2005.01.24 北京飛返台北的班機上

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1 F  发表于 2008-6-19 17:24 | 只看该作者 | 倒序看帖 | 跳转到 »
1/24/05 3:14pm On a flight from Beijing back to Taipei

The sun is shining through the window of the plane and I'm sitting alone with my laptop. I'm a little tired but I feel great as these past four days have been very exciting and productive. Beijing was cold but very comfortable and pleasant especially compared to my last trip here a couple weeks ago. The combination of sunshine and cold winter is simply wonderful and reminds me of LA weather during this time of year. The album is out finally and many of you have already had the chance to hear it. I've read and heard quite a bit of discussion about the album and I realize that there are mixed reviews and feelings about it. This was something I had anticipated and, therefore, had written in the album's prelude that it would be "challenging" to some listeners. Your comments are appreciated as they make me think about quite a few things. There is also a bit of discussion about whether David Tao has turned "commercial" with this album. There is no right or wrong in what everybody has to say because music is indeed something very subjective. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and what each person likes is entirely his or her own choice and taste. All of this discussion, however, does generate quite a bit of interaction and thought amongst all of us, which is, positively, a good thing. On the subject of commerciality, I would like to say a few things. First, "commerciality" is NOT a negative or bad thing. When the ideal and artistic freedom is compromised due to commercial considerations then it may be perhaps something negative. Let's not necessarily equate commercial music with "bad" music though in recent years much of Chinese commercial pop music has been quite disappointing. Without the exposure and commercial success of my previous albums I would not be able to continue making music today and definitely wouldn't be able to retain my creative freedom. Do I consider the market and my audience when I'm writing a song or making an album? Certainly I do, in the sense that I want to give my audience the best I have. Do I chase and follow trends to ensure my commercial validity or appeal? Perhaps to a small degree unknowingly but never obviously. If I were to ask those who say my music has turned 'commercial' HOW it has become so-what would their answer be? Which song or particular element signifies commerciality? I realize that when people comment on my music as turning "commercial" they don't give any specifics to back it up. Are people merely throwing around the word "commercial" simply for lack of a better term? Perhaps they simply don't like the music or they think other facets of me have changed? From my perspective, I honestly feel that I've become more "uncommercial" and "unconventional" in my music making and albums compared to my previous works. Perhaps because of this reason people are misconstruing my music as being more "commercial"? When somebody is not used to something or does not like something are they tempted to use "commerciality" as a blanket statement? These are some things to ponder and think about. One of the most gratifying things during promotion of an album is the fact that I can share my motivations, inspirations, and stories behind the music with the media and audience. This time, I did just that with the press and media while I was in HK and Beijing. However, one thing that bothered and still disappoints me is the fact that one of the songs on this album is banned on the China release. That song, as many of you know, is "Ghost". I won't go into the details as to why it was banned but to say that all of us did everything in our power to preserve it but still lost. Therefore, in order to somewhat preserve the completeness of the album; an official download site has been created to allow those who do not have this song to obtain it freely. On this site, you'll also find the complete, unedited music video for "Ghost" which was also banned from TV airplay in many regions as well. This site is www.downloadghost.com I would greatly encourage all of you who have purchased this album but do not have the song "Ghost" to download this song and place it right before "Catherine" in the album sequence. This restores the album's balance and integrity as it was meant to be. If you have friends who have purchased official copies of "The Great Leap", I urge you to share the above site with them. It hurts to see one of my songs banned and my album delivered incomplete to you. Freedom from censorship and freedom of expression is something we must fight for and work together to ensure.

