The Bowie estate have released details of the official soundtrack to the new David Bowie documentary from Brett Morgen, Moonage Daydream.
The 2 CD collection and the 3 LP vinyl version features live versions, album tracks, interview excerpts, orchestral performances, and some film-specific remixes.
You can listen to one of the soundtrack’s exclusive Moonage Daydream mixes now, in the form of Modern Love (Moonage Daydream Mix).
The soundtrack includes a previously unreleased 1973 live medley of The Jean Genie and The Beatles Love Me Do, featuring Jeff Beck on guitar, recorded during Bowie’s farewell Ziggy Stardust concert at Hammersmith Odeon in 1973, along with an unreleased 1974 live recording of Rock n’ Roll With Me from Bowie’s 1974 ’Soul Tour’ and an early demo of the Hunky Dory fan-favourite Quicksand.
There were no other details released about soundtrack specific mixes at this stage, but we will be able to find out for ourselves on September 16 2022, when the digital version of the soundtrack arrives on streaming platforms, prior to a physical release.
“Time… one of the most complex expressions…” Ian Fish U.K. Heir (Moonage Daydream Mix 1) Hallo Spaceboy (Remix Moonage Daydream Edit) Medley: Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud / All The Young Dudes / Oh! You Pretty Things (Live) Life On Mars? (2016 Mix Moonage Daydream Edit) Moonage Daydream (Live) The Jean Genie / Love Me Do / The Jean Genie (Live) (featuring Jeff Beck) The Light (Excerpt) Performed by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop Warszawa (Live Moonage Daydream Edit) Quicksand (Early Version 2021 Mix) Medley: Future Legend / Diamonds Dogs intro / Cracked Actor Rock ‘n’ Roll With Me (Live in Buffalo 8th November, 1974) Aladdin Sane (Moonage Daydream Edit) Subterraneans Space Oddity (Moonage Daydream Mix) V-2 Schneider
CD2 Sound And Vision (Moonage Daydream Mix) A New Career In A New Town (Moonage Daydream Mix) Word On A Wing (Moonage Daydream Excerpt) “Heroes” (Live Moonage Daydream Edit) D.J. (Moonage Daydream Mix) Ashes To Ashes (Moonage Daydream Mix) Move On (Moonage Daydream acappella Mix Edit) Moss Garden (Moonage Daydream Edit) Cygnet Committee/Lazarus (Moonage Daydream Mix) Memory Of A Free Festival (Harmonium Edit) Modern Love (Moonage Daydream Mix) Let’s Dance (Live Moonage Daydream Edit) The Mysteries (Moonage Daydream Mix) Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide (Live Moonage Daydream Edit) Ian Fish U.K. Heir (Moonage Daydream Mix 2) Word On A Wing (Moonage Daydream Mix) Hallo Spaceboy (live Moonage Daydream Mix) I Have Not Been To Oxford Town (Moonage Daydream acappella Mix Edit) “Heroes”: IV. Sons Of The Silent Age (Excerpt) Performed by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop ★ (Moonage Daydream Mix Edit) Ian Fish U.K. Heir (Moonage Daydream Mix Excerpt) Memory Of A Free Festival (Moonage Daydream Mix Edit) Starman “You’re aware of a deeper existence…” Changes “Let me tell you one thing…” “Well, you know what this has been an incredible pleasure…”
Satellite Life: Recordings (1995-1996) is a 3 CD set from Billy Mackenzie, released by Cherry Red on 22 April 2022, re-assembling past recordings with plenty of previously unreleased songs.
Hailing from Dundee, Scotland, Billy Mackenzie formed The Associates with Alan Rankine and the band enjoyed huge critical acclaim, chart success and cult status but the pair parted company in 1983 and Billy continued to record, for a while as The Associates and also in collaboration with other musicians, as well as releasing music as a solo artist.
Around 1994, Billy met Steve Aungle. The pair sparked off each other, prompting a purple patch for making new music. Some recordings appeared on two posthumous albums, Beyond The Sun (1997) and Eurocentric (2001). A couple more surfaced on Auchtermatic (2004).
