c.y.joe~我現在比穢多都不如

最近除了古典的cd買很多外，其中還夾帶了一張Balmorhea（白墨河）今年的新專輯 All Is Wild, All Is Silent，話說他們真的好拼，年年都有作品，而且還能維持在一定以上的水準，真是一群不簡單的年輕人～



看cd封面寂靜蒼涼的感覺，就知道一定是Michael Muller的攝影作品，上一張Rivers arms封面也是他自己設計的，年輕又有才華，真好～


目前Balmorhea的成員編制，最左邊的大鬍子是Michael Muller同學，主要吉他手，最右邊的Rob Lowe同學多彈一樣鋼琴，平常雖然戴著書呆型的方框眼鏡，不過長的白白淨淨很清秀呢，大心～

這張專輯比起過去古典味少了很多，突然有往post-rock方向轉去的感覺，像是Harm and boon這首我聽來和The Six Parts Seven的作品好類似，雖然如此，在誠品意外看到它的時候，還是只花了我三秒就決定買下來了，連試聽都不用呢～看我對他們多有信心．．．

這幾天Pitchfork終於把review貼上來，不改其尖酸刻薄的本性，花了一大段的文字在數落新專輯實驗失敗，轉型轉的很刻意啦．．．．還好最後一段還是給了Balmorhea滿高的評價。

Despite all this, All Is Wild suggests a bright future for Balmorhea, even if by way of an unfortunate present. Although the band's expanded beyond the spartan approach of its earlier works, the material maintains a blissfully elemental complexity, meaning that-- even if the lines twist and the crescendos stack-- Balmorhea's remains the sort of chamber rock music that can be explored in a backyard or in a living room by friends playing without plugs. At its best, it returns demanding classical grandeur to a comfortable folk base. What's more, many of the individual textures and themes here are brilliant, from the patient, walking banjo-and-guitar line that leads "Remembrance" to the strings slashing back through the inspiring build of "Coahuila". And the album's closing third-- three interconnected tunes that rise and slink with a patience that the album's start skips-- is perfect, steadily winding through radiant acoustic tones. The swells are surefooted, and the various movements seem designed for one another, not simply stapled together. In their own quiet way, these 14 finishing minutes recall Menomena's instrumental opus Under an Hour, which carefully united dozens of divergent themes into one broad, welcoming landscape. Those minutes alone are reason enough to put a lot of faith in Balmorhea's future.

而且評分也是7.6的好成績，我可以說Pitchfork你真是口嫌體正直嗎？

個人而論，我也非常喜歡Balmorhea這次的嘗試，畢竟二張專輯下來，他們優雅古典的音樂風格已經確立了，當然可以一直維持下去，保持easy listening的路線，我相信還是會有很多人喜歡他們，但年輕人要永於突破，像Settler一曲裡的青春活力就很讓人驚喜，結尾的拍手聲真是太Sweet了，我都不知道Balmorhea還有這一面呢～另外像Coahuila和充滿西部原野味的Remembrance也很耳目一新，他們終於開金口了，真難得XDDD。經過適當的鋪陳，整張專輯聽來有股蒼勁的生命力，最後一曲結束在November 1, 1832緩慢的女聲吟唱，有如封面的的風景般淒美。

唯一小小的不滿，曲目太少太短了，我聽不過癮，下張專輯拖久一點沒關係，但是請給我至少60分鐘的片長好嗎？我很貪心的XDDD