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　　相信大家都有过不同的旅行经历，你是否喜欢在到达新的城市或国家时也好好欣赏一下当地的音乐呢？

　　Toby这次要给大家介绍北京的音乐，其中就包括了他喜欢的一些乐队。看看有没有合你口味的吧！

　　I have always been a big music fan and when I visit a new city, one of the first things I do, is check out the local music scene. Before coming to Beijing I knew very little about Chinese music. I had heard about Beijing opera and was familiar with some of the big names in popular music such as Cui Jian and Faye Wong, but that’s all. So it was a pleasant surprise to find such a vibrant hive of musical activity. I think I am pretty eclectic in my musical tastes and I have been to concerts ranging from Brahms at the Beijing Music conservatory to the Subs at the club D22. 

　　It is unfair to single out one particular act but I have a particular fondness for a trio called Hedgehog. Maybe it’s the name, as I like hedgehogs. At my parent’s home in the UK they often come into the garden at night. For such a small creature they make a phenomenal amount of noise. In fact, they sound like a large pig, which could well be why they have the name hog. Hog is another name for pig whilst a hedge is a fence made up of a row of bushes. Or maybe it’s because the band are a trio. There is a lot you can do with just three people, the Bill Evans trio and the Nat King Cole trio in jazz for example, or the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream in rock. So I have a soft spot for trios. Although I may be getting a bit long in the tooth to be going to rock gigs, it is good chance to let my hair down and lose some inhibitions. The drummer is tiny woman, who calls herself Atom, and she possesses a seemingly inexhaustible amount of energy. Often she sings in English but the lyrics are a wonderfully weird, nonsensical gibberish。

　　Now that the weather is getting warmer I hope there will be some musical events in one of the city parks. There is a Mongolian group, called Hanggai, I really want to see. Their singer, Yi Liqi, practices a traditional art called xoomei (throat singing) and the group plays Mongolian instruments such as the tobushuur (two stringed lute) and the morinhuur (horse hair fiddle). I have heard some of their recordings but I have never seen them live. However they perform regularly around the city so I should be able to catch up with them soon。

　　单词 Glossary

　　Vibrant (adj。) - Lively

　　Hive (n。) - Home for bees

　　Hive of activity (phrase) - Busy place

　　Eclectic (adj。) - Made up of various styles

　　Music conservatory (n。) - Music school

　　Hedgehog (n。) - Small spine covered animal

　　Phenomenal (adj。) - Extraordinary

　　Hog (n。) - Pig

　　Hedge (n。) - A fence of bushes

　　Soft spot (n。) - Weakness, sentimental feeling

　　Long in the tooth (phrase) - Old

　　Gig (n。) - Concert

　　Let your hair down (phrase) - Behave in a free, uninhibited way

　　Inhibitions (n。) - Things that restrain and block you

　　Inexhaustible (adj。) - Never completely used up

　　Lyrics (n。) - Words to a song

　　Gibberish (n。) - Nonsensical talk or writing

　　Lute (n。) - Stringed pear shaped instrument

　　Fiddle (n。) - Violin