Author: Seán Page 22 of 95

This is absolutely brilliant news, and such a lovely gesture from Kate in the run up to Christmas. Kate has announced that she will open a special pop-up at London’s Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross from the 5th – 9th Dec 2018.  All profits will go to the national homelessness charity, Crisis. Seán and the Kate Bush Fan Podcast will be there on Saturday and Sunday, come say hello and have a chat if you see a smiling Irish guy with a digital recorder!

The shop is at Unit L10, Coal Drops Yard, 108 Lower Stable St, London, N1C 4DR and opens at 10am on Wednesday Dec 5. The shop closes at 8pm on Sunday Dec 9. Specific opening times are:

Wed 5th December: 10am to 10pm
Thurs 6th December: 10am to 10pm
Fri 7th December: 10am to 10pm
Sat 8th December: 10am to 8pm
Sun 9th December: 11am to 8pm

Full Press Release:

Coinciding with the release of definitive remastered versions of her music catalogue, as well as the publication by Faber of the lyric book How To Be Invisible, the shop will sell the vinyl, CDs and book plus a selection of exclusive specially made items. Each book sold will include an exclusive bookmark.

DAILY RAFFLE: In addition to the stock there will be a daily raffle with very special prizes which will be announced on social media on the day. Only 250 tickets on sale at £20 each per day. ONE TICKET PER CUSTOMER. 40 WINNERS EACH DAY. Prizes include: Signed book, picture discs, signed art print. All winners notified by phone / email.

Evening Standard – Tuesday December 4th 2018

GRAND RAFFLE: Enter into one of the daily raffles and you will be entered into the grand raffle automatically. The Grand Raffle prize is an ‘Aerial’ Presentation Disc signed by Kate.

The store is located in a space at 108 Lower Stable Street, a sunken street within the new Heatherwick Studio designed Coal Drops Yard shopping district, directly adjacent to King’s Cross’ Granary Square.

Kate said “I can’t imagine how it must feel to be homeless. Our attention is drawn to this tragic issue at Christmas when most of us can share the celebrations with those we love but, of course, homelessness is there all year round – all the time. It must be so frightening. Without charities like Crisis, who would people turn to? Who would help? Where would the hope of a future come from? I hope this pop up shop will raise some money for Crisis and raise more awareness of this life-saving charity”.

Coal Drops Yard, London

Crisis Chief Executive Jon Sparkes said; “We’re absolutely thrilled that Kate Bush has chosen to support us this Christmas by donating all of the profits from her pop up shop.

“Homelessness is one of the most urgent issues of our time – across the country thousands of people are needlessly suffering life on the streets or trapped in hostels and B&Bs. We simply can’t carry on like this when we know that homelessness is not inevitable.

“The money raised by Kate and her fans will help us provide food, warmth, and vital services to thousands of homeless people this Christmas – as well as the year round support they need to leave homelessness behind for good – and for that we’re incredibly grateful.”

TOMORROW! Kate’s social media countdown prepares for tomorrow’s launch of the second half of Kate Bush Remastered with a touching nod to fan-favourite Under The Ivy. Can’t wait to hear that track remastered along with SO many others!

In something of a surprise to us (considering this is an expensive box set containing 7 individual albums) Kate’s Remastered Part 1 CD set has actually entered the official UK album charts at number 51! Perhaps in the digital/streaming age there are new rules governing what qualifies for the album chart now, but this is still very nice to see! Both vinyl box sets (I and II) and Hounds of Love also popped up in last week’s midweek charts on the strength of early sales of the remastered products.

More chart figures for you (with thanks to Matt, chart-wiz over on our site forum!)

UK albums top 100:
Number 51 – Remastered 1. (CD box set) 2634 sales

UK vinyl chart
Number 7 – Remastered in vinyl volume 1
Number 9 – Remastered in vinyl volume 2
Number 10 – Hounds of Love
Number 14 – The Red Shoes
Number 26 – The Kick Inside
Number 39 – The Sensual World

UK Physical Chart (CDs & vinyl)
Number 33 – Remastered 1 (CD box set)
Number 61 – Hounds of Love
Number 69 – Remastered in Vinyl volume 1
Number 73 – Remastered in vinyl volume 2
Number 89 – The Red Shoes
Number 93 – The Kick Inside

We’ve been updating our Facebook page with the daily imagery from Kate’s official Facebook/Instagram accounts – firstly the 7 days till Part 1 was released on November 16th and now a 10 day countdown till part 2 of Kate Bush – Remastered (Aerial, Director’s Cut, 50 Words For Snow and The Other Sides rarities collection). The daily imagery and selected lyric quotes have been a nice touch. We’ve never experienced a release schedule like this before, so we’re enjoying it while it lasts! (collages selection by Darrell Babidge)

With all the buzz surrounding Kate Bush – Remastered it’s little wonder that Mojo Magazine have yet again featured Kate on the cover of their new issue, out next Tuesday (an outer plastic bag cover which contains a best of 2018 CD and Elvis DVD is shown above – see inner magazine cover below). This issue includes a full review of the Remastered box sets. From the Mojo site:

“SENSUAL, SECRETIVE, OBSESSIVE: the story of Kate Bush: Recording Artist is a rich and dramatic quest for control and possession of her art – one which her raft of newly remastered albums underlines with an unmistakeably personal touch. In new material from interviews with Tom Doyle, Bush relives the highs and lows of her hunt for perfection in the latest MOJO magazine, in UK shops from Tuesday, November 20, and available to buy online now.

“It would’ve been nice if some of the stuff I did wasn’t always so hard,” she told Doyle as she discussed all her greatest moments in depth. Above all, it’s the story of Bush’s increasingly specific sonic visions and the initiative she took in bringing them to life.

“I think music is very visual,” she said. “On Never For Ever, there was quite a bit of that… trying to imagine being there. It’s that thing of being in this place, isn’t it? That you’re talking about or singing about. So, then you’re trying to create what it looks like and who’s there.” Included in our Kate Bush coverage: a full review of the new remastered box sets, plus Ian Rankin on her lyrics, which are published in book form by Faber & Faber on December 6.” 

Note: The plastic bag cover in the image above contains a CD and DVD. The magazine inside the package has this cover:

The first major review is in and it’s very good! Writing in today’s new edition of Uncut Magazine, Erin Osmon reviews the 4 box sets that make up Kate’s Remastered in Vinyl releases. As well as reserving high praise for the included rare tracks on these collections, the reviewer is careful to assess the improvements in the remastered sound of Kate’s classic songs, something we’ve been very curious to hear about…

“The drums on “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” pound with a more robust and exuberant energy, mirroring the heartbeat thump the song still elicits, 33 years after its release. The same goes for the frantic rhythms of “Sat In Your Lap”, which are fuller and more bouyant. The instrumentation of “Wuthering Heights” at last feels in balance with the track’s striking vocals, as if they too were invited to perform from the stage, rather than projecting towards the singer from the pit.

The layered likes of “Babooshka” feel more natural too, with evident care paid to the very bucolic potential of these recordings, even the ones heavily adorned in synthesisers and effects.”

“Pretty much every Bush tune you might possibly want to find is at last lined up and easy to navigate, and that the woman herself ostensibly chose the songs and sequence makes it that much more alluring. Despite its pedestrian title, Remastered In Vinyl is exceptional in its completeness.”  8/10

You can get this issue of Uncut from the magazine’s site here.