DT


2005年1月24日 下午3點14分,北京飛返台北的班機上

燦爛的陽光映穿機窗,我帶著手提電腦,獨自坐在機艙內。有點累但是感覺很棒,因為過去這幾天的旅程既讓人興奮又饒富效率。北京的氣候雖然冷,卻是十分舒適宜人,特別是相較於我幾週前的北京行。豔陽與寒冬的結合就是如此美好,讓我想起了洛城此一時節的天候。 專輯終於發行了,很多人都已經聽過這張專輯。我看到也聽到了許多關於這張專輯的討論,其中混雜著客觀評論與主觀感受。這事早在我預料之中,因此我才會在專輯序言裡寫道:「這張專輯對你們其中一些聆聽者來說絕對是個『挑戰』」。非常感謝你們提出的意見,刺激我思考了很多事情。有些討論主題是關於「陶喆是否在這張專輯變得商業化了?」當然這沒有絕對的對或錯,任何人都可以有自己的想法,因為音樂本來就是很主觀的。所謂「情人眼裡出西施」,每個人都會有自己的選擇與品味。只要當所有的討論在彼此之間激盪出互動與思想的火花,這件事便是有價值、有意義的。 關於「商業化」這個主題,我有些想法要跟大家分享的。首先,「商業化」並「不是」個一無是處的壞東西。當理想與藝術的自由因為商業考量而被迫妥協時,「商業化」也許就有負面的意思了。雖然近幾年來,多數華語流行音樂作品讓人感到失望,但是商業音樂未必因此等同於爛音樂。如果我之前的專輯沒有媒體上的曝光與商業上的成功,我現在不可能還在做音樂,我也不可能保有我的創作自由。我在寫歌或製作專輯的時候,會考慮到到市場或歌迷嗎?我當然會!因為我只想給聽眾最好的。我會流行跟風,藉以確保商業成就或迎合大眾嗎?我在不知不覺中也許沾到了邊,但絕非刻意的。設若我問那些說我的音樂變得「商業化」的人一個問題:我的音樂是「如何」變得商業的?那他們會提出什麼樣的答案?哪一首歌或者哪一個特殊的音樂元素代表著「商業化」?我知道那些如此論斷我的音樂的人,並沒有舉出具體明確的佐證。這是因為大家想不到其他更好的形容詞,所以只好扣上「商業化」的帽子?也許是他們不喜歡這次的音樂或認為我的某些面向變調了?在我自己看來,我確實是變了;跟以前的作品比起來,我的創作變得更「不商業」、更「非傳統」。或許正因為如此,人們才會誤認我的音樂變得「更商業」了吧?是否當有人對某件事物感到不習慣或不喜歡時,他們就會想用「商業化」來概括表達自己的想法呢?這些問題都值得我們再三省思。 在專輯的宣傳期間,最讓我開心的一件事就是可以跟媒體與歌迷朋友分享我創作的動力、靈感來源與作品背後隱藏的故事。當我在北京與香港時,確實跟媒體朋友做了許多交流。然而,有件事曾經讓我十分困擾至今依舊感到失望的,那就是專輯裡的一首歌在中國內地被禁了。如你所知,那首歌就是‘鬼’。我不想解釋這首歌為何會被禁,但我必須讓大家了解,我們所有工作人員都已經盡全力想要留住這首歌,但最後還是失敗了。因此為了保有專輯的完整性,一個合法的下載網站誕生了,讓沒有這首歌的人可以免費取得。在這個網站裡,你也可以找到‘鬼’一刀未剪的完整版MV。在許多地區,這些畫面也是禁止在電視上播出的。 網址是 www.downloadghost.com 購買到未收錄‘鬼’的專輯的歌迷朋友,我鼓勵你們可以到上述的網址下載這首歌,並把它的曲序位置編排在‘Catherine’之前,如此便可重現專輯原本具備的和諧度與完整性。如果你有朋友買了「太平盛世」這張專輯,請跟他們分享這個網站。當我知道我的歌被禁,你們拿到的是一張不完整的專輯,我對此感到相當難過。 免除審查的自由與表達意見的自由是我們必須共同努力捍衛與保障的。

陶喆
on my way to see my friends who lived a couple blocks away from me as i walked through the subway

 
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