腰腿第一、文體第二。

中秋，自然得聽月之歌。


Dvorak, “Mesicku na nebi hlubokém (Song to the Moon)” from Rusalka。

德佛札克最著名的聲樂作品，水妖魯莎卡的。獻唱者是近年黃牌DG力捧的Anna Netrebko。

本來想放Renee Fleming的版本，畢竟這是她的招牌曲。不過歲月是殘忍的，Anna Netrebko的確比較年輕火辣。是說Renee Fleming也是美人一枚……

話說Linda Ronstadt有一張著名專輯Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind，裡頭有當年大紅特紅的單曲"Don't Know Much"，恐怕也是Linda Ronstadt最後一次獲得的商業成功。不過今天的重點不是她。

我小時後買了那張CD回家聽後，總覺得奇怪，這聲音明明不是Linda Ronstadt啊（更別說跟她合唱的Aaron Neville了），聽來聽去分明就是Randy Crawford呀。
於是我把CD拿回當時位於中華路上的第五街，親切的小姐當場阿莎力地換了張給我。臨走前心裡突生忐忑，我提議把CD拆開來試聽，一聽 -- 果然又是Randy Crawford。再拆一張 -- 還是Randy Crawford。不信邪再試一次 -- 沒錯，還是Randy Crawford。

最後的結局似乎是請他們向唱片公司反應，我等了幾天才拿到封面是Linda Ronstadt，裡頭也是Linda Ronstadt唱歌的CD。

說到這裡，還是來聽一下歌好了。Linda Ronstadt & Aaron Neville, "Don't Know Much"。


Linda Ronstadt & Aaron Neville, "Don't Know Much"

可是今天的重點真的不是Linda Ronstadt，是Randy Crawford啦。

沉寂了一些年後，Randy Crawford最近重回主流廠牌，和老搭檔Joe Sample推出新作Feeling Good。（這模式似乎有點類似前陣子Bette Midler和Barry Manilow的重聚首。）

不過根據試聽的結果，其實有點令人失望。總覺得Pop味重了點，Blues味道不夠道地。

誰曉得，今天在我最愛的YouTube上頭逛逛時，發現同樣組合在鹿特丹北海爵士音樂節的現場實況。哇哩咧，怎麼會這麼好聽？


Randy Crawford & Joe Sample Trio, "Street Life"。耳尖的朋友一定會想起電影Jackie Brown裡頭，這首歌扮演了畫龍點睛的妙用。沒錯，當年兩人就是這首歌的原創組合。


The Crusaders and Randy Crawford, "Street Life"。不同年代的詮釋，一樣感人哪。

說到Jackie Brown，不能不提到裡頭另外一首激奮人心的插曲，Bobby Womanck的"Across 110th Street"。這裡找不到原曲，聽聽現場版本，"California Dreaming & Across 110th Street"組曲。


Bobby Womack, "California Dreamin' & Across 110th Street"

每回聽到"Street Life"和"Across 110th Street"，我都會幻想自己是年華老去、只能飛三流國內航線、幫人家走私毒品的中年空姐。不得不佩服Quentin Tarantino對音樂的眼光獨到，十分精準地傳達出時不我予、為了生存只得奮力一擊的蒼涼心境。

常常覺得Quentin Tarantino的電影一定是先有歌曲畫面才有故事。扯遠了，其實Jackie Brown算是我最喜歡的Quentin Tarantino電影吧。我曉得這部戲很不完美，但它有些地方觸動了我。

今天最後再來一首Randy Crawford和Joe Sample Trio在北海爵士音樂節的實況作為結尾吧。獻唱名曲One Day I'll Fly Away"。


Randy Crawford & Joe Sample Trio, "One Day I'll Fly Away"

怎樣，Randy Crawford和Joe Sample的"Street Life"和"One Day I'll Fly Away"好聽吧？很抱歉，上面講到的Feeling Good那張專輯，沒收。

法國靡靡電音二人組Air的JB Dunckel化名Darkel單飛首支作品，"At the End of the Sky"。


Darkel, "At the End of the Sky"

我總覺得法國人活在過去式的時態中。

話說回來，台灣人更有甚之，況且不知反省。

談到王菲，很多人喜歡那首翻唱自The Cranberries "Dreams"的。（我想，王菲再聽到旁人提起此事一定猛捶心肝吧。）

話說回來，90年代中期的王菲，與其說是模仿小紅莓，倒不如說是Elizabeth Fraser上身。她先是翻唱了幾首Cocteau Twins歌曲，後來乾脆請原作者幫她寫歌了 -- 如當年破格專輯>中的和，以及後來的。

