Tindersticks

英国最浪漫最惆怅、最感伤、最人文的六人组合，成军十余年尽现沧桑飘邈的浪漫音乐美。成立于英国诺丁罕(Nottingham)的Tindersticks，他们的前身是一个叫做Asphalt Ribbons的摇滚乐团，刚开始时成员只有Stuart Staples(singers)、David Boulter(keyboardist)与Dickon Hinchliffe(violinist)三人，1992年才纳入Neil Fraser(guitarist)、Mark Colwill(bassist)以及Al Macaulay(drummer)正式组成Tindersticks，这个阵容一直维持到2003年出版Waiting For The Moon专辑，而乐团暂时进入冬眠阶段从没有变动过，能维持长时间的合作也意味着团员之间对于音乐的想法非常契合。
Tindersticks were one of the most original and distinctive British acts of the 90s, standing apart from both the British indie scene and the rash of Brit-pop guitar combos that dominated the U.K. charts. Where their contemporaries were often direct and to the point, Tindersticks were obtuse and leisurely, crafting dense, difficult songs layered with literary lyrics, intertwining melodies, mumbling vocals, and gently melancholy orchestrations. Essentially, the group filtered the dark romanticism of Leonard Cohen, Ian Curtis, and Scott Walker as filtered through the bizarre pop songcraft of Lee Hazlewood and the aesthetics of indie rock. Though their music was far from casual listening, Tindersticks gained a dedicated cult following in the mid-90s, beginning with their eponymous 1993 debut album, which was named Album of the Year by Melody Maker.
The origins of Tindersticks lay in Asphalt Ribbons, a Nottingham-based indie rock band that featured vocalist Stuart Staples, keyboardist David Boulter, and violinist Dickon Hinchcliffe. All three members formed Tindersticks in 1992; the remaining members included guitarist Neil Fraser, bassist Mark Colwill, and drummer Al Macaulay. In November of 1992, the band released its first single, Patchwork, on its own label, Tippy Toe. Marbles followed early in 1993, as did A Marriage Made in Heaven, a collaboration with Huggy Bears Niki Sin that appeared on Rough Trades Singles Club. Following the release of the Unwired EP on Tippy Toe, the fledgling This Way Up signed the band.
Tindersticks eponymous debut appeared halfway through 1993, earning rave reviews from most sections of the British press. By the end of the year, the group and the album had won over most of the U.K. critics, and Tindersticks was named Album of the Year by Melody Maker. Tindersticks spent a quiet year in 1994, releasing a single of John Barrys James Bond theme We Have All the Time in the World (On Her Majestys Secret Service), a live album entitled Amsterdam, and a cover of Pavements Here. Also that year, Tindersticks was released on Bar/None in the U.S. In the spring of 1995, the group released its untitled second album, which featured cameos from Gallon Drunks Terry Edwards and the Walkabouts Carla Torgerson. Like its predecessor, it received rave reviews and appeared on nearly every British Top Ten list of the Best of 1995. In November of 1995, the group released another live album, Bloomsbury Theatre.
Tindersticks were quiet for most of 1996, releasing the soundtrack to the Claire Denis film Nénette et Boni in the fall of the year. The album was comprised of old songs, new songs, and rearranged older material. A new version of A Marriage Made in Heaven, featuring vocals from actress Isabella Rosselini, was released a few months after Nénette et Boni; the single was later appended to the American release of 1997s Curtains. Their fourth effort, Simple Pleasure (1999), marked the bands most open-hearted release since their inception. A new deal with Beggars Banquet surfaced at the dawn of the new millennium, and a replenished unity within the band was found on 2001s Can Our Love.... Later that year, Tindersticks provided the soundtrack to another Claire Denis film, Trouble Every Day. The proper follow-up to Can Our Love..., Waiting for the Moon, was released in mid-2003.