MisK

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

Hi folks. I've got some items I hope will be of interest.

First, I found a couple more good reviews of the album.  This one's
from the Feb. issue of _Car Audio_:

Kate Bush
_The Sensual World_
(Columbia)
     Kate Bush has been making compelling music for about a decade, and
she still has only a small, dedicated core of fans.  Her appearance on
Peter Gabriel's _So_ album brought her exposure to a lot more people,
but she is not the type of artist that makes a record with an eye toward
the pop charts.
     Instead, Bush follows her own muse, and it takes her to some pretty
interesting places on _Sensual World_:  the dreamy, swirling environs of
"The Fog" and a study of computer dependency in "Deeper Understanding,"
for example.  Bush's lyrics and music are mystical, but not in the forced,
air-headed sense of a cape-twirling Stevie Nicks.
     With her somewhat excessive musical backdrops stripped away and her
frail voice at the forefront of the music, as on "This Woman's Work,"
Bush proves herself a potent, evocative vocalist and songwriter.
					-- Doug Newcomb


And here's the review from the Feb. _Music Technology_:

KATE BUSH
_THe Sensual World_
Columbia

Pick of the Month [Yeah!]

     After four long years since the release of _Hounds Of Love_, die-hard
Kate Bush fans can rejoice in yet another startling display of exceptional
creative talent.  In many ways, this new album is a refinement of the
style that she has been cultivating for years.  Her particular brand of
theatrics blended with mutant Irish folk rhythms blended with far-out
spacey arrangements permeates every nook and cranny of _The Sensual World_
to produce a fantastically affecting brew.
     As with her past recordings, she once again breaks new ground in
soundscapes.  The beetle's wing of the brew this time around is the 
inclusion of the Trio Bulgarka on four [?] of the tracks, most notably
on the tragic 'Rocket's Tail.'  The bizarre vocal timbre and nuance of 
these Bulgarian folk singers lend an unearthly quality to the mood of
the album (as if Kate ever needed help in *that* department!)
     In many ways, _The Sensual World_ is more akin to her first two
albums, _The Kick Inside_ and _Lionheart_.  Whereas _Hounds Of Love_
placed major emphasis on atmosphere (and she certainly doesn't abandon
this altogether -- 'The Fog' is perhaps her most richly crafted tone
poem to date), this album focuses on *songs*.  And like her first two
albums, _The Sensual World_ is remarkably listenable.  An excellent
example can be found in 'Love and Anger,' with its infectious rhythm,
propelled by a titillating inaction between the drums and wildly
arpeggiating synths (*warning*:  the video does not do the song justice!).
    I could go on raving about this album for pages, but instead I'll
simply insist that you listen for yourself.
					  -- Dan Rue


Lastly, a while ago I posted the cover story on Kate that appeared
in the Dec. issue of _Pulse!_ magazine.  The Feb. issue has just
come out (there was no Jan. issue), and the following letter appears
in it:

Bush League
Dear _Pulse!_,
     Thank yoiu for being among the few to have broken the U.S. silence
on the subject of Kate Bush and her work.  In 1979, I believe I was the
only person in Connecticut listening to _The Kick Inside_ and I was 
relieved to move to California in 1980 and discover two other people who
knew who she was.  Will Johnson's article [December '89] was informative,
but I would like to correct two errors he made.  First, "The Man With the
Child in His Eyes" was on _The Kick Inside_, not _Lionheart_, and in fact
was recorded in 1977 (along with "Saxophone Song") with David Gilmour
producing.  Second, in the "Breathing" video, Kate is not inside "large
bubbles," but is an infant yet in the womb, hence the lines "Outside gets
inside through her skin/ I've been out before but this time it's much
safer in."  This is, as far as I know, the only song about the "end" due
to a nuclear war written from the perspective of an unborn child.  Also,
one need not be condemned to seeing only fragments of the 1979 concerts;
the _Kate Bush Live at Hammersmith Odeon_ video is available, just hard
to find.
					     Sincerely,
					     Tracy E. Hodson
					     Oakland, Calif.

Unfortunately, in correcting some of the article's errors new ones were
introduced.  I won't point them out, but if anybody else wants to (IED or
|>oug, for example), be my guest.

Ed
ed@das.llnl.gov