搬運自：網(wǎng)易云音樂專欄【Music Online Zine Courier】（在原文基礎(chǔ)上添加了英語原文與排版調(diào)整）

翻譯：Beans_Beans?

Songs: Ohia's best and most pivotal album, 2003's?The Magnolia Electric Co., showcased the late Jason Molina's strong shift toward rock populism. Imbued with a dust-under-the-fingernails weariness, the album is so representative of Molina’s sound and spirit, he subsequently took Magnolia Electric Co. as his new band’s name.

于2003年發(fā)行的專輯《Magnolia Electric Co.》是樂隊 Songs: Ohia 最精彩紛呈，音樂生涯中最關(guān)鍵的作品，揭示了已故去的樂隊核心 Jason Molina 向搖滾大眾主義的激進(jìn)轉(zhuǎn)變。這張專輯像是指縫間淤積的灰塵，是 Molina 聲音和精神的代言，在這之后他將 “Magnolia Electric Co.” 作為他新樂隊的名字。

The late Jason Molina began his career by enduring constant comparisons to Will Oldham. The analogy became a lazy one, but its basis is understandable. Molina’s debut single under his Songs: Ohia moniker, 1996’s “Nor Cease Thou Never Now”, was released on Oldham’s own Palace Records, and his quivering, sing-speak cadence bears an unmistakable resemblance to Oldham’s. That association endured—up to and including a 2002 collaboration between Molina and Oldham (plus Appendix Out’s Alasdair Roberts) called Amalgamated Sons of Rest. But there are two other singing-songwriting contemporaries of Molina that make for equally apt comparisons: Ryan Adams and Elliott Smith. Adams’s Gold came out in 2001, and its unabashed ode to heartland-fueled classic rock emboldened a generation of punk-and-indie shitkickers to embrace their FM-radio roots. Smith had turned increasingly away from indie rock and toward a more organic classic-pop sound in the late 90s and early 00s—that is, until his suicide in 2003 cut that evolution short.

已逝的 Jason Molina 在他職業(yè)生涯初期，不斷的被人拿來與 Will Oldham 作比較。這一比較可謂是慵散、不負(fù)責(zé)任的，但究其基礎(chǔ)仍是可以理解的。Molina 1996年在他的樂隊項目 Songs: Ohia 發(fā)行的第一支單曲 “Nor Cease Thou Never Now” 便是通過 Oldham 的個人廠牌 Palace Records 問世的，他顫抖的唱腔與 Oldham 的有著顯而易見的相似之處。這種聯(lián)系一直持續(xù)到2002年，Molina 與Oldham（除此之外還有樂隊 Appendix Out 的 Alasdair Roberts）之間的合作作品，名為“Amalgamated Sons of Rest”。除此之外還有兩位與 Molina 同時代的藝術(shù)家，也可以進(jìn)行同樣恰當(dāng)?shù)谋容^——Ryan Adams?和Elliott Smith?。Adams 的《Gold》于2001年問世，它不加掩飾地頌揚了經(jīng)典的中心地帶搖滾樂，是使一代朋克和獨立音樂人擁抱電臺時代的奠基人。在九十年代末和〇〇年代初，Smith 逐步遠(yuǎn)離獨立搖滾的范疇，轉(zhuǎn)向更加有機(jī)的經(jīng)典流行樂——這也就是說，直至2003年 Smith 自殺后，這一革命才漸漸平息。

That year also marked the release of Molina’s best and most pivotal album: The Magnolia Electric Co., which showcased his own strong shift toward rock populism. Imbued with a dust-under-the-fingernails weariness, the album is so representative of Molina’s sound and spirit, he subsequently took Magnolia Electric Co. as his new band’s name. Molina’s work on Magnolia wasn’t as cryptically oblique as Oldham, as stadium-sized as Adams, or as harmonically polished as Smith. It was, perhaps for the first time in his recording tenure, pure and full Molina. But the album installed itself into the American songwriter landscape circa '03 in a way that closed the circuit among his peers and secretly, quietly willed a pocket of the zeitgeist into being.