除了上次懷念>的原曲"Rilkean Heart"，也是出自Cocteau Twins的"Bluebeard"。


Cocteau Twins, "Bluebeard"

下面是現場版。

Cocteau Twins, "Bluebeard (Live)"

漢人歌迷喜歡說菲姊轉音更棒技巧更好云云，但從Elizabeth Fraser口中發出的是融合了即興演唱vocalese技巧、蘇格蘭古居爾特語及英語的不傳密技，可不僅是隨著音階哼哼哈哈的轉音而已。

題外話，前幾天逛唱片行看到一張Cocteau Twins專輯上的側標寫著：「……謝嫂望塵莫及……」之類云云，一時之間還傻住了，謝嫂係賓個啊？

台灣的樂評就是這樣，喜歡濫用形容詞亂扯關係搬出一堆幾顆星評價排行榜成績的玩意，現在好了吧，看到自己當年寫側標糗大了唄。還謝嫂咧，難不成是要我買張柏芝的唱片啊？


Aliveness
Exploration
Aliveness
Energy
Are you the right man for me?
Are you safe? Are you my friend?
Are you the right man for me?
Are you safe? Are you my friend?
Aliveness
Exploration
Fulfillment
Creativity
background:
It may be diverting
For some part of him
Are you the right man for me?
Are you safe? Are you my friend?
Or are you toxic for me?
Will you betray my confidence?
(x2)
Naming things is empowering
I balance, walk, and coordinate myself, alive
Aliveness energy
Healthy dependence
And healthy independence
And healthy assurances
This love's a nameless dream
And healthy boundaries
And how long would you miss me
background:
Are you the right man for me?
Are you safe? Are you my friend?
Or are you toxic for me?
Will you mistreat me
Or betray all my confidence?
(x3)

Yo La Tengo在巴塞隆納Primavera Sound 2006演唱新專輯I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass中的新曲"Mr. Tough"。


Yo La Tengo, "Mr. Tough"。

跟前兩張kind of blue、好聽到不行的And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out和Summer Sun比較起來，新專輯的風格反而有點回歸早期的甜美噪音取向，不過還是一樣動聽啦。

誰叫他們是 -- 「優啦！糖果」呢？


Yo La Tengo, "I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass"。

Cocteau Twins, "Rilkean Heart"。

這就是傳說中蔡依林即將翻唱王菲＜懷念＞的原曲。

若說Elizabeth Fraser是渾然天成的美聲，王菲是精雕細琢的仿作 -- 那Jolin，你是什麼？

別毀了一首歌又砸了自己的名聲。

Rilkean Heart
I looked for you to give me transcendent experiences
To transport me out of self and aloneness sent alienation
Into a sense of oneness and connection, ecstatic and magical
I became a junkie for it
I come looking for the next high and I'm sorry I've been putting the search
on the wrong place

I understand that you're confused, feeling overwhelmed
Well that's a feeling state from then, the reality

With cleaning up my emotional life and getting in touch with myself
I'm beginning to ground myself in my own sense of being as an entity
One entity on the planet,
Becoming truly self reliant
And become connected with something beyond me
That is where I have to go
I'm so sorry I've been putting the search on the wrong place

You're lost and don't know what to do
But that's not all of you
That's your reality today
And that is all okay

I understand that you're confused, feeling overwhelmed
Well that's a feeling state from then, the reality

Rilkean heart

Rilkean
heart x7
I'm lost I don't know what to do
It's not all on you
That's the reality today
Right now it's all okay
I understand that you're confused
Feeling overwhelmed
Love's a feeling straight from then
The reality

話說，今天是本單位官方的打混日。

不是我在唬爛，根據上週的會議紀錄，爾後每個月的第一個週一，本部門都不必工作。看要上網聽音樂看書打混隨便你。

可以光明正大發呆反而叫人不知該怎麼摸魚才好。

來聽聽鏗鏘蓮姊唱唱歌吧。

一個人。


林憶蓮，。

倘若，你的人生中很不幸不曾擁有過New Order的回憶，容我提醒你，原曲是New Order的"Bizarre Love Triangle"。


New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"。

Every time i think of you
I feel shot right through with a bolt of blue
It's no problem of mine but it's a problem I find
Living a life that I can't leave behind
There's no sense in telling me
The wisdom of a fool won't set you free
But that's the way that it goes
And it's what nobody knows
While every day my confusion grows
Every time I see you falling
I get down on my knees and pray
I'm waiting for that final moment
You'll say the words that I can't say

