Re: KATE'S NEW ALBUM (Spoilers, long)

[greg@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Greg O'Rear)]

In article <8909201705.AA28426@beach.cis.ufl.edu> Love-Hounds@GAFFA.MIT.EDU writes:
>Really-From: Greg O'Rear <greg@beach.cis.ufl.edu>
>
>I just got my hands on a promo cassette of Kate's new album.  No, I'm
>still at work and haven't heard it.

OK, now I have heard it, and will comment below.  If you wish the album to
remain a mystery, please stop reading this message.

This album improves with repeated listenings, due to (1) I know this is all
there is, so I better like it; (2) I can understand more of the words; or
(3) the novelty has worn off and now I can listen to the record instead of the
newness.  With this said, I can describe it generally as not as good as HoL,
sort of like "Experiment IV: The Album."  Many of the songs sound as if they
were offered by "singer-songwriter" Kate, not "musical artist" Kate.  There
are 3 good reasons to buy it, however: (1) Kate, (2) Trio Bulgarka, and
(3) Mick Karn.

Legend:
***** - Great by any standard
****  - A pretty good Kate song
***   - Straightforward, for Kate
**    - Must be by someone
*     -  other than Kate :-)

Side 1:
The Sensual World - Dominant Irish instruments, but playing an eastern sort of
scale.  Lyrics are hard to make out at first, but after more listening...
well...whew! *****

Love And Anger - The rhythm reminds me of "Big Sky", percussion oriented.
"Yeah!" ***1/2

The Fog - Strings borrowed from ExIV, pipes, seagulls, acoustically oriented
ballad, turns out quite nice, actually. *****

Reaching Out - Moves from a piano ballad to a pretty mainstream sounding
piece.  Commercial.  Add 1/2* if you recognize and appreciate the Bulgarian
influence on her vocal at the very end of the song. ***

Heads We're Dancing - Strongly rhythmic, odd, has the amazing Mick Karn on
bass (no liner notes, but it HAS to be him!).  Kate has been taking singing
lessons from Tiny Tim :-).  Add 1/2* if you like Mick Karn. ***1/2

Side 2:
Deeper Understanding - Mick on bass, Trio Bulgarka here.  Theme (superficially):
computer. **** (If you think this is too high, remember I love the hell out of
Mick Karn's bass playing and Bulgarian choir vocals.  If you think it's too low,
give me a few days. :-)

Between A Man & A Woman - Hard to describe, not very memorable. ***1/2

Never Be Mine - Pipes, Del on bass, Trio Bulgarka, interesting theme. ****

Rocket's Tail - Trio Bulgarka with a vengeance!  If you like Bulgarian choirs,
this one's for you.  First half is a capella, then suddenly becomes Pink Floyd
(not in a bad way.  Mick on bass. *****

This Woman's Work - Identical to soundtrack, except for lack of background
voices just before she starts the verse.  You've heard it. *****

Walk Straight Down The Middle - Not sure if this is an extra B-side, since the
previous song would have been a good album closer.  Odd, noises, strange,
not incredibly appealing. ***1/2

Anyway, there it is, in brief.  Obviously this based on just a few times of
listening to it.  Any of the songs I seemed to like less could therefore have
a leeway of 1/2* quite easily.  Also, this is all a matter of taste anyway.
Since I don't have lyrics, I can't report about the actual song content.
One way to describe it: you remember how you felt when you got HoL home and
sat down and played it all the way through?  Well, this isn't like that; you
will be able to speak afterwards (and perhaps during).  Oh, yes, all numbers
above are relative to Kate (not the general public, otherwise they'd all be
*****).  Enjoy.
--

Greg O'Rear
University of Florida
greg@beach.cis.ufl.edu