Saturday, November 23, 2002
kate bush died for tori amos' and bjork's sins. except, of course, that she's not dead, just doing a salinger these days: since 1985, kate's released two new albums, the last one nine years ago. and except, of course, that she's better than tori or bjork ever will be (and for the record, I'm a fan of both of those artists). kate bush often makes me think of joni mitchell, both appallingly talented, creative women mightily in touch with their muses - and artists whose influence is much greater than their soundscan numbers. I miss kate bush, and wonder what she might be up to, musically, today.
my favorite song of kate's has always been "experiment iv," her post-hounds of love single included on her then-summation, the whole story. this was the first album of hers I heard, and while some think hits collections a cop-out, it's still my favorite. "experiment iv" is also, at its root, a horrifying song: "they told us what they wanted/was a sound that could kill someone," kate sings in the chorus. it's the story of a secret military plot on which the song's narrator was working - very 1984 in tenor and theme. it's also classic kate. this is a woman, remember, whose first (u.k.) hit (a #1) was a song based on bronte's writing's, titled "wuthering heights." as her career continued from that auspicious 1978 start, kate grew into her skin as an artist (as opposed to just a singer/songwriter), eventually producing her own work as well, which worked in her favor. the textures of kate's later works - "experiment," "love and anger," "the sensual world - are much more lush and warm than her earlier records, produced by pink floyd's david gilmour.
what tori, especially, takes from kate is her oddly refreshing - or refreshingly odd - lyricism (take the first line from "sensual world": "then I take the kiss of seedcake back from his mouth"?!). what bjork gets is the ability (though I'd imagine it's easier from the start when you're icelandic) to be wholly of herself (tori, too, come to think). just as madonna, kate bush's influence is wide-reaching, and moreso, the doors she broke down (mainly in great britain) for female artists, especially those not quite working in the pop axiom as reflected in the charts (though she's had much success in g.b.). with a voice like a lover's tongue licking your neck and lyrics often straight from the mad hatter, kate bush is one for the ages.
my favorite song of kate's has always been "experiment iv," her post-hounds of love single included on her then-summation, the whole story. this was the first album of hers I heard, and while some think hits collections a cop-out, it's still my favorite. "experiment iv" is also, at its root, a horrifying song: "they told us what they wanted/was a sound that could kill someone," kate sings in the chorus. it's the story of a secret military plot on which the song's narrator was working - very 1984 in tenor and theme. it's also classic kate. this is a woman, remember, whose first (u.k.) hit (a #1) was a song based on bronte's writing's, titled "wuthering heights." as her career continued from that auspicious 1978 start, kate grew into her skin as an artist (as opposed to just a singer/songwriter), eventually producing her own work as well, which worked in her favor. the textures of kate's later works - "experiment," "love and anger," "the sensual world - are much more lush and warm than her earlier records, produced by pink floyd's david gilmour.
what tori, especially, takes from kate is her oddly refreshing - or refreshingly odd - lyricism (take the first line from "sensual world": "then I take the kiss of seedcake back from his mouth"?!). what bjork gets is the ability (though I'd imagine it's easier from the start when you're icelandic) to be wholly of herself (tori, too, come to think). just as madonna, kate bush's influence is wide-reaching, and moreso, the doors she broke down (mainly in great britain) for female artists, especially those not quite working in the pop axiom as reflected in the charts (though she's had much success in g.b.). with a voice like a lover's tongue licking your neck and lyrics often straight from the mad hatter, kate bush is one for the ages.
# posted by Thomas : 4:55 PM
