Primus

中国的摇滚爱好者认识Primus也许是在94年Woodstock音乐节上，全长中表演最激动人心的可能就当书Primus和Red Hot Chill Peppers了。其实Primus的激动不安早从91年就开始了，这一年里他们发表了首张专辑&Sailing The Seas Of Cheese&。这支三人组合已出现就震动了旧金山城，狂野不羁的嬉皮风格与当时席卷全国的西雅图风潮实在是太背道而驰了。主音Les Claypool也许是90年代以来最不可思议的歌手和创作歌手，他与他的同伴们在这张唱片里对陈腐的传统摇滚乐着实作了一次彻底的大手术。他们在表露自信的同时也没忘记自嘲。专辑第二首&Here Come The Bastards&就是Primus亮出的第一面旗帜。 而他们的具体行动就是乐器演奏上的毫无章法。Les同时也是贝斯手，因此可以猜到Primus 与一般摇滚乐队结构上的差别。在Primus的一出出音乐剧中，贝斯扮演的不再是一个模糊的配角，反之成了乐团表达自己情感旗帜火力最强的一剂弹药。唱片中的一首&Fish On& 就是一次长达7分40秒的乐器革命。乐团吉他手也弹奏班卓琴，这为Primus的情感表达提供了一个更宽容的管道，不能不提的是Les的演唱，更多的时候你感觉自己听到的更像是滑稽剧中小丑干巴巴的独白。
 
两年后，正当Interscope公司的奇兵4 Non Blonders震慑全球时，他们的同门师兄Primus又精神抖擞的制作了第二张大作&Port Soda&。这三位怪人更加变本加厉地实践这个革命方针；旋律和节奏则早已被他们仍得无影无踪，因此很多作品呈现出的是由一个个碎片构成的块面；最领唱人无法容忍的是他们往往会乐此不疲的对一个最简单的音节做无休止的重复。Les的唱腔也依旧阴阳怪气，毫不该色。在一首&The Air Is Getting Slippery&中，Les手中的曼陀林则变成了一支漫画笔，一副副生动有趣的画面便跃然眼前了。专辑的最后一首是音乐版的&Hail Santa&，但Primus的演奏与歌名是自相矛盾的，无精打采的走音吉他勾线与有气无力的铃声对应着这一年最后的烛光晚餐。
 
在92年，初露锋芒的Primus曾不甘寂寞的发表过一张EP&Miscellaneous Debris&，三杰这次选择了前辈艺人的原材料来表现自己的肤色和智慧。如Peter Gabriel的&入侵者&， The Residents乐团的&不幸的夸张者&，The Meters乐团的&摇摇晃晃的脚趾&，甚至Pink Floyd的&叼一支雪茄&。他们用仿舞曲的套路重新演习了摇滚史上的经典动作，精湛的演技令主流非主流界目瞪口呆。在&不幸的夸张者&中，Les变成了一只邪异的夜猫像传统的摇滚发出了最富戏虐感的嘲笑，仪表堂堂的摇滚建筑从这时起正式走入了崩塌时代。Primus显然已成为革命队伍中的一名坚定的勇士。
 
1995年，煤油炉又一次点燃了火焰。人们又一次被他无穷的能量与动力震慑了，乐谈很就没有出现一样像&Tales From The Punchbowl&这样具有丰富内涵与幽默性的唱片了。至此，这群怪杰的本色一览无遗了；Primus让有心人感到欣慰的就是他们把即兴视成了音乐的命脉，相信很多功成名就的艺术家面对这两个字是不能不汗颜的。而Primus在音乐世界里所做的一切都是在尽情嘲笑两个字，这就是修饰。因此，Primus在摇滚大军中流露出的优越感是十分自然的。
 1996年，Primus参加了Interscope旗下独立的灌录。共由21支乐坛著名的重型机械参与组合。令人吃惊的是乐团核心Les在同年发表了一张个人专辑&High Ball With The Devil&。蜕变后的Les面对恶质的处境显得更镇定自若了，以往Primus的那种狂散步羁消失了，代之的是一份迷乱幽深的气质；然而，Les&不正经&的怪人本色始终在一路延续着，这吸引了一些德高望重的老前辈前来助阵。在&Delicate Tendrils&中，70年代Punk乐队Black Flag 的主音Henry Rollins与Les进行了一次忘年合作，Henry冷感的独白配合着Les雷打不动的军乐式演奏，映射了现代生活残忍的人性废除。换血后的Les依然没有忘记挚爱的乐器试验，&Calling Kyle&，&Delicate Tendreils&，&The Awakening&，&Carolina Rig&都是贝斯与鼓搭档演出，这些也都是音乐家最原始直觉的浓缩。此外，Les的词也离歌曲越来越远，反而更像寓言诗了，这时我们会清楚的发现Les与他周围的部落群体是多莫的格格不入。这让人们渐渐产生了一个疑问:像Les这样脱离公众轨道独自运行是离摇滚更远还是更紧了呢?
 
