Benjamin Biolay
À L'Origine (2005)
2009年3月19日
SONG OF THE WEEK #16 - À L'Oorigine by Benjamin Biolay
Benjamin Biolay
À L'Origine (2005)
2008年12月28日
New York Times' Top 10 Albums of 2008
《纽约时报》的 Jon Pareles 也代表这份报纸选出了他心目中的 2008 年十大唱片。同样地，每张唱片的封面都链接着相应的豆瓣页面。与《时代》的榜单相比，有 3 张专辑两边都看上了，看来 TV on the Radio、Portishead 和 Santogold 真是今年的赢家。尤其是 TV on the Radio，在《滚石》杂志 2008 年 50 大唱片中也排名第一。好了，大家先看看吧，回头我再挨个推荐其中的曲目，不过这次比较挑战，因为扭腰时报所选的有 6 张专辑我压根儿就没听过。 :-(
1. Dear Science
by TV on the Radio
Desperation and anger give way to celebration through sheer force of will on “Dear Science.” For this album TV on the Radio traded its noisiness for clarity, the better to reveal the workings of its ambitious, multilayered songs: programming and hands-on playing, rock and funk, elegies and dance grooves, accusations and embraces. Each song follows its own idiosyncratic path from mourning to affirmation.
2. Third
by Portishead
After an 11-year separation between studio albums, Portishead resumed the desolate mood of its 1990s trip-hop, but with none of the cushioning that made its old albums boutique staples. Its new songs are just sparse beats, isolated hanging keyboard chords, jolts of electronic dissonance and the utterly inconsolable voice of Beth Gibbons, contemplating perpetual loneliness.
3. The Mandé Variations
by Toumani Diabaté
After collaborating with musicians as diverse as Bjork and his fellow Malian Ali Farka Touré, the virtuoso kora (West African harp) player Toumani Diabaté has an unadorned solo instrumental album that brings a world of ideas to his tradition. Playing ancient West African pieces and his own compositions, he plucks complex yet transparent counterpoint, sometimes urgent, sometimes serene, in meditations that never flaunt how cosmopolitan they are.
4. New Amerykah: Part One (4th World War)
by Erykah Badu
Far removed from current R&B, Ms. Badu plunges into deep, strange funk to ponder her own psyche, the desperate state of the ghetto and the state of the nation. The grooves are sparse, jazzy and hollowed out while her multiplied voices drift in with unsparing observations, advice and arguments. It’s a late-breaking successor to Sly and the Family Stone’s “There’s a Riot Goin’ On,” and just as uncompromising; Ms. Badu places the seductive "Honey" at the end of the album as a sweet reward.
5. In Ear Park
by Department of Eagles
Childhood memories and thoughts of mortality ride a carousel of retrofitted California pop, with cascading guitars and vocal harmonies that grow far more pensive than sunny. Department of Eagles is Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear resuming his collaboration with his college roommate Fred Nicolaus, backed on the album by Grizzly Bear’s rhythm section. The sound of their introspection often unfurls to cinematic richness while holding on to the intimacy of a shared secret.
6. That Lonesome Song
by Jamey Johnson
All the pain of what sounds like a bitter divorce can’t dislodge the craftsmanship and country classicism of the songwriter Jamey Johnson, and the tension between autobiography and a good couplet gives “That Lonesome Song” an extra poignancy. Mr. Johnson places his low, stoic voice in lean, old-fashioned arrangements with pedal steel guitar floating above, and in confessions of his own excesses, he’s harder on himself than he is on his ex.
7. At Mount Zoomer
by Wolf Parade
Wolf Parade’s two songwriters, Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug, trade off songs and volley big ideas about cities, wars, memories and human connections. The analog keyboard tones hark back to the 1970s and 1980s, and so does Wolf Parade’s willingness to build toward marches and anthems under their quavery lead vocals. Behind the pomp and ambiguity, though, is a pop sense that fills the songs with foot-stomping hooks.
8. Microcastle
by Deerhunter
With a wistful familiarity that’s spookier than most scare tactics, Bradford Cox sings about “dreams that frighten me awake”: woozy visions of murder, confinement and vampires. They’re placed in echoey, neo-psychedelic jams, circling through a few chords, that mingle disorientation with obsession.
9. Alas, I Cannot Swim
by Laura Marling
Somehow Ms. Marling, now 18, gained a perspective that sees romance as part of larger cycles of life and death in her songs. And somehow she was drawn not to contemporary rock but to a folky, largely acoustic production that modestly updates 1960s folk-rock and links her to a long British ballad tradition. For further mystery there’s her smoky voice, mature without affectation.
10. Santogold
by Santogold
The terse, confident, beat-loving, wiggly-voiced character that Santi White makes of herself as the leader of Santogold obviously follows through on the pugnacity of M.I.A. and of Karen O from Yeah Yeah Yeahs. But Santogold brings her own fixations to the ultralean new wave, reggae and electro tracks: notably the competitive ambitions of an artist who declares herself unstoppable and sets out to prove it.
[via New York Times: A Mix of Vocals, Lyrics and Styles]
1. Dear Scienceby TV on the Radio
Desperation and anger give way to celebration through sheer force of will on “Dear Science.” For this album TV on the Radio traded its noisiness for clarity, the better to reveal the workings of its ambitious, multilayered songs: programming and hands-on playing, rock and funk, elegies and dance grooves, accusations and embraces. Each song follows its own idiosyncratic path from mourning to affirmation.
