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关于国内独立音乐人的介绍侧写或者是演出回顾，大家其实也都经常看到，但是来自于一个活跃于北京地下音乐圈多年的资深老外的观点一定显得更加特别。Josh Feola（赵识）住在北京，他既以乐手身份参与及组织摇滚乐和实验音乐演出，同时也是一位优秀的撰稿人，独立运营着音乐网站 pangbianr.com。
在每周的专栏［入耳 In My Ears］里，Josh 会以他的独特视角，讲述独立音乐场景中的种种故事，也许还会展示出音乐人、厂牌或是演出场地更加不为人知的一面。
For English Please Scroll Down.
音乐人小站 | 点击收听歌曲《AutumnIn Your Town》
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撰文／Josh Feola
天气转凉树叶变黄了，我想这周可以听听我最爱的秋季专辑，杨帆的《What Happened After 1,001 Nights?》。
这张最爱来的比较晚——去年才发行——也是我搬来中国7年后发行的中国唱片里最喜欢的一张。杨帆真是多才多艺，她不仅仅是一个音乐人，也从事音乐制作、作曲、绘画。她的音乐历程始于1990年代末，在一个打口店里她结识了王悦。那时候她才15岁，却拿起吉他和在唱片店里新结识的伙伴组了挂在盒子上，并写了最早的一些歌。条目是中国的第一支全女子朋克乐队。
后来杨帆组了 Ourself Beside Me 并演了好几年——主要是在D-22——并发了一张专辑，在我看来这是兵马司最棒的发行。再后来她逐渐走向幕后：为戏剧创作配乐，还有经典无声电影的现场配乐项目。后来 Nevin Domer 有了一个主意，邀请杨帆在他的厂牌根茎唱片发行一张个人专辑，于是就有了《What Happened After 1,001 Nights?》这张让人入迷又迷惑的唱片。
这张专辑我听了可能不下1001遍，不过我依然很难去描述它。我之前是这么写的：
在意识以及别的什么可以超越的东西之间，杨帆带来了这些大胆的具有死亡气息的华尔兹。《What Happened After 1,001 Nights?》是一张不可思议的杰作，如同一场器乐化的旋风。钟琴、风琴、铜铃、雨滴、猫的哀鸣，还有她飘渺的吉他独奏，有着鬼魅的合声。杨帆跟踪你隐隐的焦虑，把熟悉的声音放在不真实的场景中，就像是潜意识。也会有极少数的时候被人声打破，比如专辑里这首抢耳的《Autumn In Your Town》，它谈论了失去的爱以及无形的渴望。虫洞被吸进烟雾窒息的空气，并围绕徘徊在整张唱片中。
……我猜是这样。
今年早些的时候，北京最好的地下音乐场地 fRUITYSPACE 做了杨帆的个展，这些绘画作品与她的音乐同源。我之前采访过她，被问及音乐与绘画之间的联系时她说：“我的音乐和画都是出于同一种情绪去创作的，就像日记一样。我觉得用非语言的方式去表述的话，其实会更接近事情的本质。其实影像也有影像的节奏，一个是内在的情感，第二个是影像自我的节奏，这是我可以用音乐来实现的，也可以实现两者的一种同步。”
或许你最好亲自去看或听。如果你在北京，你可以去 fRUITYSPACE 买一张《What Happened After 1,001 Nights?》的黑胶，同时也可以找到那里发行的两本小书，都是杨帆的视觉作品。同时也可以留意一下 T.O.W.，杨帆和 The Molds 的刘舸组的新乐队，偶尔会在 fRUITYSPACE 演出。
如果你不在北京，可以去 genjingrecords.bandcamp.com在线听这张专辑，推荐睡前时段。这张专辑介于睡与醒之间，入冬前的绝佳之选。
相关页面
杨帆:
《What Happened After 1,001 Nights?》
https://music.douban.com/subject/26382168/
《Ourself Beside Me》
https://music.douban.com/subject/3610116/
根茎唱片
https://site.douban.com/genjingrecords/
关于作者
Josh Feola 是一位音乐人/撰稿人，现居北京。自2010年起，他通过自己的平台“旁边儿”（pangbianr）组织音乐、艺术、电影活动，并先后担任 D-22 与 XP 的演出经理。他的长期项目有撒丽不跳舞实验音乐节（Sally Can't Dance）与北京电子乐偶遇（BEME）。他为以下出版机构撰写过关于音乐、艺术的文章：The Wire，Leap 艺术界，Sixth Tone，Tiny Mix Tapes，他也是纽约观察者报 Gulou View观点专栏的共同作者之一。作为音乐人，他曾在北京乐队吹万担任鼓手，参与首张专辑《白夜》的录音与巡演；目前他是乐队 Subs、迷走神经的鼓手，也化名 Charm 录音、演出。
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Yangfan-douban music station | Listen to the track 《AutumnIn Your Town》
In My Ears is a weekly music column by Josh Feola 赵识, Beijing-based writer and musician and founder of pangbianr.com
The weather’s turning cold and the leaves are turning orange, so I thought it would be appropriate to feature my favorite autumn album in this week’s column: Yang Fan’s What Happened After 1,001 Nights?
