All You Cruisers - THE KATE BUSH VOTING THREAD (ilm artist poll #24: deadline Saturday 25 August)

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/3438/katebush1.jpg

Here she is.  I'm keeping this simple, so the normal rules apply:

• submit your top 20 tracks, in order; 40 points go to your number one, 12 points go to your number twenty; I'll distribute the points in between accordingly.
• submit your top 3 albums (optional); these score seven, five and three points.

I've tried putting together a full song list, album-by-album.  B-sides are noted under the album they belong to.

THE KICK INSIDE (1978)

Moving
The Saxophone Song
Strange Phenomena
Kite
The Man with the Child in His Eyes
Wuthering Heights
James and the Cold Gun
Feel It
Oh to Be in Love
L'Amour Looks Something like You
Them Heavy People
Room for the Life
The Kick Inside

LIONHEART (1978)

Symphony in Blue
In Search of Peter Pan
Wow
Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake
Oh England My Lionheart
Fullhouse
In the Warm Room
Kashka From Baghdad
Coffee Homeground
Hammer Horror

NEVER FOR EVER (1980)

Babooshka
Delius (Song of Summer)
Blow Away (For Bill)
All We Ever Look For
Egypt
The Wedding List
Violin
The Infant Kiss
Night Scented Stock
Army Dreamers
Breathing

December WIll Be Magic Again
The Empty Bullring
Passing Through Air
Ran Tan Waltz

THE DREAMING (1982)

Sat in Your Lap
There Goes a Tenner
Pull Out the Pin
Suspended in Gaffa
Leave It Open
The Dreaming
Night of the Swallow
All the Love
Houdini
Get Out of My House

Dreamtime
Lord of the Reedy River
Ne t'Enfuis Pas

HOUNDS OF LOVE (1985)

Running Up That Hill
Hounds of Love
The Big Sky
Mother Stands for Comfort
Cloudbusting
And Dream of Sheep
Under Ice
Waking the Witch
Watching You Without Me
Jig of Life
Hello Earth
The Morning Fog

Be Kind to My Mistakes
Under the Ivy
Burning Bridge
My Lagan Love
The Handsome Cabin Boy
Not This Time

THE SENSUAL WORLD (1989)

The Sensual World
Love and Anger
The Fog
Reaching Out
Heads We're Dancing
Deeper Understanding
Between a Man and a Woman
Never Be Mine
Rocket's Tail
This Woman's Work

Walk Straight Down the Middle
The Confrontation
I'm Still Waiting
Ken
One Last Look Around The House Before We Go

THE RED SHOES (1993)

Rubberband Girl
And So Is Love
Eat the Music
Moments of Pleasure
The Song of Solomon
Lily
The Red Shoes
Top of the City
Constellation of the Heart
Big Stripey Lie
Why Should I Love You?
You're the One

Show A Little Devotion
You want Alchemy

AERIAL (2005)

King of the Mountain
π or Pi
Bertie
Mrs. Bartolozzi
How to Be Invisible
Joanni
A Coral Room
Prelude
Prologue
An Architect's Dream
The Painter's Link
Sunset
Aerial Tal
Somewhere in Between
Nocturn
Aerial

Sexual Healing

DIRECTOR'S CUT (2011)

Flower of the Mountain
Song of Solomon
Lily
Deeper Understanding
The Red Shoes
This Woman's Work
Moments of Pleasure
Never Be Mine
Top of the City
And So Is Love
Rubberband Girl

50 WORDS FOR SNOW (2011)

Snowflake
Lake Tahoe
Misty
Wild Man
Snowed in at Wheeler Street
50 Words for Snow
Among Angels

MISCELLANEOUS

Don't Give Up (1986, with Peter Gabriel; from So)
Experiment IV (1986; from The Whole Story)
Rocket Man (1991; from Two Rooms)
Candle In the Wind (1991; b-side to Rocket Man)
The Man I Love (1994, with Larry Adler; from The Glory of Gershwin)
Lyra (2007; from The Golden Compass)

I don't expect any track from Director's Cut to outscore its original counterpart. Does anyone?

I'll combine the totals for different versions, remixes etc - I really only listed The Director's Cut separately because 'The Sensual World' changed its title to 'Flower of the Mountain', and in case anybody wants to vote for it in the albums poll.

alongside the psbs this is the one that means most to me. top 3 is set in stone.

my ballot will be extremely canon, almost feels redundant

I don't know much KB, but I hope this gets a big turnout.

I don't really like Kate Bush much but I think "James and the Cold Gun" is a fuckin jam so I wanna lobby for that one, when you guys are getting excited about all that Hounds of Love stuff remember "James"

EVERYONE VOTE FOR EXPERIMENT IV

thank you

I don't really like Kate Bush much but I think "James and the Cold Gun" is a fuckin jam so I wanna lobby for that one, when you guys are getting excited about all that Hounds of Love stuff remember "James"

Great song, Kate in Thin Lizzy mode.

Thinking of just voting The Ninth Wave as #s 1-7.

