The The

2695人收藏

风格: #后朋克　#合成器流行　#新浪潮　#艺术流行
地区: United Kingdom 英国

艺人介绍

90年代的末代歌迷们只要一提起独立音乐，铁定会异口同声呼出这个名字：4AD。而问到4AD的开山乐队，就未必有人知道了，这支乐团从1980年创建以来，一直都保持着不冷不热的成长体温，甚至连名字也都不清不白的，这个神秘组织就是英国的The The。

The The的领袖是Matt Johnson， The The首张专辑《Burning Blue Soul》就为4AD的日后茁壮打下了坚密的奠基石，这张唱片仅耗资1800英磅，录制工作却费时180天。1981年春天，《Burning Blue Soul》仿若雪后初开的朝阳，终于在英国后朋克田野上照射出一条崭新的大道——独立之声。《Burning Blue Soul》其实应称作Matt Johnson首张个人专辑，因为10首作品的词、曲、器乐、演唱全由他一手承担。这张唱片无论在主题设计、风格创建还是整体构架上，都与The The日后的作品有着不可比拟的本质差别。

《Burning Blue Soul》诞生后，Johnson的才情象喷射的熔浆一般，照亮了四周。在一年后的《The Pornography of Despalr》中，The The 真正凝结成了一个核心。也许是The The的创造太过奇异，更可能是大唱片公司从The The身上嗅出隐散着的商业气息，《Burning Blue Soul》成为The The在4AD的第一张，也是唯一一张唱片。一年后，The The浮出海面，终于跳到地上，扬起了十多年的蜕变之帆。在《Burning Blue Soul》诞生的15年来，英国乐坛已历经了一浪涌过一浪的运动。而The The对其贡献远远超越了他们理应得到的地位。仅从Johnson在《Burning Blue Soul》中对敲击乐不可思议的随心支配，就可以发现他的价值，80年代英国流行乐的结构从此裂变。《Burning Blue Soul》中三首乐曲无不激射出一道道令人晕眩的光芒：“沙漠中的红色岩熔”中飞禽尖啸的回荡、地名怪兽的低吼及人类破坏而发明出的嘈杂噪音，调配出一种冷漠淹盖下的沸腾；“失控”中各种精灵的飞翔、生物的舞蹈、神秘的丛林流水；“一江春水向东流”里走调的旋律、孩子们机械而空旷的欢呼、压抑下神经质的掌声。在另外七首作品中，Johnson也把音乐放置在与理念平等的地位上。而Matt Johnson另一绝无仅有的价值是他十几年来一直站在时尚潮流的对立面。这种长期的磨练也逐渐奠定了他的生命观。从Matt Johnson蜿蜒的心中流淌出的奇思怪想，映照出这位19岁青年眼中的世界── 一个不折不扣的精神病院。在精神错乱了中作者雕刻出一幅过敏族无望人生的画面。

Matt Johnson对未来与现实中挣扎的幻觉憧憬则表现在“另一个溺死的男孩”中，他同时对人类赖以存在与寄托的宗教进行了揭底，Johnson终于发现到这张苍白的信仰后安详只是一片逼真的虚无。年轻的Matt Johnson在向哲人迈进的沿途中也同时扮化着诗人的角色，但这是一个神经质的诗人。一曲曲优美的歌更象是一首首忧患的诗。“无休止的歌”、 “又一次金色日落”、“象一轮太阳在我的花园开起”，后者最大程度地呈现出 Johnson旷世的诗人气韵： “天空燃烧着散布着预言投射出一串串影子穿越了这个国家一股灰烬从太阳的体温内开起我沉醉了……”这种预言是源自诗人对世界末日的忧虑，是对生命萎缩的尽情欢颂，是一无所有者憔悴的挽歌。在 “又一次金色的日落”中，这位刚毅的战士再次从容地拿起了武器：“在一幅绝望的图画里我把我的灵魂铺在纸上洒进词里我睁开双眼我明白了我到底是谁这种自豪的感觉正淹没着我的遗憾。” Matt Johnson类别于那个时代朋克部队的鲜明一点是：他对国家贫苦的人乃到地球上的全人类都寄与了深深的同情与爱护。这位先知泄露了悲剧诞生的天机，当无知的人类正忙于为残灭同类而互设圈套时，当腐朽的欲望正为该巩固他人的虚弱或者展示自己的力量而东奔西走时，Matt Johnson向每一个人发出了诚挚的询问：你是否想过你自己才是宇宙间最重要的东西？Matt Johnson在《Burning Blue Soul》中所建造的对英国八十年代音乐启蒙的功绩和勃勃野心，足以验实了音乐本身的生命力。The The被公认为摇滚乐坛上对糜烂体系进行摧毁与创造的改革先驱，并激励指引了一批批有意识与良知的乐团，其中最有名的就是The Smiths。当这段短暂的神话破灭后，吉它手 Johnny Marr于95年与英国另一个传奇乐团Joy Division的延续New Order贝司手进行了合作。今天的The The已渐渐脱出了那片繁喧的乐坛，时间也似乎淡化了勇士的奇迹。但不论何时何地，The The那份孤立而灿烂的精神会始终在黑暗中舞蹈、燃烧。

The The was the guise of Matt Johnson, a mercurial singer/songwriter whose music ran the gamut from dance-pop to country. Born August 15, 1961, in London, Johnson was raised in the flat above his fathers pub, the Two Puddings, a haven for well-known celebrities and criminals; he also became exposed to music at the nightclubs and dancehalls owned by his uncle, where he saw performers like Howlin Wolf, the Kinks, and Muddy Waters. Johnson formed his first band, Roadstar, when he was 11; at the age of 15, he was hired as a tea boy for the DeWolfe music publishing company, and within three years, he was working in their recording studio as an assistant engineer.

After the demise of the duo the Marble Index in 1979, Johnson formed the first incarnation of The The with synth player Keith Laws; after playing their debut gig opening for Scritti Politti, the group issued its first single, Controversial Subject, on the 4AD label in 1980. A year later, contractual obligations forced Johnson to issue the LP Burning Blue Soul under his own name; that year, he also recorded as a guitarist with the band the Gadgets, and The The contributed a track to the Some Bizzare Album compilation.

In 1982, The The — now essentially a Johnson solo project, backed by a revolving coterie of musicians — recorded the album The Pornography of Despair, which a dissatisfied Johnson chose not to release; a 1983 single recorded with Orange Juices Zeke Manyika, This Is the Day, formed the centerpiece of The Thes proper debut, 1983s Soul Mining, an excursion into dance-flavored pop. Illness sidelined Johnson for much of the following year, and The The did not return until 1986s Infected, an eclectic commentary on the state of Britain in the modern world. Recorded with the aid of talents like Neneh Cherry, Art of Noises Anne Dudley, and Swans Roli Mosimann, Infected was also accompanied by an ambitious album-length video.

When The The returned with the dissonant Mind Bomb in 1989, they were once again a true band, with Johnson joined by ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr as well as bassist James Eller and former ABC drummer Dave Palmer. The same lineup remained for 1993s pared-down Dusk, but 1995s Hanky Panky marked yet another new direction when Johnson was joined by guitarist Eric Schermerhorn, keyboardist D.C. Collard, harmonica player Jim Fitting, and drummer Brian MacLeod. The first in a series of occasional albums celebrating the work of legendary performers, Hanky Panky was a brooding covers collection honoring the music of country great Hank Williams. NakedSelf followed in early 2000.

The The

艺人介绍

热门评论

最新简评（共99条）