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

翻譯：Beans_Beans??

This new deluxe, limited product is onlyfor hardcore fans; the music, however-- both the original LP and this record'sextras-- is timeless.

這一全新的豪華限量再版LP無疑是為鐵桿粉絲準備的一份大禮；但無論是原版LP還是這一再版唱片中附加的音樂，都將是永恒的藝術瑰寶。

"There's a hole in my arm where allthe money goes," moans Jason Pierce at the start of "Cop ShootCop...", the 17-minute closer of Spiritualized's third album and lonemasterpiece, Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space. His bedraggledvoice drips through the words. He's an addict, but it's as if he realizes noneof it mattered, anyway-- there's no salvation, no redemption, only cold lifeand sudden death. One cop lives to kill another cop. (Or a junkie survives onlylong enough to shoot up again.) The world keeps turning. Just like in hisopening line, he quotes John Prine: "Jesus Christ died for nothing, Isuppose."

"There's a hole in my arm where all the money goes," Jason Pierce在“Cop Shoot Cop…“的開頭如此抱怨道，而這正是Spiritualized的絕世杰作——第三張錄音室專輯《Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space》中長達17分鐘的結束曲。字里行間充斥著他凌亂污穢的詞句。顯而易見，他是個不折不扣的癮君子，但他似乎又不屑一顧——沒有救贖、沒有懺悔，有的只是冰冷殘酷的生活和突如其來的死亡。吸毒的終點永遠通向下一次吸毒。*（或者說一個癮君子到底多會能活夠——就是他能再吸一次的時候。）地球少你一人不會停轉。就像他的開場白一樣——他引用了John Prine的話——“我想，耶穌的死毫無意義”。

*[譯者注釋]“cop”本義是美國俚語中的“條子”、“警察”；但這里并非“警察射殺警察”，而應用作動詞，意思是“得到某物”，例如d品。

Since the 1997 release of Ladies and Gentlemen, Spiritualized have recorded three LPs, a handful of singles and EPs,and two double-disc sets called Complete Works. And the noise-gospel rocksprees that followed Ladies and Gentlemen cemented Spiritualized's reputationas one of rock'n'roll's best live spectacles. Pierce has also scored a HarmonyKorine film, recorded a solo electronics album, collaborated with Spring HeelJack, and sculpted a mesmerizing long-form drone record with pianist MatthewShipp. He also almost died, in 2005 of bilateral pneumonia, only to recover andfinish a remarkable return to form-- Songs in A&E. Yet Pierce unequivocallyreached the height of his recorded powers with Ladies and Gentlemen. Bolderthan the term Britpop might suggest, more focused than the term psychedelicmight imply, Ladies and Gentlemen is one of the great triumphs of the70-plus-minute CD era. Alternately chaotic and meticulous, thundering andquivering, Ladies and Gentlemen finds power in conflict-- between restraint andexcess, addiction and isolation, and ultimately, love and hate.

自1997年發(fā)行《Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space》以來（1997-2010），Spiritualized已經(jīng)錄制了三張全長專輯，幾支單曲還有幾張EP，以及兩張名為《Complete Works》的精選輯。伴隨《Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space》而來的喧鬧的福音搖滾狂潮鞏固了Spiritualized有著搖滾樂史上最精彩的現(xiàn)場表演之一的聲譽。Pierce在這期間還為電影《Harmony Korine》制作配樂、錄制了第一張個人電子專輯、與Spring Heel Jack合作、并與鋼琴家Matthew Shipp精心打磨了一張迷人慵懶的長篇唱片。在2005年，他還差點命喪于雙側肺炎，但最終康復并完成了令人膛目的回歸作品——《A&E》。但是Pierce在《Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space》中的演繹仍是他生涯中難以逾越的巔峰?！禠adies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space》遠比所謂的“英倫流行”愈加磅礴大膽，比“迷幻音樂”愈加精專沉靜，這短短70多分鐘昭示了CD時代的偉大勝利之一。時而混沌無序，時而精致可感，時而宛如驚雷落地，時而仿佛驚懼顫抖，《Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space》在克制與放縱、成癮與孤立，終是愛與恨的矛盾中汲取力量。