I feel fine and I feel good
I'm feeling like I never should
Whenever I get this way, I just don't know what to say
Why can't we be ourselves like we were yesterday
I'm not sure what this could mean
I don't think you're what you seem
I do admit to myself
That if I hurt someone else
Then I'll never see just what we're meant to be
Every time I see you falling
I get down on my knees and pray
I'm waiting for that final moment
You'll say the words that I can't say

別跟我說原曲是啥Frente唱的，我會毫不客氣地徹底鄙視你。

再來一首老是唱不好又愛K的歌。

打雷落雨時，我只需要它（請見舊文）。


李玖哲，。

Gnarls Barkley, "Crazy"

I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so crazy about that place
Even your emotions had an echo in so much space

And when you're out there - without care
Yeah I was out of touch
But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much

Does that make me Crazy?
Does that make me Crazy?
Does that make me Crazy?
Probably

And I hope that you are havin' the time of your life
But think twice, that's my only advice

Come on now who do you, who do you, who do you, who do you
think you are, ha ha ha, bless your soul
D'you really think you're in control

well
I think you're Crazy
I think you're Crazy
I think you're Crazy
Just like me

My heroes had the heart to live their lives out on a limb
And all I remember is thinkin' I wanna be like them.

Ever since I was little, ever since I was little it looked like fun
And there's no coincidence I've come
And I can die when I'm done

But maybe I'm Crazy
Maybe you're Crazy
Maybe we're Crazy
Probably

鬼門今年開兩次。

剪刀姊妹花同樣來兩回。


Scissor Sisters, "Comfortably Numb"，翻唱Pink Floyd經典。

青蚵男，難道這也跟陳董有關係嗎？

哈哈哈，沒人聽得懂這個笑話吧......

PS：話說到這裡，我一定要告訴大寶。當年我去那有閣樓陽台的夢幻公寓看剛出生的你時，你家裡真的有放Pink Floyd的卡帶。真是奇妙的胎教啊......

驚驚！


Scissor Sisters, "I Don't Feel Like Dancing"新曲大公開。

真迎合中國習俗的應景MV。自從菊花姊姊之後很久沒看到那麼ㄏㄧㄠˊ的男性了。

這篇是上一篇的平衡報導。Christina Aguilera和偶像Etta James面對面，接受InStyle雜誌專訪。（後面出現我的偶像Chaka Khan......還有其他藝人談他們的偶像。不過Faith Hill和Aretha Franklin……實在看不出有何關聯，感覺就像訪問時下港台男歌手，每個都說兒時聽過張學友一樣。）



先聲明，三張Christina Aguilera的正規專輯我都有，而且是買的。這位女士缺的只是幾首好歌，以及需要有人告訴她，歌是可以好好唱的。

話說回來，Etta James今年詮釋當代經典（"Purple Rain", "Holding Back the Years"）的那張All the Way，也挺令人失望。感覺就是……不對味。這樣的歌手配上這樣的曲目，理應火花四射才對。不過依照Grammy偏好老人和企劃取向的慣例，說不定來年可以撈座獎項……

附上Etta James於50年代的經典現場畫面，品質頗差，不過現場氣氛之狂熱叫人神往。

最近前瓶中精靈Christina Aguilera出了新專輯Back to Basics，圖如下：


Christina Aguilera, "Back to Basics"。

不過今天要聽的不是她的新歌。她在新專輯和諸多場合中宣稱自己最喜愛的女歌手Etta James招牌名作"At Last"，來聽聽她如何演繹前輩的經典吧。


Christina Aguilera, "At Last (on VH1 "Men Strike Back")"。

這位女士的嘔心瀝血表現再度證明，"會"唱歌（或是"以為"／"知道"自己會唱歌）實在是一件很不幸的事情。好好一首歌就被所謂的技巧毀了。

不信嗎？聽聽原唱的版本吧。不要問我為何配上>畫面，YouTube上顯然有許多斷背客。


Etta James, "At Last"。

Mariza，被譽為Amália Rodrigues傳人，當今Fado界的天后。


Mariza, "Cavaleiro Monge"。

此姝堪稱當今葡萄牙歌壇能見度最高的藝人，從她時尚打扮和與Sting合作的資歷可見一斑。

對了，為啥各種樂種的藝人要跨界就得跟Sting扯上關係？常常合作作品中最不搭嘎的就是Sting先生本人哪。

嗯，下一篇就來看我愛的Cheb Mami好了。

Fado界難以攀越的巔峰，Amália Rodrigues。


Amália Rodrigues, "Povo Que Lavas No Rio "。1961。

所謂一試成主顧啊。

陰陽眼的頭頭Thom Yorke終於拍MV了，主打據說是他生涯中寫過最憤怒的歌曲"Harrowdown Hill"。


Thom Yorke, "Harrowdown Hill"。

Don't walk the plank like I did
You will be dispensed with
When you've become inconvenient
In the harrowdown hill
Where you went to school
That's where I am
That's where I'm lying down

Did I fall or was I pushed?
Did I fall or was I pushed?
And where's the blood?
And where's the blood?

