Album songs：
Album Intro：
《Several Shades of Why》不僅是J Mascis繼Dinosaur Jr.《Farm》之後的作品，更是他的首張個人錄音室專輯。就如同他的好友Thurston Moore近年的個人專輯風格，J Mascis也拿起空心吉他，少了幾個腳下的破音效果器，聲音走向更為acoustic，在退去那件破爛骯髒的噪音大衣後，呈現出來的大叔樣貌也更加返樸歸真。
從Dinosaur Jr.在獨立音樂圈崛起，經歷過主流唱片時期，更是沉寂了十年又復出，走過這些風風雨雨，J Mascis首張個人專輯所呈現出來的質樸風貌，也許並不令人意外吧？但畢竟是老將，專輯中參予合作的樂手陣容也讓樂迷們讚嘆︰Sophie Trudeau (A Silver Mt. Zion), Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene), Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses), Pall Jenkins (Black Heart Procession), Kurt Vile等等，此外，封面手寫字更是出自於Kim Gordon。
這張專輯錄製於自家的Bisquiteen錄音室，J Mascis或刷弦或撥彈的空心吉他，唱著歌，在近乎全然原音的質樸基調上，猶如走進幽暗的叢林，卻處處閃耀著細微的光芒，樂手們的小提琴、鋼琴、長笛、豎笛等樂器陪襯在後，不僅讓溫度暖了起來，視野也更開闊，J Mascis又髒又破的招牌電吉他solo卻偶爾像道閃電般劃破天際，照亮小徑，41分鐘的旅程中，彷彿一下子睜大眼睛尋幽探密，一下子又因刺眼的光線而皺眉瞇眼，結果時間就這樣過去，我才發現已經走出那一小片美麗叢林，J Mascis也在城市噪音中突然面無表情的轉身離去。
Despite being best known for the skull-crushing volume of his work with Dinosaur Jr., J. Mascis has dabbled in acoustic music in the past, most notably on his 1996 album Martin + Me (Martin being his acoustic guitar). But Several Shades of Why is easily his most accomplished and best-crafted acoustic album to date, as well as one of his most tightly focused collections in years. Several Shades of Why's ten songs are rooted in Mascis' acoustic guitar picking, and rather than simply stripping his amp-blasting tunes down to a quieter arrangement, most of these songs appear to have been written with an acoustic in mind, and his elemental but lively melodic figures are surprisingly nimble and shine in this more subtle and dynamic setting. Mascis has also brought in a handful of gifted acquaintances to join him on these sessions, including Kurt Vile on guitar, Sophie Trudeau on violin, and Pall Jenkins on keyboards, and while the musicians have left the right amount of space in the songs, there's just enough detail in these performances to give them an impressive depth and texture that serves them well. Mascis has never been known as an especially lucid lyricist, and this album hardly challenges that assumption, but the tenor of this album speaks to a more sincere and mature emotional core than much of the writer's previous work, and as mushy as his vocals traditionally are, here he doesn't reach for effect, but simply speaks to his heart and mind. Several Shades of Why isn't an album that sounds grandiose, but it's a strong and thoughtful work that features plenty of fine songs performed by a gifted guitarist with an equally capable ensemble by his side. If it isn't quite a masterpiece, along with Dinosaur Jr.'s surprisingly strong reunion albums, this suggests Mascis has been quietly enjoying an impressive career renaissance, as if the venerable slacker has discovered something welcome in the onset of maturity.
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