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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。
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Snapline 豆瓣音乐人小站 | 《She》Martin Atkins 版本 | 《She》Snapline 版本
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撰文／Josh Feola
上周的时候，我很开心能为伦敦的网络电台 NTS Live 做一个 DJ Set。这是他们第一次在北京做活动，当晚的其他DJ也都很熟识北京的夜生活：包括Bye Bye Disco的 Pei，糖蒜广播的Demone，Do Hits 的 Guzz（最近豆瓣音乐和他做了一个采访 Guzz：一次迷失丛林的旅程｜专访），只有我没有电子乐DJ/制作人背景。最后我决定做一个全摇滚的set，然后打算用 Snapline 开场。他们是我最喜欢的北京乐队。
Snapline是我最喜欢的摇滚乐队，鉴于以下原因。一个是，他们的现场一直都很棒。他们总是能有新的想法、新的声音、新的乐器、新的编排，一些歌即使我已经听过很多次了，还是会有一种实验感。此外，他们有一种很具智慧的视角，这是很多北京乐队欠缺的。很大程度上这归功于主唱陈曦不落俗套的歌词创作——他有核物理方面的学历，之后在微软做工程师。
而他们的唱片，我觉得不论是处女作《Party Is Over, Pornostar（2007）》还是之后的《Phenomena（2012）》都接近完美。它们怪诞，原始，艺术化，但也有精心雕琢的“近流行感”：不像是好多“实验摇滚”那样只有无谓的噪音，而是精炼并有感染力的耳内蠕虫，催生着北京的反乌托邦迷雾。
但我没有从这两张专辑里选歌作为 DJ set 的开场，而是从《Future Eyes》这张里选了一首。或许你会说这是他们的第1.5张录音室专辑，它的发行静悄悄，不太引人注目。
故事大约是这样：制作人 Martin Atkins（他更有名的身份是后朋克乐队Public Image Ltd 的鼓手）2006年造访北京，在D-22看了两天的演出，都是当时的活跃乐队，他希望同一些乐队有所合作，其中包括 Snapline。Snapline 和 Atkins 在录音室里待了一天，结果就是《PartyIs Over, Pornostar.》。
future eyes
Atkins 和 Snapline 签了两张专辑的合约，于是2008年他再度返回北京，又录了11首歌，也就是后来的《Future Eyes》，我在NTS放的这首《She》就出自其中。
我最近给Bandcamp写的一篇文章里，称Snapline是“一支极简主义三人后朋克乐队，以疯狂沉迷于将作品剥得只剩骨架而不失节拍推动力著称”。《Future Eyes》这张里没有这样的声音。Atkins 增加了许多的效果和乐器段落却并没有得到乐队的参与，最终专辑无法真实反映他们的原貌。我明白这是Snapline 2011年重返录音室将这些歌曲录制成一个更简洁版本的原因，最终这些歌曲以《Phenomena》为名再度发行。
Phenomena
我其实很喜欢 Martin Atkins 版的《She》。我喜欢结尾段落里陈曦人声怪异的合唱效果，还有极简、德味的鼓机，在最后有点反气候高潮的意思。《Future Eyes》在中国是2012年 和《Phenomena》一起发的，在美国要早几年，是在 Atkins 自己的厂牌 Invisible Records。这张专辑没有收录在Snapline的豆瓣小站上，也没有出现在兵马司官方的 Bandcamp 页面里，不过在 Snapline 完整的演进历程中，它是很有趣的一段。同时也可以由此探讨，在音乐从想法到最终完成的过程中，创作者与制作人的角色。这两个版本的《She》对比着听一下吧，你会明白我的意思。
相关豆瓣页面：
Snapline:
https://site.douban.com/snapline/
《Phenomena》:
https://music.douban.com/subject/10543150/
《Future Eyes》:
https://music.douban.com/subject/4830549/
《Party Is Over, Pornostar》:
https://music.douban.com/subject/2243497/
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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Snapline Douban Site | She (Martin Atkins) | She (Snapline)
In My Ears is a weekly music column by Josh Feola 赵识, Beijing-based writer and musician and founder of pangbianr.com
Last weekend I was very excited to do a DJ set for the London-based internet radio station NTS Live. It was their first time to do a show in Beijing, and I shared the DJ booth with a few veterans of this city’s nightlife scene, including Pei from Bye Bye Disco, Demone from Tangsuan Radio, and Guzz from Do Hits (check out my recent interview with Guzz for Douban Music here). Since I was the only person on the bill who’s not an electronic music DJ or producer, I decided to put together an all-rock set, and I wanted to open it with Snapline, because they’re my favorite Beijing band.
