Kate Bush

i trust nothing by NME but
http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=140&p=10121&title=kate_bush_director_s_cut_first_listen&more=1&c=1

yeah I dunno we'll see. I like all of these songs and can't imagine any of them being improved upon frankly, and what I've heard so far is NOT promising. but the moments of pleasure take at least sounds good.

yeah, i'm maybe most intrigued by that one, although i really like the kamen orchestration on the original version

Loving this new "Deeper Understanding". If the rest of the album is just as odd I'll be very happy.

Interview with Kate Bush by Ken Bruce on the way on BBC Radio 2 now

this is streaming on NPR (and apparently on japanese itunes so I'm sure a leak is around somewhere). listened to most of it last night. Not convinced by the Flower of the Mountain; I love Ulysses and I love that monologue but I think the Sensual World worked better, it just sounds kind of flat....

The This Woman's Work re-do is pretty intense and sad. maybe too sad.

The BBC show isn't available in my area? Just listened to 'This Woman's Work' and it's beautiful and devastating.

on the other hand, this new version of 'rubberband girl'...also sucks! i really just don't like that song at all

hella disappointed with Flower of the Moutain, the oOOOOOOO yes parts from the original were my favorite!

the mix is terrible, I hope this is not how the final thing sounds, the vocals are way too high on many things (and so is love for example)...yeesh, this project is such a misstep. what the hell?

in one of the interviews it sounded like she is done with a new album. bring that on. but I hope she does a better job on it than she did on this. it's weird she's donig so much promotion for this project and she was like completely absent when arial came out.

and rubberband girl is bad. very bad.

the only success here is this woman's work and moments of pleasure, and I don't think they're any better than the originals, they're just different. these other versions just sound...what the hell.

"never be mine" is not bad - dunno that i prefer it to the original or anything

mostly underwhelmed by this

This is on Spotify now btw.

The acts keeping Kate Bush in the spotlight

I could probably sing the majority of ~ 10-12 Kate Bush songs from memory and there is nothing on this record I have heard of. Is that by chance or is it just that odd a set of songs?

Xpost one of those 'trib' acts has done, ooh, 30 gigs now...

I'm liking this. I like these stripped down versions of some songs ("Sensual World", " Song Of Solomon", ...) that I often found fussy and overproduced in their original states. Her subtle use of studio bells n' whistles is also great. I'm also really digging that smoky, lower register she's singing in. I think she pulls it off.

"Deeper Understanding" sounds AWFUL.

yeah, i honestly don't know why that was picked as the lead promotional track for this

the robo voice is cloying in the worst sense.

How deluded am I that I find this album (mostly) remarkably beautiful and more essential than "Aerial"?

It's pretty and all, but I really hoped for more dramatic changes. I mean, This Woman's Work has almost become an entirely new song, which might even surpass the original. But all the other tracks stay so close to home that I wonder why she went through all the trouble. They remind me so much of the originals that I can't help comparing and they lose on all accounts. I always hated Rubberband Girl and hoped for a slow impression on solo piano or another acoustic instrument, because that might've improved the song. Now we end up with the exact same monstrosity (well, a little bit more Stones like).

All in all I'm looking more forward to the remaster of the Red Shoes album.

new version of Moments Of Pleasure = astonishing. although some of the names originally listed (Maureen and Bill) have fallen by the wayside. MOJO has a long piece all about Director's Cut by Keith Cameron and it's bloody great. she says
"if people don't like this and they like the old ones, then the old ones are still there aren't they?"

I wonder if it would have been better if she had just opted for the rerecording of some old songs. That way it is a bit like what those songs might sound like nowadays if Kate would perform them live. I strongly feel that because she worked with the same recordings these new versions are too much rooted in the originals. I think the main reason why I like the new This Woman's Work so much is because I hardly hear any 'samples' taken from the original.

Regarding the above statement: every artists is entitled to create whatever they want, of course, just as the audience is entitled to think of that whatever they want.

