Julianne Escobedo Shepherd writes in the Riff City music column from New York: “Though not quite as elusive as Sade, the god Kate Bush is something like a unicorn in the music world. Breaks between her albums have felt like eons for megafans — four years between Hounds of Love and the Sensual World, four more ‘til The Red Shoes, and a punishing 12 more before the double album Aerial (2005), during which we wondered if she’d just decided to pack it in. Of those 12 years, she spent nine of them making Aerial. Bless the artist who takes pains and patience. After a press flurry around the record and a couple interviews in which she debunked notions that she was a weirdo recluse because she didn’t show up at star-flecked parties, she returned to silence.” Read the full article here.
Now that the first draft of the book is finished we have moved on to make a start on the much delayed issued 79 of HomeGround. We expect this now to be published in the Autumn.
The one-time EMI worldwide vice chairman and EMI Recorded Music North America chairman and CEO’s association with Bush goes back to when she was first signed to EMI and the release of her first album The Kick Inside in 1978.
“I’ve been involved for about a year now,” said Munns. “People think I’m managing and I’m really consulting. I drift in and out of these projects.”
There has been recent speculation of a new studio album from Bush, which would be her first since Aerial in 2005. That itself did not appear until a dozen years after her previous release The Red Shoes.
“There are other plans but I’m not able to talk about them right now,” is all Munns would say, adding, “There’s nothing ready until Kate says it’s ready. That’s always been the way.” Munns was also involved in the campaign for last years Greatest Hits album by Bon Jovi, an act he worked with extensively when he was at PolyGram International in the early Nineties and then worked with them in an independent capacity when he left the major in 1998. “I’m still doing stuff with Bon Jovi,” said Munns who took charge of the marketing for the retrospective.
The long-promised reissues are finally happening! Delighted to hear that Kate has not only won control of these albums but now wants to make them available in the very best presentation possible. Nice work Mr Munns! More on these upcoming reissues, and the “other plans” as we get word…
Update: The HomeGround editors write: “We are all VERY excited about this and suspect there will be a more detailed announcement soon, and as soon as we hear anything we will of course send out the HG pigeons!”
The NME have reported that Kate is likely to release new material in 2011 after securing a comment from her spokesperson. “The news comes after unsubstantiated reports about a new release from the fame-shunning musician recently surfaced on a music blog. Speaking in reaction to that report, Bush’s spokesperson said a release from her is likely for 2011, although nothing is confirmed yet. They added that the new music from Bush would not necessarily mean a full-length follow-up to her last album 2005’s Aerial, was on the way.”
Okay, possibly not an album in 2011 but new material nevertheless. We were very cautious about the rumours from an anonymous source, but we’ll allow ourselves a yelp of excitement now! More on this as we get it.
Del Palmer has now launched a page for his solo projects on Facebook, which can be found here. His latest album, Gift, is available at his official site.
Quite a lot of people have been coming across an online rumour that Kate will be releasing a new album this year. As far as I can make out, the rumour stems from the Wotyougot blog website here, who claim to have heard the news from “a reliable source”. Their story was then picked up by Digital Spy here and others soon latched on including celebrity blogger Perez Hilton here.
Meanwhile Graeme Thomson, author of Under the Ivy: The Life & Music of Kate Bush, has posted a quote on his blog that is apparently from someone at EMI commenting on the rumour: “Right to be cautious. These rumours always surface this time of year and there’s no reason to think this is any different. We’re hopeful that a new record may emerge this year, but I was saying the same to people in Jan of 2010 so who knows… only Kate herself. Let’s keep fingers crossed!! I’m feeling optimistic.”
So there you go, who knows indeed? Rumours of Kate releasing an album are nothing new, and this one has legs, so it’s worth pointing out that until something is mentioned through official channels we wouldn’t go planning an album launch party just yet. Here at katebushnews we’ll only report something along these lines when we absolutely feel there’s substance to it, or it comes from Kate herself. If there is something coming in 2011, we’ll be all over it!
