Ruins音乐中充满着天衣无缝的动态主义和极为紧密的张力,它所强调的不是“死”或“非”的破坏性,也并非那种主题的逆说,而是某种直接的、自然的东西。这种东西也许是人性抑或是生命吧。也许比起这些质朴的东西来,(Ruins)音乐中更带有一些强烈的根源性的粗犷。————日本新音乐节欧洲之行1999(现场录音文字说明)
大友良英的噪音美学;灰野敬二﹑南条麻人的迷幻结它建筑;Acid Mothers Temple的太空摇滚乐章;Sachiko M的Sine Wave波场;Yamatsuka Eye﹑Merzbow的纯噪音暴动;Ghost的Acid-Folk配方;东京“Pal”街的“音响二万电压”演出场地;东京迷幻文化的发源地Modern Music地下音乐专门店;生悦住英夫创办的独立厂牌PSF……。实在有点不可思议,日本地下音乐的地图呈现的是一个纷呈复杂﹑神秘而深度化的局面。而可以肯定的是,在这块版图上,吉田达也和他的Ruins扮演的是一个无法被取代的角色:Avant-Rock的领航者!
从Ruins﹑赤天,到身兼南条麻人的High Rish﹑Mainliner﹑Musica Transonic的鼓手,不难发现,一直支持着吉田达也的,不单单是那套吸纳了Rush﹑Pink Floyd﹑King Krimson等乐队精髓的鼓法,而是Avant-Guard﹑Improvisation等现代即兴演奏的精神。这位有着多重身份的鼓手成长于日本地下音乐刚刚起步的年代,他的音乐影响,来自广泛而多元的类别:由中世纪作曲家﹑日本第一代地下乐手,到蓝调根源﹑爵士巨匠,以至民族音乐及迷幻年代。吉田曾自言:“我十分向往朋克带出来的力量感,但我并不想做单纯的朋克音乐;而真正激发我创作灵感的应该是法国的Prog-Rock乐队Magma。”无疑,Magma那仿歌剧的演唱风格,演奏时的即兴动机,主脑Christian Vander充满激情的鼓击无疑对吉田日后的创作影响甚深。
日本Psychedelic Rock体系其实是承继自六十年代的迷幻文化而来。然而这群日本Underground的乐手显然不满足于对Psychedelia的简单追溯,而是大胆而个人化地将不同的音乐元素混入其中进行实验。吉田的主要创作基地Ruins,是由低音结它和鼓组成的二人组合。在Ruins的众多作品中,乐曲大部份时间呈现出一种暴烈和狂乱的状态, 澎湃的Free Form鼓击在这种急激的Punk Rock骨架中就有着脱胎自Sonic Youth那种对噪音的即兴演奏。
始终相信,不论以何种音乐形式作为手段,日本的地下乐手终究会殊途同归于宗教。而所谓的宗教性,其实只是对现实以外的神秘性追求。灰野与南条,用音乐憧憬着比物质世界更高层次的存在意识;Acid Mothers Temple的领导者河端一是对高等智慧的外星生物的幻想;而到了吉田达也那里,则转化为对石头的迷恋。迷信石头里蕴藏着大自然神秘力量的吉田,自1985年组成乐队Ruins后,除把乐队改名为“废墟”外,多年来,还一直坚持以石头﹑石佛像或废墟作专辑的唱片封面。近乎虔诚的固执同样可见于吉田对Ruins音乐架构的设计。乐队在最初组建时本打算作三重奏形式,但因为结它手在初次排演时缺席,于是吉田就决定只采用鼓和贝司手搭配的二重奏组成Ruins的阵容,并一直坚持至今。虽然,乐队的贝司手位置一直以来都处于随时变换的状态,但“鼓打贝司”依然是吉田心目中理想和恒久的搭配。
在音乐层面上,深受日本无浪潮/实验/前卫/闹核音乐影响的Ruins与吉田的另一支组合赤天(Akaten)来得甚为相似。赤天是一个纯即兴的实验概念,由吉田与结它手津山笃(Tsuyama Atsushi)于1995年组成。与Ruins一样,乐队同样坚守着吉田二重奏的音乐理念,以Free-Form的鼓击﹑加入了效果器的贝司或结它和人声,演奏出充满攻击性与旋律性的Avant-Rock音乐。要区分Ruins和赤天的音乐,并不是一件容易的事,但吉田从赤天里流露出的那份游戏人间的幽默感相信是区分两者的关键。赤天那些短小精悍的作品里,每每充满着玩世不恭的古怪意念:对经典老歌和民族音乐的肆意“捉弄”;用拉链和照相机的胶片做演奏乐器;由照相机牌子﹑各式寿司或20世纪作曲家的生日组成的歌词……。难以解释,究竟吉田所执行的是周星弛的无厘头方程式,还是倡导引用和拼贴的后现代理论?
