Another remarkable year for us Kate Bush fans, we’re still not quite over the thrill (and chart success) of Kate revisiting Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God); a song shared with hundreds of millions around the world at the Olympics. And we still love that Kate appeared in person to accept her South Bank Award to such a lovely, warm reception. Who knows what 2013 will bring?
HAPPY CHRISTMAS! From Peter, Krys, Dave and Seán 🙂
A dog made of snow, called Snowflake, wearing a Santa hat. Perfect! Kate sends her fans a Christmas message on her official site.
Thanks for all your lovely messages of encouragement over the year. It means such a lot. Wishing you a merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. With love, Kate
Kate has recently donated a faux fur hat that she wore in publicity photos from the ’50 Words For Snow’ album campaign to a celebrity auction held on Ebay. After 58 bids, the hat eventually raised £861 for St. Mungo’s, an organisation that provides emergency shelter for homeless people in London and the South of England. Other famous people who donated hats to the auction included Annie Lennox, Roger Federer, Kevin Spacey, Ricky Gervais, Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig, Renée Zellweger, Sir Ben Kingsley and Susan Boyle.
If you would like to help out St. Mungo’s this Christmas, please visit their website here or buy one of their special hand-knitted woolly hats here.
From the auction catalogue: This hat donated by Kate Bush has been crafted from black felted fabric. The details include a soft, domed crown with a two tone grey faux fur trim. This perfect for winter hat has been signed by Kate on the inner silver satin lining. This is the same hat worn on promotional artwork for her critically acclaimed latest album, “50 Words for Snow”.
Quite lovely! Read more about ‘Cloudbusting’, the Kate Bush tribute band currently getting raves in the Kate Bush fan community at their Facebook page, here.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ3YenjbtgU[/youtube]
Big Boi from OutKast has long made it clear that he is determined to work with Kate. While his recent solo album, Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors, didn’t ultimately include any work between the two, he remains optimistic. Here’s this excerpt from an interview on the Creative Loafing site:
Obviously a lot of rumored collaborators made the final record, but what happened with Kate Bush? Did anything ever come to light with that?
Actually, I sent Kate Bush “Tremendous Damage” and another song called “Green Grass,” which was probably going to be on my next album. She loves them, and we’re just waiting for a chance to go to London and have a sit down with her and have crumpets and tea so we can kind of get more familiar with each other. Hopefully in the near future that can happen — we’re just looking for that little tea date.
Are there any others artists out there that you still haven’t worked with that you would like to, besides Kate?
Shit, only Kate. Only Kate.
A little late with this news – Kate has written the foreword to a book of photographs by Tim Walker. Tim was responsible for much of the extraordinary booklet photography in the sumptuous Director’s Cut packaging last year. The book is entitled Tim Walker: Story Teller and is available at Amazon here. Read more about Tim at this article here or at his official site. From Kate’s foreword: “This book is like a collection of paintings. I imagine Tim perched up in the crow’s nest of a giant toy sail-boat, sailing a painted sea, hunting for ship-wrecked dreams.”
An outtake from the Director’s Cut sessions by Tim (above) has recently surfaced in the 40th anniversary edition of W Magazine. Tim captioned the photo: “Kate Bush, for me, encompasses the passionate heroine with a tender ordinariness, kind of like a mother going into battle.”
Update: 8th December: Carol has hit her target with just one day to go! Thanks for indulging my effort here on the site. I hope you all check out her music and her new album when it’s ready next year. Seán.
Hello everyone, Seán here with a sincere appeal to you to consider helping out an exceptional female artist. You may have noticed the banner I have placed at the top of the site for Carol Keogh‘s Fundit campaign to have her debut solo album made. I have been mesmerised by Carol’s lyrics and by her voice since the mid 1990s when she sang with a band called The Plague Monkeys. It’s been my pleasure to introduce people to her work with bands like The Tycho Brahe, Autamata and The Natural History Museum over the years. The most common reaction from new listeners has been: “Why have I never heard of this woman before?!” A genius lyricist, she has written the words to just about everything she has sang over the past two decades. Well, just take a listen:
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/14462343″ iframe=”true” /]
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/14463578″ iframe=”true” /]
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/14463576″ iframe=”true” /]
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She’s world-class and seems to have that knack of producing utterly stunning work every time she’s involved in a project. I was thrilled when she agreed to appear at two of our past Kate Bush gatherings for The Sensual Walk in Dublin – her covers of Babooshka and Wow were heart-stopping and brought the house down. Yes, she can hit all those notes! The Carol Keogh fan *and* Kate Bush fan in me was pinching himself.