就在那一年，Molina 發(fā)行了他最精彩，最關(guān)鍵的專輯《Magnolia Electric Co.》揭示了他自己向搖滾大眾主義的激進(jìn)轉(zhuǎn)變。這張專輯充斥著好似指縫間淤積的塵土一般的頹廢感，是 Molina 聲音和精神的代表，再后來他將 “Magnolia Electric Co.” 作為他新樂隊的名字。Molina 在《Magnolia.》 中的作品不再像 Oldham 那樣隱晦，不再像 Adams 那樣有著宛如體育場般宏偉的規(guī)模，也不再像Smith 那樣有和聲的修飾點綴——這也許是 Molina 音樂生涯中第一次擁抱了純粹而完整的 “Molina”。即便如此這張專輯仍在03年左右的美國詞曲創(chuàng)作領(lǐng)域中，以一種在他同行中密閉的方式，潤物細(xì)無聲般地將這一時代潮流從口袋寸地引向現(xiàn)實。

The 10th anniversary of The Magnolia Electric Co. is upon us, hence the obligatory 10th-anniversary reissue. The album would have called for the deluxe retrospective treatment even if Molina hadn’t died earlier this year, of organ failure related to his long struggle with alcohol. The respectful euphemisms have flown. The bottom line, however, is harsh: Molina drank himself to death. But Magnolia is not a drunk record, nor is it a drinking record. While legions of alt-country troubadours have drained the tear-in-my-beer song of much of its traditionalist proof, Magnolia is sharp, clear-eyed, and savagely focused.

《Magnolia Electric Co.》的十周年紀(jì)念日即將到來，因此我們也必將進(jìn)行十周年再版。倘若 Molina 并未在今年年初死于與酒精斗爭的多器官衰竭中，這張專輯也將被進(jìn)行豪華的回顧性再版。奢華的悼詞已不再重要，人的脆弱是殘酷的，Molina 把自己喝死了。但《Magnolia.》并不是一張酒后所作的唱片，也并非須以酒精作伴方能欣賞的唱片。當(dāng)眾多的另類鄉(xiāng)村歌手將“以酒代淚”式庸曲唱爛時，《Magnolia.》是尖銳而深刻、清晰、野性、專一的杰作。

Beginning the album with “Farewell Transmission” is more than an act of perversity. Molina lays out his blueprint not just for the rest of Magnolia Electric Co. the album*,* but for the rest of Magnolia Electric Co. the band. What once was jittery and hesitant in his delivery is now howlingly powerful; gone is Songs: Ohia’s push-and-pull between intimacy and stridency. In its place is red-blood, full-throated, post-hippie country rock, right down to a name that evokes both Quicksilver Messenger Service and the Grateful Dead’s “Sugar Magnolia”. Only this is Cosmic American Music scorched by the heat of reentry, space-cowboy romance for the year of the Columbia shuttle disaster. “Must be a big star about to fall,” Molina rasps in awestruck wonder over amber waves of twang and pedal-steel majesty. The sweetheart of the rodeo now works at a truck stop somewhere on Route 66, handing out the men’s room key and smiling crookedly to hide her missing teeth.

以 “Farewell Transmission” 作為專輯的開篇，絕非僅是一種任性的作派。Molina 不僅為專輯《Magnolia.》的其余部分，也同時為他之后的樂隊 Magnolia Electric Co. 繪出了藍(lán)圖。在他的言語中，往日的緊張和憂慮消失殆盡，轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)槿缃衽叵男蹨喠α?；他的逝去留給 Songs: Ohia 的并非在親昵與嚴(yán)厲間的輾轉(zhuǎn)，取而代之的是充斥著鮮血、巨響、后嬉皮文化的鄉(xiāng)村搖滾樂，就連名字都讓人聯(lián)想到 Quicksilver Messenger Service 和 Grateful Dead 的 “Sugar Magnolia” 。除此之外這是宇宙式的美利堅音樂，好似被重返大氣層的熱度所炙烤，有著哥倫比亞號航天飛機(jī)遇難之年的太空牛仔式浪漫。“這定是一顆隕落世間的巨星” Molina 在琥珀般精致的鼻音和鋼制踏板的威嚴(yán)中敬畏地吶喊著。這位身處牛仔競技場的甜心，如今正在66號公路某處的卡車站工作，一邊分發(fā)男廁的鑰匙，一邊歪著頭笑，試圖遮掩她缺失的牙齒。

Route 66 is mentioned by name on “John Henry Split My Heart”, and it’s more than just an obvious stab at harnessing American mythology. But it is that—an homage to the folk archetypes of a relatively young nation, yet one that hauls around so much weight. Calling Molina a death-obsessed singer-songwriter would be as off the mark as calling him a drunk singer-songwriter. Still, the gravity of “John Henry”—especially its bruising distortion and spiraling chords—hits like a Dust Bowl twister. And on “I’ve Been Riding with the Ghost”, a more hushed meditation on absence and regret builds into a stiff, inexorable shuffle toward death, complete with ghoulish backups by Molina’s frequent foil, Jennie Benford of Jim & Jennie and the Pinetops (the group with whom Molina recorded the sparse Didn’t It Rain in 2002). “Ghost” is almost Halloweenish in its spooky, oohing, voice-and-guitar refrain, but that dead-leaf brittleness raises gooseflesh. And when, on the churning threnody “Almost Was Good Enough”, Molina chants, “Almost no one makes it out,” it’s Crazy Horse galloping along the lip of a cliff.

