by Bill Pearis

Prog/psych/folk quartet Syd Arthur hail from Canterbury, England and released their debut album, On and On, last year, which got four stars in Mojo. While the album has its share of time signature left turns and trippy elements, pop songs are at its core -- with some nice jazzy moments too. One of the band's distinct sonic elements is violinist Raven Bush, whose aunt is Kate Bush. Paul Weller is also a fan. Maybe you saw them at this year's SXSW? You you can can stream a few tracks below and the whole record's up on Spotify.

As mentioned, Syd Arthur will be coming to the U.S. next month for a show at Mercury Lounge on June 18 with Celestial Shore. Tickets for that show are still available. It's their only North American show, but all upcoming dates (mostly in the UK) are listed below.

Continue reading "UK quartet Syd Arthur playing NYC in June (dates, streams)"

Gawker says:

Every once in a while, Kate Bush makes an appearance in pop culture, mythical creature that she is. Tonight was not an example of one of those appearances. She did, though, needlessly rerecord her only song to go Top 40 in the U.S., "Running Up That Hill," and give it to the Olympics so people could do weird things with their bodies, recreate some of her interpretive dancing from the video and build a literal hill along to a song that's really about gender-fucking. Also, there are montages of athletes, some of them weeping in defeat. In other words, this was a solid Kate moment, despite her predictable absence. (I believe she literally lives in a castle on a hill.)

Kate Bush released this song via iTunes today, but it is not available in the U.S. In turn, this performance was broadcast overseas in a much longer version of the ceremonies that were chopped up by the time they hit U.S. shores. So basically, Kate was like, "Fuck the U.S." and then the U.S. was like, "Who?" As usual.

You can watch the cut Kate Bush song segment at Gawker.

Eternal Summers at Beekman Beer Garden in 2011 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

today in NYC
* ASSSSCAT 3000 @ UCB
* Eric Benet @ Central Park Summerstage
* Eternal Summers @ Fulton Stall Market
* Murphy's Law @ Rocks Off Concert Cruise
* Comedy Night @ The Knit w/ Hannibal Buress
* The Band Band (Levon Helm tribute) @ City Winery
* Jane's Addiction @ State Theater, New Brunswick, NJ
* Kestrels, Blackbinder, Adult Dude @ Public Assembly
* Datalog, Yalls, Some Ember, Portable Sunsets @ Glasslands
* Bird Call, Talain Rayne, Shira Goldberg @ The Mercury Lounge
* Don't Upset the Bear, Emily Peal, Beast Patrol, Wilsen @ Cake Shop
* Cowboy Indian Bear, The Noise FM, Origami Ghosts, Riverwild @ Pianos
* Dan Neustadt plays The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" @ Le Poisson Rouge

Jane's Addition are on tour and working their way towards Brooklyn where they play Williamsburg Park. Meanwhile you can catch them at the State Theater in New Bunswick, NJ tonight.

Lincoln Center's free outdoor Roots of American Music Festival continues today with Swamp Dogg, Aloe Blacc , an all star gathering for Gil Scott-Heron, and more. It's also the last day of the 2012 Lincoln Center Out Of Doors season.

Eternal Summers play the free Sound Bites Series at Fulton Stall Market today at 3 PM. Check out their video for "You Kill" below.

The Olympics Closing Ceremony is tonight with musical guests The Who, Blur, New Order, The Specials, Madness, and more. It's also been speculated that Kate Bush, who hasn't played live in a very long time will make an appearance too.

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Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

An obsessed Kate Bush fan has been deported from Britain after breaking into her home in an attempt to propose to her.

Frank Tufaro, an American, was carrying a £3,000 diamond, sapphire and gold ring bought at Tiffany's when he arrived at the countryside home of the reclusive singer and songwriter.

When Tufaro realised Miss Bush, who was nominated for a Brit Award this week, was not at home, he broke a window and let himself in.

Minutes later the unemployed artist panicked and fled by climbing over several fences to get into a nearby property.

