時隔五年, 我們再重遇在倫敦, 究竟人們的時間是如何流失的, 而人們的日子又是如何度過的。你們的風彩依然, 只是音樂欠了一點轟烈, 少了那種屬於青年的羞澀。
barbican會堂多麼堂皇, 可是怎也比不上ica當年的親切和諧。
這夜看著erlend oye那麼樣美妙的吉他與風姿, 讓我想起生活怎麼樣就是欠了這點又那點的圓存。
guardian review
星期四, 10月 15, 2009
kings of convenience
時隔五年, 我們再重遇在倫敦, 究竟人們的時間是如何流失的, 而人們的日子又是如何度過的。你們的風彩依然, 只是音樂欠了一點轟烈, 少了那種屬於青年的羞澀。
barbican會堂多麼堂皇, 可是怎也比不上ica當年的親切和諧。
這夜看著erlend oye那麼樣美妙的吉他與風姿, 讓我想起生活怎麼樣就是欠了這點又那點的圓存。
guardian review
星期三, 9月 30, 2009
一些雜碎
i am young and i am not cynical
i am happy being me i've got principles
and attitude and things to say in my own way
driving in your car, speeding through
sky blue, i'm in love with something new
something positive political and too good to be true
a dream come true
positive political and too good to be true
yes too good to be true
to be true
- Blueboy
「那麼你是英國人了。」
「不, 我是日本人呀。」
然後他的捲髮飛揚, 細微的眼睛像隻可愛的貓咪。
再然後, 我把換著髮尾走了三小時的路, 彷彿被注了枝強烈的咖啡因。
i am happy being me i've got principles
and attitude and things to say in my own way
driving in your car, speeding through
sky blue, i'm in love with something new
something positive political and too good to be true
a dream come true
positive political and too good to be true
yes too good to be true
to be true
- Blueboy
「那麼你是英國人了。」
「不, 我是日本人呀。」
然後他的捲髮飛揚, 細微的眼睛像隻可愛的貓咪。
再然後, 我把換著髮尾走了三小時的路, 彷彿被注了枝強烈的咖啡因。
星期日, 9月 27, 2009
星期六, 9月 26, 2009
星期二, 9月 15, 2009
星期日, 9月 06, 2009
星期五, 9月 04, 2009
walking in my mind
圖:yoyoi kusama就是看十次yoyoi kusama的波點都不會疲累。
圖:Yoshitomo Narayoshitomo nara的夢幻小屋是是此展覽裡我的最愛。
繪本、懷舊鐵皮盒、吉他音樂,我來回踏步小鐵皮屋四周,門外看,就是無法走進藝術家的斑瓓中。
策展人卻半嘲諷寫著: 其實藝術家的天地又是我們可能真正走入去的麼?
nara的小品,好讓我懷念昔日青年時代的日子,房間裡都是個人的夢想塗鴉,我看看如今房裡灰灰的四壁,噢噢,真要模仿日本人的腔調說: 懐かしい！
有關展覽詳情
eddie marcon
圖:eddie marcon myspace我不知道eddie marcon是什麼來頭的,可能和像樹影一樣的tenniscoats是緣出一處的樂人。
網頁的照片彷彿是向maya daren的實驗幻影致敬,又讓我想起村上春樹的迷糊男女主角,穿梭在東京下北澤那個有火車笛聲的小鎮。
一個午後男孩提著吉他往超級市場買蔬菜一樣輕盈簡單,卻滿載某種生活的神秘美。
此際,我待在倫敦難能可貴的日落裡,聽著eddie marcon的亂笛子,好想念遠處那個如萬花筒的首都。
星期四, 9月 03, 2009
become the subject
The Marshmallow Kisses ask the very Indietracks question, 'Do you guys like poems?'After a little encouragement, the reply is a big Indietracks, 'Yeah!' The band then proceed to play amazing outer-space wibbling baroque fairground poetry jazzpop.
-- source from kitten painting
星期三, 9月 02, 2009
je suis d'ccord
我很好。
我可以。
朋友說你很像適應倫敦適應得不錯。
我想我是快樂的，買得到美好的食物，遇上充滿愛心的愛人，住在多姿的城市，做不算忙碌的工作。
只是閒著坐著的時候，就很想靠近那些充滿文化音樂色彩的生活。
要找那平衡點又有多容易？
星期五, 8月 21, 2009
playing the building
David Byrne的新作品充滿organic有機生命力，把一百六十歲的Camden Roundhouse老樓變成了一座樂器，任何人都可以是音樂家，連所有死物都可以是天然樂器。更多playing the building
星期四, 8月 20, 2009
總有動容處
圖: seeking out (a day out along embankment with peter, barbara and tim)Plain parade
Well, where is all the profit laid?
