从Beatles开始，英式摇滚乐始终不能割舍对旋律的依恋，甚至若瑞典的ABBA愿意的话，完全可以将Sex Pistols的所有曲目改编为响彻街头的流行金曲。另一方面，开元于Joy Division舞旗的后朋克时代，经历了The Smith、The Stone Roses，一直到如今红得发紫的Suede、Blur、Radio Head、The Verve，英国吉他音乐总呈现出一种与美国摇滚从骨子里迥然相反的气质，撇去诸多细节上的差异，我们可以从异性装扮、一律苍白、刀削般的脸颊、病态冰冷的眼光、短发或Beatles拖把头的各种变异发型——这些装束里更贴切地体会出80年代后的英国青年略显华而不实的音乐召唤着一种内省、低调的艺术态度，与西雅图朴素直接的Grunge、洛山矶夹杂着痞气与戾气的底层朋克、佛罗里达炸碎天的耳痛金属乐等等美国摇滚最醒目的区分是他们音乐的慢热性、间接性，他们不在乎感官刺激，他们把欲望直接对准你的灵魂，那里才是他们企图去颠覆与占领的。我们经常在第一次听一支英国乐队时或者觉其流行、或者觉其乏味、或者觉其高深莫测更像故弄玄虚、不知所云直至一头雾水，找一个好懂的词来概述他们的音乐：暧昧。我们不容易从那些又粘又滑、行云流水的吉他、时而缺乏激情时而自作多情的人声、还有各种雕琢得几乎矫饰得叮叮咚咚的音乐细节里弄清楚它们到底想告诉我们些什么，愤怒、兴奋、悲哀、失望全部模模糊糊，他们的表情在音乐愈来愈厚的雾气里丧失含义直到消失，就像融化在夜幕里的梦游者。这里有一个可能偏颇，但应该适用于多数英美乐队的阐述：美国摇滚很直接，它想让你同它一起发疯、一起愤怒；英国摇滚则晦涩一些，它想激发去思考，让你同它一起在歇斯底里的分析中彻底迷失、完全失控。
The Auteurs就是一支典型的英国乐队——虽然，在音乐上，它避免了诸多新晋乐队不加修饰地对老前辈欲盖弥彰的模仿；在处境上，他们亦远离Blur、Oasis等乐队在遮掩中愈演愈烈的明星地位。最初在1992年，几乎苍白到濒死的英国摇滚开始响应大洋的Grunge乐风，铿锵的美式和弦噪音在英国人的手里却显得无力而空洞，只有一小撮以独立公司、地下音乐社团、摇滚酒吧为基地的乐队仍坚持着优秀而深远的英伦摇滚风范。那时的4AD因已收拢了大量的美国乐队及对所谓的“4AD风格”的极端维护使其旗下的本土乐团亦在音乐上游离了英式摇滚的根源，在这里我们更愿提到的是诸如Vernon Tard Recordings、Creation、Nude这些高举本土大旗的独立唱片公司。对VTR而言，我们熟悉的可能是它旗下朋克回笼的New Wave Of New Wave浪潮里S*M*A*S*H、These Animal Man这两个弄潮儿，以及近来最可能完成英伦摇滚复兴的后迷幻乐队Verve，而对于VTR内一些默默燃烧的低调乐队却缺乏了解，他们或许做出了许多更为出色的音乐：如低调到唱片内页只有乐队三双脚照片的Low，颓废而灵性逼人的Seymores，以及本文的主角：The Auteurs。
其实在92年，尚未发行过一张专辑的Auteurs比现在已经发行过三张专辑的他们有名得多，那时他们于Suede、The Verve一起被看作是挽回英国摇滚颓势最有希望的三颗“新星”，93年曾以一票之差落选于The Mercurymusic Prize（得主是Suede）。同年发行的处女专辑“New Wave”亦是他们销量最好的大碟（登上了英国主流榜的Top 30 的位置），它被看作是以后大红大紫的British-Pop乐风的领头兵。尽管在这张专辑的音乐文本中出现了26个“Star”，但与其说它暗示了乐队对明星地位的向往不如说是恐惧。在音乐上乐队已明显流露出他们对旋律的重视，还有简洁流畅的吉他段落。但这张专辑给人们最深印象的应该是主唱Luke淫性十足的演唱，那时标准英国年轻人成长期的胡言乱语与呻吟，它仿佛背负了古老的英格兰文化整个凝重肃立的阴影——对于The Jesus And Mary Chain极端对立的是嚣张噪音与阴柔唱腔，而对于The Auteurs剑拔弩张的却是融人的旋律与文本里灰暗变态的世界观。“New Wave”里，有对都市偷窥狂病态心理的描写（Housesister）；有对朋友猝死的冷眼旁观（Home Again）；还有对个人存在价值的彻底怀疑与消解（Valent Parking）。唯一在音乐上缓解这种不协调的是一把大提琴，它那沉缓抑郁的声音飘扬于几乎每一支曲目的背后。
94年乐队成员发生变动，除去乐队灵魂，负责主音、吉他及钢琴，并一直醉心于英式黑暗文学的Luke Haines、贝司手Alice Readman仍居原位外，Baney Crockford取代了原鼓手Glenn Collins的位置，曾于乐队客串大提琴手James Banbury正式加入乐队。新阵容随即发行了“Now I\"m A Cowboy”，这张唱片音乐上华丽富贵（大提琴的大量加入使音乐近乎细腻煽情到肉麻），编排上更加紧凑；内容上暗示了同性恋倾向（A Sister Like You），对社会上层阶级的讽刺漫骂（The Upper Glasses）及用于自我解脱的自嘲口吻（I\"m A Rich Man\"s Toy）。这张专辑并未留给人们很深的印象，它音乐上录音室雕琢的痕迹有些重，由此我们可以相信The Auteurs是一群完美主义者；同时，音乐文本中有气无力的申述及近乎无聊的话题，表明乐队似乎正陷入一个应该是隶属于人生态度的误区里——他们应该被提醒的是再奢华优美的音乐如果表达的是苍白无味的内容其本身亦会变得一文不值。
一切依旧是隐晦难言麻木不仁，The Auteurs的音乐始终就象一双梦游者的眼睛，溺水者沉没后水面圆润优美的涟漪，他们携带了英国摇滚里所有最致命的病毒——Joy Division火焰般舞动的绝望，Clash无畏嚣张的理性朋克，Jesus And Mary Chain彻底分裂后对堕落的狂欢，Bauhuas在一片纯黑里胡言乱语般的自渎式祈祷，甚至Beatles对旋律的敏感与King Crimson对音乐爱因斯坦式的智商。这不是滥誉，其实正是这种过于繁杂的复合性使The Auteurs的音乐浮萍般没了根基，流云下的月影般难以捉摸——它的音乐中变幻莫测的灵感可以令你惊讶，亦可以让你听后留不下任何印象，就象乐队领袖Luke的外形，不言不笑，默默盯着身边的事物，你可以认为他凶狠、恶意十足；亦可以认为他冰冷、漠然，尸体般对周遭已无动于衷。
Life Classes Life Mode
lhttp://www.cnitservice.com/uploadfile/09-LifeClassesLifeModel.rar
本帖曲目歌词：
Lenny Valentino
There were mourners on the street
of every shape and size
The motorcade came down from Redondo
Assasins on the corner tried to throw you a line
You dirty-mouth comic Rodolfo
Lenny Valentino reside
The pope renounced you as the real one
Lazarus decided to rise
The twentieth century had only begun
Ladies averted their eyes
Lenny Valentino reside
John Judnich in the bathroom reading the law
Kitty in the hall with your mother
The girls are sick and tired of your blah blah blah
Some beat-kid said there\"s no other