Also, I reckon nobody voting in this will have missed out on Aerial, but fwiw I will lobby heavily for Nocturn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-xsCXEvR6M

fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

xp. that's one of my top 3.

ooh this will be the first one of these I'll be able to participate in

out of the less known tracks, i want to rep hard for "be kind to my mistakes" - absolutely gorgeous

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpVKPUoI554

fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

Which album is that on?

Can we rule 'Don't Give Up' ineligible please? I like it but it's not a KATE song. If that, why not 'No Self Control' or 'Games Without Frontiers' as well?

I'll open this up for views, please. I always thought of it as an equal duet so I threw it in. I don't know these other tracks so can't say much, but I didn't include Let It Be if that helps.

I might actually vote in this one. Though it will be total canon if I do, soz.

Do 'The Dreaming' and 'The Hounds of Love' even have 'deep cuts', really? I suppose you could say "All The Love", "Houdini", "Mother Stands For Comfort", "Watching You Without Me".

Easier with the other albums - I always think of "Never Be Mine" as a deep cut for instance.

The middle section of Hounds of Love is all deep cuts.

Apart from the songs I mentioned? I think 'And Dream of Sheep' and 'Under Ice' and 'Waking The Witch' are pretty canonised...

I listened to "One Last Look Around The House Before We Go" as I left the house I sold last month for the last time. It'll be strange to vote for a Kate song without vocals, but I will.

Not that anyone'll be under a misapprehension, but I should've made clear: The Ninth Wave and An Endless Sky Of Honey do not count as single tracks. Cherry-pick your favourites from them - I expect every ballot to have at least one from each.

kind of wish you could vote for her re-recorded version of Wuthering Heights that's on The Whole Story

^^^

I intend to, though I expect all ballots for the song will be combined.

She was a better, deeper singer by the time of the re-recording.

I'll combine, but do highlight things like this, or if it's the Director's Cut versions or whatever, and I'll asterisk them. All knowledge gratefully received.

Ballot submitted but already regretting not voting for "Mother Stands For Comfort." It's like a lost vocal track from Another Green World, and a wonderful little moment of restraint and claustrophobia amid the spacious landscape of side 1 of Hounds. Devoted most of my ballot to what I think are some of her quieter and stranger songs, but neglected this one. In context I think it's weirder and more effective than about half of the Ninth Wave. Hope others will give it some love!

I intend to.

IMPOSSIPOLL.

tempted to post lots of youtubes to her early demos from when she was 15 which i love too.
you can grab them all from http://www.dongrays.com/kate-bush/mp3/

Ballot sent. This will be interesting.

Every other artist polled, except Depeche Mode oddly, has seen their late period shut out from the final countdown. There's absolutely no reason for that to happen to Kate.

I can't imagine people ignoring Aerial or Snow, but they might suffer from lack of consensus on which tracks are the favorites.

I'd think there's relatively strong consensus on Snow - there's only three good tracks to begin with.

I don't know yet what I think of Snow tbh. There's one track I'm certain I'll vote for, but I doubt it's the consensus pick.

I only voted for one track off Aerial - found it hard to single out anything from the second disc, it feels too much of a piece.

starting to listen through her discog now. Moving is a fantastic and underrated album/career opener, presents her fully formed.

I like most of Snow, but Snowflake is probably the only track I'll vote for.

the four keepers from the debut for me are Moving, Strange Phenomena, Man With The Child and Wuthering.

I only voted for one track off Aerial - found it hard to single out anything from the second disc, it feels too much of a piece.

i ran into the same difficulty w/r/t aerial but i think my solution might be to just vote for the entirety of aerial

the four keepers from the debut for me are Moving, Strange Phenomena, Man With The Child and Wuthering.

The original vocal on Wuthering is hard to listen to if you know the new vocal she recorded for the version on The Whole Story. The difference is Top 20 Kate and Top 5.

man, really? i love the OG vocal so much, how it swings from the rafters

i've never really cottoned to the re-recorded version but maybe i haven't given it a fair shake

On my fifth past and still have 34 left. This is after the "so only leave those you cannot live without" pass. And I have just had to lose Army Dreamers and that's just wrong!

For what it's worth, I too love the re-recorded Heights vocals.

On my fifth pass and still have 34 left. This is after the "so only leave those you cannot live without" pass. And I have just had to lose Army Dreamers and that's just wrong!

IKR. Getting down from 30 to 20 was painful. But it's done - ballot sent. And "Army Dreamers" survived. :) Most of the other hit singles had to be cut though - on the sole ground that they'll probably get enough love in others' ballots.

Lionheart is mega mega underrated.

also the OG wuthering >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> remake

i only really know her singles well. voting anyway because i think experiment iv needs my help too

Big ups for "Lily" from The Red Shoes, which also got a nice makeover on The Director's Cut.

Yeah, Lily's one of two or three from that album in serious contention for me. Haven't heard the Director's Cut version, but I've always loved the original.

Whoa my ballot has nothing from "Never for ever" on it

Oh wait, "Breathing" never mind. Hard poll.

Lionheart is mega mega underrated.

I agree.

