Mono成员已在昨天下午抵达吉隆坡，见到了吉它手兼灵魂人物Taka，真汉子一名，友善的不得了；见到了纤瘦的贝斯手Tamaki，成熟中尚带着些许日本少女般的纯真，还有另一吉它手Yoda，长发飘逸、胡子长满脸，但一点都不邋蹋，目光更是炯炯有神，宛如现代日本武士般的健硕体形。最后是鼓手Takada，真人比录像中看到的更年轻，笑容可掬，听说鼓技越来越炉火纯青。

晚上见！

Mogwai新专辑筹备工作正在如火如荼的进行着，预料9月份推出，乐队率先在厂牌PIAS网站上提供了首支作品The Sun Smells Too Loud的免费下载。

匆匆听完一遍後，感觉上变得温和多了，不再像从前那样爆裂，那些招牌式的吉它巨响也不复存在，但乐队似乎仍坚持着“重复就是力量”的概念，作品从0:48直到6:25几乎都在重复着同一个旋律，偶尔出现些许的电子杂音和复古的键盘音色，有点耐人寻味。

我们不久前推荐的日本硬核、Screamo、后摇多元风格乐队ENVY将在8月9日前往狮城演出，这是东南亚唯一的一站。Temporary Residence厂牌旗下的乐队再次成为本区域Promoter力邀的对象，希望不久後我们有幸可以观赏到Eluvium、Maserati、Fridge等艺人的演出。

ENVY新加坡演出由Straits Records主办，地点在滨海艺术中心的演奏厅，票价为SGD88、SGD68、SGD58、SGD48和SGD38，可透过Sistic网站订购。

两天前，我们接到PROTES（反汽油涨价联盟）负责人的来电，说要在本周末举行的大集会上增设各项表演项目，包括乐队的演出。此活动的策划人之一正是Hishamuddin Rais（独立导演、作家、社运人士），此人对摇滚乐发展史有深层的了解，基于对摇滚乐的认同和偏爱，他决定把乐队的演出加入到项目当中。摇滚乐队参与抗争运动本来就不是什么新鲜事，只是在我们这个环境，由于大众对摇滚乐的误解和扭曲，所以才导致它不曾在任何街头抗争或社会运动出现过。

如今，有了像Hisham这样热心为摇滚乐寻找发声平台的人士，情况似乎将获得改善。在我们以为摇滚乐将重拾它原有的精神面貌之际，不料却遇到了另一股让人愤慨的阻力。我们一直把打压摇滚乐的罪行归咎于当权派，无奈在经过改革浪潮後，提倡公正、开发和自由的新联盟内部，还是出现了牵制另类文化发展的恶势力。

话说回头，在我们被告之7月6日的活动将可容纳更多的乐队时，内心是雀跃的，也在第一时间发放消息召集乐队参与。然而在经历了昨晚的会议後，我们被上述的恶势力（人民联盟成员党之一的PAS）标签为难登大雅之堂的表演项目，并以此为由提出腰斩的要求。同时，这个看似日渐开明，实际上还是相当保守的政党更恫言如果不取消乐队的演出，他们将吩咐原定从东海岸前来参与集会的100辆巴士（约一万人）撤返，并拒绝派出负责保安和维持秩序的自愿部队。

这种极度无理和过分的要求遭到了Hisham的反对，在经过一番周旋後，最後的结论是乐队表演的部分保留，但时间只有30分钟（早上11时-11时30分），同时乐队必须注意台上的衣著打扮和言行，当然音量方面他们是无法阻止的。现在的问题是，时间被缩短了，名额可能只有两个，而较早前我们已收到超过5支乐队表明欲参与的意愿，在僧多粥少的情况下，为了让乐队拥有相同的机会，我们决定把已报名乐队的名单整理出来，让大家透过投票来决定最后的两个名额。

所列出名单只包括已向我们表明有意参与的乐队，其它有兴趣参与的乐队可在投选活动截止前联络我们。请到扩音版图论坛进行投票，截止日期为7月4日凌晨12时。

MONO吉它手TAKA与THE STAR的独家访问，将在明日刊登于该报章，先为你送上未经修正的原汁原味版本。

1. You’ve got a steady fan base back home and in the United States where you’ve toured plenty, but what has finally drawn you to reach the fans in this region?

Last year, my best friend, Munaf (Explosions in The Sky), all the sudden showed up in Tokyo to visit me a day after EITS performed in Malaysia for the first time. He told me how wonderful the show was in Kuala Lumpur. MONO has toured the US, Canada and Europe many times but we couldn’t make it happened in Asia because of conflicting schedule in the past. As we are in the process of making our new album, there is no long-term tour this year. It made us possible to visit the Asian countries where we had never been before. In July, we are going to Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Taiwan. We’re looking forward to our first visit to those countries.