Neighbours called police and minutes later a team of officers, supported by a helicopter unit, arrested 32-year-old Tufaro as he dragged his suitcase along a country lane.
He was detained under the Mental Health Act before being deported by four UK Border Agency officials who accompanied him to John F Kennedy airport in New York and handed him over to the FBI. -[Daily Mail]

Yay America!

Kate Bush released the BV favorite 50 Words for Snow at the tail end of last year.

Kate Bush

Like Loser's Lounge & friends did at Le Poisson Rouge recently, Theo Bleckmann, who also did it at Le Poisson Rouge, and his Hello Earth! project will be performing the music of Kate Bush at David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center today, Thursday (1/5). Tonight's 8:30 show is FREE, so get there early if you want to guarantee a spot. The Hello Earth! lineup, in addition to Bleckmann, includes John Hollenbeck, Skuli Sverrisson, Henry Hey, and Caleb Burhans. As mentioned, they've performed Bush's music in the past and a video of them doing so at Joe's Pub in 2010 is below.

Kate Bush's most recent album, 50 Words For Snow, came out this past November...

"There are only seven songs on 50 Words for Snow-each one clocking in at between 6 and 14 minutes. At first glance, hardly enough music to wrap my arms around after such a long separation from this friend it turns out I've missed terribly. And yet, it is enough. Perfect. I am so glad that she is back." [Geek Mom]

You can buy the album on eMusic. Check out some animated accompaniment to the track, "Misty," below called "Mistrapdespair."

Speaking of other people playing Kate Bush's music, Parenthetical Girls, who more recently released a new Christmas EP, put up 3 demos of Kate Bush covers on their bandcamp this past October with the message:

In the Summer of 2011, Parenthetical Girls performed a brief evening of songs in tribute to Kate Bush. In anticipation of said performance, the group prepared a series of demonstrative recordings for personal use. These are those demos.

You can download the demos at any price of your choice. Tour dates HERE.

Some people play Kate Bush's music. Some were very influenced by it (even if they don't know it). That was especially evident in 2011 when we got great albums by not just Kate, but artists like Austra, Zola Jesus and Chelsea Wolfe too.

UPDATE: Read an interview with Kate at the Daily Swarm.

UPDATE 2: Theo Bleckmann also has multiple shows coming up this month at the Stone.

Videos below...

Continue reading "Theo Bleckmann covers Kate Bush (free show tonight), Parenthetical Girls did too (listen)"

The New Yorker's Alex Ross asked Bjork what her favorite albums are. Her choices include Nico's 1970 album "Desertshore", Aphex Twin's 2005 album "Drukqs", Kate Bush's 1982 album "The Dreaming", and James Blake's 2011 album "James Blake". On her own website, Bjork also says she's been listening to Beyonce (and James Blake) lately. Bjork saw James Blake live, at least once, at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn.

We're still waiting for Bjork to announce those US Biophilia shows. Meanwhile Travis Sullivan's Bjorkestra can be heard at the Bell House in Brooklyn tonight (11/16). "The Travis Sullivan Quartet will be kicking the evening off with a short set of Sullivan originals, followed by an evening of Sullivan arrangements with the 12 piece band!"

Speaking of Kate Bush, she has a new album out in less than a week that is streaming online now.

photos by Chris La Putt

Nina Persson covering Kate Bush @ Le Poisson Rouge

In exciting new album news:

"The legendary singer KATE BUSH will release her brand new studio album 50 Words For Snow via Anti-Records this November 21st. You can preview the record beginning today, November 14 when it streams in its entirety care of NPR's First Listen series.

50 Words For Snow features 7 new tracks set against a background of falling snow, with a total running time of 65 minutes; through a highly evocative musical and lyrical landscape this haunting album once again pushes the boundaries. This is KATE's second album release of 2011, following Director's Cut which was released in May to massive critical acclaim.

The new album features a small number of special guest musicians including Elton John.

On Saturday night, 11/12, in NYC, Kate Bush was the subject of a Losers Lounge tribute show at LPR, presented by Joe McGinty and Amy Miles, and with special guests Karen Elson, Nina Persson, Corn Mo, etc.. You can see everyone that did a cover via the setlist which is under the rest of the pictures and two videos from the event below.