The Red Shoes has really grown on me. I was sad to only have room for one cut, it's full of good stuff.

I'll def vote for "Rubberband Girl" or "Big Stripey Lie."

I might do a short ballot for this one after all. Probably 10 tracks instead of 20.

I was hoping Surm and Noodle Vague would turn up for this - give them a prod if you see them please.

love Top Of The City and Why Should I Love You... the rest not so much

I have to get this off my chest but I find 'The Hounds Of Love' massively over rated...''The Dreaming', 'Never For Ever' and 'Aeriel' piss on it from a great height...there I dun said it...so fuckin sue me...(Cloudbusting is about the best thing she did tho)...

I hope you feel better now. Asshole.

50 Words for Snow was a serious disappointment.

I actually love "Director's Cut" and "50 Words..." much more than anything before it post "HoL". Voted accordingly.

Her production got super slick and fussy from "Sensual World" on and didn't really get back to down to earth (or the Kate's version of Earth) until "Aerial" - and that's just the first side. Still have a hard time getting thru the 2nd half of that record.

^^ super slick and fussy for the most part. And "The Red Shoes" suffered from a terrible mix - or maybe bad engineering. Haven't heard the remasters.

"The dreaming" is a love-a-Fairlight-or-GTFO kind of record, isn't it

My favorite!

people better be voting for The Wedding List.

this is just omg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ymxgS4XHRA

The Dreaming rules and Get Out Of My House is top 3 kate songs ever territory

Now I have done it and sent it off to IK I am still startled at where I have put some of these tracks.

Obviously not given anything away, but if I have to rep for some tracks I think may be forgotten can I ask you all to listen to the beautiful Under the Ivy? And then crank up the volume and stick on the fantastic NIght of the Swallow? Thank you.

Night of the Swallow is definitely on mine. Celtic film noir.

I do love her use of celtic influences, it's pretty unusual for an act to employ them without seeming lame

"night of the swallow" is perfectly sequenced in the dreaming, too.

"jig of life" is fucking terrifying tbh

I just tried to think about this and honestly. My head exploded.

I do love her use of celtic influences, it's pretty unusual for an act to employ them without seeming lame

Yeah she's not cutesy with it, she goes for big dramatic effect.

Not sure what you mean by cutesy, but I was thinking of other acts limply garnishing with a few pipes or a bit of mysticism, or else going the full pub-rock-with-a-fiddle route. I don't know who else compares really - The Pogues really go for it sometimes, but they're basically actual folk and obviously nowhere near as inventive.

Bush came from an artistic background: her mother was a former Irish folk dancer, her father was an accomplished pianist, Paddy worked as a musical instrument maker and John was a poet and photographer. Both brothers were involved in the local folk music scene.[8]

I didn't know anything about her background, but I feel like here's the answer.

I wish I liked more of her stuff... I love Hounds of Love SO much, but the other records I've checked out I've been somewhat "yeesh, that's a bit much"... Maybe I'll try and pull together a ballot, though. I probably just need to spend more time with her other work.

enjoying the "yeesh, that's a bit much" is key, i think

only really came around in kate w/in the last year

uh, "on kate", yeesh

enjoying the "yeesh, that's a bit much" is key, i think

― contenderizer, Tuesday, August 21, 2012 9:21 PM (54 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Clarke If you approach The Dreaming as P.I.L. record and enjoy it on that level, then at some point enjoy it without needing it frame that way, you're probably set for everything else she did.

Moments Of Pleasure might just be the best song ever written from the point of view of someone who's just been through the grief process. imho.

speaking of "that's a bit much," "get out of my house" is a lock for my top ten

re PIL, i love how Lydon is a big fan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV25-V1cYN4

Not sure if you're any better with "on" than "in" there, tend... Tim, love that idea; I have that and The Kick Inside at home so I'll give it a try later on. Thinking back, side two of Hounds took a while for me to get into, but now I think of it as one of the most distinctive and singular sides of a record I know of. So amazingly transportive, but without such a heavy-handed "we're going on a JOURNEY now!" thing.

yeah Get Out Of My House easy in my Top 10.

a bit much of...what?

get out of my house vs waking the witch, battle of the two most terrifying kb songs

Super-theatrical vocals are something I've always had a little trouble getting into... So Kate can be a little tough for me at times, though I pretty much always really love the music.

The reaction to how someone responds when told Kate Bush imitates a donkey determines whether I talk to them again.

Clarke, I tend to agree (I prefer the post-'80 material) but even on the early stuff Bush isn't Scott Walker.

And thank Christ for that!

did folk realise she was in the *Top 10* this week in the UK? http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/singles

I need to think more about what it is about her particular theatricality that gets to me... I mean, it's not like I always have a problem with histrionics. I love Freddie Mercury, Bruce Dickinson, etc...