Plain parade
Well, maybe we have lost our way
Some are lone
Sickly running from
Something so wrong
And nowhere to belong
Plain parade
Well, when will I be repaid
Plain parade
I might join you on another day
Some are lone
Sickly running from
Something so wrong
And nowhere to belong
All you've given me is sadness
Proof enough to feel I'm loveless
I wish that I could manage better now
And find a place where we can settle
Down
-- 'plain parade' - the cardigans
星期二, 8月 18, 2009
星期日, 8月 16, 2009
paris when it sizzles
he asks her, why do you come to paris?
she then replies, to LIVE!
why am i in london?
yes, to live!
星期三, 8月 05, 2009
Indietracks 2009: The DiS Review by Dom Gourlay
終於有人懂得mmk。
Although only in its third year, Indietracks has already built up a reputation as the UK’s best festival of its size. Set in the Derbyshire countryside on the site of the historic Midland Railway, it really is as far away from the commercial hustle and bustle of Glastonbury et al as you could possibly imagine.
Where else can you sit on a steam train while a Manhattan Love Suicide plays half an hour’s worth of break up songs? Or listen to Ballboy songs in a church? Or engage in a spot of sewing with former members of Talulah Gosh? We haven’t even mentioned the fine selection of real ales at affordable prices or ridiculously cheap merchandise, where the average CD costs around £2 and t-shirts sell at a fiver apiece.
Last weekend, DiS sent two scribes to sample the fun and even the continuous showers from noon til night on Sunday couldn’t dampen the spirits…
Dom Gourlay
Downdime
Having been tasked with the unenviable role of opening the indoor stage amidst the glorious sunshine over yonder, Leeds quartet Downdime could be forgiven for being despondent. Two songs in however, they’ve swelled the engine shed to almost bursting point, their luscious boy-girl harmonies between Jeff Tweedy lookalike singer Ged McGurn and keyboard player cum chanteuse Liz Hensor gives us goosebumps. Imagine a mid-air collision between Dinosaur Jr and The Lightning Seeds and you’re in the right vicinity. We’re hooked, and their debut long player Knowing Too Much becomes our first bargain purchase of the day from the merch stand.
Fitness Forever
Italian lounge pop really shouldn’t work no matter what the context, yet this multi-dimensional ensemble somehow conspire to push all the right buttons simultaneously. Maybe it’s a combination of the mid-afternoon sun, luridly camp uniforms and ridiculously beautiful females fronting the group. Whatever the concoction, their sixties flavoured kitsch serves as more than the mere background music it would probably pass for on record, so much so in fact that we trawl down to the front, pint of the aptly named Recession Ale in hand, smiling deliriously.
Mighty Mighty
As one of the formative outfits of the C86 movement, Birmingham’s Mighty Mighty proved to be one of the day’s most anticipated arrivals. Perhaps just as renowned for the line in The Pooh Sticks seminal ‘On Tape’ 45 that simply states “I’ve been living with Mighty Mighty/I think they all really like me”, their Smiths inspired pop is a revelation, even though the band themselves resemble five dads at a wedding, such is that nauseating predicament known as middle age. Old favourites ‘Law Against It’ and ‘Built Like A Car’ sound as vibrant and incendiary as they did twenty-five years ago, while early single ‘Is There Anyone Out There?’ is introduced as being “A song we wrote when Michael Jackson was still black”. The cards…
The Specific Heats
Indietracks is possibly the only festival bar ATP where every other act is something of a new discovery, and this year was no exception. Brooklyn four-piece The Specific Heats stood out like a sore thumb on the Saturday, their energetic surf-tinged, feedback laced pop going down a storm on the church stage. Emerging from the same backyard as kindred spirits Crystal Stilts, Cause Co-Motion and Vivian Girls, The Specific Heats might just be the most exciting combo of the lot, the delirious Eric Rohmer inspired scrawl of ‘Beach 86’ causing something of a mini-riot in the aisles and between the pews.
