美国国家公共电台 NPR 2022年要关注的音乐

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

So all right, how about a little optimism for the new year? Ann Powers of NPR Music has been looking ahead to a few uplifting new albums.

ANN POWERS, BYLINE¹: In 2022, I feel like we need a lot of healing, so I'm turning to music that really empowers me.

(SOUNDBITE OF JOSEPHINE FOSTER SONG, "NUN² OF THE ABOVE")

POWERS: I'm really excited about the new album by Josephine Foster, "Godmother," which comes out January 28.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NUN OF THE ABOVE")

JOSEPHINE FOSTER: (Singing) Old crone, are you of stone? Oh no, I'm flesh and bone.

POWERS: Josephine Foster is herself a godmother of what some people might call freak folk or outsider folk. It reaches back to what Greil Marcus, the great music critic, once called the old weird³ America, but it does so also reaching toward the stars - sort of psychedelic folk music, if you will.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NUN OF THE ABOVE")

FOSTER: (Singing) In mystery, holy, wholly unknown.

POWERS: I first saw Josephine Foster perform about 15 years ago. It felt like you were putting on an old shellac record on a vintage record player. But for "Godmother," she steps into the future. She found some vintage synthesizers in a thrift⁴ store somewhere.

(SOUNDBITE OF JOSEPHINE FOSTER SONG, "NUN OF THE ABOVE")

POWERS: She's exploring new horizons on this record and thinking about Earth as it's evolving and devolving and connecting to the spirit world, and we hear her contemplating⁵ a future that at times might seem grim but that, ultimately, she hopes will expand into something completely new.

(SOUNDBITE OF JOSEPHINE FOSTER SONG, "NUN OF THE ABOVE")

POWERS: Another album I'm really excited about is "Life On Earth" by Hurray For the Riff Raff - comes out on February 18.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "POINTED⁶ AT THE SUN")

HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF: (Singing) I go out walking after twilight⁷, talking to the memories of all I've ever known.

POWERS: I've been following the career of Alynda Segarra since the mid-2000s, when they were making really roots-based, sort of bluesy⁸ country music in New Orleans under the name Hurray For the Riff Raff. This album was inspired by a book called "Emergent Strategy" by the writer Adrienne Maree Brown, which is a really amazing kind of handbook for making yourself the kind of person who can realize radical⁹ change.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "POINTED AT THE SUN")

HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF: (Singing) I know I'm not the only one.

POWERS: Some of the songs are really rocking. You know, I hear The Velvet¹⁰ Underground. I hear The Clash. And then some are just these beautiful ballads¹¹ that Segarra can do like no one else. Through it all, their voice carries the day. This is a voice of yearning¹². This is a voice of self-questioning. This is a voice that lives inside me and inspires me every time I hear it.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SAGA¹³")

HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF: (Singing) But I - I don't want this to be the saga of my life.

POWERS: If you need some music to take you forward in this strange winter, I think "Life On Earth" is going to do it for you.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SAGA")

HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF: (Singing) I just want to be free.

MARTINEZ: That was Ann Powers of NPR Music recommending Hurray For the Riff Raff's upcoming album "Life On Earth," also Josephine Foster's "Godmother."

(SOUNDBITE OF HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF'S "SAGA")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 nun   

n.修女，尼姑

参考例句：

• I can't believe that the famous singer has become a nun.我无法相信那个著名的歌星已做了修女。
• She shaved her head and became a nun.她削发为尼。

3 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

4 thrift   

adj.节约，节俭；n.节俭，节约

参考例句：

• He has the virtues of thrift and hard work.他具备节俭和勤奋的美德。
• His thrift and industry speak well for his future.他的节俭和勤勉预示着他美好的未来。

5 contemplating   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
• She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

7 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

8 bluesy   

adj.布鲁斯乐的（一种摇摆乐）

参考例句：

• As a teenager I was obsessed ragtime, and bluesy guitar guys like Johnny Winter. 当我十几岁的时候我迷上了雷鬼，和JohnnyWinter那样的布鲁斯吉他手。 来自互联网
• Lips Accentuate your new bluesy beat in simply sensational LipSlicks Hint of Mauve. 为了强调新布鲁斯乐的节奏，涂上紫红色的唇彩是最自然的。 来自互联网

9 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

10 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

11 ballads   

民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴

参考例句：

• She belted out ballads and hillbilly songs one after another all evening. 她整晚一个接一个地大唱民谣和乡村小调。
• She taught him to read and even to sing two or three little ballads,accompanying him on her old piano. 她教他读书，还教他唱两三首民谣，弹着她的旧钢琴为他伴奏。

12 yearning   

a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的

参考例句：

• a yearning for a quiet life 对宁静生活的向往
• He felt a great yearning after his old job. 他对过去的工作有一种强烈的渴想。

13 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。