contender for this years retrospective best of lists, and represents a considerable departure from Pallett’s earlier works.

Obviously the star feature here are some beautiful loops of various orchestral pieces making for a sort of one man orchestra. Pallett has, however filled out his music with a number of different instruments including some well timed clarinet and glockenspiel lines which serve to deepen the album beyond its baroque pop roots into a sort of modern classical piece, which was an innovative and daring choice on Pallett’s part.

I could have done without much of the vocals in their current form. The lyrics themselves seem somewhat trite and the melodic rhythms of the singing often are sung counter to the rhythm of the instrumentation, which detracts from both elements. Pallett’s voice is, nevertheless, an excellent one for the world of indie folk, which he is on the fringe of.

The album dropped on January 12, 2010. Some of my favorite tracks thus far include Lewis Takes Action and Flare Gun; however, each song on Heartland has something that I could provide a positive review for.

This is the kind of album one should really devote the whole 46 minutes to. If you are just planning on listening to it for a few tracks, you may want to look elsewhere as the album’s basic flow is not so permitting of focusing on one or two of the better songs.

What is so powerful about Heartland overall is its orchestral richness, which is reminiscent of the Beach Boys, Arcade Fire, and Animal Collective. The difference in this case is that it only took one person to produce this disc.

-Doug Ray

Doug Ray is the Co-Host of Saltimbocca and Escargot on WRBC (8-10 PM Sunday)