A few years back, my friend Madelyn introduced me to the movie Once. It was a nice film set in Dublin with accents so thick we needed to put on the subtitles. Shot in 17 days, it focuses on a broken-hearted musician who meets a young Russian woman struggling to make ends meet. The two share two things a loneliness they cannot shake and a deep rooted love for music. Its not really a love story, the two should never be together, but a testament to the power of music. You may recall the featured song "Falling Slowly" from the 2008 Oscars when Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová performed after some spectacularly campy and musical theatre show stoppers from the Disney film Enchanted. Glen and Marketa make up the folk duo The Swell Season, and while I could never say no to OTT musical theatre (I work at Disneyland... hello..), I thought their performance was mature and moving and well deserving of The Little man in Gold.
The Swell Season are Glen Hansard (from the Irish band, The Frames) and Marketa Irglova (classically trained Czech pianist and vocalist).
They have a rustic sound, not unlike Iron and Wine, but a touch of softness that comes from Marina's piano and vocals. Glen can get a bit rage-y and maybe even a bit creepy, but just look at his guitar and it is easy to tell how passionate he is about music.
The Swell Season will be at the 2010 Newport Folk Festival.
Never heard of them! I really dig the album art & they sound perfectly suited to do music for movies {I mean that in a good way!} - very mood setting music. Good find Britt!
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