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

自2000年盛夏，一首满载少年浪漫情愫的情歌《Yellow》登上英国单曲排行第4名，红遍全英大街小巷开始；随后《Parachutes(降落伞)》专辑旋即空降英国金榜冠军宝座，98年正式成军于伦敦校园的Coldplay(酷玩乐团)已平地震雷一声响地迅速在全球乐坛窜起。
《Parachutes》是Coldplay在利物浦的Parr Street Studio录音室，与曾为Gomez、Badly drawn boy作嫁的Ken Nelson共同制作。纯净、美丽的中、慢板旋律加上主唱Chris Martin神似Thom Yorke(Radiohesd主唱)轻柔却极具戏剧张力的淳美歌声，10首慢流一致浪漫、迷美情绪的歌谣。
“Shiver”是一首绚烂美丽，关于单恋的故事的歌曲，令人感到颤栗的歌曲名称；以澎湃汹涌的吉他反复乐节，加上Chrir戏剧性嗓音，简单手法表现的畅销单曲“Yellow”；年少轻狂的“Spies”，伴随着彷复来自天堂的中八度圣音；赤裸，贝斯乐声轻抚的民谣“Sparks”简单、有力的生活宣言；“Trouble”以惊人、独特的轻柔钢琴尾曲开场，紧接着Jon和谐的吉他切入，瞬间整首歌曲彷复飞了起来；专辑最后一曲“Everything's Not Lost”结尾部分的低声吟唱，充满了轻柔爵士味，是酷玩乐团Coldplay自信展现实力的进一步证明。
聆听《Parachutes》像感受一次美丽，但又寂寞的坠落；一段远离每日烦嚣，但又可以更清楚观看的经验。

Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong, known professionally as Dido, is an English singer and songwriter. Dido attained international success with her debut album No Angel. Hit singles from the album include "Here with Me" and "Thank You".