搬运译Pitchfork评10年代200张最佳专辑第37名：David Bowie: Blackstar (2016)

搬运自：微信公众号【评论搬一堆】（在原文基础上添加了英语原文与排版调整）

原文链接：https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-200-best-albums-of-the-2010s/

翻译：Emma.Z

审译：Ryan-Chopin

推送：Lynn Liu

David Bowie was sometimes accused of being calculating, and that trait served him triumphantly when it came to stage-managing his exit as an artist. From its daring music to its perfect title, from its stunning artwork to its startling videos, Blackstar was a magnificent farewell to his audience. Even the timing was immaculate, the album coming out two days before Bowie’s death. As pop’s greatest self-dramatist, he doubtless felt he owed his audience a consummate denouement, but you also get the sense from Blackstar that Bowie felt free of obligations, able to explore and experiment to his art’s content. Unlike his preceding album The Next Day, Blackstar betrays zero concern for radio play or other worldly metrics of success. The cutting edges dominate, with a palette steeped in lifelong loves like jazz and brief passions like drum ‘n’ bass. But although the urgent desire to break new ground rather than revisit familiar pathways is palpable, flickers from Bowie’s vast past appear: the harmonica texture from Low’s “A New Career in a New Town,” for instance, rematerializes on the closing “I Can’t Give Everything Away.” That title is Bowie affirming the value of mystique. It’s notable that he never wrote a memoir—a rare act of superstar tact.

David Bowie有时会被人指责过于精明，而当他作为艺术家退出舞台时，这种特质却让他大获成功。从其大胆的音乐到完美的标题，从其惊人的艺术品到其惊人的视频，《Blackstar（黑星）》是告别观众的完美谢幕。就连发行的时机也让人叫绝——这张专辑是在Bowie去世前两天发行的。作为流行乐史上最伟大的自我表演艺术家，他无疑认为自己欠观众一个完美的结局，但你也可以从《黑星》中感受到一丝释然。他把自己从“义务”中解放出来，觉得这样才有精力去探索和试验其他艺术的可能性。与他的上一张专辑《The Next Day（第二天）》不同，《黑星》对电台播歌或其他世俗的成功标准毫不关心。最前卫的风格占据了主导地位，调色板上描绘着他毕生的爱好，比如爵士乐，以及对鼓和贝斯短暂的激情。但是，尽管David Bowie开辟新领域而不是重走老路的迫切渴望不言而喻，但他的过去却可谓星光闪耀：比如，出自专辑《Low（低）》的《A new Career in A new Town（新城新职业）》，其中的口琴质感在结尾处再次出现，“我不能放弃一切”。Bowie在通过这样的标题肯定神秘性的价值。值得注意的是，他从来没有写过回忆录——这是超级明星少有的睿智。

Yet while Blackstar’s words are oblique, vocally and emotionally, Bowie has rarely seemed more achingly exposed. The title track is one of the strangest and strongest things Bowie ever made. The glassy-grey waver of his voice sounds like he’s already a ghost. The refrain “I’m a blackstar” serves as a chilling image for the extinction of personality, but also hints at the way icons fascinate long after they’ve faded from the scene, just like black holes emit radiation. –Simon Reynolds

然而，尽管专辑《Blackstar》在歌词，声音和情感上都是隐晦的，但Bowie少有地直观展现了内心更痛苦的一面。专辑同名曲是Bowie创作过的最奇怪、最有力的作品之一。黯然脆弱颤抖的声音听起来他已化身鬼魂，副歌不断重叠的“I’m a blackstar” 为歌曲增添了不寒而栗的特质，但也表明了真正的Icon在淡出荧幕后依旧魅力无限，如同黑洞放出的辐射。