2. Thirdby Portishead
After an 11-year separation between studio albums, Portishead resumed the desolate mood of its 1990s trip-hop, but with none of the cushioning that made its old albums boutique staples. Its new songs are just sparse beats, isolated hanging keyboard chords, jolts of electronic dissonance and the utterly inconsolable voice of Beth Gibbons, contemplating perpetual loneliness.
3. The Mandé Variationsby Toumani Diabaté
After collaborating with musicians as diverse as Bjork and his fellow Malian Ali Farka Touré, the virtuoso kora (West African harp) player Toumani Diabaté has an unadorned solo instrumental album that brings a world of ideas to his tradition. Playing ancient West African pieces and his own compositions, he plucks complex yet transparent counterpoint, sometimes urgent, sometimes serene, in meditations that never flaunt how cosmopolitan they are.
4. New Amerykah: Part One (4th World War)by Erykah Badu
Far removed from current R&B, Ms. Badu plunges into deep, strange funk to ponder her own psyche, the desperate state of the ghetto and the state of the nation. The grooves are sparse, jazzy and hollowed out while her multiplied voices drift in with unsparing observations, advice and arguments. It’s a late-breaking successor to Sly and the Family Stone’s “There’s a Riot Goin’ On,” and just as uncompromising; Ms. Badu places the seductive "Honey" at the end of the album as a sweet reward.
5. In Ear Parkby Department of Eagles
Childhood memories and thoughts of mortality ride a carousel of retrofitted California pop, with cascading guitars and vocal harmonies that grow far more pensive than sunny. Department of Eagles is Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear resuming his collaboration with his college roommate Fred Nicolaus, backed on the album by Grizzly Bear’s rhythm section. The sound of their introspection often unfurls to cinematic richness while holding on to the intimacy of a shared secret.
6. That Lonesome Songby Jamey Johnson
All the pain of what sounds like a bitter divorce can’t dislodge the craftsmanship and country classicism of the songwriter Jamey Johnson, and the tension between autobiography and a good couplet gives “That Lonesome Song” an extra poignancy. Mr. Johnson places his low, stoic voice in lean, old-fashioned arrangements with pedal steel guitar floating above, and in confessions of his own excesses, he’s harder on himself than he is on his ex.
7. At Mount Zoomerby Wolf Parade
Wolf Parade’s two songwriters, Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug, trade off songs and volley big ideas about cities, wars, memories and human connections. The analog keyboard tones hark back to the 1970s and 1980s, and so does Wolf Parade’s willingness to build toward marches and anthems under their quavery lead vocals. Behind the pomp and ambiguity, though, is a pop sense that fills the songs with foot-stomping hooks.
8. Microcastleby Deerhunter
With a wistful familiarity that’s spookier than most scare tactics, Bradford Cox sings about “dreams that frighten me awake”: woozy visions of murder, confinement and vampires. They’re placed in echoey, neo-psychedelic jams, circling through a few chords, that mingle disorientation with obsession.
9. Alas, I Cannot Swimby Laura Marling
Somehow Ms. Marling, now 18, gained a perspective that sees romance as part of larger cycles of life and death in her songs. And somehow she was drawn not to contemporary rock but to a folky, largely acoustic production that modestly updates 1960s folk-rock and links her to a long British ballad tradition. For further mystery there’s her smoky voice, mature without affectation.
10. Santogoldby Santogold
The terse, confident, beat-loving, wiggly-voiced character that Santi White makes of herself as the leader of Santogold obviously follows through on the pugnacity of M.I.A. and of Karen O from Yeah Yeah Yeahs. But Santogold brings her own fixations to the ultralean new wave, reggae and electro tracks: notably the competitive ambitions of an artist who declares herself unstoppable and sets out to prove it.
[via New York Times: A Mix of Vocals, Lyrics and Styles]
2008年12月10日
TIME's Top 10 Albums of 2008
《时代》杂志很可恨，一张帖子非得分成 10 个网页来发布，靠，赚PV啊？榜单上有 6 张专辑我没什么发言权，挑选的编辑 Josh Tyrangiel 没关注过，不知道啥品味，不过就冲着他选出了《Santogold》、《808s & Heartbreaks》、《Third》这几张，还算是颇得我心。TV on the Radio 的《Dear Science》和 Lil Wayne 的《Tha Carter III》听得还不够多，没什么深印象，重新播放了一下，好像是还不错。下面这 10 张专辑，回头我各挑一首来推荐。大家先看榜。点击专辑封面可进入相应的豆瓣页面。
1. Tha Carter III
by Lil Wayne
Tha Carter III is beyond sprawling, but its lack of discipline is also its point. It's a pop showcase for Dwayne Carter, the very peculiar cough syrup-swilling New Orleans rapper who swears he improvises all of his rhymes. Whether he really does is anybody's guess, but amid all the Auto-Tuned vocals and effects — no rapper enjoys hearing his own voice distorted more — are shrewd commercial choices (the No. 1 hit "Lollipop," the Jay-Z duet "Mr. Carter") and extended periods of verse that take rap back to its essence: talking. On "DontGetIt," over a sample of Nina Simone's "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," Wayne tells a 10-minute life story that meanders into an indictment of drug laws and an out-of-nowhere slam of Al Sharpton. The words are smart, but the delivery — just behind the beat, in a voice that sounds like Miles Davis lecturing on Robitussin — is hypnotic.
