Re: Unsatisfied?

[stevev@greylady.uoregon.edu (Steve VanDevender)]

This article is Closed-Captioned for the Humor Impaired.

ALDSTF10@OUACCVMB.BITNET (no pronounceable name given) expresses
the dangerous opinion (SARCASM) that he considers some of Kate's
music overorchestrated and some of her vocals annoying.

Perhaps once I might have found individual items of Kate's music
annoying, but since then I have seen the light and purged my soul
of doubts (PSEUDO-RELIGIOUS HYPERBOLE).

What you think of as overdoing is what attracts me to Kate's
music in the first place.  My chief criterion for long-lasting
favorites in music is incomprehensibility.  If I can figure out a
song, it gets boring.  Thus, much of my favorite stuff comes from
Kate Bush, Laurie Anderson, and Jane Siberry; other secondary
favorites include Thomas Dolby, Peter Gabriel, They Might Be
Giants, the B-52's, etc.  To me, "Suspended in Gaffa" is the
epitome of incomprehensible songs--it speaks directly to my heart
without saying anything coherent to my conscious mind.

Kate Bush does things with her voice that other artists either
cannot do or wouldn't dare do, which is what makes her my
favorite of favorites.  You might consider the vocals in "Violin"
annoying, but they are an example of how Kate will use every last
bit of her vocal range to convey the feeling of her songs.
Besides, all those shrieks make me think of how she might shriek
during . . . a certain situation.  (THIS GUY IS NOT ONLY LEWD,
HE'S GONE AROUND THE KATE-WORSHIPPING BEND.)  As I say to my
friends, "Kate Bush can sing like a siren, scream like a
madwoman, bark like a dog, and bray like a mule.  What more could
you want?"  (HIS FRIENDS SAY:  "PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT FOR YOU.")

Similarly, the complex orchestration Kate uses makes repeated
listening an ever-enlightening experience.  I still find new
things in the music for her songs, and bringing different
attitudes to my listening makes the music sound different.
Simple music may have its virtues, but I'd rather listen to a
Bach fugue than a Phillip Glass piece.

Perhaps you haven't been reading this list for very long; there
are definitely a lot of people with eclectic musical tastes here.
A couple weeks ago I went to a performance by Nomeansno (a truly
amazing Canadian punk band) and can hardly wait for an upcoming
performance by Laurie Anderson (woo-ha!  I can make up for
missing her Portland concert last year!).  It's not at all
surprising to me that someone here would know who Bruce Dickenson
is, although I certainly didn't until I read a subsequent
posting.  Some of us may be monomaniacal, but few here are
closed-minded.

--
Steve VanDevender 	stevev@greylady.uoregon.edu
"Bipedalism--an unrecognized disease affecting over 99% of the population.
Symptoms include lack of traffic sense, slow rate of travel, and the
classic, easily recognized behavior known as walking."