至少上大学的时候我宿舍里的一个哥们儿很喜欢Gorillaz，那会儿听的最多的，估计也是大家听的最多的就是那首“Feel Good Inc”，不知道有多少人改了彩铃，改了自己空间里的背景音乐。这张有点不一样，当然，整个专辑还是Damon Albarn自己制作（当然不能忽视Jamie Hewlett这位伦敦漫画家的参与），谱曲唱歌制作甚至到乐器的演奏都是一个人搞定，毫不马虎。但是看看这次他又把麦克风传给了哪些人：Snoop Dogg，De La Soul，the Clash的Mick Jones，Mos Def，还有曾经的地下丝绒乐队的主要成员Lou Reed。这必定是一张很不一样的专辑。

Plastic Beach的由来，大概就是Albarn去过的马里的一处垃圾填埋场，看到很多高科技垃圾之类的，然后回头做Gorillaz的专辑，就取名塑料海岸？有点环保的意思在里面，号召大家多使用可回收的商品之类的。当然在专辑里Plastic Beach就是Gorillaz们玩的地方，是用各种废弃的工业垃圾制造的，然后他们把各种残片组装成各种新玩具……

专辑一开始就能听到Snoop Dogg的声音“Welcome to the world of plastic beach!”，而后又在“Stylo”里把mic传给indie rapper Mos Def和old-school的灵魂歌手Bobby Womack，当然最好听似乎还是和Lou Reed合作的那首“Some Kind of Nature”，歌词和旋律都没得挑。当然整体而言Gorillaz第三张专辑跟上一张的风格明显不同，不论是环保的大背景还是多元化的音乐选择，乍一听需要些时间适应，翻来覆去听几遍恐怕会爱上这张专辑，不一定是2010年最好的，但是绝对是2010年应该听听的。尤其是当你不小心听到了SHE的最新专辑的时候，之类的……

musicOMH提供了个有意思的的观点，就是虽然这CD是环保主题，推崇回收之类的，但是这张CD，说的是物体本身，从里到外确实基本上是都不怎么环保的塑料制品。啧啧，有点像是前几天批判“关灯一小时”活动时的那些观点。怎么说呢，在这些卡通形象背后，Damon Albarn毫无保留的表达着自己，自由的表达自己，怎么都是让人嫉妒的。别的就不写了，麻烦。

总之，自由是个奢侈品，在这里，墙里，乌云下。

以上。

Gorillaz – Some Kind of Nature (feat. Lou Reed)

我们拥有一个 特自由的地方
它在个废墟中 破陋的一间房
别人找不到 只为我们开放
可以随便闹 没大人的阻挡
外面的世界 无聊复杂彷徨
我们在这里 把它们都遗忘

老写那些污七八糟的东西了，写点儿别的。今天，确切的说是昨天，把花儿的第一第二张专辑又找来放到了乐库里，听啊听。一下子回到了中学时代，即使大张伟以及花儿后来走了大pop的路子，但这两张《幸福的旁边》和《草莓声明》对当时上高中的我，影响很多。那会儿我不是这种音乐的爱好者，还在四处寻找黑人音乐，疯狂的痴迷于某些港台歌星，但无疑花儿的歌词却是最容易打动我的。每一首，仔细的听，也许这两张专辑“随着时间的推移已经渐渐失去了本身在不经意间所承载的某种使命，而当初听着花儿长大的孩子们如今也都散落在各个城市的某个角落里，但是一天天不断成长起来的新的孩子们也许也会像当初的我们一样鬼使神差的把这张唱片从唱片店带回家，希望他们能感受到的是像我们当初一样的感觉。”

感觉中学时候就一直是那种感觉：幸福的旁边 – 很近却又不属于自己，谈不上自由的自由，谈不上青涩的青涩，很长一段迷茫的生活。很久找不到当初的记忆，听着这些歌，那些支离破碎的中学生活片段鱼贯而来。其实回头看看，当时担心的，现在还担心，当时期待的，现在还期待，只不过现在没时间去担心或者期待，那会儿比较闲。

再说一句音乐的，林宥嘉出了新专辑，很好听，台湾版的陈奕迅，有些风格似乎不是很适合他，但是一个有sense的歌者，可以补齐一些风格的偏差。别的好像没什么了。没什么头绪。