And now she has dedicated herself to making her first solo album, called ‘Mongrel City‘. Without any industry funds she’s taking the nerve-shredding option of looking for pledges of money from those who sign up to the Fundit website. As I write there are 19 days to go and she’s still only halfway funded.
Please remember that it is only a pledge at this juncture. No money will be debited unless Carol reaches or exceeds the target. Also, in case there is anyone who thinks this is a form of charity, even the most basic reward (€10) buys you an MP3 download of the finished album, so no one is being asked to give money for nothing. That’s a very important point. As Carol has said this week: “…time is running out and fundamentally, I don’t have a plan B. I’m doing this because I have to, so I need everyone’s support now.”
To find out how to pledge a little (or a lot) go here: http://www.fundit.ie/project/mongrel-city-debut-album-by-carol-keogh
I’ll leave you with this gorgeous little video Carol recorded very recently under a bridge in Dublin. I hope you can help spread the word about her campaign as it enters its last couple of weeks. Thanks for letting me share this with you. Normal Kate Bush service will be restored soon! – Seán.
[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29p5RAd7-Fo[/youtube]
We’re very excited to pass on the news that Stephen W Tayler, the multi-talented mix engineer and sound artist who has worked closely with Kate on ‘Director’s Cut’, ’50 Words For Snow’ and this summer’s hit single “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) 2012 Remix’, has today released his first solo album of original compositions. It is entitled: ‘Ostinato’
Stephen exclusively tells katebushnews.com: “I love to work with mood and texture. ‘Ostinato’ is a collection of hypnotic pieces based on music and sound inspired by my experiences and travels.” For more information about Stephen’s incredible career (he has worked not only with Kate but also the likes of Tina Turner, Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, Suzanne Vega, Stevie Nicks and Underworld to name but a few) visit: http://ostinatomusic.com. The site features some great previews and extra content about the new album, along with this touching dedication by Stephen:
“Special note of thanks to Kate Bush for giving me the confidence to finally complete this work.”
We’ll be joining Kate and many others by wrapping our ears around these new atmospheric soundscapes that Stephen has been dreaming about creating his entire life…
[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-dP8MasnN0[/youtube]
After a very successful
meeting with our publisher today we can now say that HomeGround the Kate Bush Magazine – An Anthology 1982-2012 will consist of two hard cover volumes (in a format which is slightly smaller than A4) with approx 600 pages in each volume.
Although HomeGround commenced publishing in 1982, the magazine has contained articles about all periods of Kate’s career, and the book is arranged around a Kate chronology.
Volume One will contain the introductions, Part I (the period from Kate’s early demo recordings to Sat in Your Lap) and Part II (The Dreaming to The Sensual World). Volume Two will contain Part III (The Red Shoes to 50 Words for Snow). The anthology will be illustrated with artwork and photographs from all periods of HomeGround’s history.
The cost will be about £30 per volume and the books will be available at Amazon and various other outlets. It will certainly be available in the US. We are now working very hard toward having these books ready for realease in time for Christmas.
New link: http://www.dreamingofkate.com/
The blurb says: “‘Wow’ introduces Maaike Breijman performing in the role of Kate Bush, with whom she shares a birthday and an uncanny resemblance in appearance, performance and vocal style. Kate Bush is one of the most iconic and unique British artists of our time – with hits such as Wuthering Heights, The Man with the Child in his Eyes, Babooshka, Running up that Hill and many others. She captivated fans across the world – but remarkably, she only performed one full tour (1978’s Tour of Life). This is a chance to hear those life-changing songs brought into glorious life as Maaike sings Kate’s greatest works and performs numerous dance routines live on stage with a full troupe of musicians, dancers and state of the art light and video show. ”
Of course we have long since known Maaike as ‘The Dutch Kate Bush‘ so we wish her the best for this show and others to follow.
The Sage Gateshead 27th February 2013 7.30 pm Ticket Office: 0191 443 4661.
There has been much media comment (again) over the nominations for the annual Mercury Prize for “the album of the year”. Despite much speculation, Kate’s 50 Words for Snow was not included amongst the nominations. This was a matter of comment by Anita Singh in the Daily Telegraph “Plan B is one of the few well-known names on this year’s Barclaycard Mercury Prize shortlist, with bookies’ favourite Kate Bush a surprise omission … But it is the absence of Kate Bush that proves most surprising after her latest album, 50 Words For Snow, received high praise from critics“.
