Ween

小簡(jiǎn)介
Ween是特立獨(dú)行的一隊(duì)音樂(lè)奇兵他們有一顆低保真的心。這幾年來(lái)Ween一直令我分外關(guān)注，他們并不低產(chǎn)，但行事低調(diào)，他們用各種不同的笑容把自已包起來(lái)，除此你很難抓到他們其它的表情，而音樂(lè)卻是那樣的豐富多彩，直如萬(wàn)花筒般的奇幻音樂(lè)世界每每讓人會(huì)心一笑，其蛻變性也是一直有著突破性的發(fā)展。
Ween首先是反流行的，他們反對(duì)任何流行明星式的宣傳，他們更討厭程序化的音樂(lè)生產(chǎn)，真正的音樂(lè)人講的是靈感和創(chuàng)作力，而不是概念的堆砌和包裝。這是另類(lèi)搖滾歷史上最終極的大智若愚最富有才華的并最為直接的二人組合，他們擅長(zhǎng)用旅行者般飄逸的手法超越像普通樂(lè)隊(duì)那樣簡(jiǎn)單滑稽的模仿，從而表現(xiàn)出超現(xiàn)實(shí)主義迷宮般的博大情懷。盡管他們掌握所有音樂(lè)的技巧，可從不直接表現(xiàn)出來(lái)。ween用發(fā)狂的快樂(lè)徹底顛覆環(huán)繞他們周遭的流行世界，在早期的時(shí)候他們熱衷于迷幻搖滾，而在唱腔上詼諧極端的嘗試和器樂(lè)上不落俗套的編配讓許許多多的資深樂(lè)迷墮入期間不能自己。
雖然在后來(lái)的幾年ween逐漸改變行徑，創(chuàng)作出多首令大眾接受亦流行度很強(qiáng)的歌曲，但其核心的創(chuàng)新精神從未拋棄，對(duì)低保真樂(lè)風(fēng)的捍衛(wèi)，對(duì)各種效果音色幾近瘋狂的顛覆，毫不夸張地說(shuō)ween是在大眾的口味上構(gòu)建一種靈巧的前衛(wèi)試驗(yàn)音樂(lè)，而且做得非常的聰明，讓人感覺(jué)不露痕跡。
Ween was the ultimate cosmic goof of the alternative rock era, a prodigiously talented and deliriously odd duo whose work traveled far beyond the constraints of parody and novelty into the heart of surrealist ecstasy. Despite a mastery for seemingly every mutation of the musical spectrum, the group refused to play it straight; in essence, Ween was bratty deconstructionists, kicking dirt on the pop world around them with demented glee. Along with the occasional frat-boy lapses into misogyny, racism, and homophobia, the bands razor-sharp satire cut to the inherently silly heart of rock & roll with hilariously acute savagery; fueled by psilocybin mushrooms and an all-consuming craving for hot meals, Ween created their own self-contained universe, a parallel dimension where the only sacred cow was their own demon god, the Boognish.
The duo formed in suburban New Hope, PA, in 1984, when 14-year-olds Mickey Melchiondo and Aaron Freeman adopted their respective fraternal aliases, Dean and Gene Ween, and cut the first of literally thousands of home recordings. At about the same time Freeman — working under the name Synthetic Socks — issued an eponymous 1987 solo cassette on the fledgling TeenBeat label, Ween released their own debut tape, The Crucial Squeegie Lip, on their own Bird O Pray imprint. After a pair of 1988 self-releases, titled Axis: Bold as Boognish and The Live Brain Wedgie/WAD LP, Ween signed to the Minneapolis-based independent label Twin/Tone, which in 1990 issued the double album GodWeenSatan: The Oneness, a sprawling, often brilliant release which careened from the headlong hardcore rush of the opening You Fucked Up to the helium pop of Dont Laugh I Love You to the Prince-Xeroxed funk of L.M.L.Y.P.
A move to the Shimmy Disc label followed prior to the release of 1991s The Pod, another masterpiece of dementia recorded on four-track under the influence of inhaled Scotchgard; darker and more deranged than its predecessor, The Pod expanded the Ween palette to include Beatlesque pop (the sublime Pork Roll Egg and Cheese), oddball folk (Oh My Dear [Falling in Love]), and mystic hard rock (Captain Fantasy). Against all odds, the record won the Weens a deal with major label Elektra; against even greater odds, the leap to the big leagues did nothing to alter the duos mindset. 1992s Pure Guava, their Elektra debut, was their most consistently weird and wonderful outing to date. Highlighted by the disturbingly infectious single Push th Little Daisies (a Top Ten hit in Australia), Pure Guava found the group as snarky as ever on self-explanatory workouts like Reggaejunkiejew, Hey Fat Boy (Asshole), and Flies on My Dick; Springtheme mocked love songs at their queasiest; while the climactic Dont Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy) distilled the overblown excesses of Queens Bohemian Rhapsody and Queensr?ches Silent Lucidity into an epic art rock portrait of child molestation.
Dedicated to the late comedic actor John Candy, 1994s Chocolate and Cheese — its title a perfect summation of the duos blend of R&B and schlock — upped the ante yet again. Widening the net to ensnare cowboy songs (Drifter in the Dark), Philly soul (Freedom of 76), Afro-Caribbean funk (Voodoo Lady), and Sergio Leone-inspired spaghetti Western epics (Buenas Tardes Amigo), Chocolate and Cheese also featured Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down) and Mister Would You Please Help My Pony, two of the creepiest tales of childhood trauma ever committed to vinyl. Having taken their anything-goes aesthetic to its logical extreme, Ween took a sharp left turn for 1996s 12 Golden Country Greats, a ten-track concept album recorded in Nashville with Music City session luminaries including the Jordanaires, Bobby Ogdin, Russ Hicks, Hargus Pig Robbins, and Charlie McCoy. While the song titles alone — among them Japanese Cowboy, Mister Richard Smoker, and Help Me Scrape the Mucus Off My Brain — served notice that the groups lyrical attitude had not altered one whit, the music was remarkably evocative of Nashvilles golden era, and performed with skill and affection.
A tour with Ogdin and a backing unit dubbed the Shit Creek Boys (which included steel guitarist Stuart Basore, guitarist Danny Parks, fiddler Hank Singer, and bassist Matt Kohut) followed prior to the release of 1997s The Mollusk, a concise, mock-progressive semi-concept album that proved to be one of Weens strongest efforts. The follow-up was a double-disc concert compilation, Paintin the Town Brown: Ween Live 90-98, issued in 1999. In the spring of 2000, the duo resurfaced with White Pepper, their first new studio effort in three years; it peaked at 121 on the Billboard charts, their highest placing to date.
In 2001, Ween began releasing a series of live albums through their Internet-based independent label, Chocodog. The first of these, Live in Toronto Canada, captured a show with the Shit Creek Boys. Around this time, the band and Elektra parted ways, and Ween was without a record label as they worked on their eighth studio album. After a wait of two years — during which time they released another live album, the triple-disc Live at Stubbs — they signed with Sanctuary Records in 2003, releasing Quebec in August of that year. It was the first Ween album to crack the Top 100, peaking at 81. A few months after the release of Quebec, another independent live album followed (Live by Request), and then in the spring of 2004 they released Live in Chicago, a combination DVD/CD set, on Sanctuary, heading back into the studio to work on their ninth studio album. The resulting Cucaracha arrived in October 2007 and was prefaced by the Friends EP earlier in the year.