However, Steve had long felt that the recordings hadn’t been presented or sequenced appropriately and in conjunction with Cherry Red, he has curated this new triple-CD collection, which re-assembles past recordings with previously unreleased songs, including collaborations with Dennis Wheatley and Laurence Jay Cedar, who also contribute to the CD booklet notes.
Disc one in the three CD set is titled Winter Academy, and mainly features songs from Beyond The Sun and Eurocentric. This first disc is Billy at his most melancholic, with mainly down-tempo songs. It’s perfectly sequenced, with stripped back arrangements for the early songs such as the majestic Sing That Song Again, highlighting the pure magic of Billy’s vocals. Winter Academy is the Beyond The Sun mix, not the Transmission Impossible version. An ice-cold arrangement chills, with a diamond sharp vocal performance that sits so well with the strings.
Billy’s version of Wild Is The Wind is a great companion piece to David Bowie’s take on the song. They are both classic recordings, and although I’ve lived with Bowie’s version for much longer, the held note towards the end blows my mind every single time I hear Billy perform this standard.
“Like a leaf clings To the tree Oh my darling, Cling to me”
Another cover is Sparks Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth, with just piano, violin and vocals. When The World Was Young features Steve Aungle on piano, and Billy on vocals. The sixties influenced layered backing vocals make the track sound so much richer, and it’s a highlight of this first disc.
Two previously unreleased songs sit in the middle of disc one. Tallahatchie Pass is a Mackenzie/Aungle composition, and is a 70s sounding arrangement. I wonder if this song is a reference to Billie Joe McAllister and the Tallahatchie Bridge referenced in Bobbie Gentry’s Ode to Billie Joe? Tallahatchie Pass is a fine song, and offers us a style not really heard from Billy before, as a tantalising hint of what might have been.
Also previously unreleased is the dark cover of Randy Newman’s Baltimore, recorded with Dennis Wheatley. This is my favourite of the “new” tracks on this disc. The beatless, discordant and reverb drenched strings and vocals deliver an absolute classic, that could have easily been included on one of Billy’s studio albums. The arrangement reminds me of the mood of Bomb The Bass’s Winter In July (minus the beats, of course). Heavenly!
“Oh, Baltimore Ain’t it hard just to live, just to live”
I was not surprised to see Nocturne VII and Beyond The Sun appear on this compilation, and Return To Love dials in the electronica of the second disc, Consenting Holograms.
The tempo increases for disc two. Opening with Beyond The Sun‘s manic, Middle Eastern flavoured 3 Gypsies In A Restaurant and Eurocentric‘s Falling Out With The Future, the synths are bubbling and the beats are pumping. No torch songs here.
Put This Right was recorded and written with Laurence Jay Cedar, and features a Giorgio Moroder inspired synth-fest backing, and a fine vocal from Mr MacKenzie. The unreleased tracks are a revelation! A second Laurence Jay Cedar track follows, with Diamanda. A more experimental dance track than Put This Right, with acid synths and cold soundscapes providing the perfect backing to an insistently catchy song that burrows into your brain. Disc two is made to play loud!
Hornophobic always reminds me of the Rankine / Associates Sulk era, and has aged particularly well, remaining one of Billy’s best later period pieces.
“Just walk, walk through your TVs No room for deep thought, or heat-seeking missiles”
Fear Is My Bride features a touching vocal and an addictive chorus. Sadly, I wonder about the source material for this song (and to some extent, the vocal on Eurocentric), as the audio quality falls a little below the standard of the other tracks, but for the chorus alone, Fear Is My Bride deserves its inclusion.
14th Century Nightlife works well with another of the unreleased tracks, another lyric-less piece, the jittery Consenting Holograms Have More Fun.
Following on from the cover of Eurythmics Here Comes The Rain Again comes Eurocentric, propelled by a four to the floor kick-drum and an interesting vocal arrangement. We can only wonder how all of these previously unreleased songs would have developed over time, had Billy still been with us.