就在我们以为Primus快成为记忆时，他们又给了我们一则让人惊喜的消息:他们刚推出了第六张专辑&Brown Album&。尽管我们还没来得及仔细听听这张唱片，但依然能感受到这张唱片复杂的风格，Funk，Jazz，Fusion，Country甚止30年代的Big Band，最重要的是Primus 并没有背叛自己和人群。他们毅然坚守者初衷，但出招却越来越迅猛，以至于你不敢相信这个腐朽的年代，还有这样一群革命者依然在坚守着一种宁死不屈的姿态。你看，他们又开始变形了，顿足爵士舞曲，军乐进行曲，东倒西歪的卡通，昂首阔步的队列曲……最终你会明白他们对前景无休止的欲望已超越了开拓新路本身。他们就像三个来自远方的古怪男子，一路沿街叫卖者荒诞的偏方和苦闷的解药；当他们招摇者呼啸着肆笑着与你擦健而过时，你会突然感到那并非是一种无聊消极的生命方式，而在这面不规则形的镜子里， 你会照见自己的身影。
 
Primus is all about Les Claypool; there isn't a moment on any of their records where his bass isn't the main focal point of the music, with his vocals acting as a bizarre side-show. Which isn't to deny guitarist Larry LaLonde or drummer Tim &Herb& Alexander any credit; no drummer could weave in and around Claypool's convoluted patterns as effortlessly as Alexander, and few guitarists would willingly push the spotlight away, like LaLonde does, just to can produce a never-ending spiral of avant-noise. All of this means that they are miles away from being another punk-funk combo like the Red Hot Chili Peppers; Claypool may slap and pop his bass, but there is little funk in the rhythm he and Alexander lay down. Instead, they're a post-punk Rush spiked with the sensibility and humor of Frank Zappa. Primus' songs are secondary to showcasing their instrumental prowess. Their music is willfully weird and experimental, yet it's not alienating; the band was able to turn their goofy weirdness into pop stardom. At first, the band was strictly an underground phenomenon, but in the years between their third and fourth albums, their cult grew rapidly. 1991's Sailing the Seas of Cheese went gold shortly before the release of Pork Soda. By the time of the album's 1993 release, Primus had enough devoted fans to make Pork Soda debut in the Top Ten. After touring for a year — including a headlining spot on Lollapalooza 1993 — Claypool revived his Prawn Song record label in 1994 and released a reunion record by Primus' original lineup under the name Sausage. In the summer of 1995, Primus released their fifth album, Tales From the Punch Bowl. It was another success, going gold before the end of the year. In the summer of 1996, Primus announced they were parting ways with their drummer, Tim Alexander. He was replaced by Brian &Brain& Mantia, who made his debut on The Brown Album, which was released in the summer of 1997. The covers EP Rhinoplasty followed in 1998, and a year later, Primus returned with Antipop. Antipop was a departure from previous Primus albums, as different producers were used on almost each track (including such notables as Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello, Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, Tom Waits, South Park creator Matt Stone, and former Police drummer Stewart Copeland) and it featured such guest artists as Metallica's James Hetfield and former Faith No More guitarist Jim Martin. After a supporting tour wrapped up in 2000, Mantia left the band to join Guns N' Roses. Claypool talked about reuniting with former drummer Tim &Herb& Alexander in the press, but shortly afterward announced that Primus was going on indefinite hiatus. During the ensuing break, Claypool focused on recording the debut album by his side project, Oyster Head (who also included Copeland and Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio), as well as releasing his two-part solo outing, Live Frogs: Set 1 and Set 2.