Advantages: A touching, very British story Disadvantages: Nothing particularly outstanding about it
, an old flame of Gloria is delighted to see her again and they restart their relationship. But will the colliery be saved? And will the band make it through to the NationalChampionships at the Albert Hall.
The characters
There are a lot of familiar faces in this film, including Ewan McGregor, Tara Fitzgerald, Stephen Tompkinson, Sue Johnston, Philip Jackson (Poirot's Inspector Japp) Peter Martin (Len from Emmerdale Farm) and Melanie Hill (Aveline Boswell from Bread). For me, the star of the film was Pete Postlethwaite who plays the band leader, Danny. His sheer determination to hold the band together although he is aware that his health is failing comes shining through and he gave an excellent performance. Stephen Tompkinson also does a superb job as Phil. I wasn't particularly impressed at first, but his talent eventually comes shining ...
Advantages: Catchy tunes, no really bad songs Disadvantages: None
After hearing thier performance of 'War' on Later..with Jools Holland, I was immediately impressed and set about finding any of their material. Sadly the internet was, for once, supplying the bare minimum but I had hope. Their debut album was to be released in three weeks time and I was saved.
After buying the album (£10 from HMV) it was hard, like with so many albums, to decide whether I really enjoyed it. However after a few repeats it did start to grow on me and out of it grew some intense and incredibly catchy tunes. Many friends and family have criticised the songs for being 'samey' or for the lack of lyrics. However this does little to divulge my attention. After familiarizing yourself with the CD, the songs begin to stand out and make easy listening, whether to relax or exercise etc.
I particularly enjoy 'war', 'alyo', 'Marcus ...
Advantages: Some catchy numbers, Hysni Zela's vocals Disadvantages: Not all wedding music, not enough Hysni Zela, over-produced
Browsing the CDs in the 'World Music' section of my local independent music store I came across the intriguing "Albanian Wedding: Brass Explosion" by a band called Fanfara Tirana. So delighted was I with the cover picture of a pompom-ed slipper and the back cover shot of the band in their finery that I bought the CD immediately.
Reading the cover notes I discovered that the band is something of a novelty because, while brass instruments are not unknown in traditional Albanian music, there has never been the tradition of brassbands such as this. Although the band members are all serious and (very talented) musicians, they decided to form a brassband as a joke to create a tradition that never existed - brassbands travelling from town to town playing traditional music at weddings which is very common in the other Balkan countries ...
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