re: Oh Dear - Red Shoes

[software.interspec@satalink.com (Software Interspec)]

Fiona writes:
>First off, I am willing to accept a few weak songs on an album as long
>as there are enough strong songs to balance it. My perception, however,
>is that the balance goes too far in the favour of the weak songs on this
>particular effort. There are a number of songs that either start out
>promisingly or have promising bits, but which sound like they really need
>a good edit or a good re-write (nasty to say when this has taken so long,
>I know, but...)

This was my impression too.  Unfinished... after three+ years... what a
shame.  This was a very rough time for Kate, and I am sad for her.
I would have allowed her more time to finish it, if it were my decision.
Perhaps making the movie distracted her somewhat from the album?

Overall, I am pretty much in accord with what Fiona said.

>Eat the Music - still bites. This should have come out on a rarities disk
>in the next box set, if at all. An embarrassment.

Couldn't have said it better.

>Why Should I Love You - a good question indeed. Prince must be stopped
>before he can strike again. This song veers between being a Kate song
>(the quiet, gentle verses about Jesus smiling) and a Prince song (the
>funky choruses), which I suspected with a collaboration between someone
>whose attitude to songs is "in your face" and someone who is more
>subtle and metaphorical. And how come he didn't make her call him
>Strange Gender-Mixed Symbol in the liner notes?

I actually like the song, but I agree that there is a bit of a clash of
styles.  I liked the back and forth of the strong Prince parts and the
soft Kate parts.  Having heard this one song, I don't need to hear any
more Prince/Kate collaborations.

>You're the One: truly excellent lyrics - this song should definitely
>be kept away from anyone who just broke up with his/her sweetie for
>fear of making them more melancholy. The arrangement, however, did not
>seem to complement the music and words. I found it overbearing and
>intrusive.

I went to the record store with a friend whose wife left him recently.
I picked up "The Red Shoes", since that was the main goal of the trip.
He said "Ah - the new Kate Bush, grab me one too."  I told him maybe
we'd better take mine home and play it first.  He was in tears by the
end of this song, and he decided he'd buy it later.

>I also found myself agreeing with the comments about the "constricted"
>singing. In fact, I would argue that Ms. Kate now has two main "voices" -
>the "constricted" voice and what I think of as the "hiccupy" voice, which
>is more warm and breathy. For instance, when I started listening to Candle
>in the Wind, I knew EXACTLY how she would sing "When I was just a kid"
>(in the "hiccupy" voice) even before she sang it. This disappoints me.
>THere are a couple of points on the record where she tries some different
>styles - even the shrieking! - but I really didn't feel that she challenged
>herself vocally all that much.

Agreed on all points.

>On the whole, though, I do admire her for taking chances, and this is
>certainly more challenging to listen to than 99.999% of what's on the
>market. But she did have a bad year this past year, and I think it shows
>on the record. SHe usually sounds pretty confident in her work, and

This is what I look for in music.  There are any number of musicians
that can scientifically create perfect renditions of styles that have
been done to death.  They sound professional and they render every
nuance even better than their forebears, and it still leaves me cold.
Give me the quirky and eccentric.  Yes, they may fall on their face
periodically, with songs that grate on your nerves.  But when they
succeed, you have music that makes a direct connection with your soul.

BTW, why is everyone complaining about The Sensual World?  I think it is
at least as strong as the new one... and the title track puts me into
total lust meltdown ;-).

On other topics:

During my trip to the record store, I bought three Sarah McLachlan CDs.
I don't usually buy three albums of an artist I've never heard before,
but since it came highly recommended from a friend, and of course here
in .gaffa, I went ahead.  When I got the disks home, I realized that I
had heard several songs on our local alternative station already; I'd
really liked them, but didn't pay attention to the post-song ID by the
DJ (My internal DJ filter works pretty well).

I loved all of them.  Now I can't wait for the US release of the new
one.  This is the wrong forum to say that I am reaching for the Sarah
disks more than the Kate disk.  Chalk it up to the excitement of
discovering a new (to me) talent.  Thanks for the recommendation!

WRT to what an artist should say or not say about their work -
I am in agreement with Jon Drukman.  You may think it sounds arrogant
coming from Jon, who is a musician.  I am not a musician, and I believe
he is correct.  If you go to a performance, the performer should thank
you for coming, paying, applauding, etc.  This is to be expected.
But if an artist is talking about their own work, they can say whatever
they want to. What you like about their music is your business, what
they like about it is their business.  If they have any integrity, they
make the music that they want to hear, and if you like it and buy it,
great. They don't owe you anything else.

Even if they did like it once, and change to the point where they think
it is junk later, who am I to be insulted?  Should they not change, just
to keep me happy?  I write software, and I often dismiss my earlier
efforts as amateurish and disorganized.  They did the job then, but now
I have learned a better way.  It's my creation, and if I think I can do
better now, then that's my call.

I loved (obsessively) The Kick Inside when it came out.  I still do.
When I heard Kate later dismiss it as 'juvenile, moon in june' type
music, I wasn't insulted;  I just laughed, and continued to enjoy the
album.

Tom Biggs

 * SLMR 2.1a * That was Zen this is Tao.