搬運自：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）

翻譯：Simon Joanne

校正：Lynn Liu

排版：Lynn Liu

Vampire Weekend return with a shaggy, sprawling double album all about rebirth, contentment, and the reclamation of light.

Vampire Weekend帶著一張如雜草藤蔓般蓬亂的雙碟專輯回歸，該專輯探討了探討重生、滿足與光明的再生。

From the beginning,?Vampire Weekend?were winners: charming, relatively lighthearted; Columbia students one year, festival headliners the next. They had cute sweaters and smart jokes; they wrote with wit and curiosity about the tapestry of privileged life; they carried themselves with an almost infuriating sparkle. But they were also manic, weird, and provocatively cross-cultural, mixing up?digital dancehall and string sections,?Latin punk and raga?in ways that didn’t quite fit. And despite their superficial politeness, there was something deeply antagonistic about them, the vestigial bite of suburban kids who grew up loving punk and hardcore but never quite felt entitled to its anger, the indie-rock band bent on breaking up the monopoly rock held over guitar-based music.

從一開始，Vampire Weekend就贏了：充滿魅力、無憂無慮；做了一年的哥倫比亞學生后，成為了音樂節(jié)的頭牌人物。他們穿著可愛的毛線衣、喜歡開巧妙的小玩笑；他們用智慧與好奇的筆觸描寫了特權(quán)生活的多姿多彩；他們還帶著一股幾乎讓人不悅的光芒，但他們也很狂躁、怪異，煽動性地將不同的文化融合在一起——將電子舞廳音樂、弦樂、拉丁朋克和印度拉加樂以一種并不是很恰當?shù)姆绞交旌显谝黄?。除他們膚淺的禮貌之外，其實他們內(nèi)心深處仍具有某種對抗性——這些來自郊區(qū)的孩子，自小就喜愛朋克與硬核，他們身上的這種殘留從沒有能完全夠資格轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)橐环N憤怒，這支獨立搖滾樂隊一心想要打破搖滾被以吉他為基礎(chǔ)的音樂所壟斷的局面。

In time, they grew bigger, denser, more serious. Their third and last album, 2013’s?Modern Vampires of the City, felt almost haunted, every line crammed with allusion, every space stuffed with weird, processed sounds. Even the silences crackled with old life, a poster on a city street stripped away to reveal the fragment of poster underneath. It felt, appropriately, like the band’s then-home of New York, a place where you can’t take a walk around the block without feeling like you’re bothering the dead.

過了這么久，他們已經(jīng)變得更加成熟、沉穩(wěn)和嚴肅。他們發(fā)行于2013年的第三張（也是上一張）專輯《Modern Vampires of the City（城市中的現(xiàn)代吸血鬼）》，有種一直陰魂不散的感覺——每一句歌詞都被塞滿了影射，每一條音軌都被填滿了奇怪的、被處理過的聲效。甚至寂靜中也洋溢著舊日的生活氣息，一張貼在城市街頭的海報——被撕掉的部分顯出了下面一層的海報。正確來說，它感覺像是這支樂隊之后的家鄉(xiāng)——紐約，在這座城市中，哪怕是在街道邊散步，你也必定會感覺你會打擾到了死去的一切。

Frontman Ezra Koenig relocated to Los Angeles, made an animated series for Netflix (“Neo Yokio”) and became a parent; Rostam Batmanglij—the band’s Swiss Army knife and in-house producer—worked with?Carly Rae Jepsen?and?Charli XCX, leaving Vampire Weekend in 2016 to work on solo music; the band has lived inside a pregnant pause. Now we have?Father of the Bride—a looser, broader album than?Modern Vampires, the great sigh after a long holding of breath. There are still moments of conflict, but in general, you get the sense the band is just relieved to have run the gauntlet of their existential doubts and come out relatively unscathed, grateful to be here. A glass of wine? Why not. Make it white, and if you’ve got it, a little ice.