Adam John Miller
Saddened by the news that DiS faves The Manhattan Love Suicides were no more as of three days ago, we hop aboard the steam train anyway to catch a glimpse of former bass player Adam John Miller’s first ever solo set, and we’re not disappointed. While still understandably disconsolate at the untimely demise of his previous band – almost every song here is introduced as being “about break-ups” – Miller displays a fragility that suggests his other projects The Wednesday Club and Medusa Snare will undoubtedly continue in a similar vein to his old sparring partners. He leaves us with a heartwarming rendition of the Manhattan Love Suicides ‘Skulls’, and with it decrees the end of an era, although we’re equally as excited about the dawning of his new one.
The Marshmallow Kisses
Hong Kong’s The Marshmallow Kisses could be described as something of an indie supergroup, as their onstage line-up boasts members of Whiteoak, Hong Kong In The 60s and One Happy Island among its ranks. What follows is half an hour of flawless J-pop with a twee edge interspersed with poetry recitals and semi-classical, bossa nova style interludes. To say they’re possibly the most original bunch of performers we witness all weekend is nothing short of being an understatement. One glance over our collective shoulders at the packed church (not to mention those queuing outside in the rain) suggests we’re not alone in our thoughts either. A minor revelation of sorts.
Countryside
Bristol four-piece Countryside really look and sound as if they’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere off the A38 and ended up here for some unknown reason. Their demeanour of trucker caps, big shorts and even bigger riffs leaves several punters bewildered, yet those of us who stay throughout their Mew-inspired set are also transfixed by the huge sound emanating from the altar. Occasionally they fall into prog-territory in a similar vein to bands like Kyte, but the deceptive charms of ‘Summer Is Here’ and vast soundscape that is ‘Estuary’ should ensure Countryside a wider audience in the not-too-distant future. Just not necessarily here or now.
Camera Obscura
While there’s no denying their undoubted quality on record, Camera Obscura can be a largely inconsistent beast in the flesh. Take last year’s Summer Sundae slot for example, where their seemingly disinterested performance bore all the hallmarks of a band in wind down before they split mode. Fast forward twelve months however and there’s an air of re-vitalisation all around, maybe sparked by this year’s My Maudlin Career opus, arguably their greatest collection of songs thus far. Tracyanne Campbell is on fine form, showing a more charismatic side to her make-up alongside the undoubted vocal stature she possesses that turn the likes of ‘French Navy’, ‘If Looks Could Kill’ and ‘James’ into distinctive highlights and dare I say it, bonafide weekend anthems.
BMX Bandits
As one of the dominant forces in the Bellshill post-Postcard scene of the mid-eighties, Duglas T Stewart is both a hero and villain in many eyes. Responsible for launching the careers of people like Norman Blake, not to mention early touring buddies of a then unknown bunch of Mancunians called Oasis, Stewart and the Bandits place in rock’n’roll history is assured, even if his bank balance might tell a different story. Nevertheless, their set today is pure cabaret, Stewart even taking a backseat to eat an apple while co-singer Rachel Allison delivers the likes of ‘The Day Before Tomorrow’ and a rousing rendition of ‘E102’ to a rain-sodden, but exceedingly happy throng.
Teenage Fanclub
As the festival’s final headliners, Teenage Fanclub have a lot to live up to, particularly following such a dazzling array of inspired performances across all three stages this weekend. Add to that the persistent downpour and you can almost feel the Gods conspiring against them. It takes precisely ten minutes and just three songs to turn the Midland Railway outdoor stage into an indie disco circa 1991, a storming ‘Star Sign’ bringing several hundred people to life in all-singing, all-dancing show of appreciation. Inbetween “the hits”, we get the occasional new song, one in particular inspired by Rush mainman Geddy Lee, while their run through of The Bevis Frond’s ‘He’d Be A Diamond’ is simply stunning, not least for the unimpeachable three-way harmonies of messrs Blake, Love and McGinley. When they launch into big hit ‘Sparky’s Dream’ followed instantly by debut single ‘Everything Flows’, a sheen of perfection engulfs the whole field. Indietracks (or indeed anywhere else you care to pitch up this summer) really doesn’t get any better than this. As finales go, their set is nothing short of astounding.
Luke Slater
Au Revoir Simone
On record, Au Revoir Simone are dreamy, enchanting and mesmerisin with all those layered synth and three-part harmonies. In person, they're just a little bit sinister – looking almost like some type of girly cult or anthropomorphic invaders, they stand shoulder to shoulder to shoulder, gangly limbs dangling onto keyboards. As the sun sets into the Derbyshire fields with knackered train carriages in the background, everything just seems right. OK, these girls may not have the most varied of sets, you know by now how it goes (swirly, dancey, a little too pleasant perhaps), and there is certainly nothing revelatory here but a kind of slow burning euphoria begins to take over (although that may have just been the 5.2% ale). A “well done” must also go to the soundmen (and possibly women) for the best outdoor sound I've ever encountered.
