纪念双生 Commemorating Two Births
(Silver Apples -> Soviet Pop)

By , 2011年 5月 19日

纪念双生
—–Silver Apples 北京演出记

他们是60年代末期听觉世界里横空出世的低调蓝领、无政府技术混子,草根组装与拆卸狂人、电子垃圾回收与破坏分子,这几个简单的定义,使他们在瞬间凝聚了强大的力量,给当时众多光鲜的摇滚乐队以沉重的打击。

To commemorate two births
—–Silver Apples Beijing show reflections
They are blue-collar electronic music, technical anarchist punks, assembly/disassembly engineers, recyclers and destroyers. They suddenly showed up at the end of the 1960s. Their role conferred a powerful energy, delivered a heavy blow to the fancy rock’n’roll of the time.

《 Not in China? Watch on YouTube. 》

以下我试图为他们诠释出的一个骄傲的立场:
——如果我可以用这些恼人的收音机零件,电报键,上百个机械旋钮和电子垃圾市场的废料来告诉你一个真正属于未来的契机,摧毁你在舞台上穿丝绒裤砸吉他反战,当众骂娘撒尿的低级趣味。
——如果你还在使用任何一种乐器,那么至于你之前一切有关终极反叛和极致前卫的浪漫企图,都和我无关。
——唯一重要的是,我面前是一个新的时代,而你只属于现在。
——或者,我们更愿意在嬉皮士的耳边低语:不懂机械,更无法知晓自然。

Here is an arrogant mission statement I created for them:

—–If I can use these frustrating spare radio parts, buttons, mechanical knobs and garbage from the electronic trash market to tell you there’s a real chance for the future, I can destroy your fake punk attitude, your cursing and pissing on the audience, breaking your guitar and wearing velvet pants, preaching anti-war sermons on the stage.
—–If you are still using any kind of musical instruments, I don’t give a fuck about your romantic dreams of ‘ultimate rebellion’ and ‘extreme avant-garde’
—–The only important thing is: I face a new generation, but you only belong to now.
—–Or, we like to whisper to the hippies: if you don’t know machines, you don’t know nature.

几十年前Simeon苦闷于浪费时间在电子垃圾堆里淘金,乐队也在瞬间因为航空公司的官司而解散,今天设备不是问题,但他仍然是一个义无反顾地讨厌航空公司的老人:
“航空公司给我太多的大件行李罚款。”

Decades ago, Simeon was frustrated after spending so much time seeking the good from electronic trash. Silver Apples broke up because their record company lost a lawsuit with the damn airplane company. Now he doesn’t need to scrape around for his equipment, but he is still obliged to hate the airplane company:

“They charge me a lot of money for huge suitcases.”

如今我在台下看老Simeon,high点的确很怪,单纯对于Silver Apples,似乎音乐的共鸣并不是最初的起因。这种感觉对我来说并不常见。再看眼前的中国孩子都很懂得尊老爱幼,没有一个坐得住的,都high了。再看Simeon, 我瞬间知道该怎样解释我这略微异常的兴奋。

Today I stand under the stage to watch Simeon. I feel excited for a weird reason, not really because of Silver Apples’ music. This kind of excitement is really rare for me. I see all the kids here, so fucking psyched. Chinese kids know how to respect old people. Nobody is just sitting around, everybody is dancing. So I look at Simeon in a new way. I suddenly know how to explain my strange excitement. It comes not from the performance, but from a shaking generational shift.

今天演出给我的感触更多来自时代交替的震荡,看Simeon,你想银苹果的经历,他们在发起革命之后解体,离散,又重生,接着相继老去,今天老Simeon在电波声浪中略微痉挛、但又异常硬朗的演唱,形成了一个穿越几代人的电子暖流和凝聚力,有关音乐,有关时代,更是纪念了众多年轻人反叛纠结又孤独的生存境遇,垃圾里寻找乐趣的年代,各种各样的垃圾……

You see, Simeon reminds you of Silver Apples’ experimental energy. They started a revolution then died, and were reborn. Today Simeon uses his slightly tremulous but still strong voice, sings along with his electronic wave. His performance creates a warm current, a feeling of cohesion among generations. The music commemorates today’s youth, rebellious, struggling, lonely… commemorates a generation finding happiness in the trash can, all different kinds of trash.

因为垃圾里暗含的是那些重新开启不可能的欲望。

Because there is a desire to restart all impossibilities in the trash.

《 Not in China? Watch on YouTube. 》

另外一个high点来自苏维埃·波普,当晚他们让很多人震惊,对于观众来说,不仅认为这个场暖得相当好,我从他们的声音里感到了敬意,对Silver Apples, 以及一种伴随开拓的振奋和自信,更多的是他们表现出让人出乎意料的良好的控制力。在北京我看过无数的实验、噪音、即兴演出,无论再极端再疯狂的表演,好的艺术家都会展现给你一个强大的控制力,这个跟演出形式和性格无关。态度是很基本的,也最容易暴露问题。显然他们在摸索着更多新的可能性。

Another excitement from Soviet Pop. They shocked everybody that night, not only because they did a good job as the opening band. I could hear a reverence for Silver Apples in their music. They are really confident and pioneering, but they also showed people an amazing ability to control. I have seen so much experimental/noise/improvised music in Beijing, but no matter how extreme and crazy their shows are, good artists always show you a strong ability to control. This is not a matter of form or personality. Attitude is the fundamental thing, and the easiest way to show your weakness. Obviously, they are testing more possibilities.

我曾经在《在旁边儿,在地下》出版的时候写过一句推荐语“坏得发黑的噪音老炮们在利落地干掉自己之前也可能是一个纠结逼,所以,先把面子干掉,换回一点对眼前年轻部落的耐心和宽容,来关注这个正在发生的开心事件。” 当晚,苏维埃·波普向所有人展现了他们的能量,他们的音乐也为这个开心事件转变为实际运动添加了更多新的养料。

I wrote a recommendation for the “underground b-sides” cd: “Even though you are a really cool and experienced experimental musician, before you destroy yourself, before you understand yourself, you still need to experience a period of hardship, shyness and struggle. So why don’t we just leave the pride behind, be more patient and tolerant to these young kids, focus on the happy event that is happening now.”

So now, Soviet Pop proves that they have energy. Their music is establishing a foundation to transform a happy event into a movement.

所以对我自己来说,这是一场纪念双生的演出。老simeon带来了划时代的重生,但他的意义在于重现一种已逝的骑士掘金精神,并呈现给未来丰富的可能性。苏维埃·波普代表着另一个新生,虽然尚处于在探索的起始时刻,而他们显然已经走上了一个更高的起点。

My internal dialogue: this is a performance to commemorate two births. Simeon brings us an epoch-making birth. He is a pioneer, a crate-digging golden knight whose generation is already dead, but who also shows us a lot of possibilities for the future. Soviet Pop represents another new birth: they are at the beginning, but have obviously already walked to a higher point.

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