不得不提到的还有吉田的声音实验组合Zubi Zuva。其实早于Ruins和赤天的作品中,已不难发现吉田对人声实验的浓厚兴趣。早年曾学习蒙古图瓦喉唱的吉田在Ruins和赤天的歌唱部分,全是一些自创的语言,以及朋克与歌剧的高低音二重唱,有时候甚至只是无意义的即兴怪叫。而Zubi Zuva里面,则只有三个人,三把声音,没有乐器,以三重唱的形式,在即兴疯狂的叫喊和西藏喇嘛式咏唱下,吉田仿佛在测试和寻找人声的极限。
除了与原属的Ruins、赤天陆续有新作推出外,吉田亦以个人名义出版唱片,并不断与包括John Zorn﹑Derek Bailey﹑古馆彻夫﹑大友良英、菊地雅章等知名乐手进行不同类型的创作。领导着Ruins的同时,吉田也是南条麻人的High Rish﹑Mainliner﹑Musica Transonic的鼓手。此外,他有份参与的组合还有巨人﹑圣家族﹑大山脉X﹑Koenjihyakkei﹑Zubi Zuva等十多队;风格横跨实验﹑即兴演奏、Free Jazz及Avant-Rock。在频繁的角色转换之中,吉田的创作力却丝毫没见枯竭。而1997年和1999年,吉田和Ruins联同其他日本乐手在欧洲地区举行的日本新音乐节,对日本地下音乐的传播功不可抹。
记忆回到2000年8月13日。吉田带着Ruins的第四代贝司手佐佐木恒(Hisahsi Sasaki)出现在广州最小资的环市路,某酒巴。那是Ruins八场中国巡演的其中一站。当晚的人和事,吉田狂噪凌厉的鼓法,佐佐木恒亲切的笑容,这一切在执笔这篇文章时,又再从那个被贴上了封印的声音废墟中破茧而出。
作者:缪斯
by John Vallier
Ruins (Tatsuya Yoshida (drums/vocals) and Hisashi Sasaki (bass/vocals)) plays a unique form of manic and twisted progressive rock for these millennial times. This duo's compositions are complex and can be disorienting to any listener who is accustomed to less innovative, dynamic, and demanding musics. Yoshida, the founding member of Ruins, formed the band in 1985. Since that time, there have been a number of different bass players, including Ryuichi Masuda, Hisashi Sasaki, and Kimoto Kazuyoshi. Bandleader/drummer/singer Yoshida credits such diverse influences as progressive rock stalwarts Magma, classical composers such as Chopin, and traditional throat singing from Tuva. Though hints of these and other influences (e.g. Bill Bruford, Rush, Pink Floyd, Gong, King Crimson, Magma, Yes, and Genesis) often come through in the Ruins sound, there is no mistaking them for anyone else. Many of their compositions employ odd time signatures, sudden tempo changes, and passages of heavily processed noise. The bass, which unlike most has six strings, is often threaded through various effects. Both members of the band sing vocables that complement one another. These vocables are meant to be nonsensical and that's how they sound and are usually improvised, as are portions of their songs. Their overall sound is chaotic yet precise, noisy yet harmonious, catchy yet repelling, frenetic yet disciplined. As if the demands of Ruins were not enough, both Yoshida and Masuda keep themselves busy with various musical side projects (e.g. Vasilisk, YBO2, Men of the Continent Versus the Mountain Women). From time to time, Ruins will collaborate with others. These people have included saxophonist/producer John Zorn, keyboardist Kenichi Oguchi, vocalists Eleonola Emi and Aki Kubota, the acrobatic punkers Schlong, Kazutoki Umezu, producer Steve Albini, and guitarists Derek Bailey and Jason Willet. Ruins have many releases in the form of singles, collaborations, and full-length CDs. Among these full-length albums are Stonehenge (1990), Burning Stone (1992), Refusal Fossil (1997), and Symphonica (1998). Pallaschtom followed, comprised of three tracks: a classical music medley, a hard rock medley, and a progressive rock medley. They were critically celebrated and found time to release a compilation of their rareties, titled 1986-1992, in the spring of 2002. Several months later, Tzomborgha appeared.