swell season

swell season,

The Swell Season is a folk rock duo formed by Irish musician Glen Hansard and Czech singer and pianist Markéta Irglová. "The Swell Season" name is derived from Hansard's favourite novel by Josef Škvorecký from 1975 bearing the same title. Their debut album goes by the same name.

Since their rise to prominence after starring in the 2007 film Once, they increasingly referred to themselves as "The Swell Season" in promotion of their performances until it became the formal name of their collaboration in 2008. (Notably, they still used their separate names when they contributed their cover of Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" to the 2007 soundtrack of I'm Not There.)

History

Glen and Markéta, during a show in Derry, Northern Ireland, in April 2006

The self-titled first album came about after Glen and Marketa were approached by the Czech film director Jan Hřebejk while touring in the Czech Republic, and were asked by him to record songs for his upcoming film Beauty in Trouble. It was the first album that Hansard, the singer for The Frames, had released independent of his band.

Some of the tracks on this album have appeared on other recordings - the track "Falling Slowly" and "When Your Mind's Made Up" on The Frames' album The Cost, and "Falling Slowly", "When Your Mind's Made Up", "Lies" and "Leave" on the Once soundtrack.

Glen and Marketa parodied their roles from Once in The Simpsons episode, In the Name of the Grandfather.

A follow up album, Strict Joy, was released on October 27, 2009 in the United States. Three singles from the album have been released: "In These Arms," "Low Rising," and "Feeling the Pull."

Spin Magazine's review of Strict Joy gave the album 4 out of 5 stars. "If Glen Hansard's and Markéta Irglová's roles in the hit Irish indie film Once unintentionally wove the tale of their real-life falling in love, their second album as the Swell Season weaves the story of their falling out of it." SPIN.com 

In August 2010, The Swell Season covered Neutral Milk Hotel's "Two-Headed Boy" for The AV Club.

Saratoga Mountain Winery Suicide

The Swell Season played an evening show on Thursday, August 19, 2010 at The Mountain Winery in Saratoga, California. Santa Clara County Sherrif's Office spokesman Sgt. Rick Sung reported that a man who had accompanied a friend to the concert left his seat at 10 p.m. The band had just finished its song "When You Mind's Made Up" when the audience saw the man appear on the roof and then jump onto the stage, a fall of perhaps 20 or 30 feet. The man landed on stage next to lead singer Glen Hansard. The Swell Season canceled the remainder of the show and later posted a statement on its website expressing their condolences to the man's family and friends.

Discography

Albums

The Swell Season (2006)

Once Soundtrack (2007)

Strict Joy (2009)

Singles

"Falling Slowly" (2007)

"When Your Mind's Made Up" (2007)

"Falling Slowly" (2008, re-release, #61 Billboard Hot 100)

"Into the Mystic" (2008, part of "Before the Goldrush", the Teach For America Covers Project)

"In These Arms" (2009)

"Low Rising" (2009)

"Feeling the Pull" (2010)

(source:wikipedia)