MisK

[ed@das.llnl.gov (Edward Suranyi)]

1)  For Bay Area Love-Hounds:  I was just at Reckless Records
(Haight @ Masonic in S.F.) today, and they have the new UK single
("This Woman's Work") in all of the following formats:
7", 12", CD, 12" limited edition with a fold-out poster,
and 7" picture disk.  Well, they may not have any more of the
picture disks; I think I got the last one!

This same store still has some subway posters for "The Sensual World"
single.

2)  I just saw the November 27 playlist for KITS.  "The Sensual World"
is up to number two, and "Love And Anger" has been added at number
29 (the highest add of the week).  Just think:  two Kate songs in the
top 30 simultaneously!  I never thought I'd see the day.

3)  A review of the album from the December _Request_, the in-store
magazine of Musicland and Sam Goody.  The review is generally favorable,
but it ends on a sour note that I must comment upon.

KATE BUSH
SENSUAL WORLD
(COLUMBIA)

     Back when the rest of Britainnia writhed in the throes of punk, a
precocious 16-year-old Kate Bush was harboring images of a mythic
Victorian England in which arcane literature was savored in the privacy
of carefully tended gardens.  Visions of midnight moors and star-crossed
lovers danced in her head as she recorded her 1978 debut, "Wuthering
Heights," a breathless single that promptly went to No. 1 on the English
pop charts.  Afraid of flying and reluctant to tour, she outfitted her 
charmed world with a home studio, a musical sanctuary where her
increasingly elaborate recordings could take shape without outside 
interference.
     Surprisingly, Bush's relative seclusion over the years has coincided
with an expanding musical vision, much as a cloistered child might 
explore exotic worlds armed only with some musty tomes and an overactive
imagination.  Albums like _The Dreaming_ and _Hounds of Love_ layered
rhythms and electronic samples over epic song structures, parelleling
similar inclinations in the work of her friend and occasional
collaborator, Peter Gabriel.  _The Sensual World_, Bush's first album
in four years, tempers those experimental inclinations with the more
straightforward pop sensibilities of her first three albums.  Pink
Floyd's David Gilmour and Bulgaria's Trio Bulgarka lend helping hands
on several cuts, the most impressive of which is "Rocket's Tail."  The
track starts out as an _a capella_ number and expands into a full-blown
rocker, as the throaty quavering Eastern European voices release Bush
from her Victorian inhibitions into a state of expressionist frenzy.
     _The Sensual World_ also includes the suitably Celtic title cut
(inspired, as it was, by Joyce's _Ulysses_), the exhilarating "Walk
Straight Down The Middle" (on CD and cassette), and the contemplative
"Never Be Mine."  Together, they showcase Bush's intricate melodies,
imaginative keyboards (a lot more piano this time around), and sweet
mock-operatic vocal stylings.  Occasionally a cloyingly pretentious
cut like "The Fog" effectively breaks the spell cast by most of _The
Sensual World_.  It's the kind of self-indulgence that suggests our
heroine may be spending a bit too much time in the garden with her
precious books.
				  -- Bill Forman

Well, if Mr. Drukman can call "Reaching Out" "horrible", then I guess
Mr. Forman can call "The Fog" "cloyingly pretentious".  Please forgive
me if I politely disagree with both of you.  And also, Jon, I like
"I'm Still Waiting" a lot;  I like it more than "Walk Straight Down
The Middle", for example (though I like that song, too).

Oh yes, I think the "Single Mix" of "This Woman's Work" pushes the
orchestra forward.  The cellos seem to be much more prominent than
on the album version.  I wonder if anybody else thinks so.

4)  Reviews of the new single from the British press:

The following reviews of "This Woman's Work" all appeared
in the November 25 issues of these magazines.