Like most any critical and commercialsuccess, the record has now been repackaged with extra content-- specifically,in an ornate limited run meant for collectors and zealots. Ladies andGentlemen's treatment as an edition of 1,000 numbered box sets from ATP isoutrageous and elegant enough to match its contents: Each song comes on anindividual black three-inch CD, the discs sealed inside black blisterpackaging, like the single tablets of a treatment regimen. Two discs of demosand isolated elements from the finished tunes-- those lonesome, blue hornsblaring through "No God Only Religion", for instance-- get their ownpackage, too, as does a personalized prescription signed by the doctor JasonPierce himself. The liner notes take the form of lengthy instructions andtechnical specs for the medicine-- how the pills were made, who made them, andhow they should be taken. "What is Spiritualized used for?" asks thesilver metallic ink. "Spiritualized is used to treat the heart andsoul."

就像大多數(shù)在樂評和商業(yè)上雙雙成功的唱片一樣，這張如今也被重新包裝起來，增添了額外的內容——特別地還為收藏家和鐵桿粉絲設計了華麗的限量版封套?！禠adies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space》這一由ATP制作的限量1000套獨立編號盒裝唱片的版本，其設計既令人震驚又足夠優(yōu)雅、足以與它其中的內容相匹配——每首歌都刻錄在一張3英寸大小的黑色CD上，并密封在黑色泡罩包裝內，就像藥盒中的一個個獨立片劑。兩張小樣碟和從已完成的曲目中分離出來的元素——例如，在“No God Only Religion”中響起的那支零幾聲憂郁的喇叭聲——也得到了單獨的包裝，還有一份由“Jason Pierce醫(yī)生”親自簽名的個性化處方。內襯的畫冊采用了冗長的用藥說明書和藥物技術規(guī)格書的形式——"藥丸”是如何制造的、誰制造的、以及應該如何服用等等?！癝piritualized究竟是干嘛的?”紙上的一行銀色金屬感墨跡如此問道——“Spiritualized”是用來治愈心靈和靈魂的。

There's no better way to put it, really.Ladies and Gentlemen is, at its core, an album about wanting something youdon't have until, as "Cop Shoot Cop..." says, it brings you to yourknees. Pierce wants to fill that hole in his arm, or-- as it were-- the hole inhis heart. Kate Radley plays keyboards and sings on Ladies and Gentlemen, andshe begins the album with that famous telephone call: "Ladies andgentlemen, we are floating in space," her voice delivering horrible newswith ruinous calm. Her romance with Pierce had just ended. Four days beforeSpiritualized were to open for the Verve in England in 1995, she secretlymarried the headliner's Richard Ashcroft. "All I want in life's a littlebit of love to take the pain away," Pierce repeats for the album's first minute.Your heart would hurt, too.

真的無需多言?！禠adies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space》這張專輯的核心目的就是讓你體驗你從未經(jīng)歷過的東西，即便你能堅持到最后，聽到“Cop Shoot Cop…”，你也會當場下跪。Pierce在這首歌中試圖修補他手臂上的那個洞，倒不如說是他內心的那個“洞”。Kate Radley在《Ladies and Gentlemen》中作鍵盤手，也偶爾貢獻人聲部分，這張專輯便是以她那句著名的通話錄音開始：“Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space.”她的聲音是滅世般的平靜、傳遞著怖人的訊息。1995年，她與Pierce的戀情剛剛結束，在Spiritualized在英格蘭為樂隊the Verve出演的四天前，她悄然嫁給了這一樂隊的主唱Richard Ashcroft?！拔业囊簧氡闶悄苁斋@一絲絲愛意來驅趕悲痛”?Pierce在專輯開篇的第一分鐘如此重復道。想想，若是你，你的內心也會因此千瘡百孔。??