Sucrette
Ridiculously twee J-Pop on a Saturday morning (OK, early afternoon) is not something a man like me should be enjoying, or rather seen to be enjoying. If an English or American band had been this cute they'd be crucified, but there's something in the Japanese culture which leaves them oblivious to this sort of thing and, I'd say, they're all the better for it. The lead singer gets roundly applauded for her attempts at gratitude in English (and rightly so...) and as the tinkling keyboards, flashing red, blue and green lights combine with the typical Japanese female vocals and shuffling beats, everyone seems happy enough that Sucrette were here. Maybe some even bought their record.
Cats On Fire
The most disappointing thing I can say, unfortunately, is that I left after three songs to go and watch Camera Obscura. This was, in the words of Natalie Imbruglia, a big mistake. Though the indiepop scene is littered – or maybe liberally sprinkled – with Swedish bands, Cats On Fire are from Finland, and though they are probably only about seven Finnish bands who do not play some form of metal, Cats On Fire must surely be the best. Matthias Bjorkas – who resembles a young Bowie – stands dead straight like he has a chronic back problem, the only way to alleviate the pain being to pogo profusely and deliver his low and lamenting lines like his life depended on it. As you can see from the below video, it was more than enjoyed.
The School
The School, aptly named because there's enough members for a class, are pretty hungover (Perhaps so was I on second reading as it turns out there is only seven of them, yet it seemed like 25 at the time). They tell us as much from the off. Nothing wrong with having a good time the night before at all, though thankfully it only really affected their stage banter rather than their stage presence as they do enough to at least light up (if not part) the greying clouds into blue sky as a musical and meteorological Moses with their floaty, shimmering and often clip-clapping tunes.
Nick Garrie
Northern Portrait have a song called 'I Give You Two Seconds To Entertain Me'. I lasted little longer before traipsing to lie on a bank and listen to the wonderful Nick Garrie, a little odd but definitely delightful entry to the bill of an indiepop festival. He plays the sort of traditional well-set English folk with acoustic guitar and a little help from his friends. He also sounds like Ian Ball from Gomez but actually being 60, rather than trying to sound like someone who is, he gets away with it. As enjoyable as he is today, I'd have loved to have seen him 40 years ago with that 52 piece orchestra with which he recorded The Nightmare of J.B Stanislas. This'll do nicely, mind.
Disasteradio
Gutted to have missed the first few songs of Luke Rowell, aka Disasteradio's set. Everything he does brings a smile, from his geeky affectations and pressing of the keyboard, to the gazing at the roof of the shed on and off in an overly dramatic fashion as he quickly jerks his head back. The music he's responsible for would be best described as mid 80s arcade game spaceship battle music at hyper speed. An old couple (mid 70s at least) bop along whilst everyone else seems to be having an all round good time sampling the electronic offerings. And why not – aside from Art Brut, this is probably the most flat-out fun set all weekend.
Art Brut
Having been one of those people who didn't 'get' Art Brut, this band were a revelation. Even at an indiepop festival, there's only so much jingle jangle and two-part harmonies anyone can take. Art Brut, I thought, would be a nice change from this. A good fun Sunday night band. Though a few people had undoubtedly gathered to avoid being soaked from head to toe, the shed (well, a brick building, a railway shed rather than a garden one...) was packed, not filled. Too many highlights to detail them all but Argos's protestations about twee (“don't share your sweets”), a reworked version of 'Modern Art' cataloguing his visit to the DC Comics HQ which included strolling into the audience for a 3 minute monologue (OK, it's all a monologue really...but) and the encore of 'We Formed A Band' (on bass, Art Brut, on guitar, Art Brut, on drums, Art Brut!) all rank pretty highly. It is now that this band make complete sense, once the sand that was kicked up from the ground had cleared and been rubbed out of my eyes, I wanted to be Eddie Argos's best mate. We all did, I think. I still do. If you're reading this Eddie, fancy a pint? ART BRUT! TOP OF THE POPS!
