Pitchfork Review翻译

When new bands play guitar music heavy on reverb and slow in tempo-- a combination that drapes tunes in a sublimely druggy dream-pop haze-- I can be slow to embrace them. It's not that there isn't plenty of good music in this vein being made. It's that one band, 20 years ago, did this sound so well and with so much personality, they set a difficult standard for newcomers to meet.

当新乐队演奏重混响、慢节奏的吉他音乐时——一种将绝伦的、迷幻的dream-pop的朦胧覆于曲调之上的组合——我接受它们的过程会变得很长。这并不是说在这一支流中没有什么好音乐。而是说有过这么一支乐队，在20年前，他们已经把这种音乐做得这么好，这么有个性，为这些后来者设定了一个很难达到的标准。

Galaxie 500 didn't last long. They formed in Boston in 1986, released three albums between 1988 and 1990, got great notices in the press (especially the UK), and then dissolved. Following their breakup, after which lead singer and guitarist Dean Wareham went on to Luna and the rhythm section of Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang formed Magic Hour and Damon and Naomi, Galaxie 500 albums went out of print. Krukowski bought the master tapes in an auction, the albums were gathered with bonus material in a box set by Rykodisc in 1996 and then reissued separately. They fell out of print again.

Galaxie 500的组合没有延续很久。他们组建于1986年的波士顿，1988年至1990年发行了三张专辑，收获了很大的关注（尤其在英国），之后就解散了。他们分手后，主唱兼吉他手Dean Wareham去了另一支乐队Luna，节奏组的Damon Krukowski和Naomi Yang组建了Magic Hour and Damon and Naomi，Galaxie 500的专辑之后就绝版了。Krukowski在一次拍卖中买回了母带，这些唱片和其他材料一起被收集在Rykodisc于1996年发行的box set里，然后又分别重新发行。之后它们又一次绝版了。

Damon and Naomi's label, 20/20/20, are now bringing them out again in expanded 2xCD form, along with newly mastered vinyl editions......

Damon和Naomi的厂牌20/20/20，现在将以2CD的形式再次推出这些专辑，还有最新灌录的黑胶版本......

Today might be the best song-by-song album of Galaxie 500's three. It's also the most varied, moving from the ghostly mid-tempo beauty of opener "Flowers", the dreamiest dream-pop song of them all, to the deeply affecting absurdity of "Tugboat", where the narrator wants to leave the world behind and "be your tugboat captain," to the pounding, mantra-like cover of Jonathan Richman's "Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste", which actually rocks. Wareham's voice stays in a cracked upper register that can either be yearning or transcendent, and his guitar sustain seems to go on for days. Yang's bass playing, like that of Peter Hook, from whom she borrowed heavily, is the band's emotional center, and Krukowski's drums are as much about texture as they are about time-keeping. There were no virtuosos in this group, but everyone's part was essential. Rare is the band where three voices this distinctive come together to make a fourth, equally distinctive thing that transcends everything that went into it. And even more rare is the debut this assured and complete.

论单曲，Today可能是Galaxie 500三张专辑中最好的一张了。它也是最多变的，从最梦幻的的dream-pop的中速开场曲Flowers，到Tugboat中感人至深的荒谬之语——我想要离开这个世界“做你的拖船船长”，再到对Jonathan Richman的Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste的轰鸣的、颂歌般的翻唱——这首歌很摇滚。Wareham的歌声保持在一个濒临破裂的高音，听上去像是在呐喊又像是超然物外的，他的吉他听起来绵绵不绝。Young的贝斯演奏，就像她大量借用的榜样Peter Hook一样，是乐队的情感中心，Krukowski的鼓兼顾着音色和时机。这个团体里没有器乐演奏大师，但每个人的作用都是那么重要。很少有乐队能把三个不同的声音结合在一起，创造出第四个同样与众不同的又超越一切的东西。而更罕见的是这张处女作的自信心和完成度。

Indeed, Today was such a terrific first statement, the only way for Galaxie 500 to best it was to narrow their focus and concentrate on doing one thing perfectly. Everything about 1989's On Fire, from the iconic cover art (the sleeve, like all three of their records, was designed by Yang) to producer Kramer's brilliantly surreal liner notes, to the just-under-mid-tempo beat that drives every song, comes together to support the whole. Wareham's guitar in particular remains fixated on one primitive strumming pattern, and the first three songs all find him taking off onto soaring wordless choruses in a falsetto-drenched reverb. Krukowski uses his drums to superb effect throughout, reinforcing the narcotic pace of the music with his slow-mo percussive explosions. It sounds samey in a sense, but On Fire's narrow focus turns out to be a strength. It feels immersive, the rock album as ambient record, and it's the definitive slowcore statement.

