2009年11月14日
SING ALONG TO SONGS YOU DON'T KNOW /mum

http://www.myspace.com/mumtheband
來自冰島的Múm,新作回歸早期的快樂氣息,他們還在愛沙尼亞租了個四周圍有許多湖泊,擁有百年歷史的老屋用來寫歌錄音.新專輯中的大部分歌曲出產於冰島最近的政治動盪時期,Múm 天真爛熳安靜平和理想主義的音樂世界與現實中混亂不堪恰成強烈對比!
Two years after the release of their last album, eccentric pop maestros múm return with their fifth album proper, simply named Sing Along To Songs You Don't Know, a flickering candle of an album. The album is a much more laid back album than múm's most recent outings, more relaxed and quietly sad, often recalling sand running through fingers or ripples on a lake. And to an even greater extent than their previous albums, Sing Along To Songs You Don't Know is an ode to the light in its different shapes, from a fading bulb to the blinding sun. Sometimes the music sounds naively utopic, but always manages to stay effortless and pure. As usual, the songs are brimming with unusual sounds, this time much of the songs revolve around a lightly prepared piano, hammered dulcimer, a string quartet, marimbas, guitars, ukuleles and in the background of a few of the songs one can hear Örvar's parent's parakeet singing with the piano.
The album was recorded in countless different places in four different countries, although most of it was done in múm's native Iceland. Gunnar Örn Tynes moved to a cabin in the countryside where much of the album sprang to life, but as always múm have a hard time staying put and recorded in both Estonia and Finland. In Estonia borrowed a beautiful, many hundred-year-old house in Leigo, a place of hundreds of lakes, where they wrote new songs and recorded with the Estonian Suisapäisa Mixed choir. Much of the music was hatched in the middle of Iceland's recent political turmoil and uprising. The Icelandic government was forced to resign after intermittent civil unrest and the constant banging of pots and pans. By stretching the imagination, one can imagine a link between the turbulent political situation and the serene idealism hidden in the music.
2008年02月12日
THE GHOST THAT CARRIED US AWAY / seabear

試聽: http://www.myspace.com/seabear
柏林音樂廠牌Morr Music繼Mùm與Benni Hemm Hemm之後,又一引進來自冰島天然質樸的民謠樂隊Seabear。Seabear來自獨立音樂重鎮冰島,剛開始僅有Sindri Már Sigfússon一人,逐漸發展到現在的七人樂隊.首張專輯"The Ghost That Carried Us Away",在柏林著名獨立/電音廠牌Morr Music下發行.唱片封套是一如既往的Morr風格:圓形的淩亂字體加童稚的畫風。整張專輯沒有半點的華麗和不實,都是一種自然的展現,顫抖的吉他顫音和有趣的鼓擊、口琴、弦樂、溫暖的Vocal、唯美、安靜,值得慢慢欣賞。
A NUMBER OF SMALL THINGS / v.a

這一年最好的收尾,當然是要擁有一套柏林最愛音樂品牌Morr Music的豪華單曲合輯「V.A. A Number of Small Things─A Collection of Morr Music Singles From 2001 - 2007」;2CD收錄A Number of Small Things這個7吋單曲副牌自2001年首張發行Bernhard Fleischmann「Nico」至2007年廠牌新簽藝人Seavault、Butcher The Bar的全新單曲作品。然而A Number of Small Things其實還是一個Webshop與設計團隊,也是Morr Music、Karaoke Kalk、City Centre Offices這些柏林音樂廠牌的御用設計師,從Logo、唱片封套、Poster全數都交給ANOST設計;此外還包括了一個設計師Jan Kruse的服裝飾品品牌Human Empire。(boyethan)
試聽:
1-01: Get Away
1-02: Leave This Town
1-03: Skvavars
2-01: Breathes The Best ...繼續閱讀
2007年08月18日
PEOPLE PRESS PLAY / people press play

