U.K native Patrick Wolf '“ touring as a two-piece with a lovely harmonium player named Eva '“ will be appearing as part of Wavelength 212. His album Lycanthropy is out in the West on Tomlab.
Local boy-wonder Owen Pallett is opening the show with his solo violin and sing project Final Fantasy. As Trans-Atlantic pen-pals, Owen and Patrick rang up some very hefty phone bills.

Patrick Wolf: What did you think of the album?

Owen Pallett: It's so strikingly English! You sing with an unabashed English accent, you sing about London and your English eyes...

PW: It's not a contrived thing. I just try to make my music as honest as possible, and I think a lot about England. The new album coming out in the spring is even more English.

OP: What's it like?

PW: It's kind of wordy, expressing a specific type of Englishness that I haven't really seen documented except occasionally in Thomas Hardy. I've been spending a lot of time in Cornwall and immersing myself in the more Norse side of English culture. It's a culture of ghost stories, really wild, pagan and uncivilized. That's the England I identify with more, not "cup of tea, spot of milk" cleverness that we're usually associated with. And I like my English accent! It's way better than sounding American.

OP: I dunno. I like Americans. I really prefer American culture to British culture. Brits tend to mistake cleverness for humour. And they all dress and look the same.

PW: Really?

OP: I'm exaggerating, but c'mon. Americans are great. They can get sacrosanct and over-serious, but most of the time they're really funny.

PW: No, that's true. Brits are really scared of sincerity. It's a culture here where if you get too successful, people knock you down. The only means of survival is to take the piss out of yourself. Like Robbie Williams. Outside of Britain, though, I'd really like to hear more music that doesn't rely on resurrecting music that was made 20 years ago. Even if the output on Tigerbeat6 is kind of spotty, I really like the fact that the artists are aspiring to create something new.

OP: So...what's inspiring you these days?

PW: What a dumb question. Umm... Well, I'm moving out soon. I'm going to live with my friend Ingrid '” she's from Toronto too. It's kind of a secret. We're moving into a house down by the railroad tracks.

OP: Why is it a secret? Your parents don't know? Or are you squatting?

PW: My parents know I'm moving but they don't know I'm squatting. This house has just been empty for a long time so we're moving in. There's going to be a roller skating rink and a sculpture garden, I'm really looking forward to it.

OP: Wow. I don't know how easy it would be to squat in Toronto.

PW: I get to ask you a stupid question now. How would you describe your music?

OP: Oh God. The easiest description would be that I'm taking everything I've liked about all the bands I've been in and doing that. I'm also taking everything I've hated about all the bands I've been in and doing the opposite.

PW: That's not really a description.

OP: Well... I'd describe my music as being like the feeling you get when you meet your boyfriend's parents for the first time. And you're white and they're Asian. So you're really happy to be meeting the parents of the boy you love. But you're also on your best behaviour, you don't want to seem like a racist "white devil" or anything. So you're doing your best to not say anything insensitive or presumptuous. Then you realize that your caution is itself pretty presumptuous, and you're probably looking really distant and disinterested. So you're super happy, but also delicately trying to walk that line between being too comfortable and being too detached. That's how I'd best describe what I do.

PW: That's a good answer.