MisK. (This is likely to be long.)

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

I've got lots of news for you this time, folks, so let's get into
it right away.  


1)  The next US single is "The Sensual World":  Columbia 38-73098.
I haven't actually seen it yet, but look at item 2 for my evidence.


2) _Billboard_, Jan. 20.

"Love And Anger" holds at #2 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.  The song
that was #1 last week is now at #9.  Unfortunately, the song that was at
#4 last week is now #1. ("House" by The Psychodelic Furs.)

More importantly, "The Sensual World" has entered this chart at #18!  
This means she has two songs on the Modern Rock Tracks chart -- that's
pretty rare for an artist.  The label number is as I said above.

The album has dropped from #44 to #48 on the Pop Albums chart.

The video for L&A has been dropped from the published playlists of VH-1
and The Record Guide, but it continues to be in the Buzz Bin at MTV.


3)  The 15 second interview from MTV last night:

Here's what Kate said:

     "I think I have to be careful that I'm not inaccessible totally
to people, because obviously, when you've made an album you want people
to know it's out there, um, so that if people want to hear it, they can."


4)  As Deb Wentorf posted, there's an article/interview about Kate in the Feb. 8
issue of _Rolling Stone_.  Since this magazine is readily available, I
will not post this to .gaffa.  If, however, someone can't get _RS_, please
e-mail me.

In one of the two ads for CBS/Columbia House in this issue, there's a
picture of the album.

_RS_'s charts show the album at #31 for the second week on its list of the
Top Fifty Albums.  The album has been on the chart for four weeks.

There hasn't been a top ten college album countdown on MTV's 120 Minutes
for about a month now.  Their source was _The Gavin Report_, which I can
no longer find around here.  However, _Rolling Stone_ uses _TGR_ for their
College Albums chart too.  _The Sensual World_ is *still* number one on
that chart!

There's still no review in _Rolling Stone_!


5)  As Dave Steiner just posted, there's a review of the album in the Feb.
issue of _CD Review_.  Not only that, but there's a prominent picture of
the album in the table of contents.  Here's the review:

Best CD of the Month

Performance: 9   Sound Quality: 9

Kate Bush:  The Sensual World
Columbia CK 44164 (AAD) 1989 (89) [I don't know what that last number
means.]
Disc time: 45:59

     Kate Bush doesn't know it yet, but she's not 19 anymore.
Preciousness still wraps around her like a silk shawl, too fragile to
handle, yet so beautiful and pure that it demands attention.  Fortunately,
beneath the affected mantle lies a woman whose eyes are wide open to the 
world around her.  You see, Kate Bush is a poet, an observer of life, and
whatever role she chooses to play is simply an attempt to convey her
observations.
     On _The Sensual World_, as on most of Bush's albums, those
observations deal mainly with male-female relations.  From the eroticism
of the breathy "mmmm, yes" that accents each verse of the title track (a
technique sure to be despised as much by critics of her work as it will
be worshipped by her loyal fans), to the unrestrained outpouring of 
feelings on "Never Be Mine" (as cathartic for the listener as it probably
was for the singer), bush ponders the eternal struggle of intimate human
emotion and the communication of those emotions between man and woman.
     As usual, Bush plays all piano and keyboards.  Joining her is 
guitarist and perennial fan David Gilmour of Pink Floyd (who "discovered"
Bush at age 16, organized her first demo, and arranged her signing to 
EMI), Bulgaria's Trio Bulgarka (whose unusual vocal style can be heard
on "Deeper Understanding," "Never Be Mine," and "Rocket's Tail"), Del
Palmer (who also engineered the disc, in addition to supplying bass,
guitar, and percussion), and Davey Spillane on Uillean pipes (which add
a haunting edge to the title track, inspired by James Joyce's _Ulysses_.
     Bush's mystical, almost minimalist approach to music revolves around
the building up and releasing of tension, not any preconceived notion
of song design.  While her voice is the material with which she weaves
this at times libidinous tapestry, the dreamy arrangements and Bush's
attention to melody (however odd their structures may be) leave no doubt
that she is not as self-indulgent as some think.  _The Sensual World_
also reveals just how much Bush, who takes producer credits, cares about
sound.  Thick with layers of instrumentation that are orchetral in scope,
the soundstage is never cluttered.
     Bush wants us to understand with this disc that the past and the
future are not abstract entities over which we have no control.  She is
singing about concrete realities affected by present-day activity.  The 
beauty of living in the sensual world is one of emotion, of pure,
unadulterated experience with no values attached to it.
				    -- Edward Murray

The issue also lists the album as #19 on its list of the Top 20 Pop/Rock
CDs.  Last week it was #20.


6)  Review of the album from the Jan. 26 issue of _Goldmine_:

Kate Bush
The Sensual World
Columbia (OC 44164)

     Kate Bush has always invested her music with enough odd textures
 and musical twists and turns that she not only keeps her music sounding
 fresh, but unpredictable from disc to disc.  _The Sensual World_, 
 Bush's sixth studio LP, isn't quite as bizarre as, say, 1982's _The
 Dreaming_, but it has its moments.  The ourtright strangest song here
 is the whimsical "Rocket's Tail" in which Bush packs herself with
 gunpowder and lights a fuse, launching herself into the stratosphere.
     The song begins with the layered vocal harmonies of Bulgaria's Trio
Bulgarka, then segues into a cacophony of voices set to a rocking beat.
The trio lends its distinctive melodies voices [sic] to "Deeper 
Understanding," about a lonely woman's love affair with her computer, and
the ballad "Never Be Mine," where a woman clings to a fantasy world ("I
want you as the dream, not the reality") but lives to regret it ("The
thrill and the hurting/I know that this will never be mine").
    Bush doesn't go for typical lyrical themes.  She's much too eccentric
for that: in the percussive stomp "Heads We're Dancing," Bush takes on
the voice of a woman at a '39 dance who recognizes her partner of the
night before in the morning's newspaper ("It couldn't be you/It's a
picture of Hitler").  Further, Bush's ballads ("The Fog," "This Woman's
Work") are more inventive than most other artists' attemps at balladry,
and though she may keep her fans waiting a long time between recordings
the results are always well worth it.
				    -- Tierney Smith

Interestingly, Gillian G. Gaar, who used to edit _For The Love Of Kate_,
wrote several reviews in this issue, but not this one!


7)  The Jan. 6 issue of _Melody Maker_ has the results of its Readers' 
Poll.  Kate is mentioned many times:

For the year 1989:

Single of the year:  #8, "The Sensual World"
Album of the year:  #7, _The Sensual World_
Best Female Singer:  #1
Woman of the year: #2 (Behind Wendy James.  Who is this?)
Acts You'd Like To See More Of In MM:  #5

For the decade of the eighties:

Acts Of The Eighties:  #17
Albums Of The Eighties:  #5, _Hounds Of Love_
Singles Of The Eighties:  #10, "Running Up That Hill"
Woman Of The Eighties:  #2 (Behind Margaret Thatcher.)

That's it for now, folks!

Ed
ed@das.llnl.gov