女歌手Sara Savery輕靈嗓音的牽引下,近日特別留意到People Press Play這支來自丹麥哥本哈根的電子樂團。三男一女的組合,個個身懷絕技。首先是音樂製作人Anders Remmer,曾先後以Future 3、System與Dub Tractor等化名於丹麥Hobby Industries、柏林City Centre Offices等實驗電音名廠底下發表作品。Jesper Skaaning是Anders Remmer音樂上的長期搭檔,兩人除了擁有Jesper & Anders這個音樂組合之外,還合作於Future 3與System;另外Jesper Skaaning也化名為Acustic,在丹麥Hobby Industries、Rump Recordings等廠牌底下發表作品。曾經與柏林聲音藝術大師Carsten Nicolai(Alva Noto)合作,因而令人留下深刻印象的Thomas Knak,同時擁有Opiate、Opto等幾個音樂單位,還跨足為知名運動品牌Nike、丹麥導演Christoffer Boe電影「愛情拼圖(Reconstruction)」等製作配樂。People Press Play陣中的女歌手Sara Savery Trojaborg,稍早才發表一首與 Tobias Wilner(Bichi)合作的作品"It Begins"於Cactus Island廠牌的合輯唱片裡;除了擔綱主唱,亦擅長演奏鍵盤與斑鳩等樂器。People Press Play集結了這四名來自丹麥哥本哈根的電音好手,同名新專輯即將於五月面世,由柏林電音名廠Morr Music發行。(boyethan)
試聽: www.myspace.com/peoplepressplay
2007年04月13日
GHOST / radical face

品嚐過Electric President的豁達電子民謠,現在來聽聽Ben Cooper以個人出發的Radical Face全新專輯「Ghost」;延續了Electric President的乾淨悅耳,Radical Face致力於更加開闊的民謠音樂路線,令人加倍回味起Paul Simon、Sufjan Stevens乃至Ben Gibbard等人的風采。多才多藝的Ben Cooper去年連同Alex Kane以Electric President名義於柏林Morr廠牌底下發表同名專輯,同時也是Morr從來未曾有過的精湛民謠風味。正當許多樂迷還浸淫於Electric President那愉悅的光輝與豁達的曲調之下,Ben Cooper重返昔日Radical Face的崗位上,並持續以臥房錄音樂派的Lo-Fi精神,集結鋼琴、吉他、斑鳩、手風琴與唱詩班等素材完成了「Ghost」這張有些陰鬱暗湧的民謠唱片。回歸最質樸的原音樂器伴奏,Ben Cooper以激勵人心的歌唱訴說著一幕幕發生於臥房陰暗深處的鬼影幢幢。
試聽: http://www.myspace.com/radicalface
...繼續閱讀2007年04月12日
MELANCHOLIE/ b.fleischmann
堪稱Morr Music旗下指標性的音樂人,來自奧地利的 B. Fleischmann,最新發行了雙CD現場錄音專輯,分別收錄2006年四月在柏林新國家美術館的音樂會,以及2003年六月為廣播電台ORF所做的演出。兩首各為50分鐘左右,長篇但一氣呵成的作品,不乏旋律性且因為細節撐起的情感張力而飽滿。「Melancholie」以合成器聲響作為和聲層層疊起,並運用大提琴探索樂評口中他一貫的「奧地利式田園憂鬱」氣質,「Sendestrasse」則延續了他巔峰之作《Welcome Tourist》(2003)雙CD第二張的實驗特性,半即興地大量使用電氣噪音和類似黑膠唱片的炒豆子聲,從扭曲改編舒伯特的鋼琴小品出發,再帶入招牌的groovebox電子打擊樂器節拍,讓人不得不開始shoegazing的出神膜拜。
2007年01月20日
SEPARATE CHAMBERS / contriva