Losers Lounge's next victim is Diana Ross who they'll be paying tribute to at Joe's Pub at five shows in three days in December.

More pictures, video & setlist from the Kate Bush show below...

Continue reading "Losers Lounge & friends paid tribute to Kate Bush whose new album is streaming now (pics, setlist, video)"

by Andrew Sacher

For the last two decades, Kate Bush hasn't exactly been someone that you can call very prolific. But after releasing Director's Cut, an album of reworked material from The Sensual World and The Red Shoes, this past May, Ms. Bush is back with her first album of all new material since 2005's Aerial. The album, titled 50 Words For Snow, will be released on November 21 on her own Fish People label. The album contains seven tracks and clocks in at 65 minutes. It contains guest vocals from actor/writer Stephen Fry and 19 year old singer Stefan Roberts, who attends York Minster. You can preorder the album on iTunes now.

As mentioned, Kate Bush hasn't toured since 1979 and doesn't plan on doing so. Maybe with two albums under her belt in one year she'll change her mind? We can only hope.

Tracklist and an (unofficial?) teaser video below...

Continue reading "Kate Bush releasing album of new material"

by Andrew Sacher

Just in time to remind newbies Zola Jesus and Austra who came first, art pop innovator Kate Bush has returned. Director's Cut, her first album since 2005's Aerial, was released in North America on May 30 via Fish People, her own imprint in conjunction with EMI. It came out two weeks earlier in Europe and we're happy to report it is selling very well in Dublin (and in other places too).

Director's Cut consists of reworked material from 1989's The Sensual World and 1993's The Red Shoes. Many of the songs are built off the original recordings, keeping certain instrumentals and backing vocals, while others ("This Woman's Work," "Rubberband Girl," and "Moments of Pleasure") have been entirely re-recorded. She transposed certain tracks into lower keys to accommodate her matured voice. All of her lead vocal parts have been re-recorded, and the song "The Sensual World" (now titled "Flower of the Mountain") has entirely new lyrics. Bush told Pitchfork:

"The original idea for the song was to use part of the soliloquy at the end of the book [James Joyce's Ulysses], but I couldn't get permission. It was always a bit of a compromise to me when I had to go and write my own lyrics, which were OK but nowhere near as interesting as the original idea. So when I was putting the ideas together for this project, I though it was worth a shot to ask again-- they could only say no again. And, to my great surprise and delight, I was given permission. To actually be able to fulfill that original idea was fantastic."

The album's single, "Deeper Understanding" (originally released on The Sensual World) is two minutes longer than the original and features a harmonica section not present on the 1989 version. The song is about the relationship between people and their computers. At the time of the song's initial release, Bush wasn't able to portray the computer's character how she wanted. The available vocoders of the time couldn't make the character digital enough. In the reworked version, the character is played by her son Albert, whose voice was run through a modern computerized voice manipulator. Watch the new video for "Deeper Understanding" and compare it to the 1989 version below.

Although Bush opted for that vocal effect, she chose to record the album on analog equipment this time, to give the songs a warmer sound than their original recordings. She enlisted drummer Steve Gadd, bassist Danny Thompson, and Mica Paris on backing vocals to complete the album.

Director's Cut is available as a digital album, CD, and Deluxe Box Set including a three disc package of the album along with The Sensual World and a remastered version of The Red Shoes. The box set also includes a case-bound book and two-disc vinyl. You can check out the album streaming now on NPR.

What about live dates you ask? Well, that's not happening any time soon. She hasn't toured since 1979. Kate told the BBC:

"People always presume I didn't enjoy that tour," she protested. "I did enjoy it."

"[But] I haven't got any plans to do any live shows whatsoever. I'm very much engrossed in trying to making new material.

"I'm extremely flattered that people are interested."

We are interested (please tour!). Album tracklist and "Deeper Understanding" video (which Kate directed herself) below...

Continue reading "Kate Bush released "Director's Cut", won't be touring "