译Pitchfork评 Kylie Minogue 2001年专辑 《Fever》（发烧）

翻译：Nomanlandever

导言：《Fever》是Pitchfork评过的首张流行专辑，评论起因是本文作者Dominique Leone（在新千年初期为p4k撰写了大量文章，主要侧重古怪的实验音乐）在听过大量无聊的流行音乐和法国前卫摇滚乐队Magma的专辑后，评价《Fever》是一张非常“出色”（decent）的专辑，并写下直率的乐评。他告诉我们：“在那段时间，Pitchfork发生了很多类似的事情，有些音乐永远不会写评价，要么就算被写出来，也会是负面的评价。”“我不会说我是凯莉·米洛的粉丝。但我什么都听了，我想我应该把《Fever》当作另一张（赞不绝口的）专辑。”原乐评在2002年4月1日愚人节当天发布，标志着Pitchfork开始转型涉猎流行音乐。（文段节选自《承载Pitchfork25年历史的38篇文章》https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-history-of-the-pitchfork-reviews-section-in-38-important-reviews/）

She's back. The woman who brought American audiences that terribly rigid version of "The Locomotion" in the late 80s has risen from the dead (or massive overseas popularity, depending on how you look at it) to sock it to the red, white and blue just like she did 15 summers ago. Okay, so that may not have been Kylie Minogue's primary motivation behind Fever, her ninth album overall, but it's probably going to be the subject of the most of the press she gets in the U.S. In fact, this is hardly her "comeback," since during the time she last made the Top 10 here, she was the most popular female pop singer in Europe and Australia.

天后再临。这位曾在80年代后期给美国听众献上死亡僵硬翻唱版 "The Locomotion"的女人东山再起（或者说一直在海外大受欢迎，看你怎么理解）如同15年前的夏天，再次打入美国市场。好吧，这可能不是Kylie打造《Fever》大碟的主要动机，她已发行九张录音室专辑，但不出意外美国媒体将以“唱“The Locomotion”的过气天后借尸还魂”的话题集中报道她。事实上，这不算是她的“重返复出”，在她在美国取得前十单曲的成绩后，她一直是在欧洲和澳大利亚最红的流行女星。

Perhaps a re-introduction is due.33-year-old Minogue first achieved fame as a child actress in several dramas, most notably the soap opera "Neighbors." When the soap began airing in the UK, Minogue's popularity soared. In 1987, she recorded a demo version of Little Eva's 60s pop hit "The Locomotion" for charity, and actually submitted the recording to the UK label Mushroom. Mushroom was fairly keen to release something by the young star, though weren't necessarily impressed by the recording.The label decided to turn the Minogue situation over to a team of producers they'd just entered into a partnership with: Stock, Aitken and Waterman, who were fresh of producing major hits for Bananarama, Rick Astley and Dead or Alive. Of course, Stock, Aitken and Waterman wanted to work with Minogue, but didn't take her very seriously, and didn't even have material for her on the day she showed up to their studios. Legend has it, they came up with the tune "I Should Be So Lucky" in ten minutes, which became Minogue's second #1 single in Australia and England. Perhaps due to the relatively haphazard experience of recording under the SAW blade, Minogue gradually took matters into her own hands throughout the 90s. The team continued to work with her in the early 90s, as Minogue scored more hits, and even began contributing her own lyrics.

是时候重新介绍这位天后了。今年33岁的Kylie还是童星演员时就凭借几部电视剧的出演已小有名气，其中最著名的是肥皂剧"Neighbors."(家有芳邻)。当这部肥皂剧在英国播出时，Kylie的人气飙升。在1987年，她为慈善机构录制了Little Eva的60年代热单“The Locomotion” ，并将这张唱片提交给了英国唱片公司Mushroom。Mushroom厂牌十分渴望发行这位流行新星的物料，尽管不一定对这段录音刮目相看，但厂牌决定把Kylie Minogue的事务交给他们刚刚建立合作关系的制作团队Stock, Aitken和Waterman处理。他们不久前才为banana arama、Rick Astley和Dead or Alive制作了热门歌曲。当然，Stock, Aitken和Waterman都想跟Kylie合作，但却没很重视她，甚至在她现身工作室的那天也没有为她准备资源。据说他们在十分钟内创作出单曲《I Should Be So Lucky》，这首歌成为Kylie在澳大利亚和英国的第二首冠军单曲。也许是在相对混乱的SAW模式下的录音经历，随着更多热单的问世，Kylie在90年代逐渐开始自己掌控事业，甚至开始自己写词。

Her work ethic has been similar to Madonna's, in that she makes it a habit to produce interesting videos for her songs (usually opting for the role of seductress rather than clean cut girl-next-door), and always keeps her sound current. She also worked with many different collaborating producers after leaving the SAW team in 1991. Her relationship with the late INXS singer Michael Hutchence resulted in further musical experimentation, going so far as to work with Nick Cave for the tune "Where the Wild Flowers Grow," in addition to working with members of Manic Street Preachers for her 1997 release Impossible Princess.