2. Dear Science
by TV on the Radio
This Brooklyn band spent most of its first three albums emptying out the tool shed in pursuit of weird things to make noise with. This time they haul out all their usual unusual props — out-of-time drums, jazz horn squawks, power tools — but in the service of great tunes. With its Beach Boys '"ba-ba-bas" and killer lo-fi guitar, "Halfway Home" is all propulsion and energy, the best album opener of the year. "Family Tree" is a rock ballad sung with great tenderness by Tunde Adebimpe while "Red Dress" is the smartest thing about race this year not written by Barack Obama. Hopefully the merging of their cerebral side with melodies you can actually hum will finally get TVotR an audience outside their borough.
3. Death Magnetic
by Metallica
You can be forgiven for thinking they were washed up after three mediocre albums — they thought as much themselves. But a few months with Rick Rubin and a return to their thrash roots produced the best album in Metallica's catalog. What brought them back is simple: speed and length. Metallica has never played as fast or made songs that last as long. Case in point: Death Magnetic's best track, "Broken, Beat & Scarred," which has a chaotic, minute-long intro and a melody-line that bobs and weaves until the 3:30 mark, when, just after James Hetfield barks the career-defining Metallica lyric, "What don't kill ya make ya more strong," all four band members start playing as hard and as fast as they can — without sacrificing a single note — for another two minutes. After all these years, Metallica still has the capacity to make you bang your head. Now they just make you do it faster and longer.
4. Feed the Animals
by Girl Talk
Sure, Girl Talk (ex-engineering student Greg Gillis) uses shards of hundreds of already well-known songs to make his secondhand hits. But bolstered by the most liberal interpretation of the fair use statute known to man, he's made the rare album on which every track is a party-starter. Like all DJs, Gillis has a great set of ears and a hell of a laptop, and it's a must to listen with his Wikipedia page open just to keep track of all the wild collisions, like K7 into The Carpenters into Metallica on "Like This," or Ice Cube's "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted" into Hot Chocolate's "Every 1's a Winner" on "Give Me a Beat." Gillis slips in the odd social message — pairing Temple of the Dog's "Hunger Strike" with Ludacris' money loving "What's Your Fantasy," for instance — but his most powerful statement is cribbed from David Bowie: let's dance!
5. Vampire Weekend
by Vampire Weekend
Dubbed the "whitest band" by the experts over at Stuff White People Like, these recent Columbia University alums do indeed sing about such pressing subjects as Oxford commas, albeit with the proper disdain ("Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?") But their whiteness has less to do with their familiarity with the MLA Handbook than an unrestrained admiration for blackness. From the Afro-pop guitars and soukous rhythms to name-checking Lil Jon ("First the window, then it's to the wall/ Lil' Jon, he always tells the truth"), it's clear this band knows its melanin. If that sounds a tad anthropological, the joy of this debut is that it never feels it. The Afro-pop and indie rock fusion is seamless, particularly on "A-Punk" and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa," which includes the lyrical deprecation "This feels so unnatural/ Peter Gabriel too." More than most new bands, Vampire Weekend knows how to find a song's soul without compromising its wit. Peter Gabriel would be proud. Paul Simon would be prouder.
6. 808s & Heartbreak
by Kanye West
Imagine if you took an album's worth of blues lyrics and removed all the blues. That's what West does on this hastily produced record about the death of his mother and the dissolution of his recent engagement. The words are brutally introspective ("Chased the good-life, all my life long/ Look back on my life, all my life gone") but they're sung through the anonymity of Auto-Tune over beats generated mostly by the ancient Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, one of the first drum machines, so you'd expect their power to be muted. Instead, West turns his gimmick into an innovation; the effects make him sound ghostly and sad (and better, since he can't actually sing). Not everything on 808s & Heartbreak works, but what does is fascinating — and haunting.
7. Santogold
by Santogold
Santi White spent years as an A&R executive before making her solo debut, and her seasoning, as well as her taste, shows. Mining poses from Gwen Stefani, Bjork and Grace Jones, and melodies from New Wave, pop and whatever else her laptop spits out, she creates a new persona — "a black girl who's not singing R&B," is how she puts it, tongue firmly in cheek. She's also a fusionist who knows influences don't mean a thing if you ain't learned to sing. And sing she can, with a voice flexible enough to sound like her friend M.I.A. on "Shove It" and Blondie on "L.E.S. Artistes." "Creep up and suddenly/ I found myself/ An innovator," she rasps on the latter; for now her innovation is pastiche, but you get the sense there's more, and even better, coming.
8. Third
by Portishead
After a 10-year hiatus, Bristol's once famous trip-hop trio returned with an album that was less accessible — and far prettier — than their previous work. Packed with a Portuguese soliloquy, austere Krautrock rhythms and muscular synthesizer melodies, the first half-hour is more impressive than lovable. Then the ukuleles begin. It sounds like a joke at first, but "Deep Water" gives Beth Gibbons the chance to sing her wounded heart out and create a little island of prettiness that blooms into more prettiness the rest of the way. Third takes multiple listens to crack, but it rewards patience with a textured majesty.
9. Little Honey
by Lucinda Williams
After years in misery's ditch, Williams finally put out a happy album, but it's a little more nuanced than its publicity. Songs like "Tears of Joy" and the grinding guitar-rocker "Real Love," show off a singer no longer ill at ease with easy pleasures (although, uncharacteristically, she's suddenly at ease with lyrical cliché) while the Elvis Costello duet "Jailhouse Tears" proves she can even be funny. For all the smiles, there's also plenty of material where the mood darkens. "Circles and X's" and the glorious "Wishes Were Horses" ("If wishes were horses/ I'd have a ranch") get Williams back to longing, territory where she's unrivaled as a writer and unbeatable as a singer. The balance, though, makes this Williams' sweetest album.
10. Rockferry
by Duffy
Because Aimee Ann Duffy is young, British and has a rocket-powered voice that seems to find its natural expression in '60s soul music, the Amy Winehouse comparisons are inevitable. For the record, Winehouse is better. But on "Rockferry" and the delicately sweet "Warwick Avenue," Duffy proves she's at least in the game with an impressive display of vocal and emotional range. The album sags a bit toward the end, but its best songs have a captivating innocence that seems born of 24-year-old Duffy herself. On that front, she's got Winehouse beat by miles.
[via TIME]
1. Tha Carter IIIby Lil Wayne
Tha Carter III is beyond sprawling, but its lack of discipline is also its point. It's a pop showcase for Dwayne Carter, the very peculiar cough syrup-swilling New Orleans rapper who swears he improvises all of his rhymes. Whether he really does is anybody's guess, but amid all the Auto-Tuned vocals and effects — no rapper enjoys hearing his own voice distorted more — are shrewd commercial choices (the No. 1 hit "Lollipop," the Jay-Z duet "Mr. Carter") and extended periods of verse that take rap back to its essence: talking. On "DontGetIt," over a sample of Nina Simone's "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," Wayne tells a 10-minute life story that meanders into an indictment of drug laws and an out-of-nowhere slam of Al Sharpton. The words are smart, but the delivery — just behind the beat, in a voice that sounds like Miles Davis lecturing on Robitussin — is hypnotic.
2. Dear Scienceby TV on the Radio
This Brooklyn band spent most of its first three albums emptying out the tool shed in pursuit of weird things to make noise with. This time they haul out all their usual unusual props — out-of-time drums, jazz horn squawks, power tools — but in the service of great tunes. With its Beach Boys '"ba-ba-bas" and killer lo-fi guitar, "Halfway Home" is all propulsion and energy, the best album opener of the year. "Family Tree" is a rock ballad sung with great tenderness by Tunde Adebimpe while "Red Dress" is the smartest thing about race this year not written by Barack Obama. Hopefully the merging of their cerebral side with melodies you can actually hum will finally get TVotR an audience outside their borough.
3. Death Magneticby Metallica
You can be forgiven for thinking they were washed up after three mediocre albums — they thought as much themselves. But a few months with Rick Rubin and a return to their thrash roots produced the best album in Metallica's catalog. What brought them back is simple: speed and length. Metallica has never played as fast or made songs that last as long. Case in point: Death Magnetic's best track, "Broken, Beat & Scarred," which has a chaotic, minute-long intro and a melody-line that bobs and weaves until the 3:30 mark, when, just after James Hetfield barks the career-defining Metallica lyric, "What don't kill ya make ya more strong," all four band members start playing as hard and as fast as they can — without sacrificing a single note — for another two minutes. After all these years, Metallica still has the capacity to make you bang your head. Now they just make you do it faster and longer.
4. Feed the Animalsby Girl Talk
Sure, Girl Talk (ex-engineering student Greg Gillis) uses shards of hundreds of already well-known songs to make his secondhand hits. But bolstered by the most liberal interpretation of the fair use statute known to man, he's made the rare album on which every track is a party-starter. Like all DJs, Gillis has a great set of ears and a hell of a laptop, and it's a must to listen with his Wikipedia page open just to keep track of all the wild collisions, like K7 into The Carpenters into Metallica on "Like This," or Ice Cube's "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted" into Hot Chocolate's "Every 1's a Winner" on "Give Me a Beat." Gillis slips in the odd social message — pairing Temple of the Dog's "Hunger Strike" with Ludacris' money loving "What's Your Fantasy," for instance — but his most powerful statement is cribbed from David Bowie: let's dance!
5. Vampire Weekendby Vampire Weekend
Dubbed the "whitest band" by the experts over at Stuff White People Like, these recent Columbia University alums do indeed sing about such pressing subjects as Oxford commas, albeit with the proper disdain ("Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?") But their whiteness has less to do with their familiarity with the MLA Handbook than an unrestrained admiration for blackness. From the Afro-pop guitars and soukous rhythms to name-checking Lil Jon ("First the window, then it's to the wall/ Lil' Jon, he always tells the truth"), it's clear this band knows its melanin. If that sounds a tad anthropological, the joy of this debut is that it never feels it. The Afro-pop and indie rock fusion is seamless, particularly on "A-Punk" and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa," which includes the lyrical deprecation "This feels so unnatural/ Peter Gabriel too." More than most new bands, Vampire Weekend knows how to find a song's soul without compromising its wit. Peter Gabriel would be proud. Paul Simon would be prouder.
6. 808s & Heartbreakby Kanye West
Imagine if you took an album's worth of blues lyrics and removed all the blues. That's what West does on this hastily produced record about the death of his mother and the dissolution of his recent engagement. The words are brutally introspective ("Chased the good-life, all my life long/ Look back on my life, all my life gone") but they're sung through the anonymity of Auto-Tune over beats generated mostly by the ancient Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, one of the first drum machines, so you'd expect their power to be muted. Instead, West turns his gimmick into an innovation; the effects make him sound ghostly and sad (and better, since he can't actually sing). Not everything on 808s & Heartbreak works, but what does is fascinating — and haunting.
7. Santogoldby Santogold
Santi White spent years as an A&R executive before making her solo debut, and her seasoning, as well as her taste, shows. Mining poses from Gwen Stefani, Bjork and Grace Jones, and melodies from New Wave, pop and whatever else her laptop spits out, she creates a new persona — "a black girl who's not singing R&B," is how she puts it, tongue firmly in cheek. She's also a fusionist who knows influences don't mean a thing if you ain't learned to sing. And sing she can, with a voice flexible enough to sound like her friend M.I.A. on "Shove It" and Blondie on "L.E.S. Artistes." "Creep up and suddenly/ I found myself/ An innovator," she rasps on the latter; for now her innovation is pastiche, but you get the sense there's more, and even better, coming.
8. Thirdby Portishead
After a 10-year hiatus, Bristol's once famous trip-hop trio returned with an album that was less accessible — and far prettier — than their previous work. Packed with a Portuguese soliloquy, austere Krautrock rhythms and muscular synthesizer melodies, the first half-hour is more impressive than lovable. Then the ukuleles begin. It sounds like a joke at first, but "Deep Water" gives Beth Gibbons the chance to sing her wounded heart out and create a little island of prettiness that blooms into more prettiness the rest of the way. Third takes multiple listens to crack, but it rewards patience with a textured majesty.
9. Little Honeyby Lucinda Williams
After years in misery's ditch, Williams finally put out a happy album, but it's a little more nuanced than its publicity. Songs like "Tears of Joy" and the grinding guitar-rocker "Real Love," show off a singer no longer ill at ease with easy pleasures (although, uncharacteristically, she's suddenly at ease with lyrical cliché) while the Elvis Costello duet "Jailhouse Tears" proves she can even be funny. For all the smiles, there's also plenty of material where the mood darkens. "Circles and X's" and the glorious "Wishes Were Horses" ("If wishes were horses/ I'd have a ranch") get Williams back to longing, territory where she's unrivaled as a writer and unbeatable as a singer. The balance, though, makes this Williams' sweetest album.
10. Rockferryby Duffy
Because Aimee Ann Duffy is young, British and has a rocket-powered voice that seems to find its natural expression in '60s soul music, the Amy Winehouse comparisons are inevitable. For the record, Winehouse is better. But on "Rockferry" and the delicately sweet "Warwick Avenue," Duffy proves she's at least in the game with an impressive display of vocal and emotional range. The album sags a bit toward the end, but its best songs have a captivating innocence that seems born of 24-year-old Duffy herself. On that front, she's got Winehouse beat by miles.
[via TIME]
2008年11月29日
SONG OF THE WEEK #15: Say You Will by Kanye West
西方侃爷在北京演出的时候，我竟然在开场前搞到了一张票。一对男女朋友，想去看，但更想留在 798 看歌德学院的演出。于是，我这个假文艺青年，便骗到了他们手里的 Kanye West 演出券。谢谢，丁丁和高大师。
可惜工体馆这么个小封闭场子里，放了一个室外演出专用的大棚子和音响，我们如古罗马斗兽场里的观众一样看着场下的侃爷折腾，这倒霉孩子身着花裤，所有的音乐都只能在第一排嗡啊嗡，活像一个巨大的苍蝇。结果，看了半场不到，我便和高大师溜出会场，告别假装时尚潮人的 flypig 和 evilape，回到 798 去接着装文青。后来其实也没认真听 Deien Lakaien，这是后话。
去见侃爷之前，他的专辑我都听过，但每张听了也就四五遍，还是印象不深。是的是的，我知道这哥们儿很有思想，但他的歌儿中，没有一首打动过我，直到他离开北京后，发布了 2008 年的新专辑《808's and Heartbreaks》。开头一首 Say You Will 果然很 heartbreaking。Kanye West 在这首歌中，甚至有了点 Kraftwerk 在 The Model 中的风采。唯一的不同是，Kanye 的嗓音温暖了点。这就是泡普音乐的力量吗？
2008年11月27日
SONG OF THE WEEK #14: A Different Place by Brett Anderson
Brett Anderson 现在开始玩慢歌了。其实他早就知道，Suede 时期的慢歌都能杀死人，记得当年来北京演出时，他在接受记者采访中承认过这点，但是他就不老唱慢歌。是呀，何必呢，慢歌唱多了，估计类似一个笑话说了超过三次。一天到晚搞得这么沉郁。但，貌似我这个空间比较爱放慢歌。是因为我照顾读者吗？上次突破了一下，放了一首 Hip Hop，不过也没设为自动播放，嘿嘿。
我还是喜欢 Suede，喜欢 The Tears，尽管 Brett Anderson 和 Bernard Butler 再度合作的结果被很多人都视为失败之作。还是喜欢 Brett Anderson。
来听 Brett Anderson 今年的新专辑《野外》（Wilderness）中的一首“A Different Place” 吧。These are the words that take me to a different place. These are the thoughts that take me to a different place.
好吧，我承认，此刻有点低落。
2008年11月12日
SONG OF THE WEEK #13: Love Makes You Beautiful by Terrence Howard
Terrence Howard，和大部分在娱乐业混迹多年才崛起的演技派男星一样，18 岁开始投身演艺事业，36 岁才真正成名。那部让他牛鼻非凡的电影叫《川流熙攘》（Hustle & Flow），其实这名字翻得不太靠谱，hustle 就是拉皮条，flow 是饶舌音乐的一个术语，指歌词念（rap）出来的节奏。Terrence Howard 演的就是一个被点燃了 Hip Hop 音乐梦想的皮条客，演技了得。如果你喜欢 Eminem 主演的电影《8英里》（8 Miles）以及他在片中唱的主题曲，我非常建议你去找这部《Hustle & Flow》来看看。Terrence Howard 演完这片子的第二年，就被邀请加入了美国电影艺术和科学学会，对的，就是颁发奥斯卡的那群装货。其实头一年这哥们儿就在两部获得奥斯卡奖的电影中扮演了配角，一个是《撞车》（Crash），一个是《灵魂歌王》（Ray）。
电影《Hustle & Flow》的主题曲《It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp》是第一首在奥斯卡颁奖典礼上表演的 Hip Hop 歌曲，也是第二首获得奥斯卡最佳电影音乐奖项的 Hip Hop 歌曲（第一个就是《8英里》的主题曲“Lose Yourself”）。这首歌的确是我听过的最好听的 Hip Hop 歌曲，曲子开头用廉价的儿童玩具鼓机的一段节奏带入，暗合剧情。然后女主角 Taraji P. Henson 牵出主歌，Taraji 的嗓音极具爆发力，也极动人。那首歌我就不自动播放了，也放在下面，感兴趣的朋友自己点开听一下。提醒：是 Hip Hop！
所以今天放出两首歌，自动播放的这首，是 Terrence Howard 在今年 9 月 1 日发的一张新碟。是的，在美国可不时兴演戏牛鼻了就出唱片。人家干一行是一行，串行一般都会被骂，不像咱这边。当然了，那边的唱片公司也没法花钱买通媒体和网站给新唱片说好话。
尽管如此，我得说，Terrence Howard 的这张《Shine Through It》是我今年听过的最好听的 Soul/R&B 专辑。很爱情，很希望，很低郁。这哥们儿会唱歌。今天放的“Love Makes You Beautiful”是专辑的第一首歌，立即击败我。
2008年9月13日
Love Songs
朋友结婚，让我帮他找在婚礼上适合播放的爱情歌曲做背景音乐。我于是从收藏的所有音乐中，一张专辑一张专辑地过滤，地毯式排查，挑出了 30 首来。给他。这就是下面 30 首歌曲的来源。
做事好像向来不在意结果。11 月 2 日去参加他的婚礼，听到了我选送的曲目，顿觉自豪无比，当时费的多少功夫就都不记得了。
2008年8月26日
我的彩铃音乐
不少给我打电话的人问我，我的彩铃都是什么歌。鉴于我的彩铃库里有8首歌随机轮番播放，所以，抱歉，我常常只能回答说，我不知道你听到的是哪首。不如，你哼一下听听？我说。于是，我经常被对方要求拒接电话。然后，我便听到很多类似猫哭的声音。
好了，我在 imeem 上找齐了这些歌儿。大家随便听吧，这次的 Soft Week 倾情大赠送。整整８首歌哦！
那些离我太远的朋友，比如 James, Sylvain, Svyeta, Weiting 和 Xiaojing，你们给我打一次电话不容易，听到这些歌，你们可以假作是拨通了我的手机。
补注：
1. 由于 imeem 不支持中文，所以列表中第６和第７两首中文歌分别是许巍《在别处》中的"我的秋天"和麦田守望者乐队《我们的世界》中的"The Perfect Day"。顺便说一句，麦田守望者平庸了十年，在2006年底终于推出了这样一张非常好听的专辑。
2. 第８首，选自 U2 专辑《Zooropa》。这首歌之前介绍过，所以就排到了最后。The last but not the least.
2008年7月13日
SONG OF THE WEEK #12: Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes by Beck
这部电影，百看不厌。我很少看爱情片，《Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Mind》却屡屡让我无法自持。尤其是开幕时，Jim Carey 俯在汽车方向盘上泪流满面，镜头在夜雨中行进，这首歌响起，极动人。
Charlie Kaufman 是好莱坞今世编剧奇才，他写的片子，都很神奇，空间和时间的变换技巧之高，却丝毫不会损害情感表达。如果你看过《Being John Malkovich》和《Adaptation》，以及这部，就知道这是个怎样的神人了。神奇的人民音乐家 Beck 自然也和这片子的调调很搭，更搭的是这首歌，不像往常他的音乐那样碎。他给这部片子写的主题曲《Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes》，好听死。
《Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Mind》这部片子，我逛碟店时，看到一次就会买一次，然后借给别人看，如果喜欢，就不让人归还了。另外两部也值得我这么干的片子，是《Before Sunrise》和《Before Sunset》，以后再说它们。
2008年6月16日
SONG OF THE WEEK #11: Daydreamer by Adele
现在英国白人女歌手玩 soul 真是越来越强，出名也越来越早——但你根本听不出她们的岁数。Amy Winehouse 23 岁时出的碟《Back to Black》被若干地方评为 2007 年十大。今年年初，尚 20 岁不到的 Adele 出版处女专辑《19》（非要强调自个儿年纪小），发片不到 1 个月就卖成了白金（英国评白金唱片是销量 30 万张，美国是 100 万张）。这首“Daydreamer”即选自 Adele 这张《19》。这姐儿俩的音乐都值得反复听。
2008年3月8日
In weiter Ferne, so nah!
U2 那么多喜欢的歌，独这一首播放的次数最多。Song of the Week 开栏时就想着放它，没想过了这么久才出场。
当年从林挺那里借来维姆·文德斯的《咫尺天涯》。甫一开演，便被震撼。天使卡西奥站在勃兰登堡门顶上的胜利女神雕像肩头，俯瞰柏林。静默的城市，充满爱和孤独。U2 为这部电影写的主题歌响起，和镜头一起飞行，在柏林的摩天大厦之间，缓慢地。Bono的嗓音出来催泪。
If I could stay...
Then the night would give you up
Stay...and the day would keep its trust
Stay...and the night would be enough
2008年2月14日
2008年1月14日
SONG OF THE WEEK #7: Anger Management by Lovage
上周的 “Crik Crak” 很欢快哈？这周来首萎靡点的。哈哈，我自己不萎靡，只是这首歌很好听而已。
日美混血儿 Dan the Automator（原名丹尼尔·中村[Daniel Nakamura]，亦名内森尼尔·梅里维瑟[Nathaniel Merriweather]），从小因家庭熏陶而接受古典音乐教育，并习小提琴，青春期时却受到 Hip-Hop、R&B 和摇滚乐的“不良”影响，90年代因参与了 Hip-Hop 概念团体 Dr. Octogan 的制作而成名。这孩子，真能捣腾，除了把英式 Trip-Hop 加入了 Hip-Hop，自己还去给其他一些摇滚乐队做过制作人，比如1997年 Cornershop 那张极其优秀的《When I Was Born for the 7th Time》，后来他又和人组过 Hip-Hop 乐队和摇滚乐队，最近比较出名的参与，是他和 Blur 才华乱溅的 Damon Albarn 合组了卡通乐队 Gorillaz。
Lovage 是 Dan the Automator 组织的一个只发行了一张专辑的乐队，里面的人，不是搞 Hip-Hop DJ 的，就是玩摇滚的（比如 Faith No More 的主音男和 Elysian Field 的主音女），结果搞出来的是一个极其萎靡、但好听的、有着极强 Serge Gainsbourg 风格的 Trip-Hop 专辑。这哥们儿太搞了。
今天放的这首 “Anger Management”，就是Lovage在2001年发行的专辑《Music To Make Love To Your Old Lady》里面的一首。
Title: Anger Management
Artist: Lovage
Album: Music To Make Love To Your Old Lady
Year: 2001
My inner demons compel me to be here
Your cheeks are flush like rose petals
You're consumed with rage but I'm consumed with you
Our eyes intertwine through the haze
Intoxicated by your bloodshot stare
In all of my dreams I never thought I'd see
A face that could launch a thousand ships
And the music was like wind in your hair
The moonlight caressed your silhouette
Kiss of ocean mist is in the air
Why must God punish me this way
Lay down my hand the next move is yours
As you undress me with your frozen eyes
In all of my dreams I never thought I'd see
An endless love to share my blue lagoon
And the music was like wind in your hair
The moonlight caressed your silhouette
Kiss of ocean mist is in the air
Why must God punish me this way
Happiness is hard to come by
But I've had my fair share
The satin sheets, the lemon peels
The minor keys, the major pills
We've climbed the mountain, saw the top
And planted the apple seed
And can't you see we could've had it all
And the music was like wind in your hair
The moonlight caressed your silhouette
Kiss of ocean mist is in the air
Why must God punish me this way
And the music was like wind in your hair
The moonlight caressed your silhouette
Kiss of ocean mist is in the air
Why must God punish me this way
Why must God punish me this way
This way, this way, this way ...
2008年1月7日
SONG OF THE WEEK #6: Crik Crak by The Lovers
元旦放假，做完了环球企业家史上最长的一个后期，歇了一周。本周“Song of the Week”节目继续。
前几周放了几首色彩比较黯淡的歌曲，本周愉快一点，来一首The Lover的“Crik Crak”。法国女玛丽昂·贝诺阿（Marion Benoist）在2001年9月11日那天在英国的录音棚里录制歌曲以悼念9/11死难者时，认识了法国男弗雷德·德·弗雷德（Fred de Fred），二人从此结为情人，也由此组成了一个叫做“情人”的组合。这小两口的歌主要都是歌颂爱情、美酒和性。
今天这首“Crik Crak”也是唱爱情的，歌词故意英法语夹杂。我根据Google翻译机的翻译结果，将歌里带法语词的句子进行了一些修改，我法语远远不如Google好，大家就凑合看吧。如果相信我的语感的话，“Crik Crak”应是象声词，和下文的“Tic Tac”一样，相当于英语的“Click Clack”和“Tick Tock”。
这首歌我原本是在Chill Out合集《Paris Lounge: Vol. 4》里发现的，贝诺阿唱过爵士吧，做过兔女郎，当过流行庞克乐队的主音，现在的The Lovers却是一支电子流行乐队，她的声音古灵精怪，这首歌也开心得紧。看来发嗲发好了也不会让人肉麻滴。
“此曲献给天下有情人”之类的蠢话不说也罢。大家都是情人，彼此都是情人。We all love each other。
这句话让我想起了电影《判我有罪》（Find Me Guilty）里，Jackie DiNorscio对每个黑帮兄弟都真诚地说“I love you”，黑帮老大Nick Calabrese冷冷地回他道：“I don't wanna hear any more of your love shit.” 再顺带说一句，这是部好电影，喜欢法庭戏的兄弟姐妹不要错过此片。只有小学文化的黑帮分子Jackie DiNorscio自己做自己的辩护律师，一个真诚的坏蛋，愣是把自己和20个黑帮人物洗脱了罪名。Vin Diesel扎扎实实地证明了自己不是一个只会戴墨镜、拉着脸装酷的肌肉男。
总之，Happy 2008, people! You're loving and lovable.
CRIK CRAK
(M. Benoist/Fred de Fred/Honer/Barratt)
| Lover take a chance C’est fou ce qu’on est bien Oh Lover romantic C’est fou ce qu’on est bien Are you tendance Nietzche ou Stendhal C’est fou ce qu’on est bien |
It's as crazy as it's good.