Mysterious Lover is sadly very much of its time, so not one of my favourites from the Consenting Holograms disc. Return To Love 2 is a previously unheard version of the Eurocentric track, and is a much brighter, and at times, lighter take on the song.
Give Me Time (remix) is a 9 minute exploration of the Beyond The Sun track, that also appears in it’s original form on disc 3 of this collection. The arrangement stretches and is almost a dub mix at times, with echoed percussion and deep-cut basslines. The last three minutes of this remix are a dream, with the music built around a Mackenzie harmony. Drop those depth charges baby! The original is still the definitive take, but this remix is worth returning to, and sounds so beautiful in the magical early hours.
Disc Three: Liberty Lounge includes six previously unreleased recordings, and rounds the collection off with some of Mackenzie’s more pop orientated material. Tomorrow People is a timeless piece of twisted pop-music. Possibly inspired by the early 70s UK television show, this would have made a great single, and would still sound good on the radio today. Release it to the airwaves, Cherry Red!
The Mountains That You Climb, with its whistle intro and deep strings, has a nostalgic 1960s feel. Hearing Billy’s vocals accompanied by Rhodes piano sends shivers. This song would have been the centrepiece of any future Billy Mackenzie album, in an alternative reality. The way he hold’s the vocal line before the chorus, is a Mackenzie trademark, built to tug on the heart-strings. I love the production (by White Label), and it soon became one of my favourites on the collection.
The quality does not drop with the next unreleased song, McArthur’s Son, another White Label production, benefiting from a fuller band line-up. Sounding like an out-take from a classic mid 70s album, I would have loved to have heard further recordings with this more organic style, so unlike any other songs we have heard graced with those angelic pipes. A genuine lost Mackenzie classic.
Reminding me of Bowie’s Lodger, Eurocentric‘s Liberty Lounge did not initially connect with me until I heard it on this compilation, which shows how this reimagining / sympathetic sequencing has done wonders for the material. There are no major audio improvements that I am aware of with the previously released tracks, but so many of the songs work so much better in this new environment.
We go back to Beyond The Sun for the next four tracks, and they are all killer, no filler, especially the Roxy Music art-rock of Sour Jewel and the aching Theme From Shaft meets Massive Attack influenced At The Edge Of The World. This song really highlights the raw emotion of Billy’s vocals. The album’s title track is from the Transmission Impossible album, and is another one that only really hit hard on this compilation.
A new version of a Beyond The Sun track is the next previously unheard songs. 14 Mirrors 2 strips back the instrumentation, with Billy accompanied by Steve Aungle on piano, giving this take a new, timeless appeal. Auchtermatic‘s Velvet whet’s your palette for the final two previously unreleased tracks.
Your Own Fire is a collaboration with Stiv Lestar, and sadly suffers compared to the other songs, sounding like it might have been sourced from a cassette master. Nonetheless Your Own Fire has an interesting arrangement, almost sounding like Billy backed by a rough and ready garage band.
The album ends with Von Hamburg, a haunting Mackenzie/Aungle composed piano and strings finale that is a fitting conclusion to a collection put together with so much love and respect.
I must admit to feeling a little worried about this compilation prior to hearing it, and whilst the audio quality dips on three of the songs, I agree with the inclusion of all of the unreleased material, which offers hints of what was possibly still to come from Billy, and definitely enhances his reputation as one of our most gifted singer / songwriters. Everyone marvels at his voice but don’t always give credit for his writing. Also bear in mind the timescale of these recordings – with so much quality to be heard, and such a wide musical vocabulary, all in the space of just two years, making this collection all the more remarkable, and a pure joy to listen to.
TOY:BOX is a special edition of the unreleased David Bowie TOY album available as a 3CD boxset, and is due to be released on 7th January 2022. The sleeve artwork was designed by Bowie featuring a photo of him as a baby with a contemporary face. The package also contains a 16-page full-colour book featuring previously unseen photographs.
