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African Band Turns Junk into Funk 刚果街头的放克传奇

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Sometimes the road to success takes a most unlikely route. For Konono No. 1, a traditional Congolese band, it came from playing old tunes with an unintentionally modern twist.

有时，通往成功的路会循着最不可能的路线。对Konono No. 1这个传统的刚果乐团来说，成功来自用现代手法玩传统音乐，而一切都是无心插柳。

Three decades ago, KN1 was part of a state-planned revival of traditional Congolese music. But they had a problem. Whenever they performed outdoors, their sound would get drowned out by traffic noise. Too poor to buy proper amplifiers, the band scrounged about for scrap metal, automobile parts, and old radios. They used these to assemble makeshift microphones and amplifiers. The result: traditional music with a raw, electric distortion that, like modern western electronic music, was somehow appealing to the ear.

三十年前，KN1是国家筹划的传统音乐复兴运动中的一部份。但是，他们遇到一个问题。每当他们在户外表演时，他们的声音总会被车辆噪音给淹没。因为太穷买不起适当的扩音器材，乐团只好四处搜集金属片、汽车零件和老旧收音机，而用这些组成临时麦克风跟扩音箱。结果变成：传统音乐多了一种像现代西方电音的原始与电子失真感，某种程度上听来还蛮悦耳的！

The parallels were coincidental, however, as none of the band members had had music exposure to western music. This didn’t matter to Belgian music producer Vincent Kenis. After hearing KN1’s sound on French radio, Kenis traveled to Congo to meet the band members. Unfortunately, by the time he arrived, KN1 had broken up. Due to the political upheaval there, the Congolese cultural revival had been short-lived.

然而，这样的对比纯属巧合，因为团员对西方音乐接触不多。不过，这对比利时的音乐制作人文生．肯尼斯来说并不是问题。在法国广播节目中听到KN1的声音之后，肯尼斯就飞奔到刚果去找这些团员。不幸的是，当他抵达时，KN1已经解散了。因为当地政局动荡，刚果的文化复兴也只是昙花一现。

After years of searching, Kenis found the band members and encouraged them to regroup. With Kenis producing, KN1 created an album called Congotronics. A “mix of traditional….. trance music, lo-fi electronic, and more,” the album has attracted fans of electronic music all over the world. Considering KN1’s humble beginnings, this journey to the top is as remarkable as the music itself.

经过多年的寻找，肯尼斯找到了乐团成员们，并鼓励他们重新组团。藉由肯尼斯的制作，KN1创作了一张专辑名为「刚果电音」。这张专辑「结合了传统与迷幻音乐、低传真电音还有更多……」，也吸引了世界各地的电子乐迷。试想KN1一开始没没无闻，而这段登上顶端的旅程就跟他们的音乐本身一样令人惊叹。

−by Murray Walker & Robert Kelly

Vocabulary

单词发音

unintentionally [͵ʌnɪnˋtɛnʃənlɪ] adv. 非故意地；非存心地

revival [rɪˋvaɪv!] n. 复活；再生

distortion [dɪsˋtɔrʃən] n. 扭曲；失真

parallel [ˋpærə͵lɛl] n. 类似的人（或事物），可相比拟的人（或事物）

coincidental [ko͵ɪnsəˋdɛnt!] adj. 巧合的﹐碰巧的

More Information

单词发音

Congolese [kɑŋgəˋliz] adj. 刚果人的

twist [twɪst] n. 窍门，花样

amplifier [ˋæmplə͵faɪr] n. 扩音器；放大器

scrounge [skraʊndʒ] v. 搜寻；四处寻找

scrap [skræp] n. 垃圾，破烂; 废料，废金属

Belgian [ˋbɛldʒən] adj. 比利时的

upheaval [ʌpˋhiv!] n. 动乱；激变

short-lived [ˋʃɔrtˋlaɪvd] adj. 短暂的  short-lived: Living or lasting only a short time; ephemeral

makeshift [ˋmek͵ʃɪft] adj. 临时代用的；权宜的

drown out 淹没, 压过  to be so loud that someone or something cannot be heard.

remarkable [rɪˋmɑrkəb!] adj. 不寻常的﹐奇特的

Konono No.1

Lo-Fi Electronic Music