[樂評] 莫西子詩 (Moxi Zishi)《原野》(2014)

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“山谷，微風，樹林，炊煙，曠野，雲，蘑菇，溪流，稻草，羊群，小草，飛鳥，野果，蛙鳴，月光，燈火，老人，星星，知了，這就是我迫不及待要與你說的，我的故鄉。”正如莫西的小站裡所寫的，故鄉與自然是他的創作中不變的主題。成長在西南山區的莫西，似乎生而具備與自然相通的能力和敏銳的情感。如同他世世代代生活在此的先祖，歌唱更近似一種本能的表達方式。 

在中國好歌曲爆紅后，彝族音樂人莫西子詩回到了自己的語言，在9月發行了專輯《原野》。他的樂隊籌備專輯已逾四年，參與中國好歌曲成為一個契機。莫西的樂隊由四人組成，其中製作人兼吉他手李平曾是傳奇專輯《萬能青年旅店》的錄音師，這張專輯寫盡了這個野心勃勃又絕望的時代裡，普通人的苦悶與掙扎。子楓擅長演奏和製作民族樂器，樂隊中他常配合莫西進行即興演奏。鼓手柳滕剛從中央音樂學院畢業，幾年前剛接觸莫西時，就被音樂中的質樸自然的情感與豐富的變化吸引。 

莫西流淌著吟遊詩人的血脈。整張專輯用彝語創作，先前大熱的《要死就死在你手裡》卻並未收入其中。語言障礙或許會造成理解上的隔閡，但簡潔的意向仍勾勒出真摯的情感，這些表達來自廣闊的自然與古老的傳說。 《月亮與海》講述的是他對愛人的思戀。莫西與他的日本女友遠隔重洋共享一輪明月，身邊的故事心裡的話卻不能與愛人分享。 《山魈》中富想像力又天真的表達則基於莫西孩提時的經歷。那時候他需要穿過茂密的森林和陰森的墓地去學校，路上莫西常覺得自己被鬼怪追逐。莫西的母親告訴他，撿拾一塊被陽光照射過的石頭，就能夠驅散鬼魂，即便在太陽落山後。因此他在《山魈》中以這樣奇異的方式祝禱著：

那黑夜的鬼,

要讓你走，

白的路，黑的路。

千萬別走白的路

要走，

就走那黑的路。 

莫西如一個未被炫目的物質文明污染的野人，保留著赤子之心與澎湃的想像力。如果你聽過他在野外唱歌，就會明白他聲音中曠遠的意境與浩然的力量來自哪裡。他似乎與四圍的環境融為一體，無拘無束，恣意徜徉於天地間。莫西音樂的魅力，根植于他天然的性情，更根植於哺育我們的這片土地。 

《原野》的名字已經預示了我們會在這張專輯中體驗到什麼。如要恢復我們對美的感知力與自然的本性，這張專輯不可錯過。

A man of nature——<原野> (The Wilderness) by Moxi Zishi 

“The valley, breeze, forest, field, cloud, mushrooms, stream, haulm, grass, flying birds, wild fruit, frogs, moonlight, light, old man, stars, cicadas…those I can’t wait to tell you about, is my hometown.” According to the description in Moxi’s site, hometown and nature are the abiding theme of Moxi’s creation. Rooted in the unprivileged mountainous area in southwest China, it seems Moxi is born with the capability of communicating with nature and sensibility to mood swings. Like his ancestors who’ve lived here for generations, singing is an instinct. 

After the buzz in the singing competition Song of China where he ranked 2nd place, Moxi Zishi, the Yi(彝族) indie singer, returned to his own language and released <原野> (The Wilderness) in September. His band has been preparing for the album for over 4 years, and participation in the popular TV program becomes a juncture to gather resource once puzzling them. 

Moxi’s band is composed of four members, of which the producer and guitarist Li Ping was once the record engineer for <Omnipotent Youth Society>, a classic album expressing depressions and struggles of common people in the ambitious but desperate time vividly. While Zifeng, an expert in playing and making traditional instruments takes the role of improvisational performance with Moxi. Drummer Liu Teng is a fresh graduate from Central Conservatory of Music. He was attracted by the natural sensation and diversified expression Moxi’s music since 4 to 5 years ago when they first met. 

Moxi is considered an inheritor of the long tradition of bard. The whole album is written and performed in Yi language though the hit <要死就死在你手裡> (If I am to die, I’d rather die in your hands) is not included in the album . Despite that language barrier sometimes obstructs understanding of the exact meaning, the plain lyrics sketch sincere emotion drawing from ancient legends and vast nature. <月亮與海> (The Moon and the Sea) narrates the longing to his Japanese girlfriend. Though the separated couple shares same moonlight, they cannot share what happened around. And the imaginary and naive expression in <山魈> (The Mandrill ) is based on Moxi’s memory as a child. He had to pass through dense forest and gloomy graveyard to go to school when he was a little child, where he always felt as if he was chased by ghosts. Moxi’s mother told him to pick up a stone irradiated by sunlight, claiming that these stones can disperse ghosts with the sunlight it once digested, even after sunset. Hence he sings in <山魈> with anomalous prayer: 

Ghost in dark night,

Is going to choose,

Bright roads, dark roads.

Never, never walk in the bright road,

To take, to take,

The dark roads in night. 

Sometimes I would conclude Moxi as a rare savage who hasn’t been contaminated by dazzling material prosperity, maintaining rare childlike sensation and turbulent imagination. Should you hear him singing in the wilderness, you would immediately understand where the immeasurable prospect and surging power in his music come from. It seems Moxi could integrate with natural surroundings when starting singing and his sound has the fascinating power bringing you travel in the universe unrestrainedly. The magic charm of Moxi is rooted in his natural disposition especially the land nurturing us. 

The title <原野> (The Wilderness)，whose direct translation in Chinese is field, already disclosed what we could have explored in the album. To recover our sensibility to beauty and natural instinct, this album is not to be missed.

– 三水