It was on a mountainside in Cumbria that the first whispers of Cate Le Bon’s fifth studio album poked their buds above the earth. “There’s a strange romanticism to going a little bit crazy and playing the piano to yourself and singing into the night,” she says, recounting the year living solitarily in the Lake District which gave way to Reward. By day, ever the polymath, Le Bon painstakingly learnt to make solid wood tables, stools and chairs from scratch; by night she looked to a second-hand Meers — the first piano she had ever owned —for company, “windows closed to absolutely everyone”, and accidentally poured her heart out. The result is an album every bit as stylistically varied, surrealistically-inclined and tactile as those in the enduring outsider’s back catalogue, but one that is also intensely introspective and profound; her most personal to date. This sense of privacy maintained throughout is helped by the various landscapes within which Reward took shape: Stinson Beach, LA, and Brooklyn via Cardiff and The Lakes. Recording at Panoramic House [Stinson Beach, CA], a residential studio on a mountain overlooking the ocean, afforded Le Bon the ability to preserve the remoteness she had captured during the writing of Reward in Staveley, Lake District. Over this extended period a cast of trusted and loved musicians joined Le Bon, Khouja and fellow co-producer Josiah Steinbrick — Stella Mozgawa (of Warpaint) on drums and percussion; Stephen Black (aka Sweet Baboo) on bass and saxophone and longtime collaborators Huw Evans (aka H.Hawkline) and Josh Klinghoffer on guitars — and were added to the album, “one by one, one on one”. The fact that these collaborators have appeared variously on Le Bon’s previous outputs no doubt goes some way to aid the preservation of a signature sound despite a relatively drastic change in approach. Be it on her more minimalist, acoustic-leaning 2009 debut album Me Oh My or critically acclaimed, liquid-riffed 2013 LP Mug Museum as well as 2016s Crab Day, Cate Le Bon’s solo work — and indeed also her production work, such as that carried out on recent Deerhunter album Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? (4AD, January 2019) — has always resisted pigeonholing, walking the tightrope between krautrock aloofness and heartbreaking tenderness; deadpan served with a twinkle in the eye, a flick of the fringe and a lick of the Telecaster. The multifaceted nature of Le Bon’s art — its ability to take on multiple meanings and hold motivations which are not immediately obvious — is evident right down to the album’s very name. “People hear the word ‘reward’ and they think that it’s a positive word” says Le Bon, “and to me it’s quite a sinister word in that it depends on the relationship between the giver and the receiver. I feel like it’s really indicative of the times we’re living in where words are used as slogans, and everything is slowly losing its meaning.” The record, then, signals a scrambling to hold onto meaning; it is a warning against lazy comparisons and face values. It is a sentiment nicely summed up by the furniture-making musician as she advises: “Always keep your hand behind the chisel.”

海龟先生这张暌违五年的新专辑，依旧以信仰为基底，更深入地探寻了个体灵魂的时代处境。这次他们不再急迫笨拙地追问“Where Are You Going？”，而是以不渝的赤诚之心，更加坚定且智慧地践行心之所向。专辑以日漫经典《七龙珠》中龟波气功的发音“咔咪哈咪哈”为名，亦是在用一种独到的幽默，来消解犬儒世界的刻板伪装。 新专辑的创作显然更加从心所欲，根源摇滚的复古曲调经他们妙手调配，简约动听一如既往，同时又以深邃而迂回的词作暗藏深意：也许你刚刚还惬意摇摆于《内人广林》的波萨诺瓦描绘的椰林水影，下一秒又惊醒在《赖宁》老辣的布鲁斯硬摇滚编排中；可以跟随《锡安》源源流淌的轻柔钢琴，迈向恬静的精神故园，转而又会被《热血新纪录》以不由分说的攻势来个当头棒喝；而从《我》到《恩典》，你会听到一次充满迷思与挣扎的自我剖析，和那个“我”一起，以祷告之姿与上帝虔诚对话。

Maya Ray Thurman Hawke is an American actress and model. She is the daughter of actress Uma Thurman and actor Ethan Hawke.