原文星期四, 7月 30, 2009
星期四, 7月 02, 2009
london heatwave night
當夏天一到, 我就知道我不可能不屬於倫敦。
三十二度的高溫, 五萬五千brit-pop擁戴者聚集海德公園, 難怪當中有五人是我來自四方的友好, darren, peter, ken, kat 和男友kurt, 倫敦這鬼地方正好証明我們的地球是圓的。
我跟著全球最美好的樂隊, 舞動史上最美好的節拍, 看著damon佻皮的表演, graham永遠有型而羞怯, alex的帥氣, 我終於感受到夢寐以求是什麼意思。雖然時差了十五年, 我的期待沒有白費。
我好愛好愛倫敦, 好愛britpop及blur。
*由於沒帶相機, 以下就暫借朋友kat的照片用*
星期二, 6月 30, 2009
我唯一喜愛的舞者, 走了。
Pina Bausch, 1940-2009
We have lost dance's most visionary, influential figure, who redrew the map of the theatre arts
A simple note on the Wuppertal Dance Theatre's website says it: this morning, 30 June, Pina Bausch died, aged 68 – quickly, after a cancer diagnosis five days ago. Only two Sundays ago, she appeared on stage at the Wuppertaler Opernhaus.
This is an appalling shock and a tragedy not only for the dance world, but also for the entire international arts world. Bausch's visionary work as dancer, choreographer and creator of the Tanztheater Wuppertal had a reach way, way beyond the confines of the German town where she worked. Theatre and opera simply wouldn't look the way they do today without Bausch; she has also had an enormous influence on visual art and cinema, too (Almodóvar's Talk to Her contains sequences of her work). I can't count the number of times I've seen work that either pays tribute – or cheaply rips off – Bausch's subversive, distinctive choreographic creations. Subtley but clearly, she redrew the map for the theatre arts.
The official tributes and obituaries will pour in. As a personal response – not as an expert in contemporary dance, simply as an enthusiastic member of the audience – I will be grieving for the loss of the most original voice in dance today. More than that, every performance that one saw (and her relatively rare appearances in London were instant sellouts, usually attended by a cultish, extraordinarily chic audience almost as watchable as her shows) was an event that left one emotionally changed, whether drained or elated or touched by an unspeakable beauty.
Instant memories – the dirt and sheer savagery of her early work Rite of Spring, brought to Sadler's Wells last February, which left me pinned to my seat with terror. The same programme brought Cafe Müller - a classic work recalling her childhood memories of her parents' cafe, was confusing, troubling, strange, obsessional, wistful. Kontakthof, brought to the Barbican in 2002, was a deeply moving piece that was performed by dancers in their 60s and 70s, forcing the audience to confront prejudices and fears about old age. Then the sheer beauty of Nelken, in which the stage is covered by thousands of carnations. Or Nefes, her late, Turkish-inspired work, in which the anguish and frustration expressed in earlier pieces was exchanged for something more (but never simply or unambiguously) joyous. A trademark was the way she asked her dancers to express not just the purity of their bodily movements, but their inner vulnerabilites, sometimes anger.
Watching a work by Bausch was never less than a dangerous, and profoundly fulfilling, experience. We will all mourn her.--- Guardian
星期一, 6月 29, 2009
星期六, 6月 27, 2009
最好的英國人不是白色的
其實不是所有英國人都是壞人, 就像kulvinder及fatima, 兩位印度血統的英國人。
她們的幽默, 我以為從此不能在辦公室找回來。
我告訴k小姐, xx公司的d先生找你, 你給他回個電話吧。k打趣就說, 不, im gonna play hard to get。
出電梯時, f一直待後, 當大家都走出來了, 她就補充說, aged before beauty。
這樣的倫敦生活真是有點意外地可愛。
她們的幽默, 我以為從此不能在辦公室找回來。
我告訴k小姐, xx公司的d先生找你, 你給他回個電話吧。k打趣就說, 不, im gonna play hard to get。
出電梯時, f一直待後, 當大家都走出來了, 她就補充說, aged before beauty。
這樣的倫敦生活真是有點意外地可愛。
星期四, 6月 11, 2009
星期三, 6月 03, 2009
bobby wraton must have been my twin in my past life!
Around us we see people who each other feel indifferent to,
But who were in love. Could that be us?
Love it sometimes goes away. Could ours do that?
Could ours not stay? Could ours not stay?
How it troubles me that what we have
Could be something that will not last.
Something that won't last.
I find the thought that one day I may not care
Hard to bear, hard to bear.
I hope that I -that I am worrying needlessly
But I always will love you, and you me (I think?)
How it troubles me that what we have
Could be something that will not last.
Something that won't last.
Around us we see people who each other feel indifferent to,
But who were in love. Could that be us?
SUNDIAL - from FIELD MICE
星期一, 6月 01, 2009
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