【搬运译】Pitchfork评 Boards of Canada 2002年专辑"Geogaddi"

搬运自：网易云音乐专栏【Music Online Zine Courier】（在原文基础上添加了英语原文与排版调整）

翻译：豆目豆科

It's a bit of a stretch, but a while ago I compared Boards of Canada's seminal Music Has the Right to Children with Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. I wasn't saying anything about the similarity or relative quality of the actual music, of course; I was just making an observation about how each album has a remarkably wide appeal that stretches beyond fans of its respective genre, while simultaneously carrying great weight with more experienced and discerning listeners. Because of this dual nature, both records are considered ideal "first purchases" for those curious about the musical world they come from. The comparison fails in other respects, but there's no doubting the consensus of opinion that has formed around these records, shared among both newcomers and schooled aesthetes.

虽然这有亿点牵强，但不久前我把Boards of Canada的开创性作品《Music Has the Right to Children》与Miles Davis的《Kind of Blue》作了比较。当然，我并不是在他们实际音乐的相似与否或相对质量好坏上说个所以然；我只是在观察，这两张专辑都有着尤为广泛的吸引力，在其各自流派之外圈了不少粉，同时在那些颇具经验和鉴赏力的听众心中也占有很大的分量。也正因如此，这两张唱片都被认为是那些对它们所处的音乐世界感到好奇的人理想的“新手村”。这种比较在其他层面则是毫无意义且必定失败的，但毫无疑问的是，围绕着这些唱片的探讨已经形成了共识，无论在新听众还是学识渊博的乐评家中都是如此。

The reputation of Music Has the Right to Children has everything to do with why Geogaddi is one of the most anticipated records of 2002 for indie and electronic music fans of all stripes. It's been four long years since this Scottish duo's landmark debut, and during this time, we've seen an uncountable number of "kind of like Boards of Canada" bands drifting by, with only a toddler's handful of new material released by the Boards themselves-- namely, the In a Beautiful Place out in the Country EP, released in late 2000. As Marcus Eoin and Michael Sandison toiled away in secrecy in their Hexagon Sun studio and remote artists' compound, fans speculated about possible new directions: where would they go next?

《Music Has the Right to Children》的享誉盛名与《Geogaddi》成为02年各路独立和电子音乐爱好者最期待的唱片之一之间不无关系。自这个苏格兰二人组里程碑式的首张专辑以来，已过去了四年之久，在这段时间里，我们看到了数不清的“有点像Boards of Canada”的乐队来了去、去了又来，而Boards自己却只发行一点点新东西——也就是2000年底发行的《In a Beautiful Place out in the Country》EP。当Marcus Eoin和Michael Sandison在他们的Hexagon Sun工作室和偏远的艺术基地中悄悄工作时，乐迷们迫不及待地猜测着可能的新方向——他们下一步会搞些什么新花样？

Geogaddi provides a clear answer: not so far, really. As similar as this album is to the rest of the band's catalog, it seems a safe speculation that the concept of "reinvention" is not part of the Boards of Canada M.O. Their exceptionally distinctive and oft-imitated sound emerged fully formed on the early EPs, and for now, at least, they're sticking with it. While some will complain about Boards of Canada's failure to cover new territory, which puts them apart from the praised eclectic "searchers" of the music scene (Miles made only made one stab at Kind of Blue before moving on, after all), the rest of us will delight in what we see as a very accomplished album packed with great music.

《Geogaddi》给了我们一个明确的答案：到目前为止，毛也没有。尽管这张专辑与乐队的其他作品很相似，但似乎可以推测，“重塑”的概念并不在Boards of Canada M.O.的字典里。他们独树一帜且常常效仿的声音在早期的EP中便以初具规模，至少如今，他们仍坚持这样做。虽然有些人会抱怨Boards of Canada的新作品未能覆盖新的领域，这显然与他们曾被音乐界所称赞的折衷主义“探索者”背道而驰（毕竟Miles在转行前也只在《Kind of Blue》做了些新尝试），但我们其他人仍不能不承认这是一张塞满了伟大音乐的专辑，并为它的成功而感到高兴。

When it comes to discussing records, though, similarities are boring, so let's talk about what makes Geogaddi different. The first thing that comes to mind is the shift in mood. While the band continues to traffic in childhood and nostalgia, the atmosphere on this album is a shade darker than on previous releases, and comparatively tense with a noticeable thread of paranoia. Boards of Canada have always had a disorienting cast to their music, in part because of their proclivity for the quivery modulation of their analog synths. But where the warbles once seemed designed to evoke the sensation of strained memory, the distortions now have a disturbing undercurrent, suggesting that something frightening might lie beneath the surface.

