This Woman's Work

[Jon Drukman <jsd@GAFFA.MIT.EDU>]

So, I'm sitting here, with my CD player cranking away and the new
single in it.  "This Woman's Work (Single Mix)" has just finished, and
I'm damned if I can tell the difference between it and the album
version, making the "hey, let's sell more records" type inscription on
the inside card particularly odious: "Original version of of 'This
Woman's Work' available on the album 'The Sensual World.'" I'm sure
IED will jump all over me and call me a crass slob for not realizing
the brilliance of this ploy, but it smacks of a rotten marketing ploy
and it's pretty dishonest too.  Actually, IED will say that Kate had
nothing to do with it an it's all EMI's fault, blah blah blah, but
thank you very much Mr. D, I am quite capable of realizing that. 

Next we move on to "Be Kind To My Mistakes" which sounds absolutely
gorgeous on CD, and is still Kate's finest moment post-Hounds Of Love.
My complaint with THIS track is that they have cut it in length rather
severely by abbreviating the fade out after the bridge, and altering
the ending as well.  I am not amused.  Stupid EMI cretins. 

Last and probably least is "I'm Still Waiting" which is a pretty
inconsequential track and sounds a lot like what the demo version of
"Reaching Out" might have sounded like before the changes got soppier.
But, "Reaching Out" with claws is still the runt of the litter.
Pleasant enough, in its way.  The only reason it's a B-side rather
than an album track is that the arrangement is all Fairlight, which
suits me fine.  It does have some points in its favor: Kate has turned
off the humongous reverbs which soaked the snare drum and vocal tracks
of TSW to death.  In fact, the drum sounds suspiciously Linn-like.
Kate's voice is forced to stand on its own merits, which are still
considerable, although I'd prefer if she roughed up a bit more.  Where's
the growl, Kate dear?  We do get a few screeches near the end, so that's
cool.

Overall, it's about what I expected, which really pisses me off.  I
want to be SHOCKED and THRILLED and STUNNED beyond belief, but I guess
I'll settle for decent pop music.  And I really hoped she was gonna
change the world... again... 

---Exit Time Warp Mode---
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|  |   |\       | jsd@gaffa.mit.edu |      "Suck on this,                     |
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