Dusty Ballz 首張發行 | 老丹 Lao Dan《草乙術 Chinese Medicine》

倫敦廠牌Dusty Ballz將於2020年5月1日發行編號為CCD01的首個磁帶出品——管樂手老丹的個人專輯《草乙術 Chinese Medicine》。

專輯效果圖

在《草乙術》中，老丹演奏了次中音薩克斯和古箏。這是一次興之所至的獨奏嘗試，用老丹自己的話說：「我試圖一個人同時演奏兩種樂器，因為我想讓獨奏更豐富些，我沒選擇使用效果器，因為我想要它們原汁原味的交流，那樣顯得更親切。」

「草乙術」三字原本無關藥理。基於一個誤譯，磁帶中的三首曲目由一名北京中醫師執筆開方，以三味氣質各異的中草藥命名。現居深圳的鐵梅畫龍點睛，用一幅血肉豐實的神農木刻收束了整張專輯的神採。

作為一名學院出身的中國竹笛手，對於前衛爵士的沉迷即使算不得離經叛道，也並不是一件多麼光彩的事，何況老丹從未學過古箏。因此，《草乙術》既是兩種樂器之間的交流，更是兩種「業餘」之間的切磋，異教徒與門外漢顧影相對，踏歌而遊，共飲一場偽藝術的交杯苦酒。而不論是作為對話還是自言自語，它都忠實地貫注了老丹式的樸素音樂哲學：只要目的與手段形影渾然，演奏便可以是怡然自得的手忙腳亂。

就讓獨奏再豐富些吧，畫蛇添足，說不定有死而不僵的靈效。

2019年6月，杭州（拍攝：璽爾）

A classically trained Chinese bamboo flutist, Lao Dan picked up the saxophone again around 2013 as he went wildly astray in the world of avant-garde jazz and free improvisation. While demonstrating an ever-growing ability to deliver explosive force and intensity in his free playing, Lao Dan keeps a brutal honesty in his approach to the instrument. He plays 『jazz』 as what it is, not what it’s supposed to be. Navigating constantly between the East and the West, Lao Dan embraces a unique aesthetics which fuses all his past influences into a voice of glorious mayhem and sheer zaniness.

Recorded in June 2019, this is a solo set in which two instruments – tenor saxophone and Zheng, also known as the Chinese zither – were played successively and simultaneously by hands and feet. The recording was made in one go with no overdub or effect added. Lao Dan never learned to play the Zheng properly before this very first attempt. As a result, he didn’t struggle at all to play it in an awkward way, while with the saxophone he did, as always, try very hard to do that.

The cover art, created by Shenzhen-based artist Tiemei, is a portrait of Shennong, the Deity of medicine and agriculture in ancient Chinese mythology. The three tracks in Chinese Medicine are named after three species of herb each believed to have unique medicinal properties. It is our responsibility to remind you to take them with extra caution. In Chinese medicine, after all, every drug is a thirty-percent poison.

CCD01

老丹 Lao Dan - 草乙術 Chinese Medicine

A1. 鶴蝨 Crane Lice 12:53
A2. 鵝不食草 Goose-no-eat Herb 06:56
B1. 淫羊藿 Horny Goat Weed 17:25

薩克斯、古箏：老丹
Saxophone & Zheng by Lao Dan
混音：鄧博宇
Mixed by Deng Boyu
木刻：鐵梅
Woodcut by Tiemei
書法：林鑑才 中醫師
Calligraphy by Doctor Lin Jiancai
感謝：夏逸康

Special thanks to Xia Yikang

黑/白兩種磁帶，限量共100份

關於Dusty Ballz

在歷史悠久的長沙方言中，「蛋蛋沾灰」一詞形容兒童玩伴之間親密與共的珍貴情誼。倫敦廠牌Dusty Ballz致力於通過磁帶介質呈現中國地下之聲，在欣欣向榮的新常態下描畫人類命運共同體的美好願景。

Dusty Ballz is a London-based label that presents Chinese underground music on cassette tapes. The term originates in an old Soviet joke, which somehow still speaks to the situation today.

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