Poptimal review of ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’: “Duncan even brought his turntables and deftly switches the mood to accompany the sudden, exhilaratingly emotional sight of Dee and her newborn being wheeled towards the motley crew. As Kate Bush’s “This Woman’s Work” echoes throughout the otherwise soundless scene, the camera sweetly, hilariously, pans across the faces of all the men. With the exception of Cricket and his ubiquitous homemade crack pipe (which he lights up in plain sight inside a hospital), the sequence begins to enter sticky sentimental territory until Carmen the tranny and her gigantic husband suddenly enter the frame” … Bob Stanley in the Guardian on how to write a Christmas hit: “Santa, Come Up To See Me might be a predictable Mae West festive title but the song is anything but. Over a folk-rock backing, the ageing Mae breaks into an eerie prediction of Kate Bush’s December Will Be Magic Again, before subsiding into double entendres” … The Daily Mash: “Gay US army tank commander, Nathan Muir, said: “It’s a common misperception that homosexual soldiers like myself will be singing along to uplifting dance anthems or the Sound of Music soundtrack while piloting our engines of death. “While my in-tank ipod does include a smattering of Sinitta, Dr Alban and the 80s disco track Menergy by Sylvester, it’s far from just superficial dance pop. I mean, there’s loads of early Kate Bush on there too, like The Sensual World. “I really appreciate how its ethereal vibe and sparkling arrangements help me to focus as I’m leading my squadron through a battle-scarred city where danger lurks around every corner” … Music Week: A surprise new buyer has emerged as a leading candidate to acquire EMI’s catalogue with BMG revealing it now wants to become a player in recorded music. The source adds much of Bowie’s catalogue is “crying out” for the repackaging treatment and very little has been done with the works of other long-term EMI stars such as Kate Bush. … Mike Ragogna interviewing Laurie Anderson in the Huffington Post: “You, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, David Byrne… there are certain established artists whose works seem very fresh no matter which era they were created or played in” … SF Weekly Blogs: The Top 6 Weirdest Actor Cameos in Music Videos: Donald Sutherland in Kate Bush’s “Cloudbusting” “Here’s an attempt to summarize the level of insanity contained within this clip: Kate Bush puts on the worst wig ever made and pretends to be a child, while she and Don (her “dad,” presumably) alter the weather using a huge machine made of gigantic French horns” … Washington City Paper: Painted Face – “Undreamt” (self-released): This song makes me think of The Labyrinth, mostly because it’s an acknowledged tribute to Kate Bush, who, for some reason, makes me think of The Labrynth … Charlotte Martin interviewed on Artist Direct: “The foundational things that shaped me as an artist were Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love, Peter Gabriel’s Security, The Cure’s Disintegration, and The Cocteau Twins’ Heaven or Las Vegas” … Daily Breeze 30th December: “Well-known indie band Nada Surf is here just so fans will know not to ignore its album of cover versions, “If I Had a Hi-Fi” (Mardev), which is as delightful as anything the band has ever done. Songs from disparate artists from Depeche Mode to the Go-Betweens, Dwight Twilley and Kate Bush are rendered in lush settings with acres of strummed acoustic and jangly electric guitars, lovely vocals and string arrangements that will have listeners continually saying, “Ah! Good choice!”
Ours Are The Streets by Sunjeev Sahota
Reviewed by Arifa Akbar
I look in American eyes/ I see little life/ See little wife/ He’s striking violence up in me…I’m pulling out the pin/ Oh, I pull out, pull out the pin.” So sang Kate Bush in 1982 about the final reflections of a suicide bomber…
Read the full book review at The Independent. Comments are already being added.
Stephen Humphries writes: Mick Karn, the great bassist for Japan whose fretless instrument graced Kate’s The Sensual World (Heads We’re Dancing), as well as records by Gary Numan and Joan Armatrading, died today. His website stated: It’s with profound sadness that we have to inform you that Mick finally lost his battle with cancer and passed away peacefully at 4.30pm today, 4th January 2011 at home in Chelsea, London. He was surrounded by his family and friends and will be deeply missed by all. http://www.mickkarn.net/
Our sincere condolences to his loved ones.
UPDATE: Del Palmer has left his thoughts in the comment section of this article below.
John Taylor from Duran Duran leaves his tribute here. Mick had worked on recording sessions for Aerial in 2002, and even gave fans the intriguing first new title we learned of, namely “How To Be Invisible”, but ultimately his work on the track didn’t make it to the final album mix. I think the first time Karn played bass for Kate was at the Prince’s Trust performance in 1982 (here’s a video, with Karn’s distinctive bass sound very prominent in the mix).
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8WNeb_Lg9A[/youtube]
Author David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas) writes in the Guardian: “Kate Bush transforms me into a deranged fan. I don’t know where to begin to explain it: there’s her Brontëesque precocity (how does a 13-year-old compose “The Man With the Child In His Eyes”?); her voice, or rather voices (swan-necked soprano, bass-deadpan, banshee wail, pure as snowmelt); or her firsts (first British solo woman to write and sing a No 1 single, to top the album charts and to enter the album charts at No 1). Of her six mature albums released between 1980 and 2005, four are near-masterpieces while two (1985’s Hounds of Love and 2005’s Aerial) are masterpieces…”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jan/01/kate-bush-hero-david-mitchell
Wishing all our site visitors a wonderful Christmas and a fantastic new year! Thanks for all the support in 2010, it means everything. Special thanks to Mike Wade for his tireless work on the forum, to Brian Cloughley for his beautiful site design work, to Del Palmer for all his encouragement this year, and, of course, to Kate for the music.