Also in the Telegraph, Neil McCormick was unable to understand Kate’s omission: “Kate Bush has been overlooked, which may be the biggest injustice of all. Given a vague emphasis on “pushing music forward”, the Mercury Prize has long struggled with veteran artists, preferring to concentrate on debutants with newly minted sounds … Again, it is the baffling vagueness of the Mercury Prize’s criteria that infuriates. Bush’s 50 Words For Snow was a deeply strange and original album from a woman widely recognised as one of the greatest and most original popular recording artists of our times. Even if it isn’t Bush’s finest work (and, actually, I’d argue that it is up there), surely any committed album by a globally admired, bona‑fide genius has got to be of greater significance than, say, the debut of a thrashy jazz rock trio making small waves on the Leeds local improv scene?”
Andy Gill in the Independent had previously set out why he thought Kate should have been included: “It’s many a year since the Mercury went to an old-school legend, and none deserves it more than consistently the most innovative and experimental of British pop stars, and thus emblematic of the qualities supposedly rewarded by the Prize. This concept album pivots on the cusp of pop, jazz and classical, imbued with the swaddling warmth of a fur coat on snow-covered steppes“. Tim Chipping at Holy Moly wondered if Kate actually refused a nomination.
At Entertainment.ie John Balfe noted the absence of any Irish talent and added “This year’s list can be defined as much by what it’s missing as by what has been included. All of the albums nominated are worthy in their own right, but collectively the list is lacking a certain sense of adventure that could have been provided had the likes of Kate Bush…” Alexis Patrides in The Guardian also noted the Prize’s ongoing blind spot: “There’s no representation from what you might call rock’s more distinguished citizens: with Kate Bush unexpectedly absent from the list“.
Mercury Prize chairman Simon Firth, sociomusicologist, was quite satisfied. He told the Telegraph that this year’s list of nominees was the most open and diverse in the history of the award. “I suppose there was nothing that seemed to be an absolute must. The field became much more wide open”. Apparently not quite that wide.
Two rather fine articles occasioned by the 30th anniversary of Kate’s wildest album: by Matthew Linsay in The Quietus and by Ian D. Hall in LSMedia. Both not to be missed.
Another by DJ El Toro at KEXP Seattle, who pulled the album from the archive complete with the contemporary notes from his predecessors of 30 years ago.
Where: Studio 1, Northcote Town Hall, 189 High Street, Northcote, Mebourne, Australia (Tram #86, Stop 31)
When: Saturday 22nd September at 8.30pm
What: As part of the Darebin Music Feast, Benn Bennett and friends will bring together a selection of their finest local musical and cabaret performers to reinterpret and pay tribute to the songs of British artist Kate Bush. A wonderful night full of Kate’s classics including Running Up that Hill, Babooshka, The Man with the Child in His Eyes, and the perennial favourite: Wuthering Heights. One night only! Featuring: Rebecca Barnard, Tina del Twist, Wes Snelling, Yana Alana, Benn Bennett and more!
Tickets for this event are sold through Northcote Town Hall. For bookings visit their website or call (03) 9481 9500.
The Darebin Music Feast began in 1996 and in recent years has evolved to become a high profile and well respected Victorian community music festival, while still retaining its grass roots music ethos. The festival is dedicated to song-writing and celebrating the diversity of one of Melbourne’s most thriving musical communities.
Melbourne Fringe is the leading organisation for the independent arts in Victoria. It facilitates the presentation of contemporary work across all artforms. Its artistic program gives both emerging and established artists opportunities to gain diverse professional skills and present new work. The culmination of independent arts activity throughout the year, the Melbourne Fringe Festival presents the work of thousands of artists to a large and committed audience.
For the new version of RUTH to have charted at no 6 in the official UK singles chart is a remarkable achievement and shows just what can happen when Kate’s music gets a wider exposure. It’s more remarkable when you compare its chart place to say the George Michael single which he performed live on the same show and is getting a lot of radio support. Kate’s single, as hoped, charted high on the iTunes chart and midweeks immediately after the Olympic Closing Ceremony but it has sold consistently all week, with as many people downloading it almost a whole week later, giving her another top ten single.
This now means that Kate has had top 20 singles in the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, 00’s and now the teens! Well done Kate, it’s a great new version and deserves its top ten place!
And The Whole Story is up from no. 125 last week to no.21. Lotsa people hearing Kate for the first time!
Peter, Krys, Seán and Dave.
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