美好記憶的延續,甜蜜緩緩湧上心田。
Contriva由四個德國樂手Masha Qrella、Rike Schuberty、Hannes Lehmann、Max Punktezahl在高中時代組成,1997年起由德國Monika Enterprise廠發行許多單曲,出過兩張專輯「Tell Me When」(2000)、「If You Had Stayed...」(2003),主要是吉他器樂演奏,聽起來明亮柔和、安詳超然,他們說:「想做的音樂是那種最悅耳,純粹由樂器演奏就能獲得感動,讓歌聲成為多餘的流行旋律。」十年來,四人仍定期排練著彼此的歌曲,相互支援,如今在樂壇各有一片天,參與Mina、Jersey、Britta、NMFarner與the Notwist等樂隊,2005年Masha Qrella也曾在Morr Music廠推出個人專輯。
Contriva的2006年專輯『Separate Chambers』切合Morr Music廠的特質,更像學生時代美好記憶的延續,吉他演奏迸發柔和閃光,具有驅散暗影的神奇效果。令人驚喜的是"Before"、"I Can Wait"這兩首歌曲,非常悅耳動聽,他們已不自我拘泥於演奏曲的框架,好像昔日好友坐在窗邊,愜意撥弄著吉他,伴隨雨滴落在樹葉的聲音,迎面襲來沁涼如水、清新開闊的空氣,甜蜜緩緩湧上心田。(galeer)
試聽: myspace
2006年12月15日
SUMMER KLING / f.s. blumm


創作力非常豐富的F.S. Blumm(Frank Schultge),在這張《Summer Kling》當中,不單自己運用超過十五種樂器編曲,還邀請許多好朋友為他演奏樂器、提供電子聲響、田野錄音等,然後再提煉成結構上接近TNT時期的Tortoise、充滿芝加哥爵士與後搖滾參照的美好聆聽體驗,但依然保有F.S. Blumm始終如一的簡樸純真氣質,引領聽者感受如白雲綠茵的悠閒夏日氣氛。
2006年10月8日
BENNI HEMM HEMM / benni hemm hemm

Blessed with living in the vodka-pickled tundra’s of 21st Century Iceland, Benedikt H. Hermannsson has a rich cultural heritage to call upon – with the contemporary musical success of Sigur Ros, Múm and Bjork, juxtaposed against an oral tradition that stretches back centuries; meaning anyone is able to pick-up and read ancient manuscripts without the need for dialectal translation. But we digress…
Opening through a rattle of percussion and thrumming acoustic guitar, the appropriately titled ‘Beginning End’ kicks off Benni Hemm Hemm’s eponymous debut with the kind of dribble-inducing enthusiasm usually reserved for kid’s birthday parties. Brimming with indie-guitar goodness, things are cranked up a gear with the introduction of parping horns, soaring strings and a batch of sugar-blasted atmospherics that brings to mind the joyous exuberance of the Arcade Fire.
‘I Can Love You In A Wheelchair’, meanwhile, is an ebbing folk song that matches the likes of The Tindersticks in its blunt yet heartfelt predilection – taking a difficult subject then injecting it with a solipsistic wit that is caustically effective. Elsewhere, ‘Til Eru Fræ’ presses the glottally rich language into action for a galloping charge through Icelandic-country, the steel guitar pock-marks of ‘Fight’ hint at a fog-shrouded desert, whilst ‘Sweaty In The Sunshine’ works up a real head of steam through percussive bursts that press the whole band into frenzied action. Brilliant stuff.
冰島繼Sigur Ros, Mum和Bjork後,又一出色音樂單位。
2006年05月22日
SLOW DAYS / the year of
The Year Of是來自奧地利的五人組,之前已在Bernhard Fleischman的2003年專輯「Welcome Tourist」合作過,團名取自歌曲"Take Your Time"。某個程度也是支超級樂隊,團員包括Morr Music廠元老級樂手Bernhard Fleischman、主唱Christof Kurzmann、電顫琴與吉他手Burkhard Stangl、貝斯手Werner Dafeldecker,這幾個人在維也納實驗電子、劇場配樂、即興噪音圈都非常活躍。還有來自Thrill Jockey廠Trapist樂隊的Martin Siewert,有著後搖滾,電影和現代舞蹈音樂的經歷。
首張專輯「 Slow Days」結合了爵士、電子與民謠,貼近內心,私密懇切,一開始引人注意的是Christof Kurzman的歌聲,器樂演奏也到達室內樂團的層級。像是"Sleep"那逐漸遠去的吉他,彷彿凝視著日出,一種難以言明的哀愁,Christof Kurzmann唱到「Don't get me wrong, It' just a song」,的確,不要想太多了,這只是一首歌。(更多介紹 by galeer)