Even those allergic to musicals may be won over by Once, a tender-hearted Irish romance with songs by Czech Republic–born Markéta Irglová and Frames frontman Glen Hansard. (The film's director, John Carney, actually used to play bass in the group.) The trick here is that Irglová and Hansard also play the leads; because their characters are shown busking, writing music, or rehearsing, the songs are smoothly integrated in the film. The overall acoustic mood won't surprise fans of the Frames--some tracks ("Say It to Me," "When Your Mind's Made Up") have even popped up on the band's albums, though the arrangements are more pared-down here, befitting the scruffy, street-musician setting. Being the lesser-known entity, Irglová feels like a revelation; she sounds a bit like a folkie Björk on "If You Want Me," and her song "The Hill" is downright heartbreaking. Irglová and Hansard had already made the 2006 album The Swell Seasontogether, so their collaboration here feels really organic--they sound particularly good together on the title track, for instance. Now that's the kind of magic you want from musicals. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Damien Rice在2003年发行了个人的首张专辑《O》，专辑刚发行，变让Damien Rice红遍了非主流音乐界。成为一位知名的唱作人。不但是国外，在我们中国Damien Rice的FANS也是相当的多，我记着前俩年，几乎各各论坛都会有人去发Damien Rice《O》专辑中的歌曲，简直可以用泛滥来形容。同时也让大家重新认识了Damien Rice所演绎的爱尔兰的音乐。这张新专辑命名为《9》，又是以极其简单的方式面向大家。新专辑《9》将在11月3号在爱尔兰首先发行，而后是11月6号将在英国和欧洲地区发行，最后的11月14号才会在美国正式发行。至于我们中国...估计2007年的11月吧。呵呵，玩笑话。来看看新专辑，整整10首歌曲。风格继续延续上张专辑的风格民谣，独流流行和Singer/ Songwriter。不同的是，这张专辑有2首非常突出的歌曲，分别是Rootless Trees和Me, My Yoke and I，突出之处在于别与他们以前的风格，这俩首歌曲特别摇滚，有点Indie Rock的感觉，听后，给我一种很新鲜的感觉，演绎的摇滚曲风原来也很不错。相对这张专辑的风格，我可以给这俩首歌曲满分。原因就是非常特别。剩下的歌曲，就是Damien Rice以往的风格，第一首歌曲9 Crimes，是一首以钢琴为主旋律配带着提琴的忧伤抒情歌曲，继续加上和Lisa Hannigan的女声和唱，专辑开篇便给我们一种熟悉的感觉，仿佛是上张专辑中的歌曲。专辑中Lisa Hannigan同样也参与了很多合声和合唱的部分。这点与上张仍然一样。Elephant是木吉他小调的歌曲，Damien Rice又在一次展示了他的嗓音，就像是清唱一样。专辑的最后一首是Sleep Don't Weep，一首近6分钟的歌曲，Damien Rice只演唱了小部分，接下来是Lisa Hannigan演唱了一小部分，剩下了结尾曲，在钢琴和Lisa Hannigan的合声中结束了整张专辑。 来自水手欧美音乐记录盒 (转verycd)

First CD single pulled from this Irish singer/songwriter's 2006 album 9. Features '9 Crimes' plus the non-album 'Rat Within The Grain'. 14th Floor.