Cheers Darling
In the last week I’ve really gotten into Irish rock music. Last weekend I rented the movie, Once, based on the recommendation of a friend who said it was a must see. The movie, which was made for a low price of $160,000 has been a huge success. It features the lead singer of the Irish rock band, The Frames. The music in this movie is brilliant. The story is great too. About half way into the movie, I forgot that I was watching a musical. The music simply becomes an integral part of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and would place it at the top of the rock music movie genre, along with the likes of the Almost Famous or The Pianist.
Then a couple of days later, a strange coincidence happened. Fellow blogger, Alex Miller, recommended the rock duo, Rodrigo y Gabriela, and their self titled album. I listened to some samples from the album and immediately scooped up a copy off of the Amazon MP3 Daily Special. Like the movie Once, this album is brilliant. If you enjoy the fusion of different styles of music or love Mexican guitar, then this album is a must. Below is just one example of their unbelievable Mexican guitar rock music.
Back to the coincidence. Rodrigo y Gabriela are from Mexico, but now live in Dublin, Ireland. As I was reading about Rodrigo y Gabriela on the web, I found that after they moved to Dublin, they were forced to become “buskers” in order to earn money. While busking, they became friends with a fellow busker, Damien Rice, who has since also become a successful musician. I had never heard of Damien, so I thought he might be the musician featured in Once. It turns out the featured artist in Once is Glen Hansard. I then Googled for “damien rice frames” to see if there had been any collaboration between the two. Below is the video I found, which is yet another brilliant piece of music from Ireland. The video is rough, but still conveys the energy that existed in the pub the evening. This is a perfect way to kick off the weekend. Grab a glass of Guinness and enjoy. (give the video 30 seconds to turn to the correct position)