2007/05/30

Miranda July and David Bryne


看完電影"You and Me and Everybody",誰都會愛上主角/導演Miranda July。他在最近出新書,這兩個月這兩個月在紐約有三、四次的公開演說/表演。但我一次又一次錯過,最近一次是上週五和音樂巨人Talking Heads主唱David Bryne在紐約公共圖書館的對談。為了這兩人,即使十五元的門票,我想也是值得。但再一次,我知道時票已賣完。連現場旁邊房間的現場轉播也要錢。所以只能再次錯過。
根據這個報導,果然兩人都很可愛。

(The picture is from Nymag.com)

2007/05/29

Jarvis Cocker@New York

Pulp是我九零年代最喜歡的樂隊之一(英國團中僅次於電台司令)。

少年時對於瘋狂喜歡的樂隊,總會想盡辦法收集他們的單曲cd(那可是還沒有mp3的時代啊)。

也曾為了他們遠被低估的專輯This is Hardcore而大抱不平----這張專輯在「新新聞」所寫的樂評, 應該是我最早寫的幾篇樂評之一。

說這些,只是為了說我終於能在有生之年看到Jarvis Cocker的演出,即使這已經不是Pulp了。

四月天,在紐約的Webster Hall。他如印象中削瘦,表演時如瘦皮猴不斷做出奇怪的舞蹈動作,歌曲間的串場面無表情地說著我聽不太懂的英國笑話。

舞台上的七彩霓虹燈一直轉動,閃爍著我的青春回憶。

他的舞台極有魅力,即使不是為了鄉愁,還是會讓人愛上這個可愛的傢伙。

只是,這張個人專輯雖然有不少動聽歌曲,但整體來說還是俗了點。

Jarvis,加油啊!


更多照片在此,這次照的很滿意(部分照片為友人提供)。

2007/05/17

攝影展:Jeff Wall and Andrew Gursky

趕在最後一天去MOMA看加拿大攝影家Jeff Wall的展,他是這當代最重要的攝影家之一。
只是,我有點看不透他的偉大之處,但MOMA的網站很棒,有他對每一幅作品的解說。


另外,要去看德國攝影家Andreas Gursky的展覽,他的這一幅99 Cent II Diptychon 在今年賣出攝影史上的天價。

新的搖滾史紀錄片、紐約的音樂研討會

BBC製播了一系列新的搖滾史紀錄片Seven Ages of Rock,網站上有豐富資料。

另外,慢撤斯特的傢伙跑到紐約辦了兩天的音樂研討會。Happy Mondays會表演。

2007/05/10

中文搖滾書籍

長於北京,住過台灣、人在香港的音樂寫手雷旋,列出一個兩岸三地出版的中文搖滾書,值得參考。

2007/05/08

紐約是個瘋狂的音樂城市

對搖滾樂迷來說,這個城市真是不可思議的瘋狂。
這裡有太多奇怪的好康----不過,你知道這些好康時,似乎總是晚了一步( 不是soldout就是錯過那些秘密演唱會)。

例如,週一的Beirut表演(本來要去的!)最後竟然有Arcade Fire團員加入表演;
同一天,Yeah Yeah Yeah有秘密免費表演(當然,一定進不去
下週一,Elvis Costello and Imposter 要在Ed Sullivan Theater免費表演(已經RSVP,等結果吧)。

剛剛看到,有人把瘋狂的一週列出來了....

Ben Gibbard (of Death Cab For Cutie) Live!

無可置疑,Ben Gibbard現在是美國獨立搖滾界最耀眼的人物之一。他領導的樂隊Death Cab For Cutie是獨立樂隊中商業上最成功的(當然他們上張專輯就被簽給主流廠牌了),專輯PlanTransatlanticism幾乎是曲曲動聽;他的另一個團Postal Service也相當成功

我已經在2005年看過DCFC現場,但現在Ben Gibbard自己一個人的solo tour還是讓人忍不住誘惑(且只要25元)。

今天演唱曲目還是以DCFC的歌為主,只有一首歌是出自他和Andrew Kenny出的EP,另有兩三首新歌。不過說實話,DCFC那些原本比較重的歌,在他accoustic吉他的表現下,並沒有特別讓人驚豔;但是原來比較抒情的歌,在今天的更乾淨簡單詮釋下,確實很有味道。我很喜歡的一首歌,I Will Follow You into the Dark就是這樣一首歌,並且是整場演唱會的結尾曲。