的确，Today是一个非常棒的首次发声，Galaxie 500将它做到最好的唯一窍门就是缩小焦点，专注地将一件事做完美。关于1989年的On Fire的一切，从标志性的封面美术（唱片的封面和他们所有的三张专辑一样都是由Young设计的)，到制作人Kramer设计的精彩的超现实主义风格的唱片内页，再到推动每首歌的略低中速节拍，都相互呼应，聚集支撑着整体。Wareham的吉他仍然专注于一种基础的弹拨模式，前三首歌都能听到他在充满失真效果的混响中加入了高亢的无词和声。Krukowski的鼓在整个过程中发挥了极佳的效果，他用他慢式敲击的爆发鼓点加强了音乐的迷幻节奏。从某种意义上说，两张专辑的这些方面听起来是一样的，但On Fire集中的聚焦却又成了一种优势。它给人一种身临其境的感觉，让摇滚专辑听着像氛围音乐专辑一样，这毫无疑问是slowcore的表达。

On this reissue, as with the prior Rykodisc set, the original album is augmented with three additional songs originally on the Blue Thunder EP, including a take on Joy Division's "Ceremony" that could be the best cover of the legendary band in existence. And the Peel Sessions set, collecting two four-song sessions, is nothing short of essential. Galaxie 500's versions of their own work are just as strong but different, and the covers of the Sex Pistols, Young Marble Giants, and Buffy St. Marie, show how they could absorb the songs of others into their aesthetic.

这次再版和之前的Rykodisc版本一样，在原专辑中增加了原来在Blue Thunder EP中的三首歌曲，其中包括一首Joy Division的“Ceremony”，可能是这支传奇乐队目前最好的翻唱版本。而peel sessions也是同样重要的。Galaxie 500对翻唱版本的诠释也同样强烈，但又与原先不同。而他们对Sex Pistols，Young Marble Giants和Buffy St. Marie的翻唱都表明，他们能够将他人的歌曲吸收进自己的审美之中。

This Is Our Music, from 1990, has a few of Galaxie 500's best tunes and it also has the richest production, with greater focus on keyboards and layered guitars. "Fourth of July" is funny, "Summertime" has an almost blinding sparkle, and Yang's vocal on the cover of Yoko Ono's "Listen, the Snow Is Falling" is a pretty good argument that she should be fronting her own project. But despite its high points, This Is Our Music also has a few duds, which are the only easy skips on the band's proper records. "Way Up High" and "Hearing Voices" are nice enough, but feel like Galaxie 500 on cruise control. Hard to say where they might've gone from here.

发行于1990年的This Is Our Music，收录了几首Galaxie 500最好的曲子，它的制作也最为丰富，更注重键盘和层次吉他。Fourth of July很有趣，Summertime有一种近乎眩目的光泽，杨在翻唱小野洋子的Listen, the Snow is Falling的声音，足以证明她应该去创造属于自己的音乐。尽管This Is Our Music有很多精彩的地方，但它也有一些不好的地方，成了乐队的正式唱片中不多的可以跳过的地方。Way Up High和Hearing Voices很不错，但感觉就像福特Galaxie 500开启了巡航模式，很难说出他们从这里出发最终到达了什么地方。

Given the relative merits of This Is Our Music, a fine album that sometimes sounds sleepy instead of dreamy, the fact that Galaxie 500 called it quits in spring 1991 is no tragedy. Some bands are meant to last for three albums; this was one of them. All involved would go on to do good things, including Kramer, who carried his sonic innovations into Low's early work. The live album, Copenhagen, which is heavy on songs from This Is Our Music and in almost every case improves upon them, turns out to be the ideal closing chapter. During the 1990 show in Denmark, Galaxie 500 play magnificently to what sounds like a pretty small crowd. But that small crowd is into it. Sometimes bands work like that. They never made it big, but during their short run, Galaxie 500's often quiet and always beautifully rendered music had a profound impact on a few people, including this writer. It needs to stay out there, where it has a chance of finding a few more.

考虑到This Is Our Music这张专辑相对优秀的品质，Galaxie 500在1991年春天宣布退出并不是个悲剧。有些乐队的寿命是三张专辑，他们就是其中之一。所有参与过的人都去做了不错的事，包括Kramer，他把他在声效上的创新带到Low的早期作品中。现场演出的专辑Copenhagen是个理想的尾声，这张专辑的重头戏是This is Our Music中的歌曲，而且几乎每首歌都在原先的基础上进行了改编。1990年在丹麦的演出中，Galaxie 500演出得非常精彩，观众人数听起来不多，但那一小群人完全融入了。有时乐队就是这样工作的，他们从来没有做大，但在他们短短的生涯内，Galaxie 500安静、优美的音乐对一些人产生了深远的影响，包括我这个写文章的人。它只需要远远地呆在那里，就会有机会找到更多这样的人。

原文链Galaxie 500: Today / On Fire / This Is O... pitchfork.com