在评价一张专辑时，谈论那些相似点是极其乏味的，那不如让我们来谈谈究竟是什么让《Geogaddi》如此与众不同。我首先想到的是情绪的转变：虽然乐队继续“贩卖”童年和怀旧情怀，但这张专辑的氛围相比前作要更为阴暗、气氛紧张，偏执倾向尤为明显。Board of Canada的音乐总会使人迷失，部分原因是他们钟爱于模拟合成器的颤音调制。但这些颤音过去似乎是用以唤起人们不安的记忆，而如今这些扭曲的声音直接化为一种令人不安的暗流，预兆着表面之下可能隐藏着可怖之物。

Part of this darker trend comes from a thicker production environment and apparent aversion to unused space. On Geogaddi, Boards of Canada have replaced silence with the drone, and the master tapes are saturated with the sounds of the duo's customized machinery. There's none of the wistful airiness of a track like "Turquoise Hexagon Sun," nor the lighthearted warmth of a Music Has the Right to Children track like "Aquarius." Gone, too, is the gentle pastoralism of In a Beautiful Place out in the Country.

这一部分的黑暗倾向来自于更为厚实的制作环境和对空白间隙的刻意避免。在《Geogaddi》中，Boards of Canada以嗡鸣取代沉默，母带中充满了二人组专属器械的底噪。没有像“Turquoise Hexagon Sun”那样俏皮的轻盈感，也没有像《Music Has the Right to Children》中“Aquarius”那样舒适惬意的温馨。一并消失的还有《In a Beautiful Place out in the Country》中柔和的田园气息。

In its place, we find the swirling claustrophobic winds of "Julie and Candy," menacing swells of feedback anchoring the rhythm of "Dawn Chorus," and the lonely, isolated Nuno Cannavaro-isms of "The Devil Is in the Details," whose two sampled voices are a crying baby and a monolog given by a woman who might be drowning. Some of the beats on Geogaddi compliment this new, darker undercurrent and stand out from previous work. The pummeling, mechanized drum loop that drives "Gyroscope" is downright violent, and seems squarely aimed at the distorted child's voice in the background. And on "Alpha and Omega," hints of tabla mix with multi-layered percussion, lending an intriguing live band feel to an otherwise unremarkable track.

在其各自的领域，我们能够发掘“Julie and Candy”中的幽闭漩涡，“Dawn Chorus”鼓点中汹涌的回弹声浪，以及“The Devil Is in the Details”中孤独的Nuno Cannavaro主义，这里的两个采样是一个哭泣的婴孩和一个即将溺死的妇人的独白。《Geogaddi》中的一些节拍与这种新颖而更为阴暗的暗流相得益彰，一改以往作品的模样、脱颖而出。驱动“Gyroscope”的机械化循环鼓点则尤为暴力，并且这一暴力似乎完全针对与背景中扭曲的孩童啼哭而生。在“Alpha and Omega”中，手鼓同多层次的打击乐混合在一起，给这首本来不起眼的曲子带来了一种有趣的现场乐队既视感。

So, yes, the Boards have implemented their trademark tools on Geogaddi, but in the service of a slightly gloomier vision. Granted, the familiarity of their sound could prove to become a liability on their future releases, but it's easy to see why Eoin and Sandison have played this record so close to the vest. If you'd perfected a sonic playground like this, you'd probably want to explore it a while longer, too.

这样看来，Boards在《Geogaddi》上大肆使用他们标志性的工具，却服务于一个略显阴暗的愿景。当然，他们音乐中存在的熟悉感可能会在他们未来的作品中变作一种负担，但很容易看出为什么Eoin和Sandison把这张唱片做得如此“蹑手蹑脚”。如果是你，既然都已经如此一个音乐游乐场已经竣工，那为何不再多探索一段时间。