I'm coming home
I'm coming home
To make it all right
So dry your eyes

We think the same things at the same time
We just can't do anything about it

So don't ask me
Ask the ministry
Don't ask me
Ask the ministry

We think the same things at the same time
There are so many of us
So you can't count

We think the same things at the same time
There are too many of us
So you can't count

Can you see me when I'm running?
Can you see me when I'm running?
Away from them

I can't take their pressure
No one cares if you live or die
They just want me gone
They want me gone

I'm coming home
I'm coming home
To make it all right
So dry your eyes

We think the same things at the same time
We just cant do anything about it

We think the same things at the same time
There are too many of us
So you can't count

It was a slippery slippery slippery slope
It was a slippery slippery slippery slope
I feel me slipping in and out of consciousness
I feel me slipping in and out of consciousness

曲中敘述的是David Kelly的故事 -- 這個嘛，又跟小布希的邪惡軸心有關了……

最近很感興趣的阿根廷女音樂人。據說本來是喜劇演員。


Juana Molina, "No es tan cierto"，出自於Domino旗下發行的第二張（個人第三張）專輯，"Tres Cosas"。


Juana Molina, "Tres Cosas"。

英國媒體今夏炒作的「不列顛大戰」挑上了Muse（請爬舊文）和Razorlight兩組樂團。前者的商業成績斐然，在美國也激盪起小小的漣漪，現在就看後者如何出招。


Razorlight, "In the Morning"。

會將這兩組樂團放在一起捉對廝殺純屬商業炒作，兩者吸引的族群其實有其差距。Muse是華麗的Neo-Prog風格，Razorlight走的是類似The Strokes的酷派調調。

不過兩者獲致的評論有褒有貶，這應該是媒體對英國唱片工業慣性的反彈吧。

各位聽眾喜歡或不喜歡都好，反正英國流行樂壇換季的速度比許純美換小狼狗還要有效率。

話說芭樂，以下也是一支因電視劇（"Six Feet Under"）選用而紅進主流樂團的前獨立廠牌樂團 -- Death Cab for Cutie「俏妞的死亡計程車」。


Death Cab for Cutie, "Marching Bands of Manhattan"。

芭樂到了極點，去年底推出的新專輯"Plans"不僅轉檯至主流大廠Atlantic，也獲得銷售佳績及以往吹捧他們的「主流」非主流音樂（？）媒體大加撻伐。

下面這首"Transatlanticism"就是當初讓他們跨入主流歌壇的功臣。畫面是雅典奧運 -- 對，不要問我為什麼，總比看男男羅曼史版好吧？


Death Cab for Cutie, "Transatlanticism"

從俏妞死亡計程車05年的"Plans"到主唱Ben Gibbard意外大賣的電子新浪潮外遇計畫The Postal Service......


The Postal Service, "District Sleeps Alone Tonight"

......看來，顯然他也是個在八零年代卡到陰一直出不來的傢伙。


Death Cab for Cutie, "Transatlanticism"。我最愛聽的也是這一張。


The Postal Service, "Give Up"。前衛花園有便宜的台壓版，去誠品找找說不定還有。

Nina演唱她的招牌歌曲"Porgy (I Loves You Porgy)"。


Nina Simone, "Porgy (I Loves You Porgy)"。

雖然這首歌被無數人唱過無數次，連Nina自己都灌了N個版本，但我仍難忘第一次聽到從Nina口中唱出"I Loves You Porgy…"時心底的酸楚。

這個現場版比較閒適，另有一番風情。請大家也多花點心思欣賞Nina的琴藝，她在這方面的造詣著實不下她獨特的唱腔。


Nina Simone, "My Baby Just Cares For Me"。

英國人最愛的一首Nina。動畫由我最喜愛的Wallace & Gromit製作公司Aardman操刀。

最後，我要說的是，黃小琥的長相跟唱腔其實都神似Nina Simone……


Nina Simone, "Pastel Blues"