TOY was recorded following his Glastonbury 2000 performance. Bowie entered the studio with his band to record new interpretations of songs he had first recorded in the period 1964-1971.
Also included in TOY:BOX is a second CD of alternative mixes and versions including proposed B-Sides (versions of David’s debut single ‘Liza Jane’ and 1967’s ‘In The Heat Of The Morning’), later mixes by Tony Visconti and the ‘Tibet Version’ of ‘Silly Boy Blue’ recorded at The Looking Glass Studio time at the of the 2001 Tibet House show in New York featuring Philip Glass on piano and Moby on guitar.
The third CD features ‘Unplugged & Somewhat Slightly Electric’ mixes of thirteen TOY tracks.
I Dig Everything You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving The London Boys Karma Man Conversation Piece Shadow Man Let Me Sleep Beside You Hole In The Ground Baby Loves That Way Can’t Help Thinking About Me Silly Boy Blue Toy (Your Turn To Drive)
Produced by David Bowie & Mark Plati Engineered by Pete Keppler Mixed by Mark Plati Assisted by Hector Castillo, Steve Mazur, and Todd Parker Recorded at Sear Sound, The Looking Glass & Alice’s Restaurant in New York City, Summer 2000
CD 2
TOY- Alternatives & Extras
Liza Jane You’ve Got A Habit of Leaving (alternative mix) * Baby Loves That Way (alternative mix) * Can’t Help Thinking About Me (alternative mix) I Dig Everything (alternative mix) The London Boys (alternative version) Silly Boy Blue (Tibet version) Let Me Sleep Beside You (alternative mix) * In The Heat Of The Morning Conversation Piece (alternative mix) * Hole In The Ground (alternative mix) Shadow Man (alternative mix) * Toy (Your Turn To Drive) (alternative mix) *
Produced by David Bowie & Mark Plati except ‘The London Boys’ additional production by Tony Visconti ‘Silly Boy Blue’ (Tibet version) Produced by David Bowie & Tony Visconti Engineered by Pete Keppler at Sear Sound, assisted by Todd Parker Engineered by Mark Plati at Alice’s Restaurant Recorded at Sear Sound, The Looking Glass & Alice’s Restaurant in New York City, Summer 2000 Except ‘Silly Boy Blue’ (Tibet version) recorded at The Looking Glass, 2001 Mixed by Tony Visconti, assisted by Darren S. Moore at the Manhattan Center, early 2001 Except ‘Liza Jane’ & ‘In The Heat Of The Morning’ mixed by Mark Plati, assisted by Hector Castillo at The Looking Glass. *Previously released
CD 3
TOY – Unplugged & Somewhat Slightly Electric
In The Heat Of The Morning (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix) I Dig Everything (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix) You’ve Got A Habit of Leaving (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix) The London Boys (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix) Karma Man (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix) Conversation Piece (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix) Shadow Man (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix) Let Me Sleep Beside You (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix) Hole In The Ground (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix) Baby Loves That Way (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix) Can’t Help Thinking About Me (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix) Silly Boy Blue (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix) Toy (Your Turn To Drive) (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)
Produced by David Bowie & Mark Plati Engineered by Pete Keppler Mixed by Mark Plati, assisted by Hector Castillo, Steve Mazur & Todd Parker Recorded at Sear Sound, The Looking Glass & Alice’s Restaurant in New York City, Summer 2000 All songs written by David Bowie except ‘Liza Jane’ written by Leslie Conn.
TOY MUSICIANS:
David Bowie: lead & backing vocals, Korg Triton Sterling Campbell: drums, claps Gail Ann Dorsey: bass, clarinet, backing vocals Mike Garson: piano, organ, synth, Fender Rhodes Emm Gryner: backing vocals, clarinet Holly Palmer: backing vocals, percussion Mark Plati: acoustic & electric guitars, bass, Mellotron, backing vocals Earl Slick: acoustic & electric guitars
Augmented by the following musicians on certain recordings:
Tony Visconti: bass, string arrangements Lisa Germano: violin, accordion, mandolin, recorder, backing vocals Gerry Leonard: electric guitar Cuong Vu: trumpet Strings – The Scorchio Quartet Moby – electric guitar Philip Glass – piano
Cousteau were a London based band active from 1999 to 2005, releasing three studio albums and known for the songs The Last Good Day of The Year and Mesmer.