本来还想搞得图文并茂一点，犯懒就省去了。每当要开始一次新的尝试，还是和小时候一样怯懦，越听这些歌就越不想长大，不想面对。可小时候在学校遇到的一切麻烦却又都是自己解决的，现在还是这样 – 需要自己解决。等待属于无用功。我把自己堆在一堆幸福的物件里，可是心里还是不开心，不好。

那天等人的时候买了两本书，一本恶童日记，一本单向街出的书，叫“最愚蠢的一代？”。说两个后面这本书的内容，那天总共看了1个小时，区区几十页，有点印象的就是关于网络时代，所有人（不管你是知识分子还是普通大众）的阅读水平以及阅读逻辑被不同程度的摧毁。现在有任何问题都可以google，也有教授专家说这样不好，那么好，剔除网络，我想知道某个名人的身世，我怎么才能知道，倘若没有人给他写传，岂不是我永远也无法知道这个问题的答案了？这种时代的变化是没法儿改变的，最终就是阅读时间变短，双眼和大脑像硬盘一样到处寻址，用最迅速的方法解决问题。回到阅读，就是人们很难再安静的“深阅读”一本书（“浅阅读”即浏览），看了不少，却融入不进去或者回想不起来，大脑的焦点发生改变 – 所以要培养“深阅读”的能力。还有一事儿就是曾经很有名的Anti-Wave反波（一播客，内容很潮<不是指衣服>）的主办人之一 – 飞猪（毕业于南开，80后）的采访。看了看挺有意思的，似乎我们这个年龄层都是那个时间段开始上网的，瀛海威这个词绝对不会陌生，以及对BBS的莫名好感。内容倒是没怎么在意，之是最后在注脚的一段说明让我看了半天：曾任职于《经济观察报》当记者，现供职于优酷网。优酷网，跟这个2005年获得世界最佳播客的Anti-Wave实在是太不搭了。犹如花儿从当年的天才乐队走向如今的pop“天团”。

这本书真的很有意思，比如有采访梁文道，关于这一代两岸三地的年轻人，都有什么不同的生活和状态，梁文道说台湾和香港的年轻人比较像西方的，大陆的处于一个混杂的时期，挺对的，仔细看下去有道理也没道理。他最近要去单向街做一个环境保护的讲座，老给我douban发信。

无厘头的写了好多，就是这个状态，听着这首钢蹦儿聚集地写完的。愿我们都有一个钢蹦儿聚集地！

以上。

零点首映，上座率百分之八十以上，二三十次鼓掌，由采访入选的dancer开始，以Man in the Mirror结束，附带一个小小的彩蛋（观众已经走了二三十人），估计是这辈子看到的最大个儿的Michael，大萤幕嘛。

看的时候感触还是挺多的，毕竟人已经没了，再怎么精彩，陪伴着的感觉也只有遗憾。第一次在万达看零点的首映，发现有一些零点首映癖患者讨论着上次变形金刚的事儿，有意思。

This is it.

Arctic Monkeys － Crying Lightning

最近发这些文章已然没人看也没人回了，就不多写了，给自己留念相就悠着点。嘿嘿。

以上。

Lyrics:

Lost touch with my soul
I had no where to turn
I had no where to go
Lost sight of my dream,
Thought it would be the end of me
I thought I’d never make it through
I had no hope to hold on to,
I thought I would break

I didn’t know my own strength
And I crashed down, and I tumbled
But I did not crumble
I got through all the pain
I didn’t know my own strength
Survived my darkest hour
My faith kept me alive
I picked myself back up
Hold my head up high
I was not built to break
I didn’t know my own strength

Found hope in my heart,
I found the light to life
My way out of the dark
Found all that I need
Here inside of me
I thought I’d never find my way
I thought I’d never lift that weight
I thought I would break

I didn’t know my own strength
And I crashed down, and I tumbled
But I did not crumble
I got through all the pain
I didn’t know my own strength
Survived my darkest hour
My faith kept me alive
I picked myself back up
Hold my head up high
I was not built to break
I didn’t know my own strength

There were so many times I
Wondered how I’d get through the night I
Thought took all I could take

I didn’t know my own strength
And I crashed down, and I tumbled
But I did not crumble
I got through all the pain
I didn’t know my own strength
Survived my darkest hour
My faith kept me alive
I picked myself back up
Hold my head up high
I was not built to break
I didn’t know my own strength

Well, that didn’t take long. The good people at Nah Right point us toward this tribute mix put together by DJs Skee and Khalil, featuring The Game, Chris Brown, Diddy, Polow Da Don, Mario Winans, Usher and Boyz II Men.

