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

翻譯：Lynn Liu

校對：Emma.Z

推送：Lynn Liu

The L.A.-based Sprague steps away from her indie pop trio Florist for rippling, patient, and redemptive ambient drone works for modular synthesizers.

洛杉磯的Sprague離開了她的獨立流行三人樂隊Florist，專注于為模塊化合成器制作有起伏、有耐心、有救贖感的模糊背景音樂。

When Los Angeles-based musician Emily Sprague steps away from her folky indie pop trio?Florist?to make music with modular synthesizers, her music becomes a tool for perception. Listening to it, you start to notice things. Not just about what’s unfolding in the music itself, but also about what’s going on in the room where it plays, and maybe even what happens when the music stops.

洛杉磯的音樂家Emily Sprague離開她的民謠獨立流行三人樂隊Florist，并使用模塊化合成器創(chuàng)作音樂時，她的音樂變成了一種感知的工具。聽著它，你會開始注意到一些事情——不僅是音樂本身發(fā)生了變化，還有播放音樂的空間也發(fā)生了變化，甚至可能是音樂停止時都有可能發(fā)生變化。

Water Memory/Mount Vision?collects?two tapes of Sprague’s ambient music, both of which were created in the last two years, and frames them with brief spoken-word pieces. Along with artists like?Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Sprague is part of a wave of artists returning ambient music to its spiritual roots, which is to say it’s not afraid of being called new age. Artists like Sprague often use old tools—modular synths instead of computers—and create spaces for relaxation and contemplation.

《Water Memory/Mount Vision》中收入了兩碟Sprague近兩年制作的氛圍音樂，這張專輯中也包含了一些誦讀音樂。像Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith這類藝術家一樣，Sprague將氛圍音樂回歸到其精神根源，她是藝術家浪潮的一部分。也就是說，氛圍音樂并不害怕被稱為新時代。像Sprague這樣的藝術家經(jīng)常使用舊的工具——模塊化合成器，而不是電腦，這樣能為放松和沉思創(chuàng)造空間。

Sprague is more or less a minimalist, but her work also carries hints of tension. She’s especially adept at taking two compelling elements and exploring how they interact, finding a third “thing” that ultimately becomes the piece. “A Lake,” a slowly unwinding drone consisting of a throbbing bass tone at the bottom and shimmers of high-pitched tones at the top, uncannily evokes the body of water in its title, hinting at lights on a rippling surface and an invisible world spreading out beneath. Its beauty brings to mind the lyricism of?Takagi Masakatsu, but Sprague composes with more patience, content to let held tones linger in place for minutes at a time. The primary motif in “Water Memory 1” is a rising and repeating synth tone. Set against a sound that recalls a French horn, it vaguely suggests an orchestrated waltz that got stuck in place, not unlike William Basinki’s?Disintegration Loops, but hopeful rather than forlorn.

在某種程度上來說，Sprague是個極簡主義者，但她的作品也帶有一絲緊張感。她尤其擅長將兩種吸引人的元素結合起來，探索它們之間的相互作用，找到最終能構成音樂的第三個“元素”?！癆 Lake”是一首緩慢循環(huán)的模糊音樂，底部是激動的低音，頂部是閃爍的高音。讓人驚訝的是，這樣的音樂居然與專輯名中的“水（water）”相對應，它暗示著水面上的粼粼波光，以及水下的未知世界。它的美讓人想起高木正勝的抒情，但Sprague的作曲更有耐心，滿足于讓同一個音調(diào)在曲子里一次多停留幾分鐘。“Water Memory 1”滿布上升重復的合成器，讓人想起與之相反的法國圓號聲，這首曲子聽著隱約像是一首被卡住的管弦樂華爾茲，有點像William Basinki的作品《Disintegration Loops（瓦解循環(huán)）》，但Sprague的音樂充滿希望，而不是絕望。

The?Mount Vision?half is a shade darker, and also finds Sprague incorporating acoustic sounds. “Synth 1” and “Synth 2” are more focused and intense and also a touch more psychedelic, their fat drones bringing to mind outer space instead of the natural world. The bubbling “Huckleberry” is suggestive of?Suzanne Ciani, demonstrating how in the right hands electricity moving through a modular set-up can sound uncannily alive.

專輯的下半部分“Mount Vision”充滿了暗色調(diào)，我們也發(fā)現(xiàn)Sprague在里面融入了聲學聲音。“Synth 1”和“Synth 2”更專注、更強烈，還有一點更迷幻的感覺。其中大范圍的模糊音色讓人想到了外太空，而不是想到自然界。沸騰的“Huckleberry”讓人聯(lián)想起Suzanne Ciani，它展示了當電流通過一個模塊化合成器時，音樂聽起來可能會異常活躍。

“Piano 1” sounds like a recording of the instrument falling apart in slow motion, as Sprague takes a repeating keyboard phrase and pulls it apart taffy, finding a sense of wonder through subtle shifts in tempo and EQ. A variation of the track, “Piano 2,” closes the set, and features the piano sounds mixing with recordings of birds and insects. As it unfolds, a second recording of the piano part appears, slightly out of phase with the first, and the gaps in the notes become longer and it takes on an oblong gait, like a limp. These small, subtle changes define this music. When you return to silence after it’s over, you start to think about what else you might be missing.

“Piano 1”聽起來像樂器的錄音慢慢變得支離破碎, Sprague使用一個重復的鍵盤樂句，就像拆開太妃糖一樣，我們能透過微妙的節(jié)奏與情感變化發(fā)現(xiàn)一種驚奇感。這首曲子的變奏是“Piano 2”，曲子沒有使用合成器，而是將鋼琴的音色與鳥類和昆蟲的錄音相混合。隨著樂曲的展開，鋼琴部分的第二段錄音出現(xiàn)了，與第一段有點不協(xié)調(diào)：音符的間隙變長了，呈現(xiàn)出一種橢圓的步態(tài)，就像跛足前行。這些細微的變化定義了這種音樂。當音樂結束后回歸沉默時，你便開始思考，你是否可能還錯過什么。