Core Cousteau members Liam McKahey and Davey Ray Moor returned as CousteauX (it’s a silent X apparently!) in 2016 and after releasing their first album under the CousteauX name in 2017, are back in 2021 with a new album, Stray Gods.
As I mentioned in my review of 2017’s CousteauX album, this incarnation strays far from the lighter, more easy listening style of their early 90s music. This is often uneasy listening, and the experience is all the more stronger for it.
Cheap Perfume sets the template for much of the album. Stuttering guitar lines and a steady, mid-paced rhythm give way to a delicious chorus, with “that” voice in full flow. There is a real edge to latter day music from Liam and Davey, with dirty, sleazy guitar riffs often in evidence.
Love The Sinner has an inventively percussive pace, with duelling guitar and keyboard riffs below the deepest, simmering baritone, topped by a multi-layered chorus that Bowie would have been proud of. The demons win the battle in this song.
On first hearing Karen Don’t Be Sad, I was not aware it was a cover of a song written by Miley Cyrus, Wayne Coyne & Steven Drozd. I thought it was the band’s take on the recent “Karen” phenomenon. Or maybe a tribute to the great Karen Carpenter (there are strong Carpenter vibes on this song). But nope, got that wrong on both counts, though there is a slight possibility that my ears could be deceiving me, as I think there have been some slight lyric changes to reflect current events, so maybe my first instinct was true. I guess I will find out when I have the pressed CD in my possession.
The essence of the earlier band incarnation runs through Karen Don’t Be Sad , the most gentle, delicate piece on the album. Its a doozy. As is the 60s flavoured Yesterday Eyes, which simply oozes Monte Carlo spy thriller. The smooth, measured arrangement graced with a dreamy chorus that seeps into your soul. One of my song of the year contenders.
We head towards the half-way mark with the scene setting Bloom Overture that flows into When The Bloom Has Left The Rose, with Liam’s most emotional vocal performance on the album. At this point on Stray Gods, the weather is changing and a storm is clearly approaching. When The Bloom Has Left The Rose is stripped back, with heavy use of atmospherics and mood to convey the deep emotion.
The band take a rare excursion to a 70s sound with So Long Marianne, which has some subtle country leanings, and don’t shoot me, it reminds me a little of prime 70s Neil Diamond, even though it is in fact a Leonard Cohen song. I’m a sucker for this sort of rich arrangement, with Rhodes piano, slide guitar and soulful backing vocals, so this would always be an obvious favourite for me.
Praying For Rain is pure Americana, with bar-room piano solos, and a blues shuffle driving one of the album’s darkest pieces. None of the tracks feel rushed or cluttered on Stray Gods, there is always plenty of space for the songs to breathe and for the lyrics to do their work. This Thing Won’t Fly is a case in point, with a rich chorus escaping from the leisurely verse.
Electrical Storms In Berlin is unlike anything Liam and Davey have released before. The pace is funereal, and the crackling, atmospheric arrangement feels like the film score to a dark noir movie. Its a career highlight for the duo.
“Grabs of news and ballyhoo drone on and on dabs of truth ‘bout me and you so long wrong and gone”
Hush Money is the heaviest track on Stray Gods, both musically and lyrically. Guitars and drums are the main ingredients on this track, with a blues swagger rarely heard from the duo.
The clouds clear for Stray Gods finale, with the gentle, tender torch-song In The Meantime. Stinging ride cymbals and deep synth strings sit atop the piano and double bass of the shifting moods that populate this album closer.
