Chaosly

Electric Funeral是Black Sabbath(黑色安息日)1970年的专辑Paranoid中的歌曲，最早听到Electric Funeral是在音乐天堂出的”盛世摇滚I”，在经过前两首温柔的Beatles之后，像恶魔咆哮一样的前奏开始了。作为最早的重金属，Electric Funeral与Metallica或是Megadeath的典型风格截然不同，没有电锯一样的rhythm和令人目眩的lead，所有金属乐的特点渗透在歌曲的骨子里而非形式上，Ozzy像厉鬼一样的流氓嗓音也比日后动辄就噬神，剖尸的死亡金属更加阴森，直达脑干的深处。

Black Sabbath在将近40年前就在将科技融入了歌曲，Electric Funeral描绘了由人类与电脑之间的斗争引发的核子战争的末日场面，“塑料花融化在太阳中，人类因辐射变成了碳块”，最终还是机器胜利了，“天空中闪耀着电子眼，地球笼罩在邪恶的翅膀下”，终结者们集合在索伦魔眼下的魔都。

Electric Funeral

Reflex in the sky warn you you’re gonna die
Storm coming, you’d better hide from the atomic tide
Flashes in the sky turns houses into sties
Turns people into clay, radiation minds decay

Robot minds of robot slaves lead them to atomic rage
plastic flowers, melting sun, fading moon falls upon
dying world of radiation, victims of mad frustration
Burning globe of oxy’n fire, like electric funeral pyre

Buildings crashing down to a cracking ground
Rivers turn to wood, ice melting to flood
Earth lies in death bed, clouds cry water dead
Tearing life away, here’s the burning pay

Electric Funeral
Electric Funeral
Electric Funeral
Electric Funeral

And so in the sky shines the electric eye
supernatural king takes earth under his wing
Heaven’s golden chorus sings, Hell’s angels flap their wings
Evil souls fall to Hell, ever trapped in burning cells!

我很好奇这首歌的MV会是什么样，但只找到了现场的视频(又是个反手拿琴的家伙)，恍然大悟原来那时候MV还没出生呢。

一份两页手写诗的原稿日前在Christie拍卖行进行拍卖，该诗作者的名字是Bobby Zimmerman，或者在摇滚名人堂里被称为Bob Dylan。这份手写诗歌“Little Buddy”是年轻的Dylan在50年代中期创作的，而令人吃惊的是当时的Dylan仅是个年轻人，却写出如此有影响力的作品。Dylan手中的Zimmerman蓝色钢笔讲述了一个心爱的小狗因友善的对待一个醉汉而被打死的悲伤故事，诗歌中的主角等待着医生到来救小狗的性命，但不幸的是医生却来的太迟。

故事是令人心碎的，但值得注意到有趣现象是，即使是年轻的Dylan也不能避免误用your作为you’re的语法错误，写道“Your too late sir my doggy’s dead.”（艺术家的选择？）“Little Buddy”的全诗如下：

Little Buddy

Broken hearted and so sad
Big blue eyes all covered with tears
Was a picture of sorrow to see

Kneeling close to the side
Of his pal and only pride
A little lad, these words he told me

He was such a lovely doggy
And to me he was such fun
But today as we played by the way

A drunken man got mad at him
Because he barked in joy
He beat him and he’s dying here today

Will you call the doctor please
And tell him if he comes right now
He’ll save my precious doggy here he lay

Then he left the fluffy head
But his little dog was dead
Just a shiver and he slowly passed away

He didn’t know his dog had died
So I told him as he cried
Come with me son we’ll get that doctor right away

But when I returned
He had his little pal upon his knee
And the teardrops, they were blinding his big blue eyes

Your too late sir my doggy’s dead
And no one can save him now
But I’ll meet my precious buddy up in the sky

By a tiny narrow grave
Where the willows sadly wave
Are the words so clear you’re sure to find

Little Buddy Rest In Peace
God Will Watch You Thru The Years
Cause I Told You In My Dreams That You
Were Mine

