REVIEW: Newsday on TRS

[Peter Byrne Manchester <PMANCHESTER@ccmail.sunysb.edu>]

       I've been an American Airlines refugee since late Thursday, spending 
most of my time in airports this weekend, so this may be late and redundant. 
But _Newsday_ reviewed TRS today, Glenn Kenny (freelance, not staff) writing 
under the head "Red Shoes Don't Make It."

              England tends to nurture its artistic eccentrics more tenderly 
       than America; characteristically, the nearly unclassifiable songstress 
       Kate Bush is a superstar there and merely a beloved cult figure here. 
       For that cult, her every utterance is an event.  And there's been a 
       long wait for the latest; "The Red Shoes" is her first album in four 
       years.  That gap is not surprise, since the reclusive Bush is such an 
       obsessive sound sculptor--she was one of the first recording artists 
       to take creative advantage of sampling technology.  Her improbably 
       soprano, combined with her predilection for decorating conventionally 
       structured songs with all manner of exotic aural filigree, make her an 
       often compelling pop maverick.  But "The Red Shoes" is one of her most 
       ordinary-sounding records.  Could be the times have caught up with 
       her, or just she's been holed up in the studio too long.  Whatever the 
       reason, the result is a record that, while entirely listenable, does 
       not deliver the stunning surprises of her previous work.
              "The Red Shoes" takes its title from the classic 1947 Michael 
       Powell/Emeric Pressburger film (soon to be a Broadway musical) about a 
       willful ballerina whose life is consumed by her need to dance.  Again, 
       it's no surprise that Bush is attracted to this theme; the characters 
       in her songs are always in deep thrall to something--most recently, 
       sex (witness her last two proper albums, "Hounds of Love" and "The 
       Sensual World").  But unlike Madonna, Bush maintains a certain 
       decorum--no coffee-table books of nude pictures for her, thanks.  Even 
       at her most frankly carnal (as in the new album's "The Song of 
       Solomom," which contains the line "Just want your sexuality"), she 
       sounds circumspect.
              The record is as beautifully crafted as anything she's ever 
       done, but often seems to subsume the oddball elements that gave her 
       earlier productions their strange allure.  "Rubberband Girl," "Eat the 
       Music," and the title track are quirkily involving, but a good deal of 
       the rest falls flat, relying on time-tested ingredients.  "Why Should 
       I Love You?" begins well enough, with the haunting eastern European 
       vocal stylings of the Trio Bulgarka, but once guest star Prince kicks 
       in on keyboards, guitar and bass, the song becomes a stale funk jam.  
       "You're the One" features former Procul Harum singer/pianist Gary 
       Brooker imitating the organ stylings of former bandmate Matthew 
       Fisher, while guitarist Jeff Beck does Jeff Beck.  She deploys the 
       familiar trappings of classic rock with aplomb, but the track remains 
       a disappointing album closer; familiarity is the last thing we expect 
       from Bush.

[As to "disappointing album closer," I have a suggestion, Glenn....   But let 
it go.]

       On a brighter note, _The New Yorker_ has added a new weekly feature in 
the "Goings On About Town" calendar pages called "Record Store Arrivals," "A 
highly selective list of new releases we're curious to hear."  Kate Bush "The 
Red Shoes" is included in the list for November 15 (along with Queen Latifah, 
Jody Watley, Teenage Fanclub, Otis Redding, "Incredibly Strange Music," and 
"No Alternative," p. 20).  Cocteau Twins' "Four Calendar Cafe," released the 
same week, didn't make it until this week's issue, November 22.

............................................................................
                                                            Peter Manchester
       "Eat the Music!"                        pmanchester@ccmail.sunysb.edu
                                                     72020.366@compuserv.com