I loved the band’s return in 2017, but Stray Gods feels like a much more rounded, rich and complete piece of work, and is my favourite of the two duo albums. The mood and pace of the album twists and turns, with so much more variety shown by Liam and Davey this time around.
I say this everytime I review one of their album’s, and they always seem to ignore me, but I hope this is a run of new music. Don’t go splitting up on us again CousteauX!!!
Cheap Perfume Love The Sinner Karen Don’t Be Sad Yesterday Eyes Bloom Overture When The Bloom Has Left The Rose So Long Marianne Praying For Rain This Thing Won’t Fly Electrical Storms In Berlin Hush Money In The Meantime
Released August 20, 2021
Voice: Liam McKahey Songs & Production: Davey Ray Moor
CousteauX (formerly known as Cousteau) after a few years away are back, with a new album Stray Gods.
Cousteau were a London based band active from 1999 to 2005, releasing 3 studio albums and known for the songs The Last Good Day of The Year and Mesmer.
Core Cousteau members Liam McKahey and Davey Ray Moor returned as CousteauX in 2016 and after releasing their first album under the CousteauX name in 2017, and a series of well-received gigs, it all went quiet again and the band seemed to have disappeared. Until now.
Stray Gods will be available with songs being released via their website, one track at a time, with a choose your own price model. There is no news at this stage of a physical release (a vinyl release would be welcome!) but this is a good way to support the band and that will hopefully lead to further music.
Remastered Part 2 contains remastered versions of Aerial, Director’s Cut and the winter-themed 50 Words for Snow, plus the original (not remastered) version of the live Before The Dawn album and 4 disc collection of 12″ mixes b-sides and covers.
2005’s Aerial is still a highlight of Kate’s back catalogue. The 2018 remaster, if anything, is a little quieter than the original release. This is noticeable on opening track King Of The Mountain. Kate’s vocals sit better in the mix now, and it is really clear on How To Be Invisible, where the soundscape of the song feels wider and slightly less compressed. Aerial is definitely an album to play loud on CD or vinyl, even more so with this new mastering.
The most obvious changes can be heard on the second Aerial disc – A Sky of Honey. Much has been made of the removal of Rolf Harris from An Architects Dream and The Painter’s Link. The latter track is taken from the Before The Dawn live album (according to the sleeve notes). The remaining tracks on side two work so well as one movement, and the joyful end to Sunset and the whole of Nocturn (and the title track) sound amazing with the volume pushed up on CD. The rhodes piano on Nocturn sounds delicious.
Director’s Cut is not a major improvement, the biggest change I noticed was the clarity of This Woman’s Work and the slightly more background drums on Top Of The City.
50 Words For Snow is a much more sympathetic remaster. The bass sits naturally in the mix on Snowflake, and the piano on the intro to Lake Tahoe is softer, as is Kate’s vocal. This is normally the time of year that this album gets played heavily by me, so the box-set is well-timed. The remasters of the later album’s are less obvious than on the earlier ones that feature in box-set 1, but it is still the best these tracks have sounded.
The final four albums don’t appear to have been remastered, but offer a nice selection of 12″ remixes (including my favourite KB 12″ – Experiment IV), ‘b’ sides, soundtrack cuts and more. I can’t comment on the Other’s Words (the covers disc) as the box-set I bought does not have this disc, and has two versions of disc 3 instead! Luckily Amazon are sending a replacement, but I won’t get to hear this until next week.
Sadly The Other Sides does not catch all of the non-album tracks – The Empty Bullring, Ken and the Live On Stage EP in particular are noticeable by their absence, but we do get one previously unreleased track, Humming.
Humming was recorded in 1975 and was produced by Andrew Powell, who also worked on The Kick Inside & Lionheart. It sounds very much of its time, with a mid-70s country lilt to the guitar work, but the song is missing the playful and adventurous arrangements of the songs that followed three years later. Recorded when Kate was 17, its a strong vocal performance and whilst it is good to hear music from Kate’s formative years, I feel that Humming would have sounded out of place on The Kick Inside.