Better on the other side:

Lyrics:

[Diddy talking]
I remember the first time i seen you moonwalk,
I believed I could do anything,
you made the world dance,
you made the music come to life

[Chris brown - Chorus]
This the type of song that make the angels cry,
i look up in the sky and i wonder why?
why you had to go, go
I know its better on the other side,
you were chosen from the start
never gon let you go,

[The Game]
Whos Michael Jackson,
Your Michael Jackson,
Im Michael Jackson,
We all Michael Jackson,
I guess what Im asking is everybody bow their head for a legend dont breathe for a second,
now let the air out, grab the hand of somebody you care about,
so you can hear my message, my confession,
someone tell Usher, i seen the moonwalk, i guess the young thriller touched him, like he touched me, like he touched you,
so carry on his legacy, something i must do, so i trust you lighting candles, concrete visuals, me and my brothers listen to jackson 5 in the living room,
first thing i did when i heard was call puff,
cos him and Mike tried to stop the beef between us,
who was us? Me and fifty, that beef is dead, him and Mike Jackson gonna take us to the ledge.

[Chorus]

As Im pouring out this liquor candles start to flicker,
when list (?) my air ones, MJ was my nier.
Not the one that play ball, the one with the hollywood star,
and since im a hollywood star imma tell you my story,
never had a family that close, never see Barry Gordy walking through interscope,
just like me they always had Mike in a scope,
no matter what you say,
imma love him and hes still dope,
let me take you back to 85 when i was in a zone, dancing for my momma thriller jacket with all the zippers on,
now im doing 90 bout to crash in this Aston,
listening to Outcast, Im sorry Mrs Jackson
anything i can ever do to better you your son was our king so we wont Corretta you,
Im writing this letter to all the Jackson kids, we all Jackson kids, time to let us through.

[Chorus]

[Boys II Men]
This the kind of song that make the angels cry,
look up in the sky and ask God, why o why why
Do we live and let die
This the kind of song that make the angels cry,
look up in the sky and ask God, why o why why
Do we live and let, live and let die.
[End]

09年MTV颁奖的时候Nas说自己要和Damian Marley在六月发行新专辑《Distant Relatives》（《远亲》），六月马上就要过去了，一个试听版本的As We Are今天流出，大概也就意味着离发行日期越来越近了，60秒。听听看。

6.27更新Kanye West上放出的preview视频，有兴趣的看一下。

The album’s content will heavily revolve around Africa, from ancestry and poverty. The duo worked to maintain the theme, which will contain samples from African music.The album will offer their social commentary of the United States and Africa.<Wikipedia.org>

Nas & Damian Marley – As We Are

Background Prerview:

Quincy Jones:“I am absolutely devastated at this tragic and unexpected news. For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don’t have the words. Divinity brought our souls together on The Wiz and allowed us to do what we were able to throughout the 80’s. To this day, the music we created together on Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad is played in every corner of the world and the reason for that is because he had it all…talent, grace, professionalism and dedication.He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever. I’ve lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him.”

Elizabeth Taylor: “I am absolutely devastated at this tragic and unexpected news. For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don’t have the words.”

Rest in peace, Michael.

Music And Me
　　Michael Jackson
　　

We’ve been together for such a long time now
Music music and me
Don’t care whether all our songs rhyme
Now music
Music and me
　　
Only know wherever I go
Were as close as two friends can be
There have been others
But never two lovers
Now music
Music and me
　　
Grab a song and come along
You can sing your melody
A world of sweet harmony
　　
Birds of a feather will fly together
Now music music and me
Music and me

以上。

C-Sick, 90后，只有18岁今年。参加了2009年美国红牛举办的“Big Tune”比赛，beat battle。最后胜出。Nas的最新单曲则由他一手操办。

直接听曲子，看图片，学英文吧。

对了，C-Sick不是黑人。

创作背景，引用自MySpace：

A seasoned hip-hop vet welcomes a rookie into the game

Self-proclaimed “’90s baby” Charles “C-Sick” Dumazer is an unashamed product of the Internet era.

