Kate Bush

Much like my listening habits in general I see this becoming a healthy mix of new discoveries and old favorites. E&TC was a new discovery. And Kate Bush is by far "an old favorite" As I believe my brother put it one day circa 1999, after seeing my CD rack in my room, "How many Kate Bush CD's does one person need" (And I'm about 99% sure my answer to that was "all of them.")

But she was someone I discovered toward the end of my high school years, a time when several people desperately need to NOT be listening to the same music as everyone else, when you felt like what was in your CD player also defines what people should think of YOU (and yes, I am completely ignoring the fact that a statement like that would now be updated to something like "what is on your iPod" Madame Bush is currently playing in the background to inspire me which means I am automatically transported to 1996-2000. What the hell is an iPod?)

In her day, Kate Bush was thrilling I'm sure. She was the first solo female artist to have a number one single and number one album on the UK charts. Never near that recognition on US charts but I'll let it slide being that she WAS British and all. She took risks. I've heard her credited as the first person to experiment with recording styles such as playing music backwards (which can be heard on "Waking the Witch") I haven't been able to confirm this yet, but it was obviously a concept used to enhance the song rather than a bunch of stoners claiming "Paul is dead" and is still such a forward idea that all the little kiddies would be freaking out if Kelly Clarkson was to attempt something like that. Her brother played accessory instruments on her albums. And by 'accessory' I don't mean the cowbell and the triangle. More like the didgeridoo and the balalaika (which, in its defense, IS rather triangular-shaped...) She ended her first album on "The Kick Inside" (of the album by the same name) which is quite possibly the most beautiful song on incest you'll ever hear. There was nothing safe about this girl. Ever.

Of course, discovering her work for the first time as much as 18 years after it was produced, it held a completely different fascination for me. I started with the albums The Whole Story (largely a compilation) and Hounds of Love. Lyrics focus on things like government interference and the threat of nuclear warfare. It is deliciously 80's and yet like nothing you've ever heard before. And on top of that, if you dig you can find that her music tends to read like a "Before They Were Stars" episode. "Jig of Life" contains appearances by multiple musicians and arrangements by Bill Whelan who are known for this little phenomenon (though not a Strange Phenomenon....yes, that was an inside joke for those who are already fans) called "Riverdance." That's the one that pre-dates Michael Flatley hoping to be reincarnated as Irish Step Dancing Tarzan for those trying to catch up. "Experiment IV" is accompanied with a video featuring a minor part given to a fellow Brit named Hugh Laurie. That's right, I think most people call him "Dr. House" now. But before he was relying on sardonic wit and the ability to diagnose every medical mystery known to man by...well at least the third try, he was just another scientist hoping that the latest covert government experiment didn't kill him...

Kate's last album, "Ariel", was a long time coming, and while it wasn't quite "Chinese Democracy"-level disappointment, it still doesn't hold the magic of the others. The truth of it is, this one sounds like Kate may have finally caught up with the times. "The Kick Inside", "Never For Ever", even "Hounds of Love", I could still believe these were all written several years into the future. Two to three decades later and these are still all too 'forward' for the general public. "Ariel" could have been written by so many others in the early 21st century. It has its good moments, but no real ground-breaking ones. If you want the Kate Bush magic experience I would stop before this one, but if you just enjoy her music and singing style, all are fair game.