2. Are you aware of your fan-base in this region, whether it’s big or small - or are you unsure of what to expect in the shows you play here?

Actually we have received many fan mails from the region. I have no idea how the audience’s reaction will be like at all, but I’m not worried. We will definitely make our show unforgettable one, once a life time experience for all, no matter how many people will be there for us.

3. How does it affect your live performance to be playing in a new place, compared to somewhere you’ve already played and know your fan-base?

It does not affect us at all. Playing our music live in a new place for the first time is a great experience for all of us. Unpredictable pure experience. We rather want to be open for this very special moment of our life and print it into our heart.

4. Bands from Japan are making a name for themselves in this region? (Toe’s coming here in August, and Envy will be in Singapore) – what do you think is the key to this?

I have no idea what the key is… They are great live bands. They must have the same intention as ours, to share the music with as many people as we can.

5. Since you play instrumental music, language is not a barrier. Do you think you would still reach as many fans in this region if there was singing in your music?

I can’t even imagine howit would going to be. We are doing what we can do best right now to convey our feelings and emotion through these our songs.

6. What has influenced the songwriting of the band over the years? Has this changed - ie. are you inspired by different kinds of things nowadays?

The first two albums are strongly influenced by the guitar oriented music. Since the 3rd album “Walking Cloud~” we released in 2004, I’ve become more inspired by the classical music and the soundtrack music. Most of all, Beethoven and Ennio Moricone are my two greatest heroes.

7. Your evolution as a band has always been subtle, maintaining the same qualities in your music. Is there any conscious direction you are heading in when writing your new material?

Since the 3rd album, I’ve started writing an actual story like a story board of film. I wrote the music according to the story. Every album after that has a certain theme and concept. I write music for the scenes of the story.

8. Your 2006 collaboration with Katsuhiko Maeda (World’s End Girlfriend) has been critically acclaimed - are there any musicians you would love to collaborate with?

World’s End Girlfriend had been my good friend for a long time as well as a great musician I respected a lot. We had established a great relationship and shared the mutual understanding toward music each other before we started working together. I believe it’s very important for any music collaboration. For music, expression, emotion, vision … those elements come before sound engineering. Without solid foundation of mutual understanding, respect and trust, the collaboration can easily end up as a simple jam session.

Right now, I have no specific idea who I’d like to collaborate with ‘cause I’m totally focused on making our new album at this moment. But I’m sure I would do it again in the future when I encounter a great musician like WEG.

Taka/ MONO

预售票明日截止，要买趁早。

虽然消息有点跚跚来迟，但还是突显了我们欲照顾学生的意愿。MONO马来西亚音乐会将增设学生特价票，每张为RM50，条件如下。

- 只在音乐会当天于ZOUK CLUB发售
- 须出示学生证和身份证
- 只限18岁以上者

音乐会尚未开始，何来照片？别误会，这是我们为各位MONO迷搜罗的过往现场照片，全部都经过精挑细选，请笑纳。看完了，别忘了到临近的ROCK CORNER（不是7-ELEVEN）购买入门票，预售票截止日期是7月1日。

MONO最新视频，演出现场是由“天空爆炸”主持的ATP音乐节，听了几遍都听不出是那一首作品，会不会就是正在录制的新专辑所收录的作品。据乐队的经济人透露，MONO将会在吉隆坡和新加坡的演出为大家呈献一些新的作品，想先听为快者，还等啥呢？赶快购票，预售票截止日期是7月1日。

另外，我们也会在本周六（6月28日）的Urbanscapes设立柜台，售卖MONO的门票。

电棒成军于2005年，在“摇撼新声代”初试啼音，当时的形式是双人组合，以笔记本为主要演出的媒介，颇具开创性。

随后，经过整顿，增添了人声和更多的配器，音乐开始变得更浑圆和饱满，以自成一格的表演方式穿梭于中英独立音乐场景。这当中的蜕变和提升不是显著的，是渐进的，是潜伏性的，当我们回头去检阅这支组合的“乐”绩时，会猛然发现他们的“跃进”竟然是可以如此的轻松自若的，他们真的没有“唱高调”，仅仅只是以一种“乐在其中”的方式把玩音乐，把欢乐传送给大家。

6月28日，电棒将首度登上大舞台，以“初生之犢”的姿态与其它的重量级乐队一较高下，我们拭目以待。

正在美国录制最新专辑的MONO今天捎来了佳音，根据吉它手Taka透露，专辑录音进行的非常顺利 （由Steve Albini亲自出马），估计会在明年中推出，期待啊！

另外，本周五（6月20日）的“吉”兴造音会为大家重点介绍MONO，想要透过国营电台体验他们的轰炸力和能量的朋友，记得按时收听，时间是晚上10时至12时，频道FM89.3。