“John Henry Split My Heart” 中所提到的66號公路，這不僅是顯而易見地引用美利堅神話。但它也就是如此——向一個年輕國家的民間英雄致敬——肩負(fù)著如此宏偉的內(nèi)涵。說 Molina 是一個癡迷于死亡的唱作人，同稱他是一個酗酒的唱作人一般。盡管如此，“John Henry” 的引用仍不失威嚴(yán)——特別是它那傷痕累累的失真效果和扶搖而上的和弦——好似沙塵暴一般。在 “I've Been Riding with the Ghost” 中，在經(jīng)由 Molina 長期合作搭檔——樂隊 Jim & Jennie and the Pinetops 的 Jennie Benford（Molina在2002年與他們一起錄制了舉世罕有的《Didn't It Rain》）所創(chuàng)造的可怖伴奏下，將對不復(fù)存在和遺憾的沉思化為死尸一般，繼而不可避免地走向死亡?！癎host” 幾乎有著萬圣節(jié)式的詭異、嗚咽、人聲與器樂音交相應(yīng)答，那種枯葉式的清脆感令人不寒而栗。而當(dāng) Molina 在洶涌澎湃的悲歌 “Almost Was Good Enough” 中吟唱 “Almost no one makes it out” 時，倘如狂馬奔馳在崇山峻嶺之上。

For every act of negation—self- or otherwise—on Magnolia, there’s an imperative. “Just Be Simple” is Molina’s lone commandment, only he wields his Occam’s razor with a gentle subtlety, even as his arrangements are far more textured and complex than they let on. “Everything you hated me for/ Honey, there was so much more,” he sings softly and cleanly; meanwhile, what he doesn’t sing screams volumes. The obvious reference is to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man”, only here there’s no external narrator, no motherly figure through which to filter homespun wisdom. This is a hard-earned, heart-damaged cautionary tale told far too late for caution to do any good, and Molina seems content to judge no one but himself. “Hold on Magnolia” also delivers an order, but again it’s directed inward. “You might be holding the last light I see/ Before the dark finally gets a hold of me,” he pleads over lonesome strums before adding doubtfully, “Hold on, Magnolia/ I know what a true friend you’ve been.” The eerie similarity between “Magnolia” and “Molina” isn’t lost on anyone.

在《Magnolia.》中，Molina每一次自我否定或是其他行為，都附加有一個要求。“Just Be Simple” 便是 Molina 唯有的戒律，只是他以一種溫和而微妙的方式揮舞著他的 “Occam’s razor”*，即使他的布局遠(yuǎn)比它們所表達(dá)的更富質(zhì)感、復(fù)雜精巧。“Everything you hated me for/ Honey, there was so much more” 他輕輕地、利落地唱著；同時，他尚未言說的東西卻叫囂著。顯而易見這里參考了Lynyrd Skynyrd 的 “Simple Man”，只是這里沒有旁白，沒有母親來充當(dāng)家庭濾鏡。這是一個來之不易、令人心碎的警世寓言，而又到來的太晚，杞人憂天也無濟(jì)于事，Molina 似乎僅批判了自己的未來。 “Hold on Magnolia”也傳達(dá)了相似的命令，但同時它再次指向內(nèi)在?！癥ou might be holding the last light I see/ Before the dark finally gets a hold of me”他在孤寂的弦樂之中懇求道，隨即又在質(zhì)疑中發(fā)聲“Hold on, Magnolia/ I know what a true friend you’ve been.” “Magnolia” 與 “Molina” 深入黃泉的相似性不言而喻。

The dark-horse tracks of Magnolia have only gotten better with age. Presented back-to-back in the middle of the album, “The Old Black Hen” and “Peoria Lunch Box Blues” feature guests vocalists—grizzled country singer Lawrence Peters on the former and British-born singer Scout Niblett on the latter. Both are excellent. On “Black Hen”, Peters drawls like molasses across a honky-tonk funeral waltz; “Peoria”, on the other hand, conjures a mystic, distorted-folk lope worthy of Sandy Denny-era Fairport Convention. More than just being strong on their own, though, this one-two punch gives Molina a breather from all the turned-earth bleakness—plus it describes the entirety of the spectrum he draws from: orthodox Americana on one hand and otherworldly atmosphere on the other.