Pierce famously denies that Ladies and Gentlemenhas anything to do with Radley, telling The Guardian as late as 2001 that"People have this idea that anyone who writes music is bearing theirsoul." He cited "Broken Heart", in which he admits that he's toobusy to actually have one, as an example of playfulness. These songs weremostly written before they called it quits, he's said, and, after all, it'sonly rock'n'roll. But with very vivid words and visceral sounds, Ladies andGentlemen expresses the extremes of attachment and separation. "I justdon't know what to do on my own/ All of my thoughts are with you," Piercesings. But he's not just hurt-- he's also angry. His band eventually unloads arock salvo that feels like a fistfight. The drums roil. The piano pounds. Ifthere ever was a melody, the harmonica's choked the breath from it. By the nextnumber, he's practically sobbing over a galactic country drift: "Stay withme/ Smile all the time/ Don't go." He's still addicted to something, andon "Electricity", he lets us know how good it felt. "I'm playingwith fire, if you know what I mean."

Pierce總是否認《Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space》與Radley有所關系，直至2001年他還告訴《衛(wèi)報》：“人們總認為，藝術家們所寫下的音樂都承載著他們的靈魂?！彼浴癇roken Heart”為例打趣，在這首歌中，他承認自己太過忙碌，沒有閑暇去真正擁有一段感情。他說，這些歌曲大多是在他們分手之前創(chuàng)作的，而且畢竟這些只是單純的搖滾樂。但即便如此，《Ladies and Gentlemen》依然運用非常生動的語言和發(fā)自內心的聲音再現(xiàn)了依戀和分離這兩個極端?！癐 just don't know what to do on my own/ All of my thoughts are with you,”皮爾斯這樣唱道。他不僅因此受傷，還深陷憤怒——他的樂隊最終發(fā)射了一枚石彈，就像一場博弈賽，最終彼此都傷痕累累。急切的鼓、沉重的鋼琴。倘若這里確有一段旋律，口琴像是會吹到窒息的程度。來到下一首，他幾乎是在為銀河帝國的流浪而悲歌：“Stay with me/ Smile all the time/ Don't go.”他顯然依舊沉迷于某些東西，在“Electricity”中，他為我們描繪了那感覺有多好?！癐'm playing with fire, if you know what I mean.”（“我就是在玩火，你懂我意思吧?！保?/p>

The rub, of course, is that we don't knowwhat he means. We can only interpret and internalize for ourselves. Maybe itwas Radley, or maybe it was the heroin he smoked and the booze he drank. Hell,maybe he was just being an entertainer. But if you don't know those feelings,the highs of love and the lows of loss, you've fared better than most. Thissort of emotional ambiguity makes Ladies and Gentlemen an eternal album, asprovocative then as it is now. People haven't stopped loving and losing andhurting yet, and they won't, of course. These pleasures and pains can beattached to anything. But what makes this ostentatious reissue-- the box costs￡125.00, or about $190, plus postage-- so interesting right now is that itfeels like a souvenir forwarded from another era. Ladies and Gentlemen is anextinct breed of album, a production so lavish that you have to think mostrecord label executives would balk or faint at the thought of funding it in2010. To wit, New Orleans fixture Dr. John is but a session player here,joining a cast of a dozen players, the London Community Gospel Choir, and ahigh-profile string quartet. (The record is also being reissued as a singledisc, with new artwork, and as a 3xCD set without a lot of the pricy trappingsof the more extravagant package.)

