Thomas P. Klammer

Paul Thomas Saunders is a young, Leeds-based singer/ songwriter who until now fit that mold comfortably. His three previous EPs were largely introspective guitar and vocal affairs. He's gifted with a clear, high voice and a falsetto to die for, but that's the icing on Beautiful Desolation. For his Atlantic debut, Saunders has built an enormous sonic palace. It's full of soaring synths, grand pianos, big drums, thrumming basses, wafting electric guitars, organs, and massively layered effects. It's simultaneously cinematic and melodic. One can hear traces of the late '80s in his production, but it's not nostalgic.

Beethoven reputedly wasn't Beecham's favorite composer, but you wouldn't know it from this performance; it's exceedingly well conceived, highly energetic, and has that unique Beecham sparkle to it. The fillers also are delightful. All recorded in Ascona, Switzerland in 1957.

For her debut album on the yellow label Camille has chosen music full of youthful invention – uplifting and positive. She brings her own sensitive interpretation to the French Romantic works for cello and orchestra by Saint-Saëns and Offenbach, including the former’s First Cello Concerto, a masterpiece of its genre, and a delightful excerpt from the latter’s Harmonies des bois “Les Larmes de Jacqueline”. The album was recorded with the Orchestre National de Lille and Alexandre Bloch, and also includes guest appearances by tenor Rolando Villazón and violinist Nemanja Radulović.