Kaitlyn LuskKaitlyn Lusk will include four songs from the LOTR soundtrack–May It Be, Breaking The Fellowship, Gollum’s Song, Into the West–on her new recording, FilmSong. You can hear a preview and purchase a Special Edition Single of “Into the West” at her website.

Kaitlyn is the featured vocal soloist for the Lord of the Rings Symphony and the Fellowship of the Ring Symphony (performed live to the movie) and is a big fan of the music. She wrote at Doug Adams’ blog:

Sitting next to the conductor and directly in front of the orchestra, I’m the only person who takes in both the audience’s perspective as well as that of the musicians. Whether through the vibrations of my seat, or looking out into the enraptured crowd, I’ve uniquely witnessed hundreds of nights filled with the human and artistic emotions that are inspired by Tolkien’s story and Howard Shore’s beloved music. After five years of singing this music…I can whole-heartedly say I am as thrilled today as I was the first time I got the call to sing. Funny story: after jumping and screaming on the phone they asked if I needed the music and I replied, “Are you kidding? I already know it!”

Thanks to Doug Adams for his heads up on Kaitlyn’s new recording.

Photo by Chuck Fong.

[Kaitlyn Lusk] [Howard Shore] [Doug Adams]

Emerald RoseCeltic Folk Rockers (and TORn Friends) Emerald Rose received good news this week from producers at the American Movie Classics television channel. Their original instrumental ‘Unfinished Business’ has been chosen for a national commercial for a show called DVD_TV: The Graduate. The 30 second commercial begins airing on AMC this week on March 9 during the broadcast of DVD_TV: Forrest Gump and will air for the next four weeks. The commercial will be broadcast on satellite and cable channels across the US and marks a new level of success for the band. (If anyone can TiVO it, and upload to YouTube, we’d love to likn to it!)

The band is busy as ever, gearing up for St. Patrick’s Day area events starting with this week’s Dahlonega Celtic Music Festival, where they will share the billing with Irish supergroup Altan. Emerald Rose are featured performers in Atlanta’s St. Pat’s celebrations with shows at Underground Atlanta and several Irish pubs in the Atlanta area. For details and show times, check the group’s website at www.emeraldrose.com. [AMC Listing]

LOTR Theatre ProductionRinger Karl sends us a heads up about the upcoming release of a soundtrack from ‘The Lord of the Rings’ theatre production. The original score, with music composed by A.R. Rahman, Värttinä and Christopher Nightingale, and lyrics by Shaun McKenna and Matthew Warchus, is recorded from the The Lord of the Rings theatre production now on stage in London. The album will begin shipping on February 5th 2008. [Amazon.com] [Stage Companion] [Amazon.co.uk] [Stage Companion (UK)] [Official Page]

Chad Grischow writes: January 3, 2008 – Poor Howard Shore. With most moviegoers busy ogling over the amazing visual work Weta created for Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings trilogy, it is easy to forget just how equally fantastic they each sound. Newly issued five-disc mega set, featuring nearly four hours worth of cd audio and another four hours of DVD audio in full surround sound, is here to refresh your memory. Having worked on scores for Martin Scorsese (The Departed) and David Fincher (Se7en and Panic Room), not to mention his long-standing working relationship with David Cronenberg, Shore knows drama and tension. This experience serves him well in the inevitable battle sequences, but he proves equally capable of pulling off delightfully wistful fare throughout. It is the well balanced, always compelling, sound that makes this rather lengthy collection worthy of your ears from start to finish. Despite just how long it will take you to hear all of Shore’s work, there is not much fat to be found. Like the film itself, there are a few lulls, like plodding “Marshalling At Dunharrow”, but thankfully no repeated false endings or moments where you wish the credits would start rolling already. Howard Shore – The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King – The Complete Recordings

2007 has been quite an exciting year for Tolkien fans! There’s been an abundance of news and events from across the globe including openings of musicals, new book releases and new movies in the pipeline: something to satisfy just about any geeky preference! As a thank-you for following all the developments of the year with us, we thought we’d put together a retrospective of the top Tolkien stories of 2007 in one convenient list. The list below is in chronological order.

Here’s to a 2008 that’s just as exciting! Stay tuned! Continue reading “Top Tolkien Stories of 2007”

More 'ROTK: Complete Recordings' Problems? Crystal Goodbody sends this in: Here’s the latest on this, just received from Amazon.ca. I presume that the *ROTK Complete Recordings* will be available later, but this email certainly has me wondering. I would love to hear from you or on TORn as to what the situation is regarding other orders that haven’t been filled. Surely if there is sufficient demand, they can run off more of them??

“Hello from Amazon.ca. We’re sorry to report we won’t be able to obtain the following item from your order: Original Soundtrack (Artist) “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – The Complete Recordings [Import] [Soundtrack]” [Audio CD] Continue reading “More ‘ROTK: Complete Recordings’ Problems?”