On House of Sugar, his third full-length for Domino and ninth overall, (Sandy) Alex G inhabits a diverse range of musical and emotional points-of-view (often simultaneously), in turn illuminating the tension that hides in the shadow of desire. Giannascoli began writing these songs in the fall of 2017, having just finished a tour for House of Sugar’s acclaimed predecessor, Rocket, and moved into a new apartment in Philadelphia. Whereas with earlier efforts, such as 2011’s self-released Winner or the landmark 2014 release DSU, he’d write numerous songs fairly quickly, with House of Sugar Giannascoli worked at a steadier pace, concentrating on fewer songs and laboring over each one more than before. Throughout the process Giannascoli worked closely with Jacob Portrait, who mixed both Rocket and its predecessor, 2015’s Beach Music, and here helped to balance each of House of Sugar’s dense, multi-faceted tracks. As the product of extended focus and planning, House of Sugar emerges as Giannascoli’s most meticulous, cohesive album yet: a statement of artistic purpose, showing off his ear for both persistent earworms and shifting textures.

◎兩張全美冠軍專輯、葛萊美獎加冕獨立搖滾天團睽違6年回歸大作 ◎跨界奇才Ariel Rechtshaid(U2、Adele、Madonna)與離團成員Rostam Batmanglij聯手製作 ◎獨立姐妹樂團Haim的Danielle Haim、嘻哈靈魂樂團The Internet成員Steve Lacy、前Rilo Kiley魅力才女Jenny Lewis站台助陣 經過6年等待，美國獨立搖滾天團Vampire Weekend終於回歸！硬是了得憑藉《Contra》和《Modern Vampires Of The City》兩張專輯，直接搶下美國告示牌流行榜冠軍，兩度入圍「最佳另類音樂專輯」喝采，最終後者風光抱回獎座肯定，寫下最為亮眼佳績！滿載青春無敵的龐克火力，躍動快意到底的旋律，再混合獨特非洲民族音樂，讓主唱/吉他手Ezra Koenig、鼓手/打擊樂器Chris Tomson、貝斯手Chris Baio、鍵盤手Rostam Batmanglij等四位還只是剛從哥倫比亞大學畢業的年輕小夥子，很快累積出Vampire Weekend超高人氣，其實力也不容小覷。2008年首張同名專輯驚豔四座，以初生之犢不畏虎之姿橫掃藝術和商業領域，入席滾石雜誌「史上500張經典專輯」、AllMusic網站滿分推崇，美國地區狂破百萬銷售量，可說是獨立界之光！2016年，Rostam選擇離團追求個人音樂事業，但允諾會持續和Ezra合作。加盟索尼音樂集團後的新碟《Father Of The Bride》，歷經多年籌備與製作，這張結晶就像自己的女兒一般，正式出版如同女兒出嫁，內心百感交集又顯緊張，畢竟離開歌壇那麼多年，回歸時刻的心情特別複雜！邀請葛萊美加持，跨領域奇才Ariel Rechtshaid(U2、Adele、Madonna)聯手製作，Rostam退居幕後協助。輕快爽朗的〈Harmony Hall〉，獨立界三姐妹樂團Haim的Danielle Haim前來唱合，引用上一張作品中的〈Finger Back〉單曲歌詞，登上成人另類歌曲榜冠軍，串流平台大破千萬點擊量；復古味濃的〈This Life〉，Dirty Projectors主唱David Longstreth哥哥Jake Longstreth前來吉他助陣，滲入Surf Rock的自在閒適，巧妙穿插嘻哈才子iLoveMakonnen的〈Tonight〉歌詞片段；榮獲葛萊美以及靈魂列車獎提名肯定嘻哈靈魂樂團The Internet成員Steve Lacy站台〈Sunflower〉，盡情組裝Funky-Soul之聲，延展搖滾無限可能的寬度與廣度；雖然嘻哈/EDM的DJ Dahi輔佐不到2分鐘短歌〈Big Blue〉，卻意外牽連鄉謠的情調出來；取樣日本音樂家細野晴臣的〈花に水〉於〈2021〉裡頭，從演藝圈到歌唱界，自Rilo Kiley到Jenny & Johnny的全方位魅力才女Jenny Lewis合聲伴唱，透露歲月流逝的惆悵！Vampire Weekend再次突破音樂框架，運用多元豐富調性打造獨一無二風格！