隨著時間的推移，《Magnolia.》中的驚喜曲目只會愈發(fā)的燦爛輝煌。專輯中背靠背接連呈現(xiàn)的 “The Old Black Hen” 和 “Peoria Lunch Box Blues” 的合作歌手——前者是灰頭土臉的鄉(xiāng)村歌手 Lawrence Peters ，后者則是土生土長的英國歌手 Scout Niblett ，二者都很出色。在 “The Old Black Hen” 中，Peters用糖漿一般的嗓音夾雜酒吧鋼琴的伴奏，在送葬曲中獨舞，泣不成聲；另者，“Peoria” 則孕育了一種詭秘、扭曲的民謠韻律，值得與 Sandy Denny 時代的 Fairport Convention 一同欣賞。然而，這不僅僅是他們本身的強大，這種得兩強相助的做法讓 Molina 得到喘息的機(jī)會，將荒涼的大地顛覆——汲取全部光譜：一方面是正統(tǒng)的美式音樂，另一方面超凡脫俗的氛圍。

When it comes to the bonus tracks, not a moment is wasted. The complete set of guitar-plus-vocals demos—originally included in a limited-edition run of Magnolia upon its first release—shows the bones of “Black Hen” and “Peoria” with Molina himself supplying the vocals, studies in haunted restraint that recall the Songs: Ohia of old. “Just Be Simple” is given the most felicitous treatment as a skeleton of its full-band self. Every crevice and shiver of Molina’s voice is allowed to hang in empty space, naked and aching. The pair of newly restored outtakes, “The Big Game Is Every Night” and “Whip Poor Will”, are essential to the album; hearing them in the context of the established track listing, it’s hard to imagine how Magnolia ever did without them. “Whip Poor Will” is light and sweet, a melancholic confection in which Molina plucks at taut strings and duets with Benford, whom Molina begs to “Sing it, sister, one more time.” Their harmonies on the chorus are jagged, uneven, vinegary, perfect.

談到加曲，它們的存在沒有浪費一分一秒。這套完整的人聲 + 吉他音的小樣——最初也包括在《Magnolia.》的限量版中——顯示了 “Black Hen” 和 “Peoria” 最初的骨架，由 Molina 自己提供人聲，對神鬼魂魄克制的研究，不禁讓人想起了最初的 ?Songs: Ohia。“Just Be Simple” 作為全樂隊的核心得到最完美的處理。Molina 歌聲的每一個間隙和顫音，都仿佛懸于空曠之地，暴露著傷痕累累的軀殼。一對重新修復(fù)后的加曲，“The Big Game Is Every Night” 和 “Whip Poor Will” 對于這張專輯能夠達(dá)到如今的成就至關(guān)重要，很難想象沒有它們，《Magnolia.》將如何做到這一點?！癢hip Poor Will” 輕盈而甜美，是一種夾雜憂郁的甜品，Molina 在其中撥弄著緊繃的琴弦，與 Benford 對唱，懇求著“Sing it, sister, one more time”。他們在副歌部分的和聲參差錯落，隨機(jī)散開，帶有淡淡的酸甜味，完美至極。

But it’s “The Big Game Is Every Night” that truly astounds: 10 glorious minutes long, the song pulses like a severed vein, its rhythm slowly ebbing out as Molina sings, “The last thing I see/ Let it be me helping/ Honestly, let it be me working/ On being a better me.” Only Molina knew if he fulfilled that promise to himself before he died. Ultimately, that’s all that matters about?Magnolia, regardless of its maker’s deserved place in the pantheon alongside Oldham, Adams, and Smith: the way Molina sank his roots so deep, they took up more than they could bear.

但真正令人震驚的是 “The Big Game Is Every Night”，這首歌長達(dá)10分鐘，像條剝離出的靜脈一樣跳動，而當(dāng) Molina 唱道“The last thing I see/ Let it be me helping/ Honestly, let it be me working/ On being a better me.”時，它的躍動漸漸平息。最終唯有 Molina 知曉他是否在身死前實現(xiàn)對自己的諾言。歸根結(jié)底，這便是《Magnolia Electric Co.》的全部意義，無論他的成就者是否在萬神殿中與 Oldham , Adams 和 Smith 并列應(yīng)有的地位：Molina 將他的根系觸及得如此之深，它們將背負(fù)的遠(yuǎn)超它們所能承受的東西。