The New Music

Owen Pallett has changed his musical moniker from Final Fantasy to… wait for it… Owen Pallett. Yes, the Toronto-based Polaris Prize winner decided to finally give the video its name back. In a statement he wrote, “the laws of trademark infringement exist for good reason, and so I am voluntarily retiring my band name… I feel it is in my own best interests to definitively distinguish my music from Square/Enix’s games.” The name-change comes just in time for the new Final Fantasy Owen Pallett album, Heartland, which is out January 12th.

The xx are set to bring “a 3D physical interpretation” of their music to The Vinyl Factory in London. According to FACT, “The sculpture utilises film, light and sound via three specially created audio-visual units (each unit representing one member of the band with a mix of exclusively filmed footage and mixed sound), and every visitor will enjoy a totally unique experience of xx.” The show will happen for six days from January 8 to 12, 2010.

Stereogum has been nice enough to collect an assortment of indie rock-flavoured Christmas songs for its readers. Some of the tracks they’ve included are Lightning Dust’s “Ho Ho Ho, “Can’s “Silent Night,” an edit of Lindstrøm’s epic “Little Drummer Boy” and Julian Casablancas’ SNL cover, “I Wish It Was Christmas Today.” You can download them all free of charge here.

The Horrors, Vampire Weekend, MGMT, Beirut, Mika and Adam Green, among others, have posed for a special music spread in the upcoming issue of VOGUE. You can see it over at OhNoTheyDidn’t.

The Flaming Lips along with Stardeath and the White Dwarfs will release their cover of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon on iTunes this Tuesday (December 22nd). The album will feature guest appearances by Peaches and Henry Rollins. It’s more than likely going to be rad.