發行 Label:索尼音樂 Sony Music
製作 Production Unit:兩座島 Twin Islands
製作人 Producer:陳建騏 George Chen、林揮斌 Bean Lin、陳珊妮 Sandee Chan、黃少雍 Huang Shao-Yong、米奇林 MCKY Lin、蕭賀碩 Shuo Hsiao
By:1319
聽楊士弘時,不免想起郭子。不是〈祝福〉、〈親愛的你怎麼不在我身邊〉的「情歌」郭子,而是〈外交官的女人〉、〈為愛偷生〉的「劇場」郭子:帶有音樂劇般的戲劇張力,卻不失流行音樂的輕盈流暢。若把《壞米仔》視為一齣單元劇場集,那當中的「壞」並非指邪惡而是政治不正確,對於內心 O.S. 小劇場,也對於道德、宗教、審美等等的固有思想;擾亂秩序的人大多都被視為壞人,即便該秩序的表象是多麼的虛偽脆弱。
說揭穿人性太過嚴肅,楊士弘的創作與演唱筆觸大多還是頑皮的,又帶有可愛的誠摯:〈道德小天使〉反串的魔人、〈Plastic Baby〉反諷的婊述、〈能那你怎樣〉反話的撒嬌,如是。搭配強大又多元的製作群,為創作賦予跳躍又多元的音樂樣貌,若無法讓人會心一笑,也不不至於覺得反感抗拒,雖然因製作人的野心不時會蓋過創作本身,也難免讓人覺得喧賓奪主。
當中的兩個異數:陳珊妮製作的仿演歌〈愛の討債集團〉與 funk disco〈道德小天使〉是專輯中拿捏最到位與最具親和力的兩首;陳建騏製作的其中兩首〈天國的無期徒刑〉與〈明天你不用來了〉則是相對「認真」的作品,相對前者疑似企圖反諷卻達不到效果,後者全然清醒的內向獨白,竟也讓人在楊士弘身上,看見「情歌郭子」的可能性。
There is a veteran mandopop musician Guo Zi (now known as Kuo Heng-Chi) who is not only a balladeer who has written many Chinese hit singles in the 1990s, but also an equally adept stage musical producer and actor. The quirky newcomer singer-songwriter Midi Yang reminds me very much of the “musical producer” side of Guo: Yang’s work embodies a musical dramatism that is well suited for a play, yet its form is as accessible and slick as pop music. That is to say, Yang’s debut album Bad Midi pans out like a compilation of mini-musicals.
The “Bad” in Bad Midi (when pronounced in Taiwanese is a homonym for ghosts and spirits) connotes not evil but rather a state of political incorrectness, as an internal “devil” speaking his left-hand column, and as a provocateur who upends conventional yet hypocritical notions of morality, religion and aesthetics. The messenger with bad news is almost always the bad guy who is shot. But Bad Midi is not some sort of social commentary that takes itself too seriously. Yang approaches such sensitive topics with a light touch, employing elements of satire (“Don’t you need an angel to take care of your morals? I can work all day, even on weekends, too”), surrealism (“I’ve got silicone in my hips, I’ve got botox under my skin, let my beauty save me from my sins”) and self-depreciation (“Humanity is contemptible, it can’t be changed, but look at me: I’ve got skin, eyes, ears, mouth and all, I’m human too!”) to comedic effect, enough to get his message across, not so far as to turn one on the defensive.
Bad Midi also employs as much as six producers who lend their talents to craft an ebullient sound for Yang’s vivacious creations, though their ebullience tend to upstage Yang’s creations at times. Two producers, Sandee Chan (folk-rock-electronica shapeshifting singer-songwriter-producer) and George Chen (also a profilic pop music-cum-soundtrack producer), are exceptions. The songs produced by Sandee Chan (‘Mafia of Love’, ‘Moral Angel’), while drawing upon elements from such outlandish genres as Nagashi and retro disco funk, turn out to be the most balanced and engaging songs in the album. On the other hand, two songs produced by George Chen (‘Life Sentence from Hwaven’, ‘Move On’) take on a more serious tone, with the sober-yet-intimate piano-and-strings ballad ‘Move On’ even, for all of Yang’s oddity, hinting at his potential to be an adept balladeer as well.
Fresh 指數 Rating:7 /10
推薦Replay曲目:
〈黴 Mould〉 詞:楊士弘 曲:楊士弘 編曲:楊士弘、黃少雍 製作:黃少雍
〈能拿你怎樣 At Your Mercy〉 詞:楊士弘 曲:楊士弘 編曲:林揮斌 製作:林揮斌
〈道德小天使 Moral Angel〉 詞:楊士弘 曲:楊士弘 編曲:史今 製作:陳珊妮
〈明天你不用來了 Move On〉 詞:楊士弘 曲:楊士弘 編曲:陳建騏、劉涵 製作:陳建騏
建議 Skip 曲目:〈壞米仔 Bad Midi〉(回去聽《南面而歌 2019》的版本)、〈Plastic Baby〉