Or, The Whale

少年时代JamieT 曾是一支Punk Rock乐团的低音结他手，然而他弹奏的是一支Acoustic Bass；他既是唱作歌手，也是睡房电音制作人；他受哥哥的感染而听Drum‘n’ Bass，从The Clash到Rancid都是对他影响深远的Punk Rock乐团，Beastie Boys的Hip Hop音乐又带给他莫大的启蒙；他玩音乐之余也会选曲制作Mix Tape。来自伦敦南部、现年廿一岁的Jamie T的音乐，他就是一位这样有趣的英伦音乐才子。
　　在首张专辑Panic Prevention内，聆听他将Punk、Reggae、Hip Hop、Folk进行Mix-Mash(引用Jamie之用语)的折衷主义声音，也许会有人将他与美国音乐人Beck早年的DIY作品相提并论，但最大回异，是Jamie T的音乐是来得「很英伦」，带著浓烈的伦敦Urban气味。
　　正如在Jamie T身上乃赋予著深厚的Reggae音乐素质而来，但所师承却是源自英伦Punk乐教父团The Clash的Punk Reggae，而多於正宗牙买加Reggae音乐的基因，加上他浓浓的英国口音，也是何解他被形容为The Clash已故主将Joe Strummer和当代伦敦MC兼制作人The Streets的混合体。
　　单听Jamie T的几首主打单曲，已是那么各异其趣。最先在其自家厂牌Pacemaker Recordings旗下发表的处男单曲Salvador，Punk-Funk得犹如The Clash遇上Happy Mondays，即是点点Punk加点点Funk加点点靡烂，背後的影响却是Squeeze的Cool For Cats和Them的Baby, Please Don’t Go这两曲；第二张单曲Sheila的轻轻松松Ragga加Hip Hop，第三张单曲If You Got The Money由草根Reggae变成Punk-Pop，而最新单曲Calm Down Dearest则流露出他动人旋律化的一面。
　　还不够多元化吗？Brand New Bass Guitar的Acoustic蓝调民歌，Back In The Game 的Acousic Folk Rock，都甚有Jamie的另一音乐英雄Billy Bragg之自弹自唱风范；Reggae遇上Hip House有So Lonely Was The Ballad；Pacemaker是很The Clash的Punk歌；在Ike & Tina里他又玩起Drum ‘n’ Bass节拍来；碟末的Dubby歌曲Alicia Quays，因为他原先试图向一首R&B天后Alicia Keyes的歌曲之钢琴部分取材而命名。
　　在Panic Prevention内，打造出是其混种的意义，把他喜欢的音乐素材全盘堆放在一起。不要被唱片封面上的「立立乱」房间吓怕，Jamie T的音乐，是能够达至紊而不乱的地步。
Voices everywhere, caught again in the devil’s snare,” belts lead vocalist and guitarist Alex Robins of San Francisco-based Or, the Whale on the second song of the band’s newest album. The song, “Datura,” is a rollicking ode to the hallucinogenic properties of jimson weed, but could just as easily be a description of the band itself. The soaring vocal harmonies and Neil Young-inspired guitar riffs found on Or, the Whale’s self-titled sophomore album yield a fiendishly potent listening experience, which may even provoke your own hallucinations.
On the heels of 2007’s Light Poles and Pines (which featured the band’s debut single “Call and Response” and helped earn them a 2008 Hollywood Music Award for Best Americana/Roots Artist as well as a coveted spot on Radio & Records Top 100 Americana Artists of 2008), Or, the Whale cannot so easily be pinned down. Tracks like “Black Rabbit,” which features a gale-force chorus above electric feedback and pounding drums, play out as if in an effort to prove just how hard the band can rock. At other times, as on “Never Coming Out”—a paranoid and agoraphobic rail ride that explodes into a final a capella starburst—Or, the Whale showcases their ability to present a reflective, stripped-down arrangement (no small feat for a band with seven members). Likewise, the creeping “Keep Me Up” shows how Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter” might sound if re-imagined through the mournful wail of pedal steel.
Like any good San Francisco band, Or, the Whale partially owes its inception to the online bulletin board service Craigslist; at one point, Robins and Matt Sartain (guitar and vocals) posted an ad titled “Wanna Form a Sweet Country Rock Band?” and recruited fellow vocalist Lindsay Garfield from a listing she had written looking for a guitar player. From there, the three set about enlisting bandmates Julie Ann Thomasson on keyboards and vocals, Justin Fantl on bass, Jesse Hunt on drums, and later Tim Marcus on pedal steel guitar.