MUSICAL MOUNTAIN HOP音樂浪人

娓娓動聽

Robert Plant continues to roam far and wide for new sounds on By TIM PRITCHARD 在《覓新聲。撰文：

WHERE DO ROCK

》繼續浪蕩天涯

gods go when the band breaks up and they no longer sell out stadium tours?

The answer, in Robert Plant’s case, is ‘just about everywhere’.

Plant was the lead singer of Led Zeppelin, which folded in 1980 following the death of drummer John Bonham. Aside from one gig at London’s O2 in 2007 (and one dodgy set for Live Aid in 1985), Led Zep never reformed. That’s mainly because Plant has chosen the life of a musical nomad.

Working with small bands of musicians from all corners of the world, he’s dabbled in a variety of styles and played with a medley of musicians such as country and bluegrass singer Alison Krauss and producer T Bone Burnett for 2007’s Grammy-winning Raising Sand; and Gambian musician Juldeh Camara and Plant’s band, the Sensational Space Shifters, on 2014’s Lullaby and… The Ceaseless Roar.

Carry Fire, Plant’s 11th album, continues his sonic journey with influences from as far and wide as the Sahara, American folk, blues and heavy rock.

Opener The May Queen blends layers of buzzing acoustic strums, country-esque guitar bends, strings sections and Plant’s plaintive verses with sweet results. Other highlights include a Chrissie Hynde duet on Ersel Hickey’s folk classic Bluebirds Over the Mountain; and New World, a slow rocker about colonialism’s bloody legacy. Keep It Hid, one of the more subdued songs, is almost Radiohead-like in its itchy, minimal experimentation – proving that Plant is unafraid to leave his comfort zones.

Title track Carry Fire pilfers a gorgeous melody from Middle Eastern music, with the Sensational Space Shifters’ wide-open, spacey accompaniments – filled with layers of guitars, djembe, bendir and countless other sounds – enveloping Plant’s yearning lyrics. ‘Out here the fire’s still burning/so long into my night,’ he sings.

In retrospect, you could see the beginning of the road Plant would eventually follow in Led Zep’s iconic 1975 track, Kashmir. Ironically, that’s one of the few regions music’s great backpacker has never visited – he wrote the lyrics on a long Sahara desert drive 8,000 kilometres away in Morocco.

當樂隊解散，巡迴演唱會不再大賣時，那些搖滾歌神究竟何去何從？對 Robert Plant來說，答案是：「天涯任我行。」

Plant 是 Led Zeppelin 的主音，樂隊在1980年隨鼓手John Bonham離世後解散。樂隊後來在2007年於倫敦O2體育館舉行過一場盛大的演唱會（以及1985年曾在籌款音樂會Live Aid獻唱），但自此卻沒有再重組，主要是因為Plant選擇了音樂浪人的道路。

他透過與世界各地的小型樂隊及音樂人合作，涉獵了各種各樣的風格；例如與歌手Alison Krauss和監製T Bone Burnett 合作的專輯《Raising Sand》大玩鄉謠和藍草音樂，並憑此獲得2007年格林美獎；還有與岡比亞音樂人 Juldeh Camara及其樂隊 Sensational Space Shifters 合作的2014 年專輯《Lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar》，同樣備受好評。

《Carry Fire》是 Plant 的第11張專輯，專輯延續他的音樂之旅，遠至撒哈拉音樂，到美式民謠與藍調，在沒有疆界的音樂世界中汲取靈感。

大碟第一首歌〈The May Queen〉混合了輕快的木結他彈撥、鄉村式的結他推弦彈奏以及 Plant 唱出的傷感歌詞，令人一聽著迷。其他精采作品還有他與Chrissie Hynde 合唱 Ersel Hickey 的民謠經典〈Bluebirds Over the Mountain〉；至於慢板搖滾曲〈New World〉則道出沾滿鮮血的殖民政策遺留下來的問題。〈Keep It Hid〉是其中一首較柔和的歌曲，曲中令人蠢蠢欲動、簡約而具實驗性的風格與Radiohead 樂隊十分接近，證明 Plant 無懼走出自己的安樂窩，接受新挑戰。 Robert Plant (above) takes listeners across several continents on 11th album (below) Robert Plant（

11

Carry Fire

主題曲〈Carry Fire〉從中東音樂借來輕快的旋律，加上 Sensational Space Shifters 開揚而活潑的伴奏（集合結他、非洲鼓、響線框鼓和多種其他音效），襯托著Plant娓娓唱出：「Out here the fire’sstill burning/so long into my night」（這裡火仍在燃燒，直至深夜）

驀然回首， Led Zeppelin 的 1975 年金曲〈Kashmir〉（喀什米爾）已埋下了Plant 最終選擇的音樂路線。諷刺地，這位偉大的音樂浪人卻從未踏足這個地方；他是在摩洛哥的撒哈拉沙漠駕長途車途中寫下這首歌的歌詞，這個地方距離喀什米爾8,000公里。