Flight of the Conchords

在去年获得格莱美奖的六曲EP之后，新西兰的喜剧摇滚二人组Flight Of The Conchords推出了他们的首张正式专辑《Flight Of The Conchords》，在美国上市首周，《Flight Of The Conchords》的销量为5万2千张，在本周的Billboard 200专辑榜中空降季军位置。在去年的Billboard 200专辑榜中，EP《The Distant Future》最高仅名列第116位。本周，《Flight Of The Conchords》第叁名的成绩创造了Sub Pop厂牌近一年多以来在Billboard排行榜中的最好成绩，去年2月，独立摇滚乐团The Shins的《Wincing the Night Away》曾获得亚军的成绩。
“Flight Of The Conchords”既是这支二人组合的名字，也是一部搞笑系列剧的名字，这张专辑也可以看作是那部电视剧的原声。如果你看过“Flight Of The Conchords”，就会对Bret McKenzie和Jemaine Clement这两位十分熟悉了。两人幽默的表演和以木吉他为基础的歌曲会让我们马上想到另一个更为熟悉的名字——Tenacious D。但Flight Of The Conchords与Tenacious D又是完全不同的，这张《Flight Of The Conchords》不属于“The Pick Of Destiny”那种幽默，相比于Jack Black张狂的个性，Bret McKenzie和Jemaine Clement更“闷骚”。
《Flight Of The Conchords》专辑的曲风相当丰富，有尝试Hip-Hop的《Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros》，有Neo-Soul式的情歌《The Most Beautiful Girl (In The Room)》，另外，还有有关David Bowie的《Bowie》，如果你英语水平过关，听的时候留意歌词的话，这张专辑会令你忍俊不禁。
New Zealand's self-proclaimed "4th most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo" got their start in Wellington. Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement (musician/funnyman and funnyman/musician, respectively) started crafting their unique, two-man comedy mélange in 2002, while the two of them were living together at college. Overcome by a dream, in which a V formation of Gibson Flying Vs resembled a gaggle of Concorde airplanes, the band christened themselves Flight of the Conchords and began honing their act in the local comedy and rock clubs around their town in the late '90s. By 2002, they could be found playing such high-profile gigs as the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. When they returned to the fest in 2003, they were nominated for the Perrier Award, thus making them "the almost award-winning 4th most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo in New Zealand." Between those gigs, Flight of the Conchords self-released the album Folk the World and, by 2005, was the subject of a six-part BBC Radio 2 broadcast series -- a largely improvised affair in the vein of Spinal Tap and Tenacious D. Also in 2005, the group landed a spot on HBO's Friday night series One Night Stand. In 2006, Clement was featured in a series of humorous commercials for the U.S.-based Outback Steakhouse restaurant chain, and later that year, the band penned a deal with U.S. indie imprint Sub Pop. The label released the half-studio, half-live EP The Distant Future a year later. Shortly after signing to Sub Pop, the two got their breaks as actors. Clement scored a starring role in the indie romantic comedy Eagle Vs. Shark, and HBO offered Bret and Jemaine their own series. Flight of the Conchords, the show, premiered in June of 2007. Combining the understated humor of Ricky Gervais's Extras and the musical slapstick of Tenacious D's six episode HBO series, the show followed the two trying to achieve success as a band in New York City, with silly songs worked into the plotlines. After 12 episodes, it was announced that the boys would return with a second season in 2008. In April of 2008, Sub Pop released a full-length album of songs from the show.