Graceland＜Clear Vinyl/完全生産限定盤＞

ポール・サイモン 1986年発売『Graceland』のアナログ盤(クリア・ヴァイナル)

南アフリカのミュージシャンとともに制作したことで、当時反アパルトヘイトの動きを妨げるものとして物議を醸し出したソロ8作目。そうした喧騒を抱えながらも全米3位、全英では1位を獲得する大ヒット作となり、1986、87年にグラミー賞を連続で受賞するという快挙を成し遂げた名作。ワールド・ミュージックと言う新たな潮流を生み出しただけでなく、その音楽の力で世界の人道的見地の在り方に一石を投じた歴史的な重要作。

With Graceland, Paul Simon hit on the idea of combining his always perceptive songwriting with the little-heard mbaqanga music of South Africa, creating a fascinating hybrid that re-enchanted his old audience and earned him a new one. It is true that the South African angle (including its controversial aspect during the apartheid days) was a powerful marketing tool and that the catchy music succeeded in presenting listeners with that magical combination: something they'd never heard before that nevertheless sounded familiar. As eclectic as any record Simon had made, it also delved into zydeco and conjunto-flavored rock & roll while marking a surprising new lyrical approach (presaged on some songs on Hearts and Bones); for the most part, Simon abandoned a linear, narrative approach to his words, instead drawing highly poetic ("Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes"), abstract ("The Boy in the Bubble"), and satiric ("I Know What I Know") portraits of modern life, often charged by striking images and turns of phrase torn from the headlines or overheard in contemporary speech. An enormously successful record, Graceland became the standard against which subsequent musical experiments by major artists were measured. ~ William Ruhlmann