As the holiday season approaches, we’re thinking especially of Rachel Anne Lisi, our online friend, who passed away on November 10th. Her death at such a young age sent shockwaves through the Kate Bush fan community, and her brilliance, talent, passion and warmth will never be forgotten. Our thoughts are with her family and friends.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xbL4R0CS34&feature=related[/youtube]
The exceptionally talented (and all round great guy!) Del Palmer has released his much anticipated second full studio album, “Gift”, available from Del’s website from today, Monday 6th December, priced at £8 plus £2 p&p. Downloads from iTunes etc also available. More details can be found at his official site and his Myspace page.
John Grant former frontman of The Czars is asked the usual 20 Questons on Pop Matters. At no.9 was “The creative masterpiece you wish bore your signature?”: “I think Hounds of Love or The Dreaming by Kate Bush are the sorts of masterpieces I could wish I had created. Or Man-Machine by Kraftwerk” …. Here’s what your karaoke choice says about you (according to Lauren Bravo of the Shoreham Herald): “Wuthering Heights: ladies undertaking this track will do so in the name of lolz, under the guise that it’ll sound so ridiculous they couldn’t possibly be taking themselves seriously. Do not be fooled. They secretly believe they are going to be ethereal in the extreme, channelling Kate Bush’s wide-eyed, mad-lady insouciance with their wafty arm movements and dog-decibel wailing. Sadly, their efforts will be such that Heathcliffe won’t let them in the window. However cold it is” … Matt Berry who plays the domineering boss in The IT Crowd has a new album out Witchazel: “Well, for me, 1978 was quite a big year in terms of being frightened by things, one of which was Watership Downand the other was Kate Bush …I also remember seeing Kate Bush on TV and I just thought that the countryside was full of sexy witches, but they were still witches. So it was that kind of atmosphere that I wanted to put into Witchazel, that kind of 1970s rustic British folk sound” – in Wales On-Line Matt says “I’ve felt that way ever since I saw Kate Bush performing Wuthering Heights on Top Of The Pops as a child … she frightened the life out of me. Something about the way she stared right in to the camera with those wild, glaring eyes. She looked like a sexy witch and it had a huge impact on me” … Kiki Dee including cover of Running Up That Hill in her recent European shows … Robyn credits Kate as influence (again) “I grew up in a theater family and learned to express my creativity in my own way and to be my own person. So for me, those things all kind of came together naturally, even in artists that I was listening to like Kate Bush. There have always been pop artists that can blend these worlds together — it doesn’t have to be contradictory” … Maryse Letarte is a Quebecois singer attracting some attention. She cites Kate as “one of her first idols” … Artinfo tells us that Pierre Huyghe’s new film has been causing a stir in the French art scene, with fellow artists, fans, and even students on field trips descending into the pitch-black basement of Marian Goodman’s Marais space to experience “The Host and the Cloud.” This includes most strenuously, a red-tinted disco scene with an unrelenting version of Kate Bush’s shrill “Wuthering Heights” playing normally at first, then in reverse …. retro-review of Peter Gabriel (III aka “Melt”) on SeattlePi refers to “Kate Bush’s deliciously haunting, repetitive chorus ‘jeux sans frontières'” on Games Without Frontiers ….There Goes a Tenner, Kate’s “forgotten” single, is re-apppraised on Eoin’s blog posting here … “It offered an alternative of trees, flowers, rivers, and made me seek these out in reality-style life, a longing already fomented by The Lord of the Rings. Though I still read the Rings regularly, I don’t read The Wind now. I’m wary of it. It’s like playing Kate Bush or The Beatles. They bewitch me, an experience about which one must always be ambivalent” Guest columnist in the Glasgow Herald … Denver Westword: “British music magazine MOJO referred to Ólöf Arnalds as “Reykjavic’s answer to Kate Bush,” which is fair enough considering Arnalds’ gorgeously otherworldly singing and penchant for writing songs that cannot be linked directly to any particular musical genre other than the all encompassing ‘popular music’.”
On the New York Capital blog Gillian Reagan asked some friends to talk about their favourite comfort albums: “‘Comfort albums’ are the albums we find ourselves revisiting over and over again, either for a dose of nostalgia or to honor a seasonal tradition. Or they are simply personal classics—records that we must listen to at least once a year, particularly this time of year, for whatever reason”.
Rich Juzwiak, who writes about pop culture for the VH1 Blog, his personal site FourFour and elsewhere chose Hounds of Love: “It is ferociously creative in composition, with chord changes to make your head spin and an early embrace of sampling in a non-hip-hop context. Kate’s voice is an emotional wonder, often a confounding counterpoint to the lyrics they’re singing … The moments of beauty, like ‘And Dream of Sheep’ will be that way for eternity, while what hasn’t aged so well takes on new life as camp … Kate Bush isn’t for everyone, but I do think that if you think she isn’t for you, you at least owe it to yourself to try harder.”