I didn't realise xp 'til I read her wiki earlier. It reckons the new version's been transposed down a semitone to fit older Kate's range - I'm no singer, but that seems hardly worth it?

mm i couldn't see the point either.

i imagine the conversation went something like

- can you play the closing ceremony kate
- no
- go on, it'll be special
- no
- pleeeeeaaase
- no
- well can you just do a little something, maybe a special olympic version of your song
- if you must *makes most minor change possible* now leave me alone

EEEEEYOHHH
EEEEYOHHHH

"Suspended in Gaffa" is a good song for coming to love Kate's, er, wilder vocals, in a pop song.

Likely on my ballot:

Breathing
A Coral Room
Suspended in Gaffa
Experiment IV
And Dream of Sleep
Cloudbusting
The Big Sky (12" mix)
Top of the City
Love and Anger

I love "The Morning Fog" so much.

I need to think more about what it is about her particular theatricality that gets to me... I mean, it's not like I always have a problem with histrionics. I love Freddie Mercury, Bruce Dickinson, etc...

― Clarke B., Tuesday, August 21, 2012 2:37 PM (38 seconds ago)

i often have trouble with theatrical approaches that combine precision of vocal delivery, refined art music aspirations, a sense of intellectual distance, and what seems a "genteel" manner. such styles remind me too much of estate gardens and conservatories, a suffocating sort of upper-crust fussiness.

kate bush might seem to fit comfortably in this reductive ballpark, and that's what kept me away for years, but once you get through the distinctly mannered surface, her music is extremely direct and emotionally expressive. and catchy, inventive, otherworldly, etc.

The reaction to how someone responds when told Kate Bush imitates a donkey determines whether I talk to them again.

― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, August 21, 2012 9:33 PM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I read an interview with Kate a few years back where she complained about how everyone told her she should take off the donkey and she was like "but.... that's the best bit!"

Something really lovely about how sensible she seemed about her own musical oddness, she didn't try to romanticise it at all.

she's consistently given the impression that she's just a bit baffled anyone might consider her odd at all

indeed. She has flaws but preciousness isn't one.

Fact: The Dreaming is the sexy-funniest album cover ever.

i sometimes wonder whether liking the Lionheart cover so much might make me a potential furry. I think it's more likely that it's just that Kate is the greatest human that's ever lived.

^ one of the first album covers i was ever, uh, struck by

remember staring at it for quite some time c. age 14

remember staring at it for quite some time c. age 14 31

i often have trouble with theatrical approaches that combine precision of vocal delivery, refined art music aspirations, a sense of intellectual distance, and what seems a "genteel" manner. such styles remind me too much of estate gardens and conservatories, a suffocating sort of upper-crust fussiness.

kate bush might seem to fit comfortably in this reductive ballpark, and that's what kept me away for years, but once you get through the distinctly mannered surface, her music is extremely direct and emotionally expressive. and catchy, inventive, otherworldly, etc.

― contenderizer, Tuesday, August 21, 2012 5:51 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Good analysis... Who do you think exemplifies that style you describe? It rings very true, but I'm having a hard time thinking of my own examples.

contederizer, what do you mean by "a sense of intellectual distance"? If an artist like Bush uses her intellect, by its very nature then she's not distancing herself from the material, no?

Your description made me realize that perhaps I perceive it as aesthetically unpleasantly discontiguous when very theatrical vocals are married to somewhat restrained/studied/refined backing music... Freddie/Bruce works for me because the music is also highly intense, over-the-top, etc.

or Bowie/Ferry?

Love them both, though both can veer very slightly into yeesh. But the music is so meaty.

I mean, Roxy Music positively smokes instrumentally speaking.

in response to alfred, what clarke just said. when theatricality loses its restraint and refinement, it can seem to more fully commit to its moment. there's little sense of intellectual distance in queen's music - you're right there in the midst of the carnival. due to its basic reserve, kate's material can rather studied, and that in turn encourages me, as a listener, to adopt a studying distance.

my go-to example of the style i was describing (and why i don't like it) has long been wim mertens, but i just listened to several of his vocal performances, and find that i now like him quite a bit. so maybe i'm now more open to these approaches than i used to be...

one too many nows

exactly when on Saturday is the deadline cos i'm pretty busy this week?

End of Saturday. I'm planning on starting the countdown on Monday, so I'll need Sunday free for adding up.

k i will try to bite the bullet then

Clarke, I tend to agree (I prefer the post-'80 material) but even on the early stuff Bush isn't Scott Walker.

― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, August 21, 2012 2:34 PM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

And thank Christ for that!

― Clarke B., Tuesday, August 21, 2012 2:34 PM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Kate would never give a full-throated vibrato to a line that didn't deserve it, or a melodramatic word just because it ends a line. These reference points (Freddy Mercury!) are so bizarre to me. Kate is "studied" in the sense that she's well versed in classical vocal technique and cleaves to it at the expense of obvious blues or gospel phrasing, but the way she uses intonation, melody and--most of all for me--the expressive capabilities of her entire vocal complex--larynx, soft palate, secondary respiratory muscles--is so immediate... so PUNK ROCK. Or maybe post-punk, whatever. Her tone is often so strangled yet controlled; she can choke on a word ("hounds" in that song's second chorus) then open up (the sound, the emotion) a little with each subsquent line. Not to mention all the donkey braying. Or gutteral groaning through lines like, "I love a life..." What I hear in her performances is someone who came of age during the punk/post-punk eras and turned a well-trained and versatile instrument into a mimic of the multiplicity of voices that exploded during this era and the unexpected emotions they foregrounded. "Theatrical" as in a competing/complementary chorus of voices rather than just some cockfarmer belting bad Jacques Brel.