This is a new favorite — it was only released last year — and is also my favorite release to come out of China in the over seven years I’ve lived here. Yang Fan is a brilliant and multi-talented artist, skilled not only as a musician, but also as a producer, composer, and illustrator. Her music career began in the late 1990s when, as the story goes, she approached Gia Wang (Wang Yue) at a bootleg dakou CD store asking for a cigarette. She was only 15 at the time, but was already adept enough with a guitar to join up with her newly made record store buddies and write many of the early songs for Hang On The Box, China’s first all-female punk band.
Later Yang Fan formed Ourself Beside Me, which played out for a few years — mostly at D-22 — and released what remains, in my opinion, the best record ever put out by Maybe Mars. More recently Yang Fan has been somewhat of a recluse. She’s composed and performed for theatrical stage productions, and has provided live scores for screenings of silent film classics. It was at one of the latter events that Nevin Domer got the idea to ask Yang Fan to record a solo album for his label, Genjing Records. What Happened After 1,001 Nights? is the stunning, bewildering and bewitching result.
I’ve probably listened to the album more than 1,001 times by now, but I still struggle to describe it. Here’s how I’ve attempted to do so in the past:
Yang Fan presents these bold death waltzes, a sonic statement skirting the line between consciousness and whatever else there might be beyond. An instrumental whirl, What Happened After 1,001 Nights? is a masterwork of the uncanny. Glockenspiel, harmonium, brass bell, the falling rain, a cat’s humanlike wail, ethereal solos on her guitar’s harmonic ghost notes: Yang Fan has soundtracked your subliminal anxieties, placing familiar sounds in an unreal scene as only the unconscious mind can. On the rare occasions when a discernible human voice does break, as on the album’s standout track, “Autumn In Your Town”, it speaks to lost love, an intangible longing. It breathes wormholes into the smoke-choked air filling, surrounding, hovering over the entire record.
…I guess.
Earlier this year, Beijing’s best underground music venue, fRUITYSPACE, held a solo exhibition of Yang Fan’s visual work, which seems to come from the same place in her brain. I interviewed her earlier this year, and when asked about the connection between her music and her illustrations, she said: “My music and my art are created with the same set of emotions. They’re like my diaries. I think that when you document life through non-verbal forms, such as music and visual art, it’s closer to its essence. Every image in a film has its own internal emotion and external rhythms, and these are both things that I can express through music.”
Maybe better for you to see/hear for yourself, though. If you’re in Beijing, you can pick up What Happened After 1,001 Nights? on vinyl at fRUITYSPACE, which also recently published two small books of Yang Fan’s visual art. Also keep an eye out for T.O.W., Yang Fan’s new band with Liu Ge of The Molds, which is known to pop up at fRUITYSPACE on occasion.
If you’re elsewhere, head to genjingrecords.bandcamp.com for a digital copy of the record. Recommended for pre-bedtime listening; the entire album lives in that strange space between sleep and waking, and pairs well with the slow march into winter.
Associated Douban Pages:
Yang Fan
What Happened After 1,001 Nights?
https://music.douban.com/subject/26382168/
Ourself Beside Me
https://music.douban.com/subject/3610116/
Genjing Records
https://site.douban.com/genjingrecords/
About the author
Josh Feola is a writer and musician based in Beijing. He’s organized music, art, and film events in the city since 2010, via his label pangbianr and as booking manager of live music venues D-22 and XP. His ongoing event series include the Sally Can’t Dance experimental music festival and the Beijing Electronic Music Encounter (BEME). He has written about music and art for publications including The Wire, LEAP, Sixth Tone, and Tiny Mix Tapes. He also co-authors the Gulou View opinion column for the New York Observer. As a musician, he formerly played drums in Beijing band Chui Wan, recording on and touring behind their debut album, White Night. He currently plays drums in SUBS and Vagus Nerve, and also records and performs under the name Charm.