Bobby Zimmerman

Roman Candle是Elliott Smith个人名义发行的第一张专辑，与其说是专辑不如说是小样更为准确，其中的几首歌曲甚至没有名字，而仅仅以No Name #1, No Name #2等等来代替。专辑中的所有歌曲是Elliott Smith使用四轨机在地下室录制完成的，录音质量也确实是家庭级的low-fi水平。

最初听到Elliott Smith的声音立刻使我想起“了不起的盖茨比”的开头自述时的一个词：vanerable。Elliott Smith在Roman Candle中给人的感觉是脆弱和敏感，甚至有点使人感到压抑。但从剥离了嗓音和音乐的歌词上来看，倒有那么点朋克的感觉。

给我印象最深的是专辑第一首的同名歌曲，在Roman Candle中，声音幻化成了高速旋转的轮盘，”I’m a roman candle, my head is full of flames”，尽管包含着愤怒和痛苦，但也巧合地预示了Elliott Smith其后不到十年的生命，就象焰火一样爆发出异样的光辉。

其他：
No Name #3出现在电影Good Will Hunting中
Kiwi Maddog 20/20是一种Elliott Smith喜欢的葡萄酒的名字

Roman Candle

He played himself
Didn’t need me to give him hell
He could be cool and cruel to you and me
Knew we’d put up with anything
I want to hurt him
I want to give him pain
I’m a roman candle
My head is full of flames
I’m hallucinating
Hallucinating
I hear you cry
Your tears are cheap
Wet hot red swollen cheeks
Fall alseep
I want to hurt him
I want to give him pain
I’m a roman candle
My head is full of flames
I want to hurt him
I want to hurt him
I want to hurt him
I want to give him pain
And make him feel this pretty burn

西雅图因星巴克、太空针塔而闻名，当然，还有grunge。90年代早期的grunge运动产生出Nirvana、Pearl Jam和Soundgarden这样的摇滚标志象征。在Greg Prato的新书Grunge is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music(本月初于ECW出版社出版)中，作者采访了130多名西雅图的音乐家、日报记者、唱片业巨头和乐迷，编译了描绘当时独特情景的详细的口述历史。其中的声音包括Eddie Vedder、Jeff Ament、Mark Arm、Matt Cameron、Chad Channing、Jack Endino、Duff McKagan和Hiro Yamamoto。

“我想从grunge产生的最初讲述这些故事，”Prato说。关于grunge根源的讨论已经延伸到了像Wailers和the Sonics这样的乐队，Grunge is Dead一书从五六十年代的车库朋克组合到七八十年代的西海岸朋克来追踪西雅图的进程。到了八十年代末，像Malfunkshun和Screaming Trees这样的乐队孵化出来新的“西雅图之声”，最终成为grunge。“这是我认为西雅图摇滚乐到达顶峰的时候。”Prato说。

当采访Layne Staley的母亲时提到了极有价值的信息，最有意义的被采访者当属Pearl Jam的Vedder，因为Vedder的Pearl Jam是西雅图最后幸存的grunge代表。在与Prato漫长的电话通话中，因谨慎而著称的Vedder在夏威夷开始娓娓而谈。

“那时他正坐在海滩上看着落日和我谈话，”Prato回忆道。“他最初从从Jeff Ament和Stone Gossard那搞到磁带，里面有几首为Pearl Jam写的歌，Vedder那天在冲浪时来了写歌的灵感，包括Once和Alive。Eddie说他在整个歌手生涯中会永远感谢冲浪的那一天，因为那天他清楚他能想出这样两首伟大经典的歌曲。”

Prato的书名取自西雅图最引人注目的形象——Kurt Cobain的一副讽刺画，画中的Cobain穿着印有“Grunge is Dead”的T恤，抱着他还是婴儿的女儿Frances Bean。采访提供了关于许多西雅图音乐史上重大事件的生动透视，从家庭party到Cobain和其同样作为西雅图象征的Andrew Wood的悲剧性死亡。Grunge Is Dead中也有一些艺术家对于西雅图运动落末的反应。“当听到一些之前未曾听到的消息时，我总是很吃惊”，Ament告诉Prato。“我感觉有些事情应该变一变了”，谈到自己的乐队时，Vedder说，“但我不感到惭愧。”