"Hounds of Love" is illustrative of her strenths for me--the way the drums stumble forwards like some exhausted prey, the way her vocal starts full strength and then loses breath with each line before the first chorus, the physicality and tenderness of the trapped & terrified fox and his outsize heartbeat, her renewed strength in the chorus's lines of abandon and the subsequent ambiguity of whether she's his captor or rescuer... Good lord this woman rules.

I like Queen fine (I'm sure Kate does too) but they are some cheesy motherfuckers. Sure, they're a fucking carnival, woo hoo. Freddy's a fucking belter. All this about restraint in Bush's music is a bizarre mischaracterization--when was the last time you actually listened to the Dreaming? "Genteel?" Pay attention to the lyrics. Listen to the braying, the screaming, the groaning, the random ambient blackouts. If anything it's too bizarre, a pop outlier, not some fucking Charlotte Church record.

"I love a life..."

is that what she's saying? I always heard it as just "I love life!"

A perhaps odd seeming point of comparison for Kate's vocal approach circa The Dreaming that nonetheless makes intuitive sense to me is David Byrne.

Thinking in terms of restrained vs theatrical isn't too helpful I think, unless we mean "theatrical" in the sense of performed, fully embodied characters that Kate sinks into vocally as well as lyrically.

But those characters can be restrained (from "Delius" to "Watching You Without Me" to "The Sensual World") or overblown ("Babooshka", "Get Out Of My House", "Waking The Witch" etc.) or anything in between.

that's an interesting read, cuz i what i hear in the music, themes and phrasing of her early career seems so strongly rooted in the pre-punk 70s: musical theater, classicism, prog, glam, story songs, the literary gothic, spiritualism, aspiration to sophistication, femininity as delicacy, etc.

she does often use her voice to suddenly and even violently rupture the texture of her songs, as you say, "the way she uses intonation, melody and--most of all for me--the expressive capabilities of her entire vocal complex--larynx, soft palate, secondary respiratory muscles--is so immediate." otm, there's a lot of this on the dreaming (and elsewhere). i don't know that i ever would have associated it with punk, but now that it's been said, i can sort of see the connection... then again, it reads just as clearly as a prog and/or avant-garde gesture, imo.

All this about restraint in Bush's music is a bizarre mischaracterization--when was the last time you actually listened to the Dreaming? "Genteel?" Pay attention to the lyrics. Listen to the braying, the screaming, the groaning, the random ambient blackouts. If anything it's too bizarre, a pop outlier, not some fucking Charlotte Church record.

― RCMP, Wednesday, August 22, 2012 12:41 AM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

well, i should only use the word "genteel" to refer to the more mannered, theatrical and self-consciously "refined" elements of her early albums. there's almost no trace of that approach left on hounds of love, and little of it on the dreaming. but craft, intellection, delicacy, and precision characterize her entire career, imo. this is certainly true relative to what i think of as punk.

I find the leap when Kate gets her hands on the production knobs extraordinary. Wuthering Heights et al are excellent songs and the arrangements and production are highly professional and effective, but totally conventional - then you get to something like There Goes A Tenner and it's so outlandish it seems like a joke.

I love a life..."

is that what she's saying? I always heard it as just "I love life!"

I swear there's an extra syllable in there, which is most obvious when the line's repeated at the end of the chorus. Or maybe it's just a legato of "Iloveliiiife." Which is how you might say it with the world about to blow up in front of you.

Contenderizer I'm not going to search for it now (it's late here) but there's an old mark s post where he footnotes the various dramatic ironies in each of the lines in the first verse of "God Save The Queen" (I think--anyway, one of the classic Pistols tracks). This is the spirit I'm approaching the NFE/Dreaming/Hounds era in--that punk/post punk expanded the vocabulary of the art song rather than killing it, or whatever.

Not to forget that Peter Gabriel, perhaps the epitome of "Prog Gone Dark", was a friend/inspiration. A lot of his approaches towards production, especially around his third album, influenced Bush.

Lyric sheet inside my vinyl of "The Dreaming" reads "I love life".

kate adds a little extra oomph syllable to the end of words sometimes, there are other examples on The Dreaming, can't think of them now, though.

I like Queen fine (I'm sure Kate does too) but they are some cheesy motherfuckers. Sure, they're a fucking carnival, woo hoo. Freddy's a fucking belter. All this about restraint in Bush's music is a bizarre mischaracterization--when was the last time you actually listened to the Dreaming? "Genteel?" Pay attention to the lyrics. Listen to the braying, the screaming, the groaning, the random ambient blackouts. If anything it's too bizarre, a pop outlier, not some fucking Charlotte Church record.

