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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vqjX-2vK_0&[/youtube]
A rather nice article by Johnny Dee in on-line paper The First Post:
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“This seems a good moment to remind ourselves that you don’t need to be a celebrity in the celebrity age to be a successful artist. You don’t need to court the media’s attention 24/7 then feel betrayed when they court you 24/7. You don’t need to appear on every TV show that invites you. However, if you do push fame away, you will run the risk of being labelled a freak.
One such freak is Kate Bush. In 1978, the year she released her debut single Wuthering Heights, she was the most photographed woman in Britain. Two years later, after a whirl of publicity that included everything from flirting with Richard Stilgoe to goofing around with Kenny Everett, she decided she was no longer going to play the publicity game …“
In the Financial Times Ludovic Hunter-Tilney gives Director’s Cut three stars: “Kate Bush’s perfectionism is a reason for the long gaps between her albums. It also appears to motivate Director’s Cut …”
In the London Evening Standard John Aizlewood also awards three stars: “That Director’s Cut is an album whose existence has neither rhyme nor reason and that its track listing borders on wilfully perverse actually adds to 52-year-old Bush’s maverick charm …“
Ireland’s largest music store has had something of a Kate Bush party, Friday. The release of this album has been heralded with an almost unprecedented anticipation in Kate’s maternal homeland, press and radio reviews abound. Tomorrow, Saturday, from 11am-12am, Nadine O’Regan will be talking to Kate on her Phantom FM show The Kiosk here. The Irish Times has given the album a glowing review. We think the front window display in Tower Records says it all. The Dublin celebrations continue next month…
Tim Master reports on Fake Bush, Never for Ever and Hounds of Love …
“Kate Bush has gone on tour only once in her long career – in 1979. As she releases an album of re-worked songs, meet the acts who are keeping her music in the spotlight. Bush was just 20 when she completed The Tour Of Life after topping the charts with Wuthering Heights the previous year. In a recent interview, the 52-year-old singer hinted that she might like to perform live again. But for now it is a handful of dedicated singers and musicians who are performing her songs live on stage ….”
See our own coverage of these bands in the Features section and the gig guide.
Ben Cardew in Music Week doesn’t quite know how to react to Directors Cut:
“On its own merits, then, Director’s Cut is a strong album. But it’s hard to know exactly who it will appeal to: if you don’t know the original songs, it is impossible to appreciate the subtle re-work that Bush has done; if you do know them, you might not necessarily want an update …“
A tonne of reviews are in, and more to come today, no doubt. As fans in Ireland, Australia, Japan and many other European countries already have the album we’re starting to see the reviews coming in thick and fast. Alan Corr gives an online review for RTE: “Bush’s gone ahead and reworked other songs, bringing a singing voice of a lower key, something that comes with age, and the benefits of updated and improved production techniques to the party.” Will Hodgkinsin in The Times gives the album 3/5, raving about Flower of The Mountain, The Red Shoes and Lily, but concluding that the album is “interesting, but not easy to lose yourself in“
Four star review in Friday’s Daily Mail by Adrian Thrills:
“I won’t beat about the Bush, Kate’s still great!
Now deeper and more sultry than when she was dominating the charts with singles such as Babooshka and Man With The Child In His Eyes, it relies less on spectacular, soaring whoops and more on a natural richness and sensuality.
As a singer, Kate is growing old gracefully, but she retains plenty of her unusual mannerisms and a compelling lack of inhibition …“
Paul Callan gives Director’s Cut full marks in Friday’s Daily Express:
“She dances to her own tune, that Kate Bush. Having taken a more or less two-decade break from recording before coming back with Ariel a few years back she’s now revisiting two of her albums from the Nineties in what she’s calling a “director’s cut”, even though she had full control of both albums first time round. But who cares?“
Excellent review of Director’s Cut by Andy Gill in Friday’s Independent:
“Despite its being comprised of reworked versions of songs that originally appeared around two decades ago, Kate Bush regards her Director’s Cut as a new album in and of itself. And she’s right to: There’s a consistency and homogeneity about the 11 tracks (seven from The Red Shoes, four from The Sensual World) which echoes her work on Aerial, and which lends the project a character entirely its own …“
Once again this event aims to celebrate the work of Kate Bush and James Joyce with an afternoon meet-up at the summit of Howth Head for some music, peaches and seed-cake, followed by a leisurely cliff-walk down into the village of Howth for refreshments. The evening part of the event will be held in Odessa in Dublin City Centre, where the music and craic will continue till late.
This event is an excuse for fans of Kate Bush, James Joyce or otherwise to celebrate Bloomsday with a stroll in one of Dublin’s most spectacular landscapes. It will be the fourth time it has taken place and it is inspired by the song ‘The Sensual World’ by Kate Bush in which the character of Molly Bloom from Joyce’s Ulysses is brought to life by Kate. In 2011, remarkably, Kate releases a new version of her 1989 recording, now re-named ‘Flower of the Mountain’, in which she will use the actual words from Joyce’s Ulysses for the first time – the Joyce estate have finally granted her permission. It adds a nice extra layer of significance to our day. In previous events we have featured many incredible Irish and international musicians, along with unique Joyce recitations from Kate’s brother John.
THE WALK – please join us, at the summit car-park on Howth Head at 2pm, Saturday, June 18th 2011. THE EVENING – after the cliff walk, and refreshments down in Howth village we’re heading into the centre of Dublin City to the Odessa private members club for 7.30pm, 13 Dame Court, D2 (right beside the Stags Head Pub) A night of music and Kate / Joyce / Dublin type things are promised. And beer. ALL ARE WELCOME – FEEL FREE TO PASS ON THIS INFO! Any questions please email me sean@katebushnews.com Hope to see you there!
If you can tear yourself away from that NPR album stream, Alex Petridis gives a four star review to Director’s Cut in today’s Guardian. You can read it The US website for the NPR radio station is offering it’s listeners a first listen to the tracks from Director’s Cut. You can find the songs here. Quite a coup! Thanks to Donna for pointing this out.