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）

翻译：Nina Wang

校正：Lynn Liu

Kacey Musgraves，Ashley McBryde和纳什维尔女性主导的强大复兴

Musgraves的《Golden Hour（闪耀时刻）》和McBryde的《Girl Goin’ Nowhere（女孩无处可去）》两张专辑中既包括了传统的乡村音乐，又体现出乡村音乐歌手构建的新格局。

当主流乡村音乐还在靠棒球帽男孩来迎合市场时，自70年代Willie和Waylon掀起热潮以来，纳什维尔雄心壮志的女歌手们就一直马力全开领导着伟大的创意复兴。2013年 Kacey Musgraves以包容性热单“Follow Your Arrow（随心所欲）”开创了新纪元；去年年底，新星 Ashley McBryde的一曲“A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega（达洛尼加的一家小酒吧）”表达了逆境中希望犹存，将复兴一再延续。她们的新唱片进一步诠释复兴的含义。

The title track of McBryde’s Girl Going Nowhere is a whispered anthem about crushing it in the face of doubters. Most triumphant artists would holler, gloat, swagger, flip the bird, but in this opener, McBryde barely raises her voice, which quivers potently over a muted snare, guitar notes flashing like phone screens in a dark arena. Then “Radioland” crashes in, a country rocker about old-time broadcast bliss, invoking John Cougar’s “Jack and Diane” and McBryde’s daddy, “a rock star riding on a tractor listening to Townes Van Zandt.” (That songwriting giant Van Zandt got scant love from radio just makes the song’s vision sweeter.) “Southern Babylon” evokes the smoky country soul of Memphis, where McBryde logged time in bar bands. “Andy (I Can’t Live Without You)” depicts true love as a holy pathology; “Livin’ Next to Leroy” is a Southern-rock conjuring of a drug buddy who ends up dead on his sofa. McBryde’s got a big, vibrato-tinged alto, biker-chick style, and she wrote or co-wrote everything here, including “Dahlonega,” with a sharp eye for piercing detail. She has a serious gift.

McBryde的专辑《Girl Going Nowhere》的主打歌以娓娓道来的方式回击质疑的声音。换做其他艺术家，多数会大喊大叫竖起中指，摆出一副盛气凌人的样子。但 McBryde几乎没有提高音量，取而代之的是柔和的颤音，吉他弹出的一个个音符就像在昏暗舞台荧幕上一幕幕闪过的影片。紧接着，“Radioland（电台）”，讲述了老式电台广播给一个乡村摇滚歌手带来了无上幸福。其中提到了John Cougar的 “Jack and Diane（杰克与黛安）”和 McBryde的父亲“a rock star riding on a tractor listening to Townes Van Zandt.（摇滚歌手在拖拉机上， Townes Van Zandt在耳边飘荡）”（电台给作曲大家Van Zandt微不足道的爱让歌曲甜到不行。） “Southern Babylon(南巴比伦)”蕴含朦胧的乡村灵魂，灵感源于McBryde做流行乐队时长居的孟菲斯。“Andy (I Can’t Live Without You)［安迪（我不能没有你）］” 将爱刻画成神圣的疾病； “Livin’ Next to Leroy（住在勒罗伊隔壁）”是南方摇滚的奇妙创作，故事围绕一个死于自家沙发上的吸毒男人展开。 McBryde有着自行车女孩的风格，低沉的颤音，她也创作或是参与创作了整张专辑。包含“Dahlonega”在内，她总以尖锐的态度剖析事物。她有着非凡的天赋。

Ditto Musgraves, but you might not recognize the weed-loving cowgirl troublemaker of “Follow Your Arrow” on this moony set, a throwback to easy-listening pop that’s only “country” by the loosest definition. Joined by a familiar dream team of Music City co-writers – Natalie Hemby, Hillary Lindsey, Luke Laird and Shane McAnally – plus new partners Ian Fitchuk and Daniel Tashian, the newlywed Musgraves is uncharacteristically cooing love songs; see the swooning title track and “Butterflies.” But she hasn’t lost her wit: “Northern lights in our skies/Plants that grow and open your mind,” she muses on “Oh, What a World,” a vocoder intro shimmering in the distance amid plinking banjo. Who knew Americana and robot rock were a thing? Musgraves did, because like plenty of us, she digs both. Purists will sniff, of course. Though Golden Hour might take time to relax into, the set is a fine lava-lamp soundtrack, and if “country” suggests engaging American musical traditions with respect and pioneer spirit, then this album is as country as it comes.

Musgraves也一样，不过这张柔和风的专辑回归轻流行乐，游走在“乡村”这一定义的边缘，从收录的 “Follow Your Arrow”中似乎难以看到那个爱抽烟爱捣蛋的牛仔女孩。在Music City的老朋友Natalie Hemby, Hillary Lindsey, Luke Laird和Shane McAnally 加入作曲，以及Ian Fitchuk和Daniel Tashian的加入后，新婚的Musgraves一反常态唱起了缠绵的爱情曲；比如甜蜜爆棚的主打歌和“Butterflies（蝴蝶）”但她也还算清醒：“Northern lights in our skies/Plants that grow and open your mind（北极光照耀在夜空中／种类繁多的植物让你豁然开朗）” 。混音前奏中夹杂着她“哦多么美好的世界”的感慨和叮叮咚咚的班卓琴声。

谁曾想到传统音乐能和机械摇滚能如此完美地结合？ Musgraves做到了，像我们大多数人一样，她对这两种音乐有无尽的热爱。当然，那些只爱其中一种的人会对此不屑一顾。《Golden Hour》虽舒缓慢热，但也不缺乏绚烂花火。如果“乡村”意味着尊重和创新美国音乐传统，那么说这张专辑是乡村之最也不为过。