Snapline is really one of my favorite rock bands, period, for a few reasons. For one, they’re consistently excellent live. They always seem to have new ideas, new sounds, new instruments, or new arrangements that introduce a sense of experimentation to songs I’ve heard dozens of times. For another, they have an intellectual angle that I find lacking in many Beijing bands, thanks in large part to the offbeat lyricism of vocalist Chen Xi, who has a degree in nuclear energy and works on shaping the future as a Microsoft engineer.
When it comes to their recordings, I think both their debut album — 2007’s Party Is Over, Pornostar — and their 2012 followup, Phenomena, are nearly perfect. They’re weird, they’re raw, and they’re artistic, but they’re also expertly crafted with an almost-pop sensibility: not just aimless noise, as so much “experimental rock” tends to be, but refined and contagious earworms that for some reason specifically evoke the smoggy mists of dystopian Beijing for me.
But I didn’t open my NTS set with a song from Snapline’s first album, nor their second. I kicked it off with a track from what I guess you could call their 1.5th studio album, the quietly released and still relatively obscure Future Eyes.
The story goes like this: Martin Atkins, a producer most famous for his role as the drummer of the post-punk band Public Image Ltd, made a brief trip to Beijing in 2006, and was treated to a two-day showcase of some of D-22’s house bands at the time. He contacted a few of them in the hope of working together, including Snapline. The band got together with Atkins for a one-day studio session, and the result was Party Is Over, Pornostar.
future eyes
Atkins actually signed a two-album deal to work with Snapline, and returned to Beijing in 2008 to record 11 more songs, including the one I played on NTS, “She”. This is what ultimately became Future Eyes.
In an article I recently wrote for the music streaming site Bandcamp, I described Snapline as “a minimalist three-piece post-punk band, known for their manic dedication to stripping down their songs to the bare components without ever failing to land on a propulsive groove.” This sound does not come through on Future Eyes. Atkins added several effects and instrument tracks without the full participation of the band, and in the end the album didn’t accurately capture their vision. I can see why Snapline decided to return to the studio in 2011 and get a much simpler — and I must say, more elegant — version of these songs recorded and repackaged under the new name, Phenomena.
Phenomena
I really do love Martin Atkins’ version of “She”, though. I like the weird chorus effect on Chen Xi’s vocals towards the end, as well as the minimal, motorik drum machine pattern that drops in at the end as a sort of anti-climactic climax. Future Eyes and Phenomena were technically co-released in China in 2012 — Atkins released Future Eyes in the US via his own label, Invisible Records, a few years prior — but the former is not listed on Snapline’s Douban page, nor on Maybe Mars’s official Bandcamp. Nevertheless, I think it gives us a solid document of Snapline at an interesting point in their development, and also raises questions about authorship and the critical role of producers in bringing finished musical ideas into the world. Listen to the two She’s back to back to get an idea of what I’m talking about.
Associated Douban pages
Snapline:
https://site.douban.com/snapline/
Phenomena:
https://music.douban.com/subject/10543150/
Future Eyes:
https://music.douban.com/subject/4830549/
Party Is Over, Pornostar:
https://music.douban.com/subject/2243497/
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.