― RCMP, Wednesday, August 22, 2012 3:41 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this post rules (as well as the previous one.) my thoughts exactly re: comparing k.b. to other "theatrical" singers. for her everything is in service to the character of the song, it's not just style.

I don't think I'd characterize Kate as restrained as a vocalist at ALL; didn't mean to convey that if I in fact did. "The braying, the screaming, the groaning"--yes, that's what I mean when I said "yeesh, that's a bit much"... I just plain don't like the way she uses her voice sometimes. But other times I find it absolutely thrilling and captivating. RCMP, I enjoyed your reading above quite a bit. I listened to The Dreaming just yesterday, in fact, and the "I love (a) life" part was most certainly a yeesher for me. It's not an "I can't handle it" kind of thing, though, it's really more of a cringe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV9IrK69IDo

Three days left for voting. Get those albums in a line and do this thing.

man The Sensual World is such a letdown after how much better each album gets going from Kick to Hounds.

major lack of strong melodic ideas / general songwriting standard is a lot lower

agree for the most part, but i think kick is p remarkable. the next two are a drop down from that, followed by the massive leaps to the dreaming and then <<<hounds>>>

sensual world at least has some commitment to a personal/experimental songwriting & production approach. even that goes out the window on the red shoes.

Have submitted a ballot but it's essentially meaningless as all our music is packed-up for moving, so I've not been able to relisten to anything. :(

There is meaning elsewhere in life; I'm fine with that.

I've just downloaded a random mp3 of Experiment IV (hard drive death earlier this year, original got lost) and it has a two-minute violin intro I've never heard before O_O

Voted! Had something from every album except The Red Shoes.

Kick Inside: 1
Lionheart: 1
Never For Ever: 3
The Dreaming: 4
Hounds of Love: 4
Sensual World: 1
Aerial: 4
50 Words: 1
Other: 1

FUCK I forgot that "Breathing" is really great

i really like the kick inside for what it is but put next to what came later it seems...almost like a joke. juvenilia, certainly.

actually think there's a lot more going on production and songwriting wise in Red Shoes than Sensual. Sensual World is just so bland production wise - the songs don't distinguish themselves at all other than This Woman's Work. Red Shoes is pretty diverse and exciting in comparison for me

will be voting for Why Should I Love You?

Dude "The Fog".

the title reflects my memory of it, and i only heard it 30 minutes ago

I tried to rescue The Red Shoes from ignominy years ago.

my ballot is so ridiculously weighted towards my three favourite KB albums - they're responsible for 16/20 tracks :/ pretty much everything I shortlisted from the others got shunted further and further down the list when they appeared

we stand in the atlantic
and we become panoramic~~~~~~~

^^the finest moment of Kate's career

Now that's worth some thought - she does 'great moments' better & more than anybody else imo.

we stand in the atlantic
and we become panoramic~~~~~~~

^^the finest moment of Kate's career

― lex pretend, Thursday, August 23, 2012 12:15 PM (36 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

Ballot sent, no attempt made to distribute things evenly:

Kick: 2
Lionheart: 0
NFE: 1
Dreaming: 6
Hounds: 5
Sensual World: 1
Red Shoes: 2
Aerial: 1
Snow: 1
Non-album single: 1

(If we had 40 like on the Cure poll, that would look a lot different -- I could easily come up with another 20 not from Dreaming or Hounds.)

the kick inside: 0
lionheart: 0
never for ever: 1
the dreaming: 5
hounds of love: 5
the sensual world: 1
the red shoes: 0
aerial: 6
50 words for snow: 0
non-album tracks: 2

i do actually like the albums that got 0, just...not as much

I've just downloaded a random mp3 of Experiment IV (hard drive death earlier this year, original got lost) and it has a two-minute violin intro I've never heard before O_O

Was just listening to "Houdini" on The Dreaming -- and agree re. her using her voice to interrupt the mood of the song. But I'm a little less sold on it being "punk." I mean, it's punk I guess in the same way Van Der Graaf Generator is punk.

It's punk in the way that "Bach swings" (Wynton Marsalis).

submitted

my album breakdown:

kick 2
lionheart 0
n4e 1
dreaming 4
HoL 4
TSW 3
TRS 1
aerial 2
50words 1
nonalbum 2

Not to forget that Peter Gabriel, perhaps the epitome of "Prog Gone Dark", was a friend/inspiration. A lot of his approaches towards production, especially around his third album, influenced Bush.

As I think about this, the specter of Peter Gabriel actually is a bit of an inhibitor for me w The Dreaming. Despite the obvious presence of her own aesthetic, the combination of the thundering "Intruder" drums, Oompa Loompa background choruses and queasy near-field lead vocals manage to keep the record from fully transcending his.

Which makes the thundering drums of "Hounds of Love" and "Running Up the Hill" a triumph!

N4E is mad underrated.

I'm excited about this poll but I'm definitely not voting. I've realized I only really like a handful of KB songs. Can't really handle her high-pitched vocals. :/

Which makes the thundering drums of "Hounds of Love" and "Running Up the Hill" a triumph!

