Kate Bush

jenks

thread death
Spent most of this week deeply engrossed in the second disc of Kate Bush's new album - ariel. Not quite sure what the dissensus on this will be.

the first disc is a patchy affair including a song where she recites pi to god knows how many decimal places and another in which she beautifully intones the chorus of 'washing machine' over and over. there are some sublime moments including the closer of the first disc.

the second is much more of a piece and recalls the ninth wave off Hounds of Love - ambitious and personal. she seems to me to, at some level, embody a blakean, visionary position sadly lacking in much contemporary music. she is willfully doing her own thing, and if it takes 14 years to release, well, so be it.

i remember reading that big boi of outkast was a huge fan and never quite knew what to make of that fact - certainly didin't seem to shine through on his half of the last album.

whatever the second disc is certainly a much more robust return to form after the red shoes which boasted lenny henry on vocals on one track - elements of the sensual world, the dreaming and hounds in here - surely no bad thing?
 

dHarry

Well-known member
sounds interesting - Tricky was also a big fan and wanted to record with her back in the 90's - she must have been too busy working on this!
 

Tim F

Well-known member
The album is spectacular - especially the second disc.

GFC, you should start with <i>The Hounds of Love</i>, then try <i>The Dreaming</i>, and then this I reckon.
 
D

droid

Guest
Can anyone tell me - Is it true that Ms Bush helped finance Spiral Tribe raves (amongst others) in the early 90's?
 
Last edited by a moderator:

jenks

thread death
Tim F said:
The album is spectacular - especially the second disc.

GFC, you should start with <i>The Hounds of Love</i>, then try <i>The Dreaming</i>, and then this I reckon.

entry level bushites could do no worse than never for ever - army dreamers, breathing, baboshka, infant kiss - all pretty marvellous

I would agree with Hounds - still can remember when i bought it all those years ago, feel that it is her most perfect album. would suggest sensual world next - to be honest i'd recommend all of them, even red shoes which has a few clunkers on it but is still head spinning in other places. lionheart is charming, kick inside has loads of tunes which show even back then she is on a different plane from her contemporaries, and the dreaming all full of didgeridoos, songs about houdini is a delight.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sus

owen

Well-known member
it's in the trees! it's coming!

Hounds of Love is my favourite record by anyone, ever. It's the absolute pinnacle of human achievement. So I would recommend you listen to that. It's easy to find in second hand bins. It has songs about Wilhelm Reich, proto-glitchcore voice trickery, the most glacial of glacial synths, more ideas in one song than the entire quantity of ideas in music since, and erm, a narrative of sorts (and guest spots from members of Popul Vuh and Killing Joke, rockists)

The Dreaming is also pretty fantastic- like a kind of Angela Carter fixated fusion of Japan and The Slits (circa 'return of..')- remember reading an interview with aforementioned Big Boi where he said this was his favourite, effectively because it was so spectacularly mental. So there y'are.

Haven't heard the new one, and am fairly trembling with anticipation- though wasn't overly impressed by either of the last two- though a lecture I went to on the Molly Bloom section of Ulysses was once enlivened by the lecturer walking in to the strains of 'The Sensual World' (which was originally going to be direct quotes from Joyce, but was nixed by his estate, bah...)
 
  • Love
Reactions: sus

Buick6

too punk to drunk
All this fucken joannanusensefreakfolkchickbusiness is just kate bush recorded in shittier studios.
 

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
That review is BITCHING, Mark. Fantastic.

Love la Bush. I think some of her stuff is really badly produced, with silly things like gated reverb on vocals -- yuck. But the tunes... the artistry... so pagan it hurts...

Haven't heard the LP but the single is corking -- rubbish video IMO though.

This week's fave Bush tune -- the man with the child in his eyes.
 

shudder

Well-known member
2stepfan said:
That review is BITCHING, Mark. Fantastic.

Love la Bush. I think some of her stuff is really badly produced, with silly things like gated reverb on vocals -- yuck.

as in, the reverb actually turns off when the vocal signal falls beneath a threshold? eww.
 

Tim F

Well-known member
Loved your review Mark. However I wouldn't be surprised if <I>A Sea of Honey</i> grows on you until it nearly matches <i>A Sky of Honey</i> - I've found its appeal more ambiguous and awkward but also very insidious. "A Coral Room" in particular is quite astonishing.

Oddly it's almost a reversal of <i>Hounds of Love</i>: here the concept side is the immediately arresting, sparkling, extroverted part, while the "conventional songs" side is quiet, "difficult", containing hidden depths...
 

Ness Rowlah

Norwegian Wood
Got it today, so no verdict yet - but the use of ambient sounds and the lushness of the production reminds me slightly of Virginia Astley's "From Gardens Where We Feel Secure" and John Foxx's "The Garden" (very English I think?). It's just good to hear that voice again.

Or as Mark says "The sonic pallette from which Bush has constructed Aerial contains few rogue elements, and hardly anything that would have discomfitted a mid-80s audience".

---

The other little thing is the booklet (pictures of her kids, drawings and so on) and the Digipak packaging of the CDs. It makes it slightly more intimate to listen to the album.
It also adds value over buying/downloading.

(I bought the single when it came on iTunes (my first purchase ever in iTunes) and won't be making many purchases from there until I get an option to increase the bitrate)
 

k-punk

Spectres of Mark
Thanks everyone...

I hope Tim is right about A Sea of Honey... I find 'Pi' and 'Bertie' a bit noodling atm, so much less likely to listen to the tracks at the end of that disc.... but having to stop myself playing Sky of Honey, it's so compulsive...

Ness

was actually going to mention both The Garden and From Gardens where we Feel Secure (did you know that Foxx produced the demos of that btw?)

as for the 80s production thing... couldn't help thinking at times how well Sky of Honey would work as microhouse... could easily imagine a version of it produced by Luomo...
 

mms

sometimes
that's a lovely piece you've written mark.
it's funny how the advent of a new kate bush album brings all these secret worshippers out of the closet, my girlfriend was saying about how the album has been on constant rotation in her office and people that have come over for meetings etc suddenly reveal themselves as massive fans, meetings get turned into discussions of Bush rarities etc . ha ha !
People like coil used to say she was a Goddess and i've heard alot of musicians say she is the number one person they'd like to work with. Strange.The birdsong reminds me of Coil as well esp journey to avebury with its strange digital birds.
 

jenks

thread death
i am so pleased with the responses to this thread

i really thought i was going to hear loads of 'm.o.r. hippyshit' accusations

bush really does invoke a kind of rapt response from all areas - a bloke at work claimed not to like her but on actually borrowing the album is something of a convert.

birdsong has taken on a whole new meaning for me

ps i too really enjoyed your piece kpunk
 
Top