Hidden (MMXX)

2010年度のNME年間ベスト獲得!
These New Puritansによる傑作『Hidden』が新曲やライブ音源を収録してリイシュー!

英国のアート・ロック・バンドThese New Puritansが代表作の『Hidden』の10周年を記念し、『Hidden [MMXX]』をリリース!
『Hidden』期のセッションからの新曲や未発表曲、同時代のライヴ音源が収録されている。
リリース当時、エディ・スリマンがバンドをフックアップし、ディオールのショーに楽曲提供、また本人たちもモデルとして登場するなどファッション界でも注目を集め、NMEの2010年度アルバム・オブ・ザ・イヤーを獲得、その他のメディアでも絶賛を受けた『Hidden』は正にその時代を象徴する作品となった。
ダンスホールと20世紀のポスト・ミニマリズムのリズムを取り入れており、和太鼓、13人編成の金管と木管のアンサンブル、ヘビーなビート、ピアノ、さらには児童合唱団が参加している。
その結果、凶暴なサウンドと哀愁が同居した唯一無二のサウンドとなっており、10年経った今でも音楽史に残る金字塔として輝き続けている。

In 2008, the first album from These New Puritans appeared, presenting a band of young Brits who had clearly soaked up the lessons of brainy post-punk outfits like the Fall, Wire, et al., not only in terms of the Burroughs-esque, cut-and-paste approach to composition and the terse, angular riffs and rhythms, but in the tendency to approach an album like an art-school project, with an armful of theories behind each decision. Fortunately for all concerned, These New Puritans -- like all powerful musicians -- operate on a level that connects emotionally and viscerally before the cerebral side is even engaged, so the whole thing plays out in a non-pretentious way. That's how it is on their second album, Hidden, as well, but the band hasn't been standing still in between releases by any stretch of the imagination. Where the first album was full of blaring guitars and powerful drums -- however minimally arrayed and artfully deployed -- Hidden is a different beast entirely; in fact, it's tempting to say that it's barely even a "rock" album, except for the fact that no other descriptor seems to fit any better. In place of those Fall/Wire riffs of old, Hidden offers a greater emphasis on electronics; in fact, there seem to be scarcely any guitars at all. And where its predecessor hit you over the head and knocked you down with its ideas, Hidden -- true to its title -- prefers to sneak up on the listener. Some of the most striking features of the album are the brass and wind orchestrations. Three atmospheric, orchestral instrumentals subdivide Hidden -- one at the top, one at the middle, and one (also including Steve Reich-like percussion, wordless choral vocals, and a brief dash of spoken word) at the end. The wind players pop up at a couple of points in the "band" tunes, too, and it's a fair guess to say that co-producer/former Bark Psychosis frontman Graham Sutton has something to do with it all. Sutton's presence is also significant in that his old band's sui generis art rock is as close as you'll come to a precedent for what's happening here, aside from perhaps late-period Talk Talk. Besides the brass and winds, the synths and programmed beats that mix hip-hop, dubstep, and drum'n'bass styles are the dominant sonic presence. "Fire-Power," meanwhile, finds singer Jack Barnett spitting out a restless tumble of words over a beat that wouldn't sound out of place on an M.I.A. record, while "Hologram" takes things in yet another direction, using jazz piano in combination with winds and more of those Reich-like lines. Ultimately, Hidden is the sound of an ambitious young band as eager to use every tool at its disposal as it is to avoid studiously doing what's been done before. ~ J. Allen

Hidden デビュー作でUK音楽界を震撼させた恐るべき才能が、驚愕の2作目を完成させた。美しく妖しいブラス・セクションで幕を開け、全体を淀みなく覆うのはクラシック音楽の重厚感。随所で光る、迫力の和太鼓や壮大な管アンサンブル、ナイフの研磨音、聖歌隊の不気味な歌といった効果音──ポスト・ロックの枠を遥かに超えた彼らが作り上げたのは、暗黒の狂乱か天空の城なのか。異世界への扉がいま、開け放たれる。
bounce (C)柴田かずえ