樂隊隊長Ezra Koenig搬去了洛杉磯，為Netflix制作了一部動畫劇集，還成了一位父親；樂隊中的“瑞士軍刀”、內(nèi)部制作人——Rostam Batmanglij，與Carly Rae Jepsen還有Charli XCX都進行了合作，這使得樂隊在2016年只能制作一些單人音樂，樂隊進入了一個停頓期?，F(xiàn)在我們聽到了《Father of the Bride（新娘之父）》——一張比《Modern Vampires of the City》要更為寬松、廣泛的專輯，這算是憋了一口很長的氣，最終得到了釋放。沖突的瞬間依舊存在，但總的來說，你感覺到這支樂隊已經(jīng)放松到可以迎接他們疑惑的考驗，并相對來說毫發(fā)無損地跳脫出來，同時依舊慶幸自己能夠歸來。來一杯葡萄酒嗎？好呀，最好是白葡萄酒，如果可以的話，加點冰吧。

The music (produced again in part by?Modern Vampires?collaborator?Ariel Rechtshaid, with?a few cameos by Batmanglij) is accordingly sunny, celebratory, redolent at times of country, ABBA, lounge music (“My Mistake”) and Brazilian jazz (“Flower Moon”) and the barefoot exultations of?Van Morrison?(“This Life”). Just as indie bands like?Pavement?cautiously resuscitated the ’70s rock that came before them, Vampire Weekend have resuscitated—or recolonized, you could say—the multicultural boomer sounds of the ’90s, when bands like the Gipsy Kings and the Chieftains moved into the American market, when the Indigo Girls and Rusted Root helped constellate a folksy alternative to the punk-derived sound of “alternative music.”

專輯里的音樂（其中一部分同樣是由樂隊在《Modern Vampires of the City》時期的合作對象Ariel Rechtshaid制作的，Rostam Batmanglij做了一些修飾）由此顯得更加芳香、陽光歡快、具有慶祝氣氛，偶爾帶有鄉(xiāng)村音樂的韻味、宛如回到了ABBA組合、沙發(fā)音樂（《My Mistake》）和巴西爵士（《Flower Moon》）流行的那個年代。就像如Pavemen這樣的另類樂隊曾謹慎地復興了70年代搖滾，Vampire Weekend復興或者說改造了90年代地多元文化潮流中的聲音，就像吉普賽王和酋長們都搬去了美國市場，特別是在藍色少女合唱團和Rusted Root樂隊幫助他們給“另類音樂”中由朋克衍生出來的音效中增加了一絲充滿民謠氣息的另類氣質(zhì)的時候。

In the past, the band tended to rely on unusual juxtapositions; here they present their sound more like a compilation, a set of cultural presets calibrated to induce nostalgia, revulsion, historical reconsideration. (Hey, you, remember?Tevas??Peace Frogs??Papyrus?) The message is sincere, but the sound bristles with intellectual awareness, the protection you wear when wading into bad taste. “There’s always been that part of me [where] I see people beating up on something and I just wanna be like, ‘What’s really going on here?’” Koenig said on a recent episode of his online radio show, “Time Crisis.” For years, Vampire Weekend have implicitly threatened—in their perverse, contrarian, head-of-the-class way—to sound like?Phish;?Father?marks the moment the threat becomes a promise.

在過去，樂隊曾傾向于依賴反常的并列，但在這張專輯里他們將自己的音樂的展現(xiàn)更像是以一種合集的方式，像是一系列容易引起懷舊感、反感和歷史審視的文化預設(shè)。（嘿，你還記得Tevas嗎？Peace Frogs呢? Papyrus呢？）他們想要傳達的主題極其真誠，但是音樂聲讓人毛發(fā)豎起，卻具有一種充滿智慧的意識，這些能在你淌涉壞品味音樂時為你提供保護?！癟here’s always been that part of me [where] I see people beating up on something and I just wanna be like, ‘What’s really going on here?’（我的某個部分總能看見人們?yōu)橹恍〇|西自相殘殺，但我其實只想說：“這到底是在干嘛？”）” Koenig說他最近的一集電臺秀中說，“《化解危機（Time Crisis）》”有那么幾年，Vampire Weekend曾以一種執(zhí)拗、逆反的方式暗中逼迫自己要做出像Phish樂隊那樣的音樂，而《Father of the Bride》標志著這一逼迫已經(jīng)成為了一種承諾。