and that\"s Lenny
Valentino reside
I\"m a Rich Man\"s Toy
I\"m a rich man\"s toy
Sick of the way you\"ve been putting me down
Sick of all your stupid games
I\"m a rich man\"s toy
You\"re a son of a gun and I\"m easily led
Coming up sometimes for air
I\"m a rich man\"s toy
Sick of the way you\"ve been putting me down
sick of all your stupid games
A toy - When you die they\"ll burn your bones
but they\"ll never destroy your remains
You must be the king of the world
I\"m a rich man\"s toy
the duchess envoy said when I was a kid
You\"d smack me around on a whim
I\"m a rich man\"s toy
Your boyfriend moved all my things in the hall
- Didn\"t know you were sleeping with him
I\"m a rich man\"s toy
With powder and make-up
D\"you think that I scrub up well?
Watching you wake up
Who\"s right who\"s not
Who\"s gonna get it now that I\"m a rich man\"s toy
What\"s the matter with me ?
What\"s the matter with you?
What\"s the matter with me
Read us the riot act
Or read off your cues
Powder and make-up
Watching you wake up
Do you think that I scrub up well
Who\"s right who\"s not
Who owes who waht
Who\"s gonna get it now...
I\"m a rich man\"s toy
Chinese Bakery
She\"s going downtown
but she comes from uptown
Where the brokers and the dealers - socialise
She\"s going downtown
Cos she\"s a poet
And the Chinese bakery\"s open all night
Toulouse Lautrec called up today
Said it\"s all Rock N\" Roll anyway
Excuse me while I\"m tearing off your head
Epiphany just went to ground
The three wise men just can\"t be found
The underground just shook its weary head
She said she\"s gonna show me around
The Chinese bakery thats open
Twenty hours
She\"s going downtown...
Got a roller coaster in my head
You press the button - I\"ll eject
Your present is just somebodys past
Don\"t blink,pinch me twice
Just seen Bob Dylan on a motorbike
I don\"t think this relationship will last
She said she\"s gonna show me around
The Chinese bakery that\"s open
Twenty hours
She\"s going downtown...
And the Chinese bakery\"s open all night
A Sister Like You
Two sisters sighed
Said we might as well be lovers
We\"re so close
Just like blood brothers
And the horse guard died
I lost all power
She said to me
Did you come down in the shower
Their mother cried
Her religion was faultless
Though obeyed
She remained unaware of this
And the horse guard died...
What am I to do
For a sister like you
Two sisters cried
For their missing brother
Who was found cold but alive
No longer their lover
Life Classes / Life Model
Bruises from your head to your toe
There are marks all over you
there\"s no place for you to hide
Since they painted you black and blue
Blue\"s the colour I made your eyes
Charcoal the hair
If I fall down
Don\"t be surprised
This surveillance was unprepared
I\"m watching over
Your every move
Life classes life model
Life lessons due
Show me where to disrobe dear
Where I\"m out of view
Say something good or shut your mouth
this surveillance is overdue
I\"m watching over
My every move
Your lesson life model
Life lesson too
And there\"s no way to hold your head
So hold your head that low
And there\"s no way to hold your head
So those things just don\"t show
Now I\"m a Cowboy
Carrying a gun
Life classes / Life model
Life lesson begun
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发表于 2005-1-1 19:44:50
