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$14.99 CD
$36.99 CDx3
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KATE BUSH
Director's Cut
(Fish People)
Okay, first things first -- I'm really psyched to hear Kate Bush stepping up to the plate and delivering some new recordings as an unruly class of young indie upstarts try to blow up her spot with their often overcooked homages. If you have any interest in the woman, you probably know the story behind this record; Bush has taken songs from her last two albums, 1993's The Red Shoes and 89's The Sensual World, and has reworked them, sometimes subtly, sometimes drastically, with new vocals and an overall warmer sound than the songs' original digital sheen. If you're coming to Bush with fresh ears after heavy ingestion of Hounds of Love or The Dreaming, you'll be in for a surprise; this album is much more relaxed, and yes, sensual, but still overflowing with the unique vision that has made Bush a cult icon for decades. Her voice is still as sharp as ever, like a bundle of barbed wire wrapped in velvet (though sometimes sung in a lower register than the original versions), and while some of the production timestamps are still there (some fretless bass, a few gauzy synths that scream "late '80s", and an Eric Clapton guitar solo!), they're placed in a new context that honestly makes them sound pretty fresh, perhaps even more so than in their original surroundings. Nearly all of the percussion has been rerecorded, which helps a great deal in giving the songs more breathing room.
The biggest surprise is probably the new version of "Deeper Understanding," where the message of abandoning face-to-face social interaction in favor of computerized seduction between a man and his computer is more prescient than ever, and where she gives a proper lesson in the sort of machine-soul songwriting that has been embraced by performers like Fever Ray. There's also "Flower of the Mountain," previously known as the title track to The Sensual World, here reworked to fulfill Bush's original desire to set Molly Bloom's impassioned soliloquy from James Joyce's Ulysses to music; she was originally denied permission, but here she re-imagines what remains one of her best songs (and a personal fave) into a subtle but striking new piece. For those who know the original, it's a trip with a sly smile to hear Joyce's words fit seamlessly into Bush's arrangement, and for those who are coming to this anew, it stands as a great opener to a fantastic record, if not necessarily an improvement on the (IMO) perfect original. She tends to flip these songs' energies inside out; where an older arrangement sounded cluttered and stuffy, here they breathe in newfound reductionism and restraint. Likewise, some of the quieter moments are given a kick inside, coloring songs that at times seemed a bit too monochromatic with new musical inspirations or arrangements altogether.
All in all, it's a great album, mostly because the songs were solid the first time around, and that presents the one problem with the set; seasoned fans will enjoy hearing these new versions, but if you're hardcore, as most Bush fans tend to be, the originals will be so deeply burned into your memory that it's tough at times to take the old with the new. Come to this with ears as fresh as you can muster, and you'll find much to enjoy. I only hope it doesn't take another six years for the new album she claims she's working on now! [IQ]
3-disc set includes remastered versions of 1989's The Sensual World and 1993's The Red Shoes.
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Heresy of the Free Spirit 
Iceage 