For a band historically obsessed by the manmade world, its technology, its culture, and its flood of proper nouns,?Father?is relatively naturalistic, less reference-heavy and confined to its head. Several of the songs (“Hold You Now,” “Married in a Gold Rush,” “We Belong Together”) are literal duets between Koenig and?Haim’s Danielle Haim—the sound not of one person thinking it through but two people hashing it out, of yin slowly reconciling itself to yang. Themes include spring, rebirth, a shedding of old skin, and reclamation of light; at one point, we return to the garden (“Sunflower”); at another, we hear the lullaby of crickets (“Big Blue”).

對于這樣一個一直癡迷于人造世界及其科技、文化和泛濫成災的專有名詞的樂隊來說，《Father of the Bride》相對來說要更親近自然，少了一些沉重的參考和來自首端的限制。有那么幾首歌（《Hold You Now》、《Married in a Gold Rush》和《We Belong Together》）完全就是Koenig與Haim’s Danielle Haim的二重唱，并非出自單人的思考，而是兩人的討論，就好像“陰”是自己慢慢與“陽”相調(diào)和一樣。主題包括春天、重生、死皮的脫落和光芒的改造；在某一點上，我們回到了花園（《Sunflower》），在另一點上，我們聽到了蟋蟀的搖籃曲（《Big Blue》）。

Of course, the garden—that fertile, innocent place we dwelled before civilization led us astray—is and has always been a fantasy, and home is never home again after one leaves. There are times when the universality of?Father of the Bride?feels forced, the sound of a restless mind repeatedly telling itself to relax, the paradoxical effort people make in the name of loosening up. Koenig said he wanted to try to write songs where a listener didn’t have to do too much legwork to figure out who might be singing them; to be clear, immediate, to conjure the myth of Ordinary People—you know, like country music.

當然，這座花園——在文明讓我們迷失之前，我們所居住過的這片肥沃、天真的土地——一直以來都只是一個幻想，而且當一個人離開之后，家也不再是家了?！禙ather of the Bride》的普遍性有時候也是被逼迫出來，代表焦躁心緒的聲響重復著安撫自己，這是人們以放松的名義所做的自相矛盾的努力。Koenig說他想嘗試寫一些聽眾不需要費力思考到底誰是演唱者的歌曲；創(chuàng)造出一種普通人的傳說——就像鄉(xiāng)村音樂。

But Vampire Weekend have never been that legible, nor is being legible any better than being a little obscure. More than anything,?Father?makes me think of something like?Bob Dylan?circa?Self Portrait?and?New Morning: The sound of an artist trying to backpedal, in a fascinating, sometimes antagonistic way, on the gravity they had worked so hard to cultivate. “I think I take myself too serious,” guest guitarist?Steve Lacy?mutters at the beginning of “Sympathy.” “It’s not that serious.” Fair enough, but you can’t say a precedent wasn’t set. Nor could you deny that the song that follows—a violent, gothy piece of flamenco that features a club-jazz breakdown and ends in a hail of heavy-metal drums—is the most absurdly serious piece of music here, and incidentally, one of the best.

但Vampire Weekend從不會這樣直白，直白也不會比存在一些晦澀之處要好。最主要的是，《Father of the Bride》總能讓人想起B(yǎng)ob Dylan的《Self Portrait（自畫像）》和《New Morning（新一天的早晨）》：一位藝術(shù)家嘗試以一種迷人但有時顯得頗具對抗性的方式在他們曾費心制造的重力之下改變立場。“I think I take myself too serious（我覺得我有時候太過嚴肅）”吉他手Steve Lacy在《Sympathy》的開頭遍咕噥道，“事實上不需要這么嚴肅。”這說的很對，但也不能說就沒有先例。你既不能否認接下來這首歌——一首暴力、哥特式，以俱樂部爵士樂崩潰為特征，以重金屬鼓密集打擊結(jié)尾的弗拉門科樂曲——是專輯中最荒謬般嚴肅但也因此是最好的一首歌。

