FRANCIS MACDONALD of Teenage Fanclub records album with The Scottish Ensemble
New album by FRANCIS MACDONALD: “MUSIC FOR STRING QUARTET, PIANO & CELESTE”
Featuring musicians from the renowned SCOTTISH ENSEMBLE
Released 30th March 2015 on TR7 Records
CD, Digital and Limited White Vinyl LP
Scottish BAFTA-nominated composer and songwriter FRANCIS MACDONALD drums with Teenage Fanclub and has worked with a range of artists (Alex Chilton, Dan Penn, The Pastels, Kevin Ayers, Kate Rusby, Edwyn Collins, Ian McCulloch, BMX Bandits, Belle & Sebastian, Cairn String Quartet and Max Richter amongst others..)
Made with the help of a grant from Creative Scotland, “Music For String Quartet, Piano & Celeste” is an album of minimalist contemporary music informed by Francis’s work in TV and film soundtracks and influenced by key musical figures such as Philip Glass, Ennio Morricone and Arvo Pärt. He also cites the inspiration of fellow Glasgow-based composer Malcolm Lindsay who, like Francis, did not formally study classical music.
The album was recorded at Mogwai’s Castle Of Doom studio in Glasgow (because Francis liked their piano) and features a quartet drawn from the esteemed Scottish Ensemble, formed in Glasgow in 1969.
It was recorded and mixed by Iain Hutchison (Julie Fowlis, Transatlantic Sessions) and mastered in Milan by Stefano Barzan (Ludovico Einaudi). Francis played piano and a celeste hired from RSNO.
The album cover photo was taken by Francis at Hardanger Fjord, Norway.
"I wanted to challenge myself when we recorded the album”, says Francis; “like many of my contemporaries I came quite late to classical music and I have no formal training, but I didn’t want to use anarranger or orchestrator. I wanted to be responsible for every note.”
www.francismacdonald.com
Notes to Editors
FRANCIS MACDONALD - Francis was nominated for a BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award 2013 for his soundtrack to The Lost Purse”. His songs and music have appeared in the comedy features “Wedding Daze”, “Zemanovaload”, “Wide OpenSpaces” and the TV show “Starlings”(Sky Arts), two series of “Finding Scotland’s Real Heroes” (STV), the three-part documentary series “Commonwealth City” (BBC One) and the eight-part “On Weir’s Way With David Hayman” (STV).
Francis also:
· drums with Teenage Fanclub and was a member of Eugenius and BMX Bandits;
· produced Aaron Wright, Attic Lights and Aaron Fyfe;
· had vocals sampled for Looper’s ‘Mondo ’77’ (Vanilla Sky);
· set up Glasgow indie label Shoeshine Records in summer 1996 then country/folk label Spit & Polish in 2000;
· released Laura Cantrell’s debut ‘Not The Tremblin’ Kind’ (“My favourite album of the last 10 years and possibly my life” – John Peel);
· released music by Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis (sang in Disney-Pixar’s 'Brave')
· manages Camera Obscura and The Vaselines.
