Passionoia

这个三人的乐队从1998年组队至今只发了三张专辑，却受到了许多歌迷的好评。乐队的两个主将Luke Haines，John Moore分别是The Auteurs和Jesus And Mary Chain的成员，特别是灵魂人物Luke Haines在这个新组合中继续经营着自己晦暗的人生哲学，只不过这些都被掩盖在了音乐中甜得有些发腻的曲调和女主唱Sarah Nixey媚惑而性感的声线之中而让人忽略了。这张今年的新专辑中更多地让人想到了他们的第一张专辑《England Made Me》，温暖的电声吉他音色，不徐不急的节奏和鼓点，Sarah Nixey小女孩般的演唱，都让人怀疑这到底是不是一支摇滚乐队，然而假如你去聆听他们的歌词，一定会吓一大跳，对周遭社会的病诟，对流行文化的辛辣讽刺，对青年生活的关照，童年回忆的迷恋，悲观的处世态度，仿佛一朵“恶之花”，妖艳的外表之下骨子里却尽是些腐烂的东西。新专辑的封面也似乎在昭示着一切，碧蓝的泳池旁穿着比基尼的Sarah Nixey悠闲地在躺椅上，展示着青春诱人的胴体，而一旁的池水中竟然浸泡着一具无头的尸体，这个主题和今年法国新锐导演的影片《泳池情杀案》不谋而合，也不知道到底谁借鉴了谁的概念。

by Andy Kellman

 

One thing Black Box Recorder has going for them is that one needn't "get" them in order to enjoy the records they make. They work on many levels. On the cover of Passionoia, bikini-clad singer Sarah Nixey blissfully reclines poolside on a sunny day with a drink in hand. A lifeless body floats in that pool. For those who don't realize it's a reference to a party gone wrong that was thrown by English television celebrity Michael Barrymore, it still alludes to what can be expected from the record: Increasingly ornate arrangements as a significant move toward making contemporary dance-pop, but, as always, a fly is in the ointment. Just the same, one needn't consider whether Nixey is being personal or ironic when she confesses her love for Wham!'s other half in "Andrew Ridgley"; on a purely musical level, it's a heavenly pop song akin to Saint Etienne, though lyrical elements that follow make it more like that group's wicked stepsister. John Moore and Luke Haines continue to write the group's songs with themes about childhood, English culture, and observations of the mundane aspects of adult life -- and their knives haven't dulled in the least. (Come to think about it, they're often not writing about mundane aspects; they just have a way of making them seem that way, which comes across doubly so, since the songs are filtered through Nixey's iciness.) Black Box Recorder have developed a great deal across their three studio albums. If England Made Me was their stark guitar record and The Facts of Life was their frozen electronic-pop record, then Passionoia is their full-blown dance-pop album -- full of buoyant arrangements, meaty rhythms, and glitter-specked choruses. It's just as full-bodied and upfront as "Child Psychology" is sparse and distant. A greater combination of accessibility and subversion would be nearly impossible to imagine.