她的职业理念一直与Madonna相近，因为她总是为自己的歌曲制作有趣的MV（通常扮演诱惑狐狸精的角色，而不是乖巧精致的邻家女孩），而且始终确保自己的音乐时髦新鲜。在1991年离开SAW团队后，她也与不同的制作人开展合作。她与INXS乐队已故主唱Michael Hutchence的恋情引起她对实验音乐的延伸，如她与Nick Cave的合作曲 "Where the Wild Flowers Grow"（原作者打错歌名），还与Manic Street Preachers乐队成员做出1997年专辑《Impossible Princess》。

It wasn't all good times for Minogue, though, as her jaunts outside the dance-pop realm weren't received very well, critically or popularly. She was actually dropped by her label after Impossible Princess (the gall!), only to resurface in 2000 with the back-to-basics, disco-drenched Light Years LP. She received co-writing credits on about half the tunes, and managed to retain control of her career while simultaneously jumping back into the limelight. Fever continues in this vein, adding a touch of adult-contemporary soft-groove in amongst the dancefloor escapades. Minogue brought in former dance-pop star Cathy Dennis to collaborate this time around, resulting in three songs: "Can't Get You Out of My Head," "Come Into My World" and "Dancefloor." The first song launched Minogue back into relevance in the U.S., with its very dry arrangement, straightforward disco pulse and breezy, Xanadu-esque bridge. The song exudes a catchiness that belies its inherent simplicity, so reassuring during an era when chart acts sound increasingly baroque and producers race to see who can ape electronic music trends first. And with the tag "set me free," perhaps Minogue is saying something about her relationship to trends in modern pop.

不过Kylie的事业并非一帆风顺，因为她在流行舞曲领域之外的尝试并没有得到很多很好的评价，无论是乐评还是商业。事实上，在《Impossible Princess》之后，她就被自己的厂牌无情抛弃（惋惜至极！），直到2000年才凭借返璞归真的迪斯科大碟《Light Years》再次回归大众视野。她参与了《Light Years》专辑里一半歌曲的创作，在重新成为大众焦点的同时捍卫住对自己事业的掌控权。《Fever》继往开来，在挥洒自如的舞池中加入当代成人舒缓节奏，Kylie Minogue这次与前舞曲女王Cathy Dennis合作出三首歌： "Can't Get You Out of My Head," "Come Into My World" 和"Dancefloor." 其中第一首歌让Kylie在美国重新翻红，歌曲干练的编曲，直白的迪斯科节奏，轻快的、世外桃源式的bridge乐段亮点频出。这首歌散发出足以掩盖简约内核的抓耳性，在这个曲风越发巴洛克、制作人竞相效仿电子音乐潮流的时代，这首歌沁人心脾。"set me free（歌词）"这个标签，或许Kylie想表达的是她与现代流行趋势之间的关系。

The album initially brings to mind the sound of younger acts like N'Sync or Britney Spears, but where they tend to favor more aggressively spectacular production, Minogue seems comfortable with a basic groove, minimal backing, and vocals bared up in front. "Come Into My World" is a more traditionally disco-oriented track, reminiscent of Eumir Deodato's fantasy soundscapes, and with the alluring refrain, "Come, come, come into my world." "Dancefloor" is straight club music, along the lines of old-school Lisa Stansfield or the Real McCoy's eurodisco standards.

这张专辑最初映入眼帘的是N'Sync或Britney Spears这样的新生歌手，但这样的歌手往往喜欢更激进的华丽制作，Kylie更适合处理基本节奏，细微的背景音，突出的人声。"Come Into My World"是一首更传统的迪斯科风格歌曲，诱人的副歌"Come, come, come into my world." 让人联想到Eumir Deodato的幻想音景。"Dancefloor"是典型的俱乐部音乐，沿循老派的Lisa Stansfield或the Real McCoy的欧陆电子舞曲标准。

Songs that don't quite succeed on that level are the title track, which is punchy but sounds a little too clean cut for someone who's asking if "you feel the fever like I do." The production isn't quite as current as the rest of the album, as if Minogue suddenly had an 80s flashback. "Fragile" is nicely atmospheric, but verges on being indistinct if you're not paying close attention. Conversely, "Give It to Me" attempts a more aggressive posture, though I think at this point Minogue is better at being straightforward and smooth than down and dirty. As a whole, Fever works well as an icebreaker for grown-up parties and the Sunday mornings after. It's a mature sound from a mature artist, and one that may very well re-establish Minogue for the VH1 generation.

在这层次上不太成功的是专辑同名曲“Fever”，强劲有力，但对一位暗示着"you feel the fever like I do."的人来说太干净了。这首歌制作也不像专辑其他歌那么流行化，好像Kylie立马穿越回80年代。歌曲“Fragile”氛围感到位，但如果不细听就会濒临模糊。相反，歌曲"Give It to Me"尝试了一种更激进的姿态，尽管我认为在这一点上，Kylie Minogue更擅长直率和流畅，而不是失落和黯淡。总的来说，专辑《Fever》很适合当作成人聚会和 聚会后周日早晨的破冰工具。这是一个老练艺术家做出的成熟作品，它很可能在VH1一代重新塑造Kylie的形象。