當然，問題在于我們并不知道他是什么意思，也因此只能自己闡明內化。也許正是因為Radley，也許因為他嗑藥、酗酒，也許就像他說的他只是在做一個藝人。倘若你從未體驗過愛的激情和生離死別的低落，某種角度講你確實比大多數(shù)人過的要自在一點。但也正式這種情感上的兩難境地使《Ladies and Gentlemen》成為一張永恒的經(jīng)典，無論是過去還是當下，它都極具煽動性。人們從未停止去愛、會失去和傷害，當然也不可能會；這些快樂和痛苦的情感依附于任何東西而存在于世。這一再版售價125英鎊(約合1111人民幣)，可能還需要一點郵資，如今看來非常有趣，它感覺像是從另一個時代穿越而來的紀念品?！禠adies and Gentlemen》是一張幾近絕跡的專輯，它的制作如此奢華，以至于2010那一年大多數(shù)唱片公司的高管一想到要資助它，至少會猶豫甚至當場暈厥。要知道，這張專輯還有臨時成員：來自新奧爾良的Dr. John、The London Community Gospel Choir（倫敦社區(qū)福音唱詩班）和一個備受矚目的Balanescu Quartet前衛(wèi)弦樂四重奏樂團。(這張唱片也曾以單LP的形式重新發(fā)行，也添加了新的插圖；除此之外還有一種3xCD套裝，但沒有更奢侈的包裝以及其中華麗的裝飾。)

That spirit is evident on the demosincluded here as well. On Ladies and Gentlemen, "Cool Waves" is adiorama built with weepy vocals, darting flute, schmaltzy strings, buildingconcert bass drums, and a choir that's just begging for salvation. But itsone-minute demo included in this set seems no more complicated than the demosPierce made with his schoolmates in 1984, his former band Spacemen 3's firstrecordings. If the demo is a Polaroid, the album is Avatar. There's no way itcould have been cheap.

這種情感體驗在其中收錄的小樣上也尤為明顯。專輯中的“Cool Waves”由泣聲、飛舞飄渺的長笛、低柔的弦樂、樂隊大鼓以及唱詩班美妙的和聲構成的立體模型，像是在祈求救贖。這一版的一分鐘小樣并不比1984年Pierce和他的同學在他前樂隊“Spacemen 3”時的第一張專輯小樣復雜，但若說樣版是寶麗來，那正式專輯就是阿凡達，毫不廉價。

While Ladies and Gentlemen establishedSpiritualized as one of the supreme bands of the 90s, it was by no means anoverwhelming commercial success. It earned album of the year honors from NME in1997 and placed on year-end charts in The Village Voice, Q, and Uncut. But Ladiesand Gentlemen charted only as high as No. 4 in England. In the United States,it's sold slightly more than 111,000 copies-- about 20,000 less thanMerriweather Post Pavilion. To wit, Sony Music scrapped its plans for thisreissue in America, meaning it's available only through ATP's mail-orderservice. The disc did better by the band's legacy, one assumes, than it did forany label's bottom line.

雖然靠著《Ladies and Gentlemen》Spiritualized確立為90年代最杰出的樂隊之一，但它在商業(yè)上也并非有壓倒性的成功。它雖在1997年獲得了NME的年度專輯獎，同時也出現(xiàn)在了《The Village Voice》《Q》《Uncut》的年終排行榜高位；但發(fā)行首周在英國僅僅排名第四，美區(qū)銷量也僅11萬1千多一點，比《Merriweather Post Pavilion》少了近兩萬張。也正因此，索尼音樂取消這張專輯在美國重新發(fā)行的計劃，這意味著我們只能通過ATP的跨國郵寄服務買到它。但也有人認為，靠著樂隊的這張唱片，唱片公司的收益要遠高于其他任何唱片公司。

After all, it's an album mostly without aclear hit single, a massive production better enjoyed as a whole than in bitsand pieces. Though Spiritualized eventually released edits, remixes, orreworkings of "I Think I'm in Love", "Come Together", and"Electricity", those songs thrive best in the context of the album--in their original, much more grand iterations. "I Think I'm in Love",for instance, flows brilliantly from "Come Together" and, eightminutes later, its dénouement shapes the perfect non-introduction to the casualpiano of "All of My Thoughts". In the interim, Pierce reveals thebreadth of the band's ideas and influence. The first half combines Spacemen 3'sLaMonte Young-like 20th century composition (with its growling synthesizerdrone), dub, soul (with its thick, stunted bass line), American blues (with itstwisted harmonica howls), and folk (Pierce's subtle autoharp strums). The backhalf is a sassy, baritone saxophone-backed dialogue between Pierce'sself-confidence and his self-doubt: "I think that I can rock'n'roll,"he sings. "Probably just twisting," he answers. And on "ComeTogether", one of only a few Ladies and Gentlemen tunes you're likely tostill hear live, Pierce fancies himself a young man that's sad and fucked (aword he manages to use five times in as many minutes here) amid references tosuicide, heroin, and busted dreams.