Has anybody seen the Deeper Understanding video? Damn.

Yeah, that wasn't an easy sit through.

still can't get over how she changed the words to "And So Is Love" so the song is completely different

pfork interview today

http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/7968-kate-bush

it's weird she's donig so much promotion for this project and she was like completely absent when arial came out.

― akm, Friday, 13 May 2011 01:08 (3 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^^ so weird

Probably because this project needs the extra push, whereas Ariel didn't.

aerial

http://www.ny.starliteprincessparties.com/img/Ariel.jpg

Oriole.

The new 'Deeper Understanding' cut is so bad it makes me angry. And so sad that I'm completely disheartened to try this album even.

I also can't come to grips with the whole 'aura' around this album, which merely seems to be "I thought it be cool to just, y' know, try this", "There's always the old versions" etc... From a woman who's always been so forward thinking and avant-garde in terms of creativity.

I just don't know what the hell this is supposed to be. Off to read the PF interview, hope it clarifies some things...

I see *all* of her albums are re-released, with nary a mention of EMI on the packaging.

are they? only The Red Shoes is being remastered though.

Only The Dreaming through The Red Shoes to my knowledge; of which only the last one is remastered. Another mystery decision. There are excellent Japanese remasters available of all these albums, so why stick to those crummy eighties' editions?

The new 'Deeper Understanding' cut is so bad it makes me angry

Be assured that the terrible robo-voice only occurs on that track. All the other material is harmonically sound. But yeah, if she wanted to visit old stuff - most artists do it all the time on stage - why taking this road? Can you imagine some intimate live versions of these songs with only Kate on piano (or a sparse backing ensemble)? Bring it on!

i do hate to say it but her taste is hit or miss these days it seems. deeper understanding is .... ALMOST good? but the production of her voice is not what it should be at all. and she is not helping the nasal quality in her voice. it's too bad.

the new momnts of pleasure is pretty cool though, especially the humming.

I derive some hope from your assurance that the robo-voice is only on that track, Sebastian, so thank you for that ~ I'll give it a dedicated shot. Bang on about the rest, I could think of several ways that would make for way more interesting 're-interpretations' of her old work. Gladly that is not up to me, but I do think it's an unfortunate choice.

Psyched I most definitely am about the actual new album that is coming out.

xp

Pitchfork actually has a fairly good interview here
http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/7968-kate-bush/

and Kate takes the slight-troll of "what was the logic behind that?", regarding removing instrumental sections, surprisingly well. I mean it's nuts to think that no matter what Kate is quite clearly proud of most anything she does... imo, I like that about her.

the new version of "this woman's work" is ridiculously pretty. if nothing else the project is worth it for that, still waiting for the other songs to sink in. i have no problem with the new version of deeper understanding, i like it, but don't love it.

I've listened to the album through three or four times now and I think that is enough, but, TWW is really good. The rest is either bad or just kind of...sits there.

As one of the few stalwart defenders of The Red Shoes (not a great album but a more than respectable stab at adult contemporary; and wtf I love "Rubberband Girl"), I'm still scratching my head about the point of this project.

i love deeper understanding
not sure what you guys don't like

Nice Irish Times interview from a couple of weeks ago, ends with this quote:

It was never my intention to go so long without touring. I have no plans to tour at the moment, but I’d like to think that I would again some day. I’ll never say never.

Also, has anyone seen the bizarre TV ad for the new record? Robbie Coltrane being smothered by CGI blobs coming out of his computer...

SFJ piece forthcoming in the newyorker i think

i love deeper understanding
not sure what you guys don't like

― it is sad but their is so much beauty (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 18 May 2011 18:28 (2 days ago) Permalink

her voice sounds like shit on it. that song is written SO WELL - it's like, the original is pretty good, but to be given the opportunity to redo it - i expect something perfect.

oh right that ad is taken from the Deeper Understanding video I see (xposts to myself).

so SFJ is still writing for the new yorker as well as doing The Daily? glad to hear it, and look forward to reading that.