Atlas Sound - Logos (new song) (live)

http://www.myspace.com/stvincent

瞬間相信愛情的美好！Spin、musicOMH ★★★★
The Polyphonic Spree前團員Annie Clark浪漫化身
葛萊美提名製作人John Congleton、Midlake團員操刀


累積了與The Polyphonic Spree及Sufjan Stevens等樂手巡演的表演能量，現年才25歲的美國女歌手安妮克拉克（Annie Clark），化身的「聖文森」（St. Vincent）首張處女大碟《Marry Me》，在Beggars Banquet 廠牌推出後大獲好評，Pitchfork給了8.0分推薦。專輯主打曲〈Marry Me〉更不知打動多少戀愛男女，當「Marry me, John / Marry me, John I’ll be so good to you」這幾句歌詞緩緩地從安妮口中唱出來時，我們都瞬間相信了愛情的美好。2008年，安妮榮獲「PLUG獨立音樂大賞」的年度女歌手獎，今年再轉進4AD廠牌發行第二張專輯《Actor》。專輯由Modest Mouse、The Polyphonic Spree葛萊美提名製作人John Congleton主理，外加Midlake團員McKenzie Smith、Paul Alexander擔任伴奏。

如今的4AD廠牌不再循守過往歌德／迷幻歌曲精神，讓安妮悠遊地穿梭在搖滾／民謠／電子之間。她可以唱著很浪漫的輕快情歌，一如開場首曲〈The Strangers〉，教人忍不住輕點腳尖；也可以很剽悍地高唱讓人情緒沸騰的〈Actor Out Of Work〉，洪亮飽滿的管樂。《Actor》不像《Marry Me》以浪漫為基調，鮮明地宣示安妮克拉克更加成熟的樂風，絃樂編曲比例加重甚多，如〈Black Rainbow〉等曲。擔心安妮變得太快的Fans也不用擔心，你還是可以在〈The Party〉找到她那熱愛轉音的模樣，喜歡〈All My Stars Aligned〉的人們則在〈Just The Same But Brand New〉找到共鳴。《Actor》濃厚的人文氣質，創作出另一種鮮度讓人流連忘返。

http://www.myspace.com/cameraobscuraband


一路追隨蘇格蘭格拉斯哥樂隊Camera Obscura至今，他們是少數張張質量俱佳的最好典範，以純情近乎書呆子的學生風範，把玩復古味十足的Twee Pop與校園民謠曲式，主唱Tracyanne Campbell眉頭深鎖的憂鬱，撰寫出一首又一首失敗的戀情、被拒絕的心碎。早年獲同鄉花草指標Belle & Sebastian主腦Stuart Murdoch提攜製作，經典〈Eighties Fan〉受到BBC知名電台主持John Peel選為年度十大單曲，日後藉著《Underachievers Please Try Harder》打入國際舞台，獲AMG四顆半星／Pitchfork 8.0等傳媒好評。


全新第四張專輯《My Maudlin Career》自大象廠跳至歷史悠久的4AD，似有意追隨該廠黑暗文藝風格，Tracyanne Campbell表示「歌詞從來沒有這麼暴力過」，然而她指的其實是最甜蜜哀傷的撕裂心痛。〈French Navy〉以豐富的管弦樂氣勢開場，彷彿延續〈Lloyd, I’m Ready to Be Heartbroken〉的恢宏架式；〈Swans〉叮咚敲擊著他們的招牌復古Chamber Pop；〈James〉感傷流露Velvet Underground的恬淡吉他；〈My Maudlin Career〉則洋溢晶瑩色澤的迴音，自述著這一輩子的流淚生涯…全輯再度由長期合作的The Concretes招牌製作人Jari Haapalainen操刀，整張絲毫沒有失敗作品，俯拾皆是單曲等級，愈聽愈能感受那錐心且喚不回的青春。談戀愛的你啊，是否準備好要流淚了呢… (資料來源：映象唱片）

With lyrics and vocals that are just as ambitious and attention-getting as the music surrounding them, TV on the Radio have always had a lot going on in their music. Indeed, Return to Cookie Mountain was so elaborate that topping it would be difficult, so on Dear Science, (yes, the comma is intentional) the band channels its focus into lean, nimble songs with more structure and polish — and more focus on Tunde Adepimbe's and Kyp Malone's vocals — than any of TV on the Radio's previous work. This immediacy and crystalline clarity take some getting used to, especially compared to Cookie Mountain's lavish yet organic sound: "Family Tree"'s strings, pianos, and plainly worded vulnerability make it one of the band's most accessible songs, but it doesn't feel like anything was sacrificed to make it so anthemic. That feeling only deepens on the self-evidently sexy "Red Dress," which uses Antibalas' vibrant brass and taut guitars to show-stopping effect.



As Dear Science, unfolds, it becomes clear that it isn't so much a radical change for TV on the Radio as it is a slight but significant shift in approach. "Stork and Owl," an inspired mix of hypnotically looping samples and flowing, real-time soulfulness, and "Love Dog," which boasts some of Adepimbe's most affecting singing since "Staring at the Sun," could have fit easily on earlier albums with a few sonic tweaks. And, like Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes and Return to Cookie Mountain, Dear Science, begins with an epic statement of purpose — although "Halfway Home" is as sleek as it is grand, sprinting towards its end with streaking guitars — and ends in an embrace with "Lover's Day," a duet with Celebration's Katrina Ford that turns "I wanna break your back" from a threat to a come-on. Tackling love and war, often within the same song, is all in a day's work for TV on the Radio. However, the band's take on these themes is subtly but notably more optimistic here, as though lightening their sound lightened their mood as well. "DLZ" broods over "the long-winded blues of the never," but on the brilliantly funky "Golden Age," Adepimbe sings "there's a golden age coming 'round" without a trace of irony. Malone's "Crying" calls out the wrongs of the world but ends up just as hopeful as it is angry, while the pun in "Dancing Choose"'s title is pointed enough that the song almost doesn't need to prove that dancing on your troubles is powerfully therapeutic as thoroughly as it does, but that's just another example of this album's rare balance between craft and passion. That comma at the title's end seems naggingly open-ended at first, but it's actually a perfect fit for Dear Science,'s openness to possibilities and positivity. (Allmusic)

 

成軍十四年的紐約Art-Rock樂隊Blonde Redhead，轉投英國傳奇廠牌4AD後的第二張專輯。繼上張《Misery Is A Butterfly》後，Blonde Redhead吸取了4AD一派夢幻唯美的噪音美學，展現出樂隊最為成熟的一面。

延伸閱讀: 文 / 袁智聰

試聽: http://www.myspace.com/blonderedhead

Jóhann Jóhannsson is an Icelandic musician, composer, producer and an active member of the country’s artistic community .Jóhann’s stately and hauntingly melodic music has been quietly bewitching listeners for some time and his new album, IBM 1401, A User’s Manual - his first album for 4AD. The album was recorded in Prague with a 60 piece string orchestra. It's a richly textured, elegantly coherent and achingly moving work - Uncut has described it as a "masterpiece".

Johan Jóhannsson interviewed by boomkat