畢竟，這張專輯確實基本上沒有一首明確的熱門單曲，這是一張整體欣賞比碎片化瀏覽要好得多的巨制唱片。盡管Spiritualized在隨后發(fā)布了“I Think I'm in Love”、“Come Together”和“Electricity”的混音或改編版本，但這些歌曲在一整張專輯的背景下——在它們最原初、更宏偉的迭代中——表現(xiàn)得最好。例如，“I Think I'm in Love”這一優(yōu)美的曲目與“Come Together”的無縫銜接，在歷經(jīng)這隨即的八分鐘后，而它的解決又引向“All of My Thoughts”隨意而為一般的琴聲開篇。在這些樂符間，Pierce展現(xiàn)了這一樂隊思想和影響力的廣度：前半部分延續(xù)融匯了樂隊Spacemen 3慣用的LaMonte-Young式20世紀作曲(伴隨著轟鳴低沉的合成器)——回響貝斯、靈魂樂(伴隨著渾厚、極具屏障感的低聲線)、美國布魯斯(常有扭曲尖嘯的口琴)和民謠(Pierce精妙的自鳴箏鳴)；后半段是Pierce在自信和自我懷疑之間輾轉時的一段對話：“我想我還能搖滾。”他這樣唱道；“可能只是錯覺?！彼肿源鸬?。 在“Come Together”——你為數(shù)不多可能還能在現(xiàn)場聽到的《Ladies and Gentlemen》中的歌曲之一——中Pierce把自己看成是一個憂傷還操蛋的年輕人(這個詞“Fa(u)cked”他在這短短幾分鐘里用了五次)，生命中充斥著自殺、毒品和破滅的夢想云云。

Even "Broken Heart", the album'sballad and most beautiful moment, clocks in close to seven minutes. It needsevery one of them, too, since the song's overwhelming sadness depends entirelyon its length and its ability to establish an atmosphere. This is an album of emotionand empathy, and it's hard to capture feelings with a format. That's what ranksLadies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space alongside the best art: JasonPierce and a big band that included his ex-girlfriend and a whole slew ofpeople that soon became his ex-bandmates faithfully render the cycle of lovinganything-- the innocent exuberance, the bitter rejection, the episodic denial--in 70 perfect minutes. And even if you can't afford this version of thatachievement, you should have it on hand. One day, it'll come in handy. Afterall, "Spiritualized is used to treat the heart and soul."

即使是“Broken Heart”，這張專輯最民謠、最美麗的時刻，也延續(xù)了近7分鐘的時間。但它也需要這其中的每一分鐘，因為這首歌壓倒性的傷感完全取決于它的時長和它由此建立起的氛圍。這是一張關于情感、共情的專輯，而現(xiàn)實中很難用一種套路來捕捉感情，而這正是將《Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space》歸于有史以來最好的藝術品之列的原因。Jason Pierce和這樣一個大樂隊——這其中包括他的前女友和一大批即將成為他前隊友的人——在長達70分鐘的黃金時刻里不加修飾地演繹了愛任意一個存在的存續(xù)周期——天真浪漫的亢奮激情、痛苦的決絕、時斷時續(xù)的背棄。即使你負擔不起這一版本高昂的價格，你也值得有一套置于手邊?？傆幸惶焖鼘⑴缮嫌脠?，畢竟，“Spiritualized”是用來療愈內心和靈魂的。

譯者有話講:《Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space》的又一次特典將于9月10日與我們見面,屆時請各位熱愛Spiritualized\熱愛《Ladies & Gentlemen》的同好們多多支持!