Arab Strap – New Birds

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过手太多东西，我还真是忘了什么时候买到 Arab Strap 的这张盗版唱片，1998年的 Philophobia，2002还是2003的泉州还是广州？确实记不得了… 但那还是一款代号“黄标”的盗版碟以优良的选碟标准、敬业的盗版水平和有限的流通数量在市面上开始偷偷弥漫的时候。显然，某些来自资本主义阵营的“精神垃圾们”，永远别想在我们社会主义精神文明市场上明目张胆地出现。它们只能偷偷摸摸印刷发行，偷偷摸摸销售流传，偷偷摸摸为人称道，偷偷摸摸让我们甘之如饴。

Philophobia 这个单词，字面的意思表示的是一种“对爱情的恐惧”的状态。专辑封面画着乐队主唱 Aidan Moffat 当时女友的裸身坐像，面无表情大大咧咧地张开着腿。尽管只是一副画，但作为一张唱片的封面示之于众，依然是颇为大胆出格，算得上笔者见过的最为令人尴尬的封套之一了。再看封底，直接就是 Aidan Moffat 自己的裸身坐像，同样面无表情大大咧咧地张开着腿，好嘛… 最令人尴尬的封底之一也在此了。外表如此狂放，唱片的内容毫不示弱表里如一。Philophobia 的歌词通篇就是一篇凯鲁亚克式神经兮兮的情色小说，满满都是男主人公与其曾经的放荡女友爱恨交织的回忆片段，絮絮叨叨不清不楚，大量晦涩的口语俚语描述让人一直看着什么却始终看不明白到底发生了什么。而 Arab Strap 的两杆枪对如此的迷魂阵却丝毫不含糊，Malcolm Middleton 安排器乐编排部分，Aidan Moffat 连说带唱，短短13首歌13种声色变化之间便将所有文字内容分割处置完毕。管你写什么？哥想唱到哪儿停就切到哪儿！不讲道理，不按常规编排地以乱就乱，却也是另一种眼界和手段。

喜欢专辑中的第四首歌 New Birds，是因为从 3’46” 开始的那段器乐高潮展示了 Middleton 的能力和在乐队中应有的戏份，也让听者不至于在 Moffat 绵绵不绝的絮叨中睡着。又或者可以理解为 Middleton 干脆就是以自己的方式狠狠爆发絮叨了一回？啊… 那刹那间甩开节奏的鼓点和一步步激烈起来的吉他扫弦确实是充满了另一种无言的能量。

You just have to be sure you’re doing the right thing.

I mean it’s very easy to forget – she’s just sitting there in the pub with her new friends and her new life and her new hair, and it’s been five years but you’d know just to look at her.

I wasn’t even sure it were her at first, I was ready to walk away but she smiled and called me over and we said hello for a bit. When we back to our tables we were trying not to look over at each other and told our friends to stop staring. I didn’t see her for the rest of the night, but by closing time the beer’s kicked in so I go up and speak to her and we end up talking about our new homes, our new jobs and our new friends and our new birds.

She says she’s been going out with him now for about two and a half years, but they don’t live together so he’d never find out. And you think about chasing her about school when you were wee and lying in your bed and listening to love songs and pretending they were about you. And the first time you asked her out she said no but one night you went to a wedding and when you came back to the pub she’s changed her mind and you went out. You remember the way she swung her arms when she held your hand but you can’t remember how she kissed and now you’ve got the chance to find out.

But you have to remember there’s this other kiss. She’s at home, wondering where you are and what you’re doing. And you work hard on this kiss and you know it inside out, it’s as much yours as it is hers, And it took a long time to get right, it took months of practice and months of embarassment but now you’ve got it perfected and you’ve been looking forward to that kiss all week.

You can see her breath in the air between your faces as you stand in the leaves and she just asks you straight out if you want to come and stay at her flat. But you make sure you get separate taxis and you go home and there might be a slight regret and you might wonder what you missed but you have to remember the kiss you worked so hard on – and you’ll know you’ve done the right thing.

Slowghost

2011.01.25.

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