Re: Miscellaneous subjeKTs

[nessus (Doug Alan)]

> These are the dates IED was given, also, but he'll believe them
> when he sees the records in the stores. Such faith you have, Doug!

U.S. release dates are different that British release dates.  In
England the release date is when you can find it in the stores.  In
the U.S., it's when it goes to the distributers, so you basically have
to add about a week until you can actually get it.

>> The 12-inch single version is better than the normal version.  It
>> sort of sounds like Kate meets Klaus Schulze and Windham Hill (and
>> Bananarama?).  There is a nice and moody violin on the 12-inch that
>> isn't on the normal mix.

> This is ridiculous. The seven-inch version is the whole, the
> twelve-inch is like an inspired rhapsody on the original.

Well sometimes inspired rhapsodies are better than the original.  The
12-inch version is more varied and less commercial.  The 12-inch
single provides an oportunity for Kate do something more interesting
than she might otherwise be able to considering the limitations placed
on her by the expectations of the public and her record company for a
7-inch single.

> But one is not "better" than the other. But then, how is one to make
> such a fact clear to a listener who likens the universe to Klaus
> Schulze, Windham Hill and Bananarama?

And what's wrong with Klaus Schulze!  Klaus Schulze has made a couple
of |>oug's very favorite albums.  And Kate herself has said that when
she listens to albums these days, it's mostly ECM or Windom Hill.

> At least listen to it long enough to get your facts straight, Doug:
> the "nice and moody violin" on the 12-inch IS on the normal mix --
> it appears in the last section of the 7-inch mix.

> "Nice"? An absurdly frivolous choice of modifier to describe one of
> the most profound and important passages in the history of twentieth
> century music!

Well, Andy, |>oug was actually quite aware that the violin is on the
7-inch mix.  Sorry for being so imprecise.  What |>oug meant to say is
that on the twelve-inch, the most prominetly featured instrument is a
violin -- a violin which scintilates with passion, effervesces with
the sputum of lost loves and painful cries of mothers, catapults
Cupid's arrow, flamed in the very kilns of Hades at the seam stitching
the Cosmos to Philistia.

The 7-inch version, however has relegated this magnificent beam of
unearthly radience to a mere 3-second bit part buried in the mix.

>> I have to disagree with Mark Kat(e)souros about the picture sleeve
>> for "Experiment IV".  It looks like Kate's trying to look like a
>> sex kitten again.

> This is unfair. Although actually IED agrees with Doug that
> this cover is not a great success, his reasons are entirely different.
> Kate herself has NEVER tried to look like a "sex kitten".

|>oug never said that Kate tries to look like a sex kitten.  He said
that the cover makes it look like Kate is trying to look like a sex
kitten.  Such a characteristic, however, can just as often be the
statement of the photographer rather than the subject.  |>oug thinks,
though, that it is unarguable that at times Kate tries to appear
erotic.  And there's nothing wrong with that as long as the eroticism
is a vehicle for an artistic message.  The cover of X4 certainly seems
to be trying to make Kate look glamorous, but |>oug finds little of
artistic worth in the photograph.

> But in all cases where the "sex kitten" has been seen, the
> interpretation has revealed far more about the viewer than about the
> subject.

Yeah.  That |>oug thinks Kate can do better than try to sell her
records on sex-appeal.

> The Japanese cover for The Kick Inside!? This is Doug's idea of
> "glamour"? You are using the term "glamour photography" in its
> lowest, contemporary sense, as a sleazy girlie photography,
> apparently.

Is IED saying that there are photos of Kate that look like sleazy
girlie photos?  |>oug thinks that such interpretations say far more
about the viewer than about the subject.

> And as for the Hounds of Love cover -- it IS one of JCB's symbolic,
> artistic images, and it conveys several intriguing connotations.

|>oug agrees that it has its merits.  The dogs, hinting at bestiality,
are nice, but if they weren't there, admit it, it would look like a
cosmetics ad.  The "Ninth Wave" cover is far far superior.

> And Kate does NOT "look silly" in the body calligraphy shots. They
> are a brilliant and extremely ambiguous group of photographs, one of
> the best and most intriguing of all the cover photographs released
> to date.

|>oug has seen much more inspiring body calligraphy type photographs
elsewhere.  The RutH body calligrpahy photographs are okay, but they
seem kind of pretentious and |>oug thinks they would work better if
the calligraphy were just removed.

> THIS IS TERRIBLE! IED shipped Peter a boatload of cash over there
> for one of those damn shirts. Now what'll he do?

Doug supposes he will have to ship IED's boat back.

> Did you go to London, Doug????? IED had assumed that you just talked
> with Peter or Dave over the phone, but this looks as though you were
> there.

No, Doug wasn't.  His vocal patterns just made a brief appearance via
the miracle of modern technology.

>> Other random news: Kate is doing the title song for a movie called
>> "Castaways", which will be released early next year.

> Could you please give any further information that you might have
> about this unexpected and exciting development? Thanks.

IED knows as much as |>oug.