A highlight of The Other Sides is Lyra, Kate’s contribution to The Golden Compass soundtrack. This is the first time the song has been released on a Kate Bush compilation. Its an understated but emotional track, and Lyra reminds me a little of the early recordings from the sadly now inactive Clannad.
Similar to the first collection of remasters, this Part II collection is a must-have if you don’t already own the albums. If you already own them, you will appreciate hearing the albums in these best sounding versions. The album’s are also available as individual releases, apart from The Other Sides, which remain exclusive to the CD and vinyl box-sets.
The albums below are only available as part of the CD box-set or in Remastered in Vinyl IV, they are not available as separate releases.
12″ Mixes Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) The Big Sky (Meteorological Mix) Cloudbusting (The Orgonon Mix) Hounds Of Love (Alternative Mix) Experiment IV (Extended Mix)
The Other Side 1 Walk Straight Down The Middle You Want Alchemy Be Kind To My Mistakes Lyra Under The Ivy Experiment IV Ne T’Enfuis Pas Un Baiser D’Enfant Burning Bridge Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) 2012 Remix
The Other Side 2 Home For Christmas One Last Look Around The House Before We Go I’m Still Waiting Warm And Soothing Show A Little Devotion Passing Through Air Humming (previously unreleased) Ran Tan Waltz December Will Be Magic Again Wuthering Heights (Remix / New Vocal from The Whole Story)
In Others’ Words Rocket Man Sexual Healing Mná na hÉireann My Lagan Love The Man I Love Brazil (Sam Lowry’s First Dream) The Handsome Cabin Boy Lord Of The Reedy River Candle In The Wind
Kate Bush has released remastered versions of her first seven studio albums – as a box-set and as individual albums, on CD and vinyl. A second box-set is released at the end of November 2018.
Kate’s early albums sounded amazing anyway, and the 2018 remasters thankfully are not just pushing the volume up or brickwalling. The differences are subtle but compliment and at times, enhance the music.
So on Kate’s debut album, The Kick Inside from 1978, there is a touch more bass response, and the new remaster adds greater depth to the vocals – such as on the “You crush the lily in my soul” section on the album opener, Moving.
The Man With The Child In His Eyes sounds amazing, especially when the strings soar in the chorus, and the lead vocal on L’Amour Looks Something Like You sits so much better in the mix on this new remaster. Wuthering Heights reveals little flourishes that were previously less prominent in the mix, and the vocal sits so well.
Lionheart, compared to the original CD issue (listening, not comparing waveforms!) is a more sympathetic remaster. The original sounds slightly muddy in comparison, whilst the new master feels cleaner and lets you push the volume up. This is especially noticeable on Symphony In Blue (the drums sound much better) and on Wow (the strings sound gorgeous).
Wow is a marked improvement, the mix is perfect and its like hearing the song for the first time. Yep, its the remasters first Wow moment. Sorry.
In The Warm Room (one of the most sensual songs I have ever heard) sounds delicious at volume. Hammer Horror now sounds like it was recorded in technicolor – the orchestral opening and the reverb on Kate’s vocals lifts the song to a new level.
The piano and keyboards on the intro to Babooshka from Never For Ever (1980) sound much less harsh than the original master, they sparkle more. One of my favourite songs on the album, Delius also benefits and feels more natural.
Breathing has always been one of my favourite songs. Has there ever been a more powerful anti-war /non-nuclear song than this? As through all the albums, the difference is subtle but noticeable, particularly on the instrumental section of Breathing. The song is not mastered as loud, so individual moments (such as single piano notes and deep bass) cuts cleanly through the mix, and makes you sit up and listen.
The Dreaming is my favourite overall Kate Bush album, and I love the way the vocals sound on this remaster. At normal volume, the changes are noticeable, but when played at volume, the strengths of The Dreaming really hit home. Those drums on Sat In Your Lap!
Album closer Get Out Of My House is a delight – the guitar (from the late Alan Murphy) add to the paranoia and desperation seeping through the song.