Father?is the first time they’ve sounded overlong, the first time they haven’t sounded almost incandescently vital, but that doesn’t mean they’ve stopped moving; if anything, with the exception of “Rich Man”—a lilting nursery rhyme that mixes a Celtic reel with a sample of the amazing Sierra Leonean palm-wine singer?S.E. Rogie—the music here is as big of a step away from?Modern Vampires?as?Modern Vampires?was from?Contra. In tow come the?Grateful Dead-style guitar solos (“Harmony Hall”), the summer-camp singalongs (“We Belong Together”), the Beatles-y meditations on cosmic insignificance (“Big Blue”). Exhausted by big questions, they’ve consigned themselves to tiny reminders; once almost comically buttoned up, they have ventured, conditionally, to let it all hang out—a gesture as proportionally life-giving, indulgent, and periodically goofy as you’d expect.

這張《Father of the Bride》是他們專輯中第一張聽起來有點過長的作品，也是第一張聽起來沒有讓人感覺到十分重要的作品，但這也并不能說他們沒有絲毫進步；如果真的有進步，除了《Rich Man》——一首混雜了凱爾特里爾舞曲和塞拉利昂的棕櫚酒歌手S.E. Rogie作品采樣的輕快的童謠——專輯中的音樂與《Modern Vampires of the City》里的音樂相去甚遠，就如《Modern Vampires of the City》中的音樂與《Contra》（樂隊上上張專輯）中的音樂一樣相去甚遠。然后也出現(xiàn)了Grateful Dead樂隊式的吉他獨奏（《Harmony Hall》），夏令營合唱會（《We Belong Together》），the Beatles式對宇宙意義的思考（《Big Blue》）。受到宏大問題的困擾，他們將自己委托給了更小的象征物；幾乎一旦滑稽地扣上扣子，他們就有條件地冒險讓它全部展現(xiàn)出來——這是一種與你所期望的生活給予、放縱和周期性愚蠢相稱的姿態(tài)。

Generally speaking, happiness doesn’t make for great art; at the very least, it isn’t as combustible as misery, desire, or any other feeling rooted in what we lack rather than what we have. Listening to?Father of the Bride, I hear songs of contentment sung by people who have tended to feel agitated, songs of belonging by people who have tended to feel as though they don’t belong. I miss the restlessness of?Contra, the grandeur of?Modern Vampires, the way the band used to sound anxious and self-examining about their privilege but now seem oblivious. Still, it takes a certain kind of bravery to feel the weight of lightness, to admit that things are okay. “I used to freeze on the dance floor, I watched the icebergs from the shore,” Koenig sings on “Stranger,” “But you got the heat on, kettle screaming/Don’t need to freeze anymore.” Corny, but that’s life sometimes. And with that, the wallflower peels away from the wall and starts to dance.

一般來說，幸福并不能創(chuàng)造出偉大的藝術(shù)；至少，幸福不像痛苦、或根植于我們所缺乏而不是我們所擁有的任何其他感覺那樣容易燃燒。聆聽《Father of the Bride》，我聽到了不安之人唱出的充滿滿足之意的歌和沒有歸屬感的人唱出的包含歸屬感的歌。我懷念《Contra》的躁動不安，《Modern Vampires of the City》的宏偉壯麗，這支樂隊曾經(jīng)發(fā)出的對他們特權(quán)的焦慮與自我審視之聲，但現(xiàn)在看來已經(jīng)很明顯了。不過，要感受到輕盈之重量、承認一切事情都很順利仍需一種特殊的勇氣?！癐 used to freeze on the dance floor, I watched the icebergs from the shore（我曾經(jīng)在舞池中動彈不得，我注視著海邊的冰山），” Koenig在《Stranger》中唱道，“But you got the heat on, kettle screaming/Don’t need to freeze anymore（但是你必須恢復過來，燒水壺在尖鳴。沒必要再站著不動了）?！边@很老套，但有時候生活就是這樣。于是，壁花從墻上脫落下來，開始跳起舞來。