Elements June 2019

The history of the Screaming Trees goes back to 1985 when brothers Van Conner on bass and Gary Lee Conner on guitar teamed up singer Mark Lanegan in rural logging town Ellensburg, Washington State in 1985. After recording a handful of EPs and LPs for various US indie labels, including SST and Sub Pop, they signed to Sony imprint Epic Records for 1991’s “Uncle Anaesthesia”, co-produced with Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell.

With haunting, memorable melodies, the combination of writer Haruki Murakami's influence and bassist Fumi Tomita's compositions is a bold statement of Asian-American identity. "The Elephant Vanishes" interprets seven short stories by the Japanese author that draw on themes of despair, loneliness, disconnection, and self-discovery. Equally prominent are the Western pop culture references and magical elements that decorate each story. Along with saxophonist Jason Rigby, guitarist Mike Baggetta, pianist Art Hirahara and drummer Mark Micklethwaite, Tomita reimagines Murakami's literary themes, transforming them into rich musical landscapes. Active in New York City for fifteen years, Tomita is currently on the faculty at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Our favourite bothy botherers Mac-Talla Nan Creag (comprised of Hoch Ma Toch, Other Lands and Lord Of The Isles) return to Firecracker Recordings, channeling ancient rites, the mysteries of the Scottish landscape and its elements through technologies both old and new for your listening pleasure.

My Songs is the fourteenth studio album by British singer-songwriter Sting. This is his second studio album featuring new renditions of previously released material, the first one being 2010's Symphonicities. The album was released on 24 May 2019. The album features fifteen reworked versions of a selection of Sting's most widely recognised songs from across his career both as a member of The Police and as a solo artist. Via his social media outlets, Sting described the new versions of the songs as being reconstructed, refitted and reframed, and all of them with a contemporary focus. Some songs on the album have been remixed using elements of the original tracks, whilst others are complete re-recordings. French 2CD special edition sold exclusively at FNAC stores, including 'Desert Rose (Extended Version)'.

Rising star from the young composer’s generation, Camille Pépin chose to record her first album with the artists who have been accompanying her since her debut. She is taken by numerous extra-musical influences: from English literature to Japanese etchings, mythology to astronomy. These disparate elements all converge on travel as their common theme, wanderlust and dreams of elsewhere. A fusion of all these ingredients, Camille Pépin's music sets itself apart above all through its rhythmic aspect, at once dancing and almost incantatory, presided over by lyricism.

World renowned Irish American supergroup The Gloaming return with their highly anticipated third studio album. Produced by Thomas Bartlett (Sufjan Stevens, St. Vincent) and engineered by Patrick Dillett (David Byrne, Laurie Anderson), the album was recorded in New York City at Reservoir Studios. Like its predecessors, it richly reimagines the vernacular of traditional Irish music through a modern prism via elements of post-rock, jazz, contemporary classical, chamber and minimalism.

“This album is a concept record,” frontman Dan Smith explains to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. “We’re telling the course of a night out during the apocalypse.” The pop quartet begins with the giddy expectations of “Quarter Past Midnight” and hurtles toward the booze-fueled euphoria of “Million Pieces” before morning breaks and a text from a crush on the upbeat “Joy” ends the party—and the album.

Intrada's latest release from 20th Century Fox and UMG is an expanded edition of John Williams' 1982 score to Monsignor. This new release features two programs. The first is the original Casablanca LP program (previously released on Intrada), but with improved mastering as well as the complete score in film order, including additional music not heard on the LP program.