The remaster adds warmth and power to the Fairlight lines and drums on Running Up That Hill from Hounds Of Love (1985) , and the bassline is more prominent than before. This song is one of my favourite memories from the Before The Dawn shows from a few years ago.
The title track has more punch to the inventive percussion and The Big Sky is a different version to the previous album release (it sounds like the single mix) and is a much livelier arrangement.
Side 2 aka The Ninth Wave is a lot of fans favourite pieces in Kate’s catalogue, and the 2018 remaster does not disappoint. The whole piece sounds clearer and more powerful.
The peaks and troughs of Jig Of Life are a joy to listen to at volume. The choral vocals are so much warmer on Hello Earth, one of the most moving parts of The Ninth Wave.
The Sensual World (1989) has more punch, especially in the chorus of the title track and on the percussion on Reaching Out, one of my favourites from the album.
Deeper Understanding is one of the major improvements on The Sensual World, with individual instruments and voices cutting through the mix with so much clarity.
The album ends with one of Kate’s most popular songs, This Woman’s Work. The treatment of the lead vocals and the use of reverb is a production masterclass, and this is the best the song has ever sounded.
The Red Shoes (1993) has some key improvements in sound quality – such as on the chorus of Rubberband Girl, with a stronger bass and guitar sound. The deep strings in Moments Of Pleasure are more vibrant and richer and Top Of The City sounds more widescreen and cinematic.
The heartbreaking You’re The One is beautiful, the original now sounds a little muddy in comparison.
The only negative point I have about these re-issues is the lack of fresh content with the packaging. Whilst the reproductions of the original artwork with the CD cases and the booklets is high quality and faithful to the initial releases, I am a little disappointed that the booklets just contain lyrics and recording details. There is nothing new in the booklets – no previously unseen pictures, no essays or background to the albums or songs – either from Kate herself, or from any of the musicians or countless wonderful Kate Bush websites and blogs scattered across the internet. Also, a pet hate here (and not a fault of the compilers) – recent box sets (including the Bowie series) have a paper detachable back panel, listing the box-sets content that is not fixed to the box and does not fit inside, so easily gets damaged or lost.
Anyway, very minor grumble aside, this is an excellent release and all seven albums have been lovingly remastered and are definitely worth the outlay, even if you already own the original albums.
If you don’t have any Kate Bush albums in your collection, this box-set is a must purchase. Which reminds me, I need to start saving for the second CD box-set. Or maybe add it to my Christmas list. Hint hint Santa.
Kate Bush will release remastered versions of her entire studio album catalogue on CD and vinyl in November 2018.
I was only thinking the other day that I would love to hear a remastered version of The Dreaming, and here we are. The power of positive thinking. Back to reality – tweets from the Kate Bush twitter account are as rare as hen’s teeth. So when one arrives in your timeline (a tweet, not a hen’s tooth), its normally significant, like announcing the 2014 Before The Dawn tour and now this extensive re-issue campaign. I feel they may have missed a trick with not using #NovemberWillBeMagicAgain, but KB-HQ twitter team, you can have that one for free if you want.
For the casual fan, the CD box-sets are a great way to add some classic albums to your collection. As an avid fan since 1978, I’m looking forward to hearing the new remasters of some of my favourite albums and hearing with new clarity so many songs that are etched into my soul.
The vinyl box-sets are, by their very nature, quite pricey, but being split into four different sets will help you build your collection over time, if vinyl is your format of choice.
From the initial artwork shown on Kate’s website, the CD and vinyl packaging looks beautiful, so I would suggest going for the physical releases, rather than digital, if you possibly can. Hopefully the details below will make it clear what is available, so you can start saving for your purchases!
The albums have been remastered by Kate and James Guthrie (apart from the live Before The Dawn album which retains its recent, original mastering).
The track-listing for the Kate Bush Remastered In Vinyl IV box-set and the last 4 CDs of the second CD box-set consists of:
12” Mixes
Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) The Big Sky (Meteorological Mix) Cloudbusting (The Orgonon Mix) Hounds Of Love (Alternