Celebrating 50th Anniversary with new album and reunion tour. First new material in over two decades featuring all of the band's surviving original members and is being produced by Brian Wilson and executive produced by Mike Love.

Banga is Patti Smith's first collection of original material since 2004's critically-acclaimed Trampin'. The album was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City and produced by Patti Smith and her band: Tony Shanahan, Jay Dee Daugherty and her long-time collaborator Lenny Kaye. Featured guests include Tom Verlaine, Jack Petruzzelli, Smith's son Jackson and daughter Jesse Paris. Inspired by Smith's unique dreams and observations, Banga's poetic lyrics are a reflection of our complex world a world that is rife with chaos and beauty. Praised for her storytelling abilities, Smith has crafted an album that captures a wide range of human experience. There is an exploratory spirit in the songs that make up Banga, including a melodic overture imagining the voyage of Amerigo Vespucci to the New World in 1497 ("Amerigo"), a rock song for the people of Japan in the wake of last years earthquake ("Fuji-san"), a classic ballad in memory of Amy Winehouse ("This Is The Girl"), an improvised meditation on art and nature ("Constantine's Dream") as well as a birthday song written for her friend Johnny Depp ("Nine"). Banga is available on CD, LP, and as a Special Edition hard cover book including 64 pages of original images, complete lyrics & liner notes by the artist plus an exclusive track, "Just Kids."

对于阔别多年的一支90年代最具影响力之一的摇滚乐队来说，这是一个激动人心的时刻，或许在我出生懂事的那个年代已经错过了乐队的风华正茂。而新专辑的到来也让全世界的碎南瓜迷激动流泪，而这第九章录音室也有Billy Corgan本人和Bjorn Thorsrud制作完成，而按照 Billy Corgan之前的意愿，为了之前“Teargarden By Kaleidyscope”的形式，也就是分批一首一首新单曲的发行，并且免费提供下载，不过个性十足的Billy还是觉得有些东西放在一起才是那么回事儿。

Denison Witmer，来自费城，自幼受喜欢民谣音乐的母亲的影响，对民谣异常喜爱，他的音乐深受70年代的音乐特别是jackson browne 以及 graham nash的影响，人们常把他和james taylor比较；而他对音乐的理解、执着甚或偏执又和damien jurado, pedro the lion 甚或elliott smith颇为相似。包括ep、live，denison witmer至今有十张作品问世，风格基本统一，想象、信念、渴望、梦想、敏感是它们共有的关键词。
Denison Witmer Album to Feature Sufjan Stevens David Nadelle reports: Years toiling in dive bars and incessant journal-writing are starting to pay off for Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter Denison Witmer. While often compared to 70s classic songwriting relics like James Taylor and admitted influences Jackson Browne and Graham Nash, his earnest, idiosyncratic style has matured and now is more akin to Damien Jurado, Pedro the Lion or even Elliott Smith at times. His new album Are You a Dreamer? will be released on July 26 and will be his first album on the Militia Group.
The album is loosely conceptual, themed around all the aspects of dreams and the sense of hope that can be derived from them. Are You a Dreamer? benefits from contributions by a gifted cast of contributors, with Sufjan Stevens, the Innocence Mission's Don and Karen Peris, Ester Drang's James McAlister, and Shara Worden filling out the sound of Witmer's personal narrative tales.

每一代中学生的苦闷与焦虑都需要一个乐队来代言，就目前而言，担当这个重任的显然是来自南加州的朋克乐队The Offspring。从"The Meaning of Life/生命的意义"到"Leave It Behind/随它去吧"再到"I Choose/抉择"，尤其是"All I Want/我想要的一切"与"Change the World/改变世界"，他们的歌曲不偏不倚地瞄准了年轻人的群落。他们的歌词浅显易懂，偶尔折射出一点洞见，往往令人觉耳目一新。论音乐，他们一点也不复杂，但谁又规定音乐必须得复杂了？

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Mark Linkous began working as Sparklehorse in 1995 and, after a demo made its way to the offices of Capitol Records, he got signed to the label. Sparklehorse's 1996 acclaimed debut, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot, is full of sad, beautiful, weird moments of spacey rural folk-rock and contains the alternative radio hit "Someday I Will Treat You Good". Dreamy arrangements, distorted vocals, and slivers of feedback add to Sparklehorse's down-to-earth melancholy and made Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot spontaneous, happy, sad, noisy, and quiet; like moments in life. This reissue comes with a bonus 7" containing "Waiting For Nothing" (ghost song in the original vinyl version) and "Happy Place" plus download card of the entire album.

承接前面一张《Viva Dixie Submarine Transmission Plot》的Sparklehorse依然风采迷人——九八年的这张《Good Morning Spider》证明了田园音乐诗人Mark Linkous的艺术天赋并不因为加入大厂牌便失色。然而把它与上张专辑相比是必然的事情，因为它不仅延续了前者印象派油画般的音乐创作手法，而且在音乐制作和编排上也显得更为精雕细琢。跳跃波动的情绪贯穿整张CD：或者你可以试试这样——某个晚上，不可以无所事事，应该有一本关于冒险的小说或者漫画（例如我的最爱《海贼王》），用适中的音量播着这张——你会感觉得到你所有的情感都会被这张《Good Morning Spider》牵扯出来，你会想开心的叫叫，你也会想失落的走走。整整十七首的作品，你所有的情感都会在音乐中获得一次最完整的释放。
第一首，《PIG》。超爽的吉他和鼓点，还有效果化的Linkous的声音，从乐器的使用到歌词我都惊奇他们都会搞的这么Punk这么爽朗，十分振奋情绪的作品。Ambient感觉的《Painbirds》开始把你的情绪稍稍压低，他告诉你在炎热的美国福吉尼亚州，他田园的阳光中盘旋的那只荆棘鸟。曲中的鼓声是稍稍特出和加快了，在Sparklehorse很多的作品中大家都会不经意的发现这一点——幽怨的Saxophone是平原中的仙人掌，告诉所有的人这里的炎热和干旱；还有Linkous略带呻吟的歌声在炎热的下午醺醺欲睡的告诉你这些琐琐碎碎。
《Saint Mary》会把你所有深藏的忧伤毫无保留的拖出来——对付悲伤，最好的办法就是把悲伤一再的放大再放大，而不是逃避，让痛更痛痛到极点之后便是麻木，便是痊愈。所以在所有的不开心的时候我都很愿意拿出这首Down Song，把伤感堆积。他用诗意的歌词，简简单单的木吉他和钢琴，还有Linkous的梦呓，组合成忧伤最好的药方，让我们在伤痛中喘息。Linkous是和我们都一样的脆弱和痛苦着，所以他并不为快乐者而歌。
浓浓的黑色由类似大提琴的颜料涂上，乱点生花的背景是轻轻的杂音取样。短短的一分钟，没有旋律没有人声。点题之作《Good Morning Spider》，想怎样？而流行民谣特质的《Sick of Goodbyes》，同样是略略加大了鼓声，听起来很是爽朗。Linkous似乎很喜欢玩玩票在这张专辑中：Lo－Fi感觉的Box of Stars, Pt. 1只有短短33秒，讲完唱完就走无需考虑。
《Sunshine》是我的最爱。还记得在一个晚上我整整把它听了五个小时。还记得在某个阴阴沉沉冬天的下午，走在岗顶的街头，不算温暖的阳光和这首歌都很突然把我笼罩，我差点感动的落泪——只是因为这首歌。还记得的还有这段译文：
《Sunshine》 ——From Majave
我睁开眼睛/注视阳光
它在整个夜晚卸装/尽情舒展
时间是个巨人/海浪冲走我收藏的垃圾/
当月亮爆炸或是飘走/我会失去我的纪念品
我躺在草地上/让昆虫为所欲为/
她用翅膀覆盖住我/抱紧我的头说/可怜的东西
时间是个巨人/海浪冲走我收藏的垃圾/
当月亮爆炸或是飘走/我会失去我的纪念品
翻动着的电子音效是天空那些不安分的乌云，其他的就是一镂镂在灰暗冬天中闪耀的阳光。它们只带来一点点的温暖，应为冬天的寒冷不应该被埋没。4分10秒，Linkous很灰色的骗了我们一下，都我很依依不舍的准备按下Replay的时候，那些音符却又响起。送多大家一分钟的Sunshine吧，可能他这样想。
Mark Linkous不是庸俗的流行歌机器，这次这张专辑还带来了Cracker乐队的David Lowery。所以有了这首《haos of the Galaxy/Happy Man》的感觉：甜美的圆舞曲电子音效独立成为一个段落，之后他们怕羞，躲在收音机里唱唱，按耐不住又跑出来唱唱，很自我的Sparklehorse！其中的吉他真的太爽太爽，居然让我找到一些Sonic Youth那种无所危惧的激情！Mark Linkous喜欢这一种淡淡的乡土气息，《Hey, Joe》还是淡淡的说着说着一些琐碎的感觉，很喜欢《Hey, Joe》其中Johnston的吟唱，很诡秘和Down的感觉。伴着它那些歌词，不知怎的心里面就长出了很多温柔的感觉——Joe，Jack,sid,George,是不是他的四个子女？亲人？这是一种深深的亲情的感觉。《Come on In 》里面滴滴答答的老挂钟是灵魂的等待：Come on in，come on in,take me home tonight.伤感的钢琴是灵魂的滴血。很深沉的悲伤，Linkous用最绝望的声音描述着这最后晚上的挂钟的老去。
我是一个很情绪化的人——于是无所顾忌的爱着他们这种情绪化的音乐。
《Maria's Little Elbows》是清晨的，一夜的悲痛与无眠之后略带疲惫的清晨。但是阳光来了，所有的都留在了黑暗——懂得痛，但是更要懂得痊愈。Longly其实很多时候都很美好，包括那逝去的伤痛的夜晚。这张专辑多了两首《Cruel Sun》这种作品间插在那些浓浓的伤痛之中，不会太嘈杂，而又能把你的情绪轻轻的带高一点而不至于关掉CD机——其实这可能是我为什么喜欢Sparklehorse币Red House painter更多的原因吧。其实这首Cruel Sun的吉他都好爽，功力深厚啊。跃动吗？——《All Night Home》马上把你拉回褐色的吉他音效带来的Sadcore之中，继续描述那些伤感和心灵的疼痛，
孤独、痛苦和死亡，似乎似这张专辑的主题。但是它又不是一味的黑啊黑啊痛啊。他也会象小孩般的《Ghost of His Smile》，Lo－fi的表现使这首作品显得很童真。。《Hundreds of Sparrows》是我另外一首心头好：还是我觉得已经有点标志式的略略加大的鼓声，伤感的钢琴，诡秘的人声。你只需要把心放上去，你就会觉得很舒服。
《Box of Stars, Pt. 2》你是否在童年都有过同样的愿望？拥有一个Box of Stars？风琴和其他乐器的混响效果，暗示着，应该结束了。
《Junebug》希望好人好梦。

Over the course of three gloriously dream-dazzled albums, of which the irony-free titled It's A Wonderful Life is the quietest, sleekest and--despite a relative lack of pop hooks--probably Sparklehorse's best. Mark Linkous, the boy with a toy box full of ramshackle instruments, has sweetly, solemnly staked his affinity to the entire living universe. Bees, trees, birds, frogs, rabbits, ghosts, roosters, monkeys, babies, snakes, apples, ponies, dogs, the lot; wrapped in blissful, non-species-ist wonder that would do a Buddhist proud. The added extra here--besides a steel-drenched "Comfort Me", the old-time wheeze of "Babies on the Sun", Tom Waits' gleeful fee-fi-fo-fum through "Dog Door" and PJ Harvey's metallic whip of a voice electrifying "Piano Fire" and "Eyepennies"--is the realisation why it's been so long since you heard songs of such innocence and experience. And it hits you somewhere around the line "A child who spoke in tongues and smelled like the sun": William Blake is alive and well and making music in West Virginia. --Jennifer Nine
Description
Third full-length album from Mark Linkous, featuring more of his trademark bittersweet alt-country rock. The album includes guest appearances by Tom Waits, the Cardigans' Nina Persson, and PJ Harvey. It was produced by Harvey's long-time collaborator John Parish and Flaming Lips/Mercury Rev producer Dave Fridmann.

Sparklehorse 的新专辑，5年的时间，酝酿出这张专辑。Sparklehorse独立界中的大牌，Sparklehorse是来自美国维吉尼亚的独立乐队，组建于1994年底。其灵魂人物Mark Linkous曾经是80年代中期独立乐队Dancing Hoods的成员。我对于他们专辑影响最深的就是我开始接触他们的第三张专辑《It’s A Wonderful Life》，他们的音乐融入了另类摇滚、噪音流行、乡谣、诡秘的实验音效、LO-FI以及一些美妙忧伤的曲调。从细腻恬静到焦虑聒噪，Sparklehorse将音乐从似是而非的对抗渐渐引入富于人性化的和谐，不落俗套的编曲也显得格外流畅自然。

Dark Night of the Soul is an album written by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse.[6] It features a wide range of singers, which include James Mercer of the Shins, Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Julian Casablancas of the Strokes, Black Francis of the Pixies, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson of the Cardigans, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt, David Lynch, and Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel and the Gerbils; these singers also had a hand in composing and producing the work.[6]
This was the final album that Sparklehorse leader Mark Linkous completed before his suicide on March 6, 2010, although In the Fishtank 15—recorded in 2007—was released later, and Linkous was working on another LP at the time of his death. It was also one of the final works recorded by Vic Chesnutt before his suicide.

2009 CD EP. Just two days in December 2007 were enough to record over 40 minutes of the sublime Fennesz and Sparklehorse combination. Prepared oddities and masses of inspiration make these recordings unique in their style and in this series in particular. Songs and soundscapes of rare beauty with stunning atmospherics, where abstract sounds and wellcrafted traditional song-structure meet and where acoustic instruments and electronics create outstanding ambience. Seven tracks.