Article in Philly Inquirer

[WretchAwry <vickie@pilot.njin.net>]

This was posted to the Tori list...


 INFLUENCE OF KATE BUSH IS EVERYWHERE
Philadelphia Inquirer (PI) - SUNDAY January 9, 1994
By: Tom Moon, INQUIRER MUSIC CRITIC
Edition: FINAL  Section: FEATURES ENTERTAINMENT  Page: F01
Word Count: 455

"I  definitely don't think of myself as being an influence," Kate Bush says
with a puzzled smile. "I suppose that's something to be flattered by, but I
don't know."

   The singer's modesty notwithstanding, you can't help but notice that the
children   of   Kate   Bush   are   everywhere.   More   than   any  female
vocalist/songwriter   since  Joni  Mitchell,  Bush  has  been  studied  and
dissected,  her  lines  and vocal mannerisms carefully copied. She's become
the  model  for  a  whole flock of introspective, journal-keeping women who
strive for more than the everyday guitar-accompanied confessional.

Bush's neo-gothic sound and otherworldly imagery was, for years, one of the
few  alternatives  to  "girl" pop, so it's inevitable that aspiring artists
such  as Tori   Amos (who acknowledges her debt) would crib from the Bush
catalogue.

   But Amos - whose second album, Under the Pink, arrives in stores on Feb.
1.  -  has  been a bit too zealous in her appropriations. The contemplative
piano  settings  of her enormously successful 1992 debut sound an awful lot
like those that made The Kick Inside, Bush's 1978 debut, so arresting.

   Though  Amos  chose  more  earthy  themes  (and  expressed  them through
numbingly  simple lyrics), she relied on Bush's signature orchestral sweeps
and  unusual  backing harmonies. Her scholarship was so exact, it sometimes
sounded as though she had copied the scores.

   Under  the  Pink  continues the borrowing. As she matures as a vocalist,
Amos has moved closer to Bush's tortured, writhing phrasing. Unfortunately,
her  songs  offer  little  justification  for  their drama: They're average
pop-rock that depend on histrionics to hold interest.

   While  Amos  is  the  most  overt,  she's  hardly  the only singer to be
influenced  by  Bush's distinctive singing. Bjork, lead singer of Iceland's
the   Sugarcubes,   displays   Bush's  fiery  independence  and  knack  for
understatement  on  Debut,  her  first  effort  as a solo artist. Both Jane
Siberry  and  Eleanor McEvoy work to transform confessional narratives into
observations  on  the  human  condition, the way Bush's best lyrics do. And
though   she's   throatier,  Mary  Fahl  of  October  Project  strives  for
exaggeratedly  crisp  diction and a theatrical sense of distance, qualities
that Bush, virtually alone among pop singers, cultivates.

   Bush's compositions have an atmospheric, airy quality that have led some
to categorize her as new age. It's not an accurate tag, but Bush's ethereal
leanings  - evident on The Kick Inside, The Dreaming (1982) and The Sensual
World (1989) - have inspired the reverb-happy Happy Rhodes, Clannad's Maire
Brennan  and  others  to  create  meditative singer-songwriter music gentle
enough to be played in the dentist's office.

CAPTION:
PHOTO

   PHOTO (4)

   1. Jane Siberry also observes the human condition.

   2. The up-and-coming  Tori   Amos   acknowledges her debt.

   3. Bjork of Iceland displays Bush's fiery independence.

   4. Happy Rhodes is inspired by Bush's ethereal leanings.

                Copyright Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. 1994

***********************************************************************

My own opinion is that this guy is a dickhead. If he thinks "The Dreaming"
is ethereal, then his other "opinions" are suspect, no matter how much
he likes Kate. I think he likes to pretend that he knows some "names"
and throws them around without knowing much of what he's talking about.
Tori has "numbingly simple" lyrics? Hardly. "Reverb-happy" Happy Rhodes?
Pfft! People like this compare with abandon, one of those folks who'd
bring up Kate when talking about *any* female singer unless they sounded
like Diamanda Galas, Loretta Lynn or Lydia Lunch.

Vickie
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Vickie Mapes          "Fight for your right   "My ears are lucky to hear
vickie@pilot.njin.net   to have a monster" TA   these glorious songs" HR
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