Ben Gibbard演唱會的驚喜之一是他會翻唱有趣的歌,譬如之前唱過Avril LavigneComplicated今日翻唱的曲目嚴肅多了,第一首是Neil YoungHarvest Moon,第二首是他的西雅圖同鄉NirvanaAll Apologies----聽到這首歌,心中真的是很激動啊。關於我們這個世代的永恆神話。


這是演唱All Apologies的現場畫面。

2007/05/07

爵士樂與舞蹈好書推薦

認識Bibby是我在紐約最大的收穫之一,他對爵士樂的深厚知識,對前衛藝術的喜好,都讓我學到很多。(Tonic也是他帶我去的)
更讓我佩服的是他的勇氣與執著。他從紐約回到台灣成立了左耳文化出版,真正實踐DIY的精神。

現在,我們等待已久的左耳文化終於出版了兩部精彩的譯作。

一本是美國爵士樂全攻略 (Jazz 101)
史威玆教授將帶領讀者航行在多元化、非線性的奇異歷史觀裡,並一同探索爵士樂如何從種族 色彩濃厚的庶民音樂,一躍成為美國最早期的流行音樂,甚至成為西方前衛藝術運動的一環。爵士樂這些傲人的成就卻在五十年內就達成。另外,史威玆教授也提供犀利的見解與評論,以釐清爵士樂如何改變世人看待音樂的態度,像他就曾在書中提及:「當爵士樂在第一次世界大戰期間首度傳佈到巴黎時,音樂鑑賞家感到一致的震驚:爵士樂不只是音樂上的形式,同時也是肢體、視覺、社會、情緒上的藝術表達。」







另一本是
日本暗黑舞踏: 前現代與後現代對闇暗舞蹈的影響 (Ankoku Butoh)

本專書首先從五年代末期,日本國內殘破的社會與文化背景談起,以追溯舞踏從誕生那天起的發展歷程。在考掘日本傳統表演藝術對舞踏技巧的影響之前,作者先從各個不同的脈絡切入,並處理日本舞踏作為一種後現代藝術現象的美學問題。最後一個章節則以細膩的手法,分析由舞踏團體「霧笛舍」所演出的作品《庭園》,並藉此說明舞踏技巧是如何具體地被運用。最後,附錄部份收錄四篇日本國內的舞踏評論,以及三篇台灣藝文界對舞踏的研究與訪談稿。導讀部份則由台灣資深劇場工作者暨評論家王墨林,以及台北藝術大學戲劇系助理教授林于擔任。封面及內頁的舞踏演出照片,是國內紀實攝影家許斌多年來的精采作品。


2007/05/03

反布萊爾歌曲---Pulp, Radiohead, Muse and More....

the Guardian的一則blog介紹過去十年布萊爾執政時期,搖滾樂界出現過的幾首反布萊爾歌曲。
大致的歷史背景在「聲音與憤怒」一書中有一章專門討論。不過,書中沒有討論到的一個重點是布萊爾支持美國攻打伊拉克讓他在後期遭受嚴厲批評。

If Tony Blair is quietly aggrieved that he won't get to equal Margaret Thatcher's tenure in Number 10, then he might take comfort in the fact that he trails the Iron Lady in another respect. No songwriter has yet pictured him on the guillotine, planned a party for the day he dies, nor promised to tramp down the dirt on his grave. And while Bush may have inspired more musical scorn than any president in history, Blair remains a difficult figure to demonise. The guitar-strumming PM's musical legacy is therefore a slim one, but here are 10 songs with which to remember him: one for each year in office. And that's roughly 10 more than John Major managed to inspire.

Pulp - Cocaine Socialism (1998)

Even before the honeymoon was over, Jarvis Cocker was casting a withering eye over Cool Britannia and New Labour's attempts to co-opt the Britpop aristocracy. Croons the creepy apparatchik: "Well you sing about common people/And the mis-shapes and the misfits/So can you bring them to my party?" Comes the answer: er, no.

Chumbawamba - Tony Blair (1999)

Up-ending a bucket of water over the deputy prime minister the previous year was not the agit-pop veterans' most Swiftian moment. Amends were made by this retro tale of puppy love with a double-crossing dreamboat. "Tony, now you date/All the girls that you used to hate/So I don't believe a single word you say."

Radiohead - You and Whose Army? (2001)

The end of Blair's first term was aptly marked by this enervated protest song from a band seemingly paralysed by disappointment and impotent frustration. Thom Yorke taunts "Come on, come on," but in a voice which suggests he is preparing for a long nap rather than a punch-up. Five years later, Yorke mounted a more articulate and moving indictment of Blair's regime with his solo song Harrowdown Hill, about the lonely demise of David Kelly.

Pet Shop Boys - I Get Along (2002)

Having contributed to Labour's war chest in 1997, Neil Tennant wrote about Blair more in sorrow than in anger. Here, the sacking of Peter Mandelson over the Hinduja affair in 2001 is framed as an improbably moving break-up song, with a wounded prime minister telling his old friend why he has to go. "I've been trying not to cry/When I'm in the public eye/Stuck here with the shame/And taking my share of the blame/While making sudden plans that don't include you." Last year's I'm With Stupid adapted the idea, with Tony making excuses for his reviled lover George, but this is so much better.

George Michael - Shoot the Dog (2002)

With its wrecking-ball satire, cack-handed pilfering of the Human League's Love Action, and the unlikely image of Michael getting stoned and watching the World Cup with Cherie, Shoot the Dog was never a good record but it was a brave one. Less than a year after 9/11, there was tabloid punchbag George Michael mocking Blair's apparent obedience to Bush and the neocon project, with an irreverent animated video to boot. "It was a major opportunity to kick me in the teeth," he later reflected. "I was hugely depressed by the lack of support from any quarter, especially fellow musicians."

Dizzee Rascal feat. God's Gift - Hold Your Mouf (2003)

The most talked-about line on Dizzee Rascal's Mercury-winning debut was contained in this shocking snapshot of east London gun culture: "I'm a problem for Anthony Blair." Since then, hoodie hysteria and mounting gang violence have proved him right. (For another UK rapper's take on Blair, try Braintax's rickety but impassioned Syriana Style.)

Elbow - Snowball (2005)

A highlight of the otherwise underwhelming charity album, Help: A Day In The Life, Snowball drips with disgust. "Oh and laughable the crying shame/Oh the mark I made against your name," sighs repentant Labour voter Guy Garvey before imagining Blair haunted by "a hundred thousand punctured souls". Harsh stuff, except when placed next to...

Muse - Take a Bow (2006)

... this apocalyptic space-rock j'accuse, which promises a fiery doom for the architects of the Iraq war. On the same album, Assassin urges: "The time has come to shoot your leaders down." A good time to retire, then.

Larrikin Love - Downing Street Kindling (2006)

The Lidl Libertines vow to set fire to the door of number 10. "And when Tony rushes out complaining of a draft I'll let him warm his feet." After Muse, not terribly scary.

Manic Street Preachers - Send Away the Tigers (2007)

Having demonstrated his empathy for political pariahs on The Love of Richard Nixon, Nicky Wire ties together the misguided "liberation" of zoo animals in Baghdad with the decline of two Tonys: Hancock and Blair. According to Wire, it's about "that idea of being haunted by a wrong decision. With Hancock it was sacking his writers. And, if it weren't for the Iraq war, for all his faults, in historical terms, Tony Blair would be seen as a great prime minister. Now his life is utterly ruined." It's the only song here that the man himself, in his more soul-searching moments, might agree with.

2007/05/02

音樂紀錄片:Peter Seeger and Joe Strummer

今年日舞影展出現一部新的關於The Clash主唱Joe Strummer的紀錄片,片名用了我最喜歡的他的名言:The Future is Unwritten。電影官網

正在舉行的Tribeca Film Festival則有一部關於Peter Seeger的紀錄片:The Power of Song

當然,這兩個人都在我的印刻抗議歌手系列中出現過。
The Clash
Peter Seeger文章刊登於印刻2006年四月,這裡有一篇相關的文章