Laura Lee, Mark Speer 和Donald Johnson組成的德州迷幻搖滾三人組 Khruangbin的首張專輯《The Universe Smiles Upon You》，深受60年代泰國放克音樂影響，在德州鄉間錄製的這張專輯，充滿異國幻想，有德州鄉間的空間感。純音樂佔多數的專輯也收錄有人聲的歌曲，也開展他們音樂的新面向。藍調、放克、濃重的貝斯構成的獨特異國迷幻聲響，Khruangbin一定是迷幻搖滾裡獨特的一塊風景。
Taking influence from 1960s Thai funk - their name literally translates to "Engine Fly" in Thai - Khruangbins debut album The Universe Smiles Upon You is steeped in the bass heavy, psychedelic sound of their inspiration, Tarantino soundtracks and surf-rock cool. The Texan trio is formed of Laura Lee on bass, Mark Speer on guitar, and Donald “DJ” Johnson on drums.
The Universe Smiles Upon You was recorded at their spiritual home, a remote barn deep in the Texas countryside where their first rehearsals took place. The band listened to a lot of different types of music on the long drives out to the country but their favourites were 60s and 70s Thai cassettes gleaned from the cult Monrakplengthai blog and compilations of southeast Asian pop, rock and funk. This had a heavy impact on the direction of the band, the scales they used and the inflection of the melodies; which coupled with the spaciousness of the Texan countryside culminated in Khruangbin forming their exotic, individual sound.
Although the band was conceived as an instrumental outfit, The Universe Smiles Upon You ol.ifeatures the first Khruangbin recordings with vocals. Tracks People Everywhere (Still Alive), Balls and Pins and recent single White Gloves show a new dimension to the band.
“We never really thought of ourselves as having a “singer” but we knew that we wanted a voice for Khruangbin. We decided to write about something close to us, tell a story as simply as possible, and sing it together.”
The seeds of Khruangbin were sown when Mark and Laura were invited to tour with Ninja Tunes YPPAH supporting Bonobo across his 2010 American tour. The tour galvanised the two of them to start making music together more seriously, with DJ - he and Mark have played in the same gospel band for years - the natural choice for drums.
Sharing their first recordings, Bonobo included Khruangbins A Calf Born In Winter on his 2013 Late Night Tales compilation. Subsequently signed to Late Night Tales offshoot Night Time Stories, A Calf Born In Winter was released as a single in May 2014, four track EP The Infamous Bill followed in October, with covers EP History Of Flight on Record Store Day 2015.
“We feel like there is an ease that comes from being immersed in a space, away from the distractions of the city and everyday life. We make our music in a barn, in the Texas hill country, because it makes sense to us. Being there allows us to make music that comes naturally, and thats what we wanted this album to be. We wanted to make a record that just let the music happen, and we hope thats what you can hear.”
小白兔官網
