沼澤『城市』

承前*1

沼澤楽隊(The Swamp)の『城市(City)』、実際に聴いてみたのだけれど、かなりいい*2
沼澤楽隊(The Swamp)の現在のメンバーは、


海遜(Sean):ドラムズ、電子手鼓(hand sonic percussion)、プログラミング
細輝(Jim):ギター、エフェクト、採様(sampling)
阿来(Roy):ベース、キーボード、バッキング・ヴォーカル
海亮(HZ):リード・ヴォーカル、ギター、キーボード


海遜と海亮は兄弟。全曲の作詞作曲及びプロデュースは海亮。マスタリング(混音)は海兄弟。アート・ディレクションは海遜で、ブックレットに掲載されている線描画は細輝が描いたもの。なお、フォトグラファーの1人としてクレディットされている香取義人氏は『Chinese Rock Database』*3を主催されている方。曲目は、


1 二維(2 dimensions)
2 驚惶(Fear)
3 U之自白書(U says)
4 過於喧囂的(Uproar)*
5 幾米(Jimmy)
6 小麋鹿(Little dear)
7 清晨(貳)(Dayspring)
8 那些急於療治創傷的人〓*4(Cure)*
9 広場午後(Crowded, tired)*
10 沮喪(Depression)
11 忍…待続(Tolerate…to be continued)
12二維(2 dimensions)(acoustics)

* はインストゥルメンタル

Ling Weiという人のレヴュー*5を引用してみる;

As an indepent band for 10 years, this is the Swamp's first officially released album in China. "Rome won't be built in a day!", it takes them 10 years to creat this album of more than 20 songs, which not only accumulate the most ambition and tension, but witness their maturation and greatness of music. Today, the Swamp put their muscial style as aesthetic and blurred. They melt progessive rock, post rock and different kinds of alternative electronic into their music, which is exquisitely touching, or enthusiastic. Continuously endless sadness contains unlimited potential. with significant lyrics, here comes to you an attractive and gorgeous poetic world. You will find various elements inside, including Jazz and chill-out, not in a route, but showing originally, just like coverall exposing what they feel and what they think. Also like "the Swamp": seems not only weary, but sentimentally, not only sluggish, but also flowing, not only dissipated and dirty, but filling of life and passion....In a word, The Swamp is not only normal independent band. Their music will become classic.
所謂エレクトロニカに詳しくないせいか、私としては〈プログレ〉を感じた。いい意味で情緒的である。post-rockであるが、復習というか、少し引用をかましてみたい;

The term post-rock is really just a general description of bands which don't fit a standard rock format. The term post rock first appeared in print in 1993 when a writer was describing the first studio album by Bark Psychosis called Hex. The album combines thick textures, acoustic instruments, moody overtones, and other classic staples of the genre.
http://www.silver-dragon-records.com/post_rock.htm *6

The term post-rock was coined by Simon Reynolds in issue 123 of The Wire (May 1994) to describe a sort of music "using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes, using guitars as facilitators of timbres and textures rather than riffs and powerchords."

Originally used to describe the music of such bands as Stereolab, Disco Inferno, Seefeel, Bark Psychosis and Pram, it spread out to be frequently used for all sorts of jazz- and Krautrock-influenced, instrumental, electronica-added music made after 1994. Bands from the early 1990s such as Slint, or earlier, such as Talk Talk were influential on this genre. As with many musical genres, the term is arguably inadequate: it is used for the music of Tortoise as well as that of Mogwai, two bands who have very little in common besides the fact that their music is largely instrumental.

The aforementioned Tortoise was among the founders of the movement. After the second Tortoise LP Millions Now Living Will Never Die, the band became a post-rock icon. After Millions... many bands (e.g., Do Make Say Think) began to record, inspired by the "Tortoise-sound" and were often described as post-rock.

In the late nineties, Chicago, Illinois, became the home base of many different groups. John McEntire (of Tortoise) became an important producer for lots of them, as well as Jim O'Rourke (of Brice-Glace, Gastr del Sol and many more). Post-rock began to range from the slow, guitar-based ambience of Boxhead Ensemble to the up-tempo electronica of Stereolab.

Montreal, Quebec band Godspeed You Black Emperor! — later renamed 'Godspeed You! Black Emperor' — brought a political element with anti-globalization movement leanings.

By the early 2000s, the term had started to fall out of favor, while the major artists kept on making high quality recordings. The wide range of styles covered by the term had robbed it of its usefulness almost from the moment it was coined.

Closely related to post-rock is the genre known as Math rock, characterized by more percussive timbres, and more dissonant harmonic gestures.
http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_LIST.asp?style=32

幾つか中国語のレヴューを読んでみたけれど、どれも特に「驚惶(Fear)」を絶賛している*7。たしかに美しく哀愁に満ちている。過度なほど。私としては、先ず1曲目の「二維(2 dimensions)」にやられた。歌詞は、

我向右拐
再向後退
我知道可以向前
甚至兜一個圏児


我是自由的
所以我能選択
也知道在兜圏之前
不妨歇上一会児


我是自由的
所以我選択
可我発現無論怎麼転
都転不出這個平面


可我発現無論怎麼転
都離不開這個平面

歌われているのは「自由」について。哀愁に満ちた曲に乗って、一言一言確かめるが如くに歌われる。

*1:http://d.hatena.ne.jp/sumita-m/20060403/1144036088

*2:『沼澤(Falling into the humid haze)』というのが同時にリリースされているようだが、こちらの方は未入手。

*3:http://www.yaogun.com/

*4:men. にんべん+門。

*5:http://theswamp.blogbus.com/logs/2005/10/1667637.html 中文のオリジナルはhttp://swamp.blogbus.com/logs/2005/10/1551754.html。また、http://ent.sina.com.cn/y/2005-11-07/1112888061.htmlは無署名ながら、そのロング・ヴァージョンのようだ。

*6:ここでは、post-rockのパイオニアとして、ドゥルッティ・コラムが挙げられている。

*7:例えば、http://ent.dayoo.com/gb/content/2005-10/16/content_2258833.htmとか。