Do you prefer Nietzche or Stendhal |
2007年12月25日
Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday!
今日圣诞，亦逢Ｊ的生日。来点圣诞气氛的曲子。《Christmas Del Mar》里的“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”。
小萃，This song is for you, too. Happy Christmas!
2007年12月23日
SONG OF THE WEEK #4: Hurdy Gurdy Man by Donovan
看来我真是离不开iPod Hi-Fi了，在家里可以将电脑里下载的新歌通过AirPort Express放出来。但这礼拜在北京做后期，音乐只能憋闷在硬盘里。所以呢，今天推荐的这首仍然来自David Fincher的电影"Zodiac"。别担心，下周Soft Week不再和这电影纠缠了，整张原声大碟里我最喜欢的就是上周的"Easy to Be Hard"和这首"Hurdy Gurdy Man"。
"Hurdy Gurdy Man"是Donovan于1968年推出的《Hurdy Gurdy Man》里的第一首歌，和同时代的其他很多歌曲一样，这也是一部反战作品。不过呢，据估计是服了LSD之类的致幻剂后产生的灵感写出来的，一听这音乐和嗓音，你就知道这孩子肯定高了。2006年5月接受伦敦《每日邮报》采访时，Donovan说，他这是在喜马拉雅山脚下和Beatles乐队一起冥想时创作的。Donovan被誉为英国的Bob Dylan，当年和Beatles四子私交甚好，当然不奇怪的是，列侬那阵子也是喜欢LSD和东方式冥想。
正如上周所说，我其实听六七十年代的老歌不多，所以，好像Donovan一贯是这种低缓的嗓音，确实很让人心颤。有兴趣听他其他歌曲的，可以去这里。
"Hurdy Gurdy"是一种中世纪的乐器，以滑轮摩擦弦发声，演奏时一手摇动摇柄带动滑轮，另一手弹奏键盘。拿在手里演奏是右边这个样子。
2007年12月21日
北京的冬天
两个月以前，仍是同样的距离。我出差在北京办公室加班，她在上海家里即将入睡。她iPod坏了，但那一刻突然想听“北京的冬天”。上一个冬天，我们在光华里听厚厚积雪被踩出干脆的声音。北京的冬天异常坚硬，风像细长的冰条，如果你动作够快，一侧头便可以咬住其中的一根，它就会像一只被拽住腿的候鸟，嘎嘎地看着一同南迁的鸟伴们远去。普通小椅子改造的冰车在北海冰面上神气地飞行，没有航空管制，圆球形的驾驶员，相撞后会裂开，然后淌出咯咯的笑声来。润唇膏也在飞，以比我更疯狂的频率亲吻她的嘴唇。
我于是在电话里唱北京的冬天给她听。嘴唇变得干裂的时候，有人开始忧愁想念着过去的朋友……是的，我唱完了后面的歌词，然后被歌词诅咒。
终于想起 13 年前 Red Hot Chili Peppers 最招我喜欢的那句：I like pleasure spiked with pain, and music is my aeroplane. 好嘛，过了这么多年，在这儿等着我呢。从 One Hot Minute 开始，RHCP 变得越来越温暖。
两天前，第十一次被拽入北京的冬天，像个在集市已结束时才抵达的小孩。
2007年12月17日
SONG OF THE WEEK #2: Easy to be Hard by Three Dog Night
今天推荐 Three Dog Night 的一首 "Easy to be Hard"。这是1969年公告牌第四名，如果不是 David Fincher 的电影 "Zodiac"，我不会知道60和70年代有这样好听的歌。好啦，骂我蠢吧，听歌这么多年都一直忽略六七十年代的作品。不管啦，大家听吧。这是一首反越战的歌曲，也可以当情歌来听，但其忧伤和力量直抵内心。
2007年12月16日
Song of the Week #1: I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For by U2
13年前，第一次听Joshua Tree，没觉得像《音像世界》上吹的那么好。与此相同，第一次听Achtung Baby和Zooropa也是在1994、1995那两年，也没有感觉。只是因为大我十岁的哥哥当时开的音响店里卖Zooropa，我厚着脸皮要了来，每天晚上入睡的时候听，这才着了U2的道。大学前三年，每周末都要去傅雄的唱片店膜拜，偶尔能买一两张，但大多数时候就是不停地试听140块钱一张的各种进口原版CD。傅雄人很好，似乎永远不嫌烦。在傅雄那里，买了U2最新的Pop。后来才意识到，这帮老家伙又尝试新风格了，于是重新去补习Achtung Baby，找回Zooropa的感觉。此后，便只听Zooropa之后的专辑。直到张亮说他最感动的是The Hands That Built America，我才意识到，原来我一直都是只喜欢Achtung Baby和Zooropa。向来以U2歌迷自称，却一直不能在别人高唱“With or Without You”时加入，因为我从来没记住过这首歌的歌词。
今天逛VeryCD，看见纪念Joshua Tree发表20周年重新推出的Remastered版，下来听了第一遍，立即震撼。20年前的音乐啊！每一首歌到了今天都不过时。决定今天起搜集U2的老专辑。
不过，对于没有听过如下U2专辑的人，仍然强烈推荐。你不会相信这里面的音乐都是十几年前的作品——
Achtung Baby
Zooropa
Original Soundtracks 1 (以Passengers的名义发表)
The Million Dollar Hotel (以MDH Band的名义发表)
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