At only 18 years old, this emerging hip-hop beatmaker out of Chicago never learned how to use an ASR or MPC or even how to dig for vinyl. “I’m just very digital—very digital,” says the reserved producer who searches for songs and sounds on Google to sample. But in just a little over two years since producing his first beats on the demo version of Fruity Loops Studios, C-Sick already finds himself sitting across from legendary hip-hop lyricist Nas, ready to record his first commercial single.

The rookie’s rise to such a notable collaboration didn’t exactly fall in his lap. This high school senior has proven to be a fast learner and is beginning to pay his dues working with local MCs like Peeda Pan and GLC. And it’s his lifetime exposure to hip-hop and all music—first in the South of France then in the South Side of Chicago—that has helped him develop an ear for quality, sample-based tracks. In particular Chicago juke is the high-bpm sound that help shape the producer’s initial work. “When I came to Chicago [at age 10], juke music was always around me,” he says. “It was like a culture, it was a lifestyle, and you couldn’t be away from it.”

The beats that won C-Sick the Chicago leg of Red Bull Big Tune beat battle last year and the finals in New York weren’t entirely juke-heavy, though. Instead, the then 17-year-old captured the crowd with his mid-tempo heaters, which were a mix of bouncy soul-backed beats and heavy-hitting Just Blaze–inspired backdrops. “I’m trying to be creative and try to bring our [Chicago] flavor in producing ‘cause we sample just like on the East Coast a lot, but there’s always a little twist to it,” he says.

On a cool April night at Red Bull Studios in Santa Monica, Calif., C-Sick’s ability to meld classic East Coast sample-based sensibilities with Chicago’s penchant for percussion is proving to be a formula that even Nas can appreciate. As part of C-Sick’s prize for winning Big Tune 2008, he was awarded the opportunity to work with the Queensbridge-bred MC. And now he’s playing beats for Nas off of FL Studios 7 on his Toshiba laptop that sound impressive booming from the Genelec speakers.

While Nas was sent some of C-Sick’s beats ahead of time, the instrumental that was ultimately chosen was selected on the spot. As Nas recalls of the process, “Everything he’s playing me is good, but he told me he had something that he had just made for me—a beat that he really heard me on.”

That custom beat didn’t have the robust quality of the tracks he played at Red Bull Big Tune—instead, it was a crisp, emotive instrumental featuring subtle strings and guitar samples. When I talk to C-Sick about the choice, we both agree that it’s the perfect beat for Nas. C-Sick explains that the track wasn’t that heavy because he wanted to let Nas’ signature vocals complete the song. “His flow is a melody,” the producer says. “When I made the beat, I thought of Nas—I needed that extra melody.”

Before the recording could commence, C-Sick had to get a crash course in live production. Coming from a self-taught, laptop-based production experience, he was a little lost initially when Big Tune co-founders and session assistants Jake One and Vitamin D told him that the bass on the beat wasn’t going to work and that he needed to replace it using a synth. But after Vitamin set up an M-Audio Axiom 49, C-Sick quickly got in the zone, played the proper keys and the single was on its way.

When asking Nas about the analog era of recording and how he feels about the difference of working with computer-exclusive producers such as C-Sick, he actually prefers the efficiency of digital technology. “With digital, it’s a lot faster, it’s a lot easier—so it’s all good,” Nas says. “There’s probably a sound difference between digital and analog, but I haven’t figured it out yet so I just keep it moving.”

At the end of day, Nas hit the nail on the head. The fact the C-Sick hadn’t used any physical production equipment is irrelevant—it’s what comes from his work on FL Studios or whatever platform he uses that counts. Since Nas has already expressed interest in working with the rookie again, clearly C-Sick is onto something.

At one point in the night I ask C-Sick if he’s overwhelmed by the thought of using Digidesign Pro Tools and a gigantic Solid State Logic console like the one at Red Bull, and while humble, he also seems ready for anything. “I’m sure I’ll be able to pick it up,” he says. “Pro Tools could be the same way [as learning FL Studios]. It’d be like riding a bike, really.”

以上。