The drums are still thundering but HoL employs a very sequenced Linndrum sound Gabriel never really until So -- and by then, his aesthetic was quite different. Plus, on HoL, the Oompa Loompas were largely put out to pasture.

the new 'Director's Cut' version of Moments Of Pleasure wipes the floor with the TSW one imo.

This afternoon I made myself a version of The Sensual World with The Director's Cut tracks subbed in. Never Be Mine absolutely rips out of the speakers now, that's never happened before.

I liked your Red Shoes piece, Alfred - it's an album whose day will come imo. I'm a little surprised she revisited so much of it for The Director's Cut though, it sounds pretty good to me now. Anyway, this is my favourite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYr2bUxmQts

This is a charming little video too. I don't go seeking out fan-made stuff as a rule, but that one's great.

piscesx OTM. I love that version. I even voted for it!

makes me teary, actually. I think the choral stuff on DC and 50 Words... is wonderful. "Lake Tahoe" seems to take the mood of Popol Vuh's choral music as used in "The Third Wave" and updates it subtly - though still within a song context of ice, water and snow.

(just now realized I had written that same thing on the '50 Words" thread. Sure sign of old age: failing to catch yourself before repeating yourself. )

She thanked Florian Fricke on HoL IIRC because she nicked/sampled his Nosferatu in "Hello Earth." Which kind of predicts her Trio Bulgarka stuff on the next two records.

Yeah - it was "Hello Earth". Not "The Third Wave" - stupid lapse, sorry.

No worries, I hadn't even known this until earlier tonight when I read the (very good) Stylus piece on HoL.

It's the last working day for voting. Do it today!

btw I've acknowledged every ballot I've received. If you haven't had a reply, let me know. I'm still waiting for at least half-a-dozen on this thread to submit.

gonna do it, though probably not til saturday

Not to ratchet up the pressure or anything, but I've just done a midway count and right now there's a tie for no.1; and in the albums there's three points in it. Use your votes wisely, my friends.

god this was painful. submitting my ballot now.

Kinda regretting a couple of my submissions now...wanted a more cross representational ballot but now realise most of fave tunes are from one album...oh well...

Excellent "Dreaming" era interviewhere. Tons of other stuff to read KB-wise on taht site.

my ballot will be in by close of play tonight. i hope my number 1 is one of the ones tying for the lead.

I was listening to "Snowflake" last night. I'm still curious as to whether it's her son singing/ reciting all the main lyrics on that with KB handling the chorus. Or possibly a blend of both their voices. I think whoever it is sounds like her but isn't her.

thought it was the other way? KB does the verses, the "i am dust..." parts are her son (cuz she can't really hit those high notes anymore)

If you listen closely on the verses the "r's" are pronounced in a way that isn't typical of KB. Very soft, almost like a "w". And that same voice is the one singing the high, choirboy parts. Then it's definitely KB singing "The World is so loud..." throughout.

I always thought all the high voices were Bertie's, but on listening now the verses *could* be Kate or a blend of the two. Still think it's more likely him though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRgiOclY-H4

An early treat. Consider this a reminder.

contender for best 20 minutes on youtube.

That haunted house still contains a tombstone with Kate's initials on it!

last day for voting, slowcoaches

VIOLIN VIOLIN

Time to nag. I don't think I have anything from the following heads: or something, Tim F, rogermexico, Noodle Vague, surm, Euler, electricsound, Naive Teen Idol, Owen P, Oblique Strategies, piscesx, Alfred, contenderizer, Matt. All contributions gratefully received.

(apologies if I've got it already, it's a little hard to tell who's who sometimes. If you have sent but haven't received an acknowledgement, then I haven't got it)

i'm finalising my list right now. Saturday night and i'm home alone listening to Aerial all the way through. this has never sounded so poignant.

ismael you have one from me, email wellsmj1 at hotmail dot com.

yes, i'm one of those people who still use hotmail.

Ach, now I look like the bad guy

made a fool of me in front of all these people.

Sorry dude - I could give you my geocities address and no-one will ever laugh at you again

thanks man. i think this might be the kick up the arse i need.

I'll be submitting a list this evening - just come back from holiday and am having a Kate day. Just checking - presumably the deadline is 11.59pm UK time?

Yes, but I'm not going to be too strict about it - if it arrives before I turn my mind to it tomorrow it'll get counted.

i done it!

Which would be preferable, a short ballot that's basically a ranking of The Whole Story, or no ballot at all?

I'm going to (controversially) say no ballot at all - I haven't tallied for a while, but there were some interesting things showing up last time I did and I wouldn't want to see them pushed down by all the singles getting an unfair boost. Do join us for the countdown though!

Alfred - there's an anomaly in your ballot, check your mail.

Fair enough! I was dubious about casting an uninformed ballot just for the sake of voting. I will save my save my ballot and see how it compares to the results.

alright, sent. lemme know if you didn't get it, ismael.

the kick inside - 3
lionheart - 2
never for ever - 3
the dreaming - 3
hounds of love - 4 (worked hard to cut this down, could have been half my ballot)
the sensual world - 3
the red shoes - 2
aerial - 2 (both disc 1)

director's cut - 0
50 words for snow - 0 (only because it's so new to me)
non-album - 0

I've just acknowledged one that doesn't say 'contenderizer' but I think is yours, try again if you don't get my hearty thanks

I'll try to get one ready by the deadline. time's never on my side anymore

yep, that's the one. thanks again, IK!

