专辑英文名: The Trials of Van Occupanther
歌手: Midlake
音乐风格: 摇滚
资源格式: MP3
发行时间: 2006年
地区: 美国
语言: 英语
简介:
专辑风格：Indie Rock
发行厂牌：Bella Union
发布码率：192kbps
专辑介绍：
（以下文字均为转载）
在一段时间，总能够听到一些这样的音乐，
不想去标注，不想去归类，不想去评论。
The Trials of Van Occupanther就是这样一张脱俗的唱片。
只想安静的听，反复的听。
然后，告诉每一个看得见、听得见的人说：
“如果你看到它，请把它带回家。”
在百无聊赖的午后,听上这样一张专辑可以拨动你的心弦.这次这帮德州男孩将他们处女作中的电子味道剔除到无.贯之以蜻蜓点水般恬淡的吉他,人生初听似不着痕迹,实则尽诉衷肠.在委婉和欲说还休中捕住你的情思.这样的编曲和演唱很容易让你忆起上世纪70年代根源低调民谣大师如Nick Drake那经久不灭的睿智诗篇!
Midlake's second album is a departure from their lo-fi, psychedelic pop-influenced debut. The Trials of Van Occupanther jumps with both feet into the '70s of Laurel Canyon troubadours and soft rock balladeers. It jumps like Bob Beamon right past any other current bands treading similar ground and jumps back into time, becoming one of the best examples of the sound and style you'll ever hear, date of release notwithstanding. The first thing you notice on the album is the stunning vocal harmonies; you might think you dropped in an America disc by mistake. (The best record America ever did, that is.) Tim Smith has the kind of voice you know could be a glass-shattering instrument on par with that of Buckley or Wainwright, but he keeps it dialed down to an intimate scale, which is a wise decision. His vocals bleed melancholy honesty, and the way it combines with Eric Pulido's voice will raise goose bumps. The arrangements provide a perfect bed for the vocals, with cottony layers of acoustic guitars and strings, gentle horns, restrained drums, and lyrical piano combining beautifully. The occasional surprises are effective, especially when they use some of the corniest synth sounds heard since Jan Hammer unstrapped his keytar for the last time, on "We Gathered in Spring" and "It Covers the Hillside." All of which is nice but isn't worth much without songs. Fortunately, Midlake writes unerringly tuneful melodies and thoughtful lyrics about topics other than love and introspection, and lays down plenty of gentle hooks. Nothing that you'll be singing in the shower for days at a time, but each song goes down smoothly and they add up to make The Trials of Van Occupanther a very pleasant, maybe even exciting in a restrained way, listening experience. You'll certainly find yourself reaching for it more often than you might expect; indeed, it has lasting power that many records that sound so good on first listen lack. Midlake might be stuck in the '70s, but they make it sound like the best place on earth.
我从来不是宿命论者，却又不得不承认机遇在生命中扮演的角色。
机遇让乏味的生命多了不可预测性，使一成不变的日子有了阴晴云雨。偶然的擦身而过，巧合的从天而降。每个人之间都牵著一条看不见的线，有时拉紧，有时鬆弛。纵使捲线的权力永远不在我们手上，我们只需专心等待，篤信幸运日就在前方。倘若强求，不但折损了美感，连短暂的浪漫也将消失无踪。
回想起与挚爱唱片或电影的相识过程，正是一幕幕偶然与巧合的美妙排演。
今年九月的秋日午后，我与朋友造访了某间店门宽敞、採光明亮的唱片行。那是下午三点的布鲁克林，阳光以柔软的角度透著大片窗户洒向红色的唱片陈列架，并在水泥地板留下了透明剪影。我轻声推开大门，深怕惊醒了躺在沙发上的白猫。就在低头翻捡著唱片的同时，时鐘上的秒针转了三圈就悄然而止。我的血温上升、耳孔扩张，头髮上的静电起了作用。我的专注力即刻被拉至柜台左侧的音响上，我知道我等到它了。
这音乐让我觉得过去九个多月的漫长期待其实一点都不煎熬，我仍被掌管幸福的神眷顾著。拖著暂失知觉的四肢走向柜台，望向印有Now Playing字样的木质CD架。上头摆的唱片有著令人发噱的封面，我一点都不陌生，那是Midlake的The Trials of Van Occupanther。我曾下载过其中几曲，当时只觉得胃口不合而删除。我呆立於柜台，背脊一阵寒意。我竟犯了以管窥天、投机取巧与耐心不足的病症。如不是此刻造访了唱片行，而店员恰巧播放著它，我将永远以荒谬的姿态将Midlake列为拒绝往来户，殊不知竟错过了今年最动听的音乐。
我将唱片请回家，之后整整两个星期，就像一名被巫师下了重蛊的摇滚族人，我夜以继日地疯狂重播，毫无道理可寻。某个将唱片借给朋友的夜晚，我在床上翻来覆去，因听不见Midlake而彻夜难眠。我永远料想不到曾被我认为食之无味的音乐，有天竟能让我著迷至此，上癮成性。
每年都有几张这样的唱片。你不需提及乐队来历、音乐风格，或使用一些似有若无的形容词让整篇文章更加俗气。你只需要跟别人说，【如果看到了它，请将它买回家。】对我来说，The Trials of Van Occupanther就是这样一张唱片，一张今年让我听了最多遍的唱片。Highly Recommended.
乐队介绍：
Midlake这支德克萨斯5人团体，乐队成员于2000年一同参加了北德克萨斯音乐学院的课程，乐队的风格属于独立摇滚又带一点Lo-fi，最初得知这支乐队是从论坛推荐上，试听了一些歌曲，发掘乐队非常有音乐家的天赋，谈起Midlake的风格，属于独立摇滚又带一点Lo-fi，轻软并带有忧郁色彩，同时却又满含希望。
Midlake的音乐初听多少有点受着Radiohead的影响。而英国的Q杂志也是这样的评论"Not since Mercury Rev's Deserter’s Songs has an American band sounded so completely of itself, so off kilter, and quite so bewitching.”主唱Tim Smith富含诗意的嗓音韵味十足，他们的好几首作品都可称为艺术品，而不是简简单单的歌曲。
要做推荐的是单曲Young Bride，以小提琴为主的旋律，伤感，忧郁，主唱的吟唱适时地加入，此时再次回响起小提琴的悲鸣，让你的眼泪不自觉得涌出。这张专辑从开始到直到最后都让你体会了情感最悲伤的一面，但同时给予你希望，情感的东西，尽在不言中。
(以上文字均转载或参考自网络，感谢音速青春、豆瓣、www.allmusic.com)
