搬運(yùn)自：微信公眾號【評論搬一堆】（在原文基礎(chǔ)上添加了英語原文與排版調(diào)整）

原文鏈接：https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-200-best-albums-of-the-2010s/

翻譯：Emma.Z

審譯：Ryan-Chopin

推送：Lynn Liu

David Bowie was sometimes accused of being calculating, and that trait served him triumphantly when it came to stage-managing his exit as an artist. From its daring music to its perfect title, from its stunning artwork to its startling videos,?Blackstar?was a magnificent farewell to his audience. Even the timing was immaculate, the album coming out two days before Bowie’s death. As pop’s greatest self-dramatist, he doubtless felt he owed his audience a consummate denouement, but you also get the sense from?Blackstar?that Bowie felt free of obligations, able to explore and experiment to his art’s content. Unlike his preceding album?The Next Day,?Blackstar?betrays zero concern for radio play or other worldly metrics of success. The cutting edges dominate, with a palette steeped in lifelong loves like jazz and brief passions like drum ‘n’ bass. But although the urgent desire to break new ground rather than revisit familiar pathways is palpable, flickers from Bowie’s vast past appear: the harmonica texture from?Low’s “A New Career in a New Town,” for instance, rematerializes on the closing “I Can’t Give Everything Away.” That title is Bowie affirming the value of mystique. It’s notable that he never wrote a memoir—a rare act of superstar tact.

David Bowie有時會被人指責(zé)過于精明，而當(dāng)他作為藝術(shù)家退出舞臺時，這種特質(zhì)卻讓他大獲成功。從其大膽的音樂到完美的標(biāo)題，從其驚人的藝術(shù)品到其驚人的視頻，《Blackstar（黑星）》是告別觀眾的完美謝幕。就連發(fā)行的時機(jī)也讓人叫絕——這張專輯是在Bowie去世前兩天發(fā)行的。作為流行樂史上最偉大的自我表演藝術(shù)家，他無疑認(rèn)為自己欠觀眾一個完美的結(jié)局，但你也可以從《黑星》中感受到一絲釋然。他把自己從“義務(wù)”中解放出來，覺得這樣才有精力去探索和試驗其他藝術(shù)的可能性。與他的上一張專輯《The Next Day（第二天）》不同，《黑星》對電臺播歌或其他世俗的成功標(biāo)準(zhǔn)毫不關(guān)心。最前衛(wèi)的風(fēng)格占據(jù)了主導(dǎo)地位，調(diào)色板上描繪著他畢生的愛好，比如爵士樂，以及對鼓和貝斯短暫的激情。但是，盡管David Bowie開辟新領(lǐng)域而不是重走老路的迫切渴望不言而喻，但他的過去卻可謂星光閃耀：比如，出自專輯《Low（低）》的《A new Career in A new Town（新城新職業(yè)）》，其中的口琴質(zhì)感在結(jié)尾處再次出現(xiàn)，“我不能放棄一切”。Bowie在通過這樣的標(biāo)題肯定神秘性的價值。值得注意的是，他從來沒有寫過回憶錄——這是超級明星少有的睿智。

Yet while?Blackstar’s words are oblique, vocally and emotionally, Bowie has rarely seemed more achingly exposed. The title track is one of the strangest and strongest things Bowie ever made. The glassy-grey waver of his voice sounds like he’s already a ghost. The refrain “I’m a blackstar” serves as a chilling image for the extinction of personality, but also hints at the way icons fascinate long after they’ve faded from the scene, just like black holes emit radiation. –Simon Reynolds

然而，盡管專輯《Blackstar》在歌詞，聲音和情感上都是隱晦的，但Bowie少有地直觀展現(xiàn)了內(nèi)心更痛苦的一面。專輯同名曲是Bowie創(chuàng)作過的最奇怪、最有力的作品之一。黯然脆弱顫抖的聲音聽起來他已化身鬼魂，副歌不斷重疊的“I’m a blackstar”?為歌曲增添了不寒而栗的特質(zhì)，但也表明了真正的Icon在淡出熒幕后依舊魅力無限，如同黑洞放出的輻射。