IK, thanks for the massive work you are doing here and taking over from my absent bottom. Will run up hills to get that ballot to you before midnight.

sort of half-improvised my list which led to this:

the kick inside - 0
lionheart - 0
never for ever - 2
the dreaming - 4
hounds of love - 3
the sensual world - 2
the red shoes - 3
aerial - 4

director's cut - 1
50 words for snow - 0
non-album - 1

intense kate bush listening marathons that led to that list also made me realize i like the red shoes a lot more than the sensual world

I have given up. I started to think about a week ago that there was no way I would manage it and I have proved myself right. Every time I listen to an album I completely rewrite the ballot.

boo to all the early album haters. if you can't get behind crazy progmetaltheatrefolk 70s kate bush, i, i, i just don't know

i don't hate them! they're just not on my ballot for some reason?

jk ;)

have had VIOLIN VIOLIN running through my head for days

intense kate bush listening marathons that led to that list also made me realize i like the red shoes a lot more than the sensual world

I'll send a wedding invitation on Monday

check your email, Alfred

NTI - you've listed the same song at nos. 9 and 13 - pick another no.13 please

goddammit. i just realized i sent in a list of 22 songs. which i suppose just means that the bottom 2 get cut. thinking about losing those two makes me second guess the end of my list, which makes me second guess the rest of my list, but fuggit. what's done is done. just cut those last two off IK.

Sent in my ballot! Yay!

Wish Bimble would've still been around to take part in this, fuck :-(

xp yes, I just cut the last two off. Quite a few people have submitted five albums, rather than three, and I've done the same there

I'm going to sleep now. I'll close voting when I get up in the morning.

Wish Bimble would've still been around to take part in this, fuck :-(

sent!

the kick inside - 2
lionheart - 1
never for ever - 2
the dreaming - 3
hounds of love - 4
the sensual world - 5 (!)
the red shoes - 0
aerial - 2
director's cut - 0*
50 words for snow - 0

non-album - 1

damm you

ha genuinely didn't realize that breakdown until i typed it out up there - my top 25 had two from red shoes and one from 50 words of snow (the one about YETI). NEVER would've pegged me for a sensual world dork before this (still don't really - dreaming all the way), felt vaguely challopsy putting it in my top 3 albums.

Ballot submitted:

the kick inside - 1
lionheart - 0
never for ever - 2
the dreaming - 5
hounds of love - 6
the sensual world - 3
the red shoes - 1
aerial - 2
director's cut - 0
50 words for snow - 0
non-album - 0

mine btw:

kick inside - 3
lionheart - 1
never for ever - 3
the dreaming - 3
hounds of love - 2
the sensual world - 3
the red shoes - 0
aerial - 4
director's cut - 0
50 words for snow - 0
non-album - 1

Anybody else? Last chance to get one in

I'll try to get one in in the next hour.

Grand. I have one space left on my chart, so I'll wait for yours then I'll close things off.

So ... hard ...

There we are.

Okay, voting is now closed. Thank you everyone for your contributions.

wait, i've changed my mind, i wanna redo the whole ballot

kick inside - 2
lionheart - 1
never for ever - 4
the dreaming - 5
hounds of love - 4
the sensual world - 1
the red shoes - 0
aerial - 2
director's cut - 0
50 words for snow - 1
non-album - 1

actually, non-album should read 0

i wanna redo the whole ballot

I know. I've done the adding up and now I know exactly how I should've voted.

How long a countdown do we want? A hundred songs have received votes; there are natural breaks at nos. 15, 25 and 50.

how many ballots? i'd say 50

36 ballots

That's a pretty good turnout, I was worried there'd be fewer than 20.

Yes it's excellent, we did really well. Twenty was my basic target and I got twelve in the first few days, so I knew not to panic when I then went about three days with nothing. And I got eleven yesterday and three more overnight, so you really stepped up at the end, thanks.

And it was only nine days, no need to drag these out unduly.

OTM -- "Do or do not, there is no 'try'," saith the little swamp critter.

took a short road trip with a family of friends this afternoon and picked ipod tracks as we drove around. among other things, i played "violin" off N4E - mostly because i'm obsessed with it, but also cuz mr. friend is a "weird music" fan and had mentioned that he only knew kate bush through "don't give up." he dug it a lot, and mrs. friend thought the vocal swoops were hilarious, but man, their five-year-old daughter just HATED it. complained at first, then plugged her ears the way through. nothing else bugged her, either. she seemed to enjoy sonic youth, fall out boy (a lot), grimes and lindstrom. felt kinda bad for her, but it's good to learn young that art = suffering.

haha, i'm not surprised that a kid would dislike that song, it's pretty abrasive in it's own way

We Become Panoramic - THE KATE BUSH RESULTS THREAD (ilm artist poll #24)