KATE BUSH – Hounds of Love (Part 2)

So Sarah takes a stab at the double-platinum Hounds of Love, one of the most important, highly regarded albums in the history of pop music and goes, “meh.” That’s not totally fair. Brandon is a little overly excited and his enthusiasm is tough to match. Sarah does throw together a list of contemporary male artists likely influenced by Ms. Bush, which is nice.

Kate Bush – “Running Up That Hill”

From: Sarah Braunstein
To: Brandon Hall

Brandon,

You say you just got your hands on Hounds of Love? That is really embarrassing. Especially because, at 9 months old, I was bouncing away in my exersaucer to “Running Up That Hill” and discussing Kate Bush’s reference to the Tennyson poem, “Idylls of the King,” in the title of the second half of her album. Granted, no one could understand any of my (valid) points because my discourse sounded like garbled, detached syllables.

You’re smirking now, I can tell. It’s because you know that you actually (and very legally) gave me Hounds of Love just a couple of weeks ago and I didn’t sit down and listen to it until last Wednesday. Me, the one whose iTunes history reveals that my most listened-to tracks are all from bands consisting entirely of women or at least fronted by a woman, did not hear Kate Bush until 7 days ago. This isn’t embarrassing, it’s shameful (slightly less shameful, here’s where I was spending a lot of that wasted time). I’m sorry, Kate, that I read or heard your name referenced and revered in so many places over the years and never took the initiative to crate dig; but really I’m much sorrier for my philistine self.

All of this being the case, I don’t think that I’m quite as…well…floored by this album as you are. I’ve been listening to it essentially without pause for the last few days and while I’m grateful to have more than a passing familiarity with Hounds of Love, I’m not feeling particularly attached to the album either. So far, the only song to get stuck in my head after all the listening I’ve been doing is “The Big Sky” and that track grates on me. I’d like Hounds of Love a lot more if it didn’t have “The Big Sky” on it. As I listen to the album, I also find my ears searching for something in the first five tracks (or Side One, if you will) that isn’t there, and that something is bass. Yeah yeah, I realize bass was not “in” with the synth-happy new wave-y 80s but I was raised on a diet that included the lower register and I miss its warmth and drone in Hounds of Love. Kate Bush is set in her ways (aka touring pretty much NEVER) and so am I.

You’re frowning now because of my negativity, I can tell. To make you stop, I’ll go ahead and say some really nice things about the album now because I believe there are many and they outweigh all of the low points. “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God),” “Hounds of Love,” and “Cloudbusting” are all fucking awesome songs. I’m pretty sure that “Mother Stands For Comfort” could fit in on St. Vincent’s Strange Mercy exactly as is and no one would bat an eye. If that doesn’t reinforce your point that Hounds of Love sounds contemporary even though it’s 26 years old, I don’t know what will. So we’ll go ahead and add St. Vincent to your all-lady list of Kate Bush progeny.

Speaking of, you challenged me to point to some dudes who might also cite Kate Bush as a major influence and I’ve listed a few below (in no particular order):

-The Decemberists: Colin Meloy loves spinning tales and taking on various personae in all his albums. Kate Bush did that first.

-Arcade Fire: Again, with the story-telling (or attempted story telling). There’s a shared love of multi-multi-multi-instrumentalists as well as less common noisemakers like bouzouki, balalaika, and hurdy-gurdy. Yes, hurdy-gurdy. Also, I’ll be damned if Régine Chassagne didn’t spend some serious time listening to Kate Bush in her formative years.

-M83: You recently wrote about Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming so you get this, right?

-Owen Pallett: Last year, Pallet released Heartland, an album of 12 songs that are described as  “monologues from Lewis, an ‘ultra-violent farmer’ in a world called Spectrum, as he tries to come to grips with his own creator, Owen Pallett.” Yeah, he’s definitely into Kate Bush.

-Esben and The Witch: Ok, I’ve never actually listened to these guys but, based on name alone, I can’t imagine how they wouldn’t cite Kate Bush as “totally a major source of inspiration.”

What do you think of this list? And I’m interested to get your take on Side Two of Hounds of Love. This is a meaty subject to be sure, and one that I left entirely untouched for you to delve into. And no, I will not partake in your little game of puns with Kate’s last name. She and I, we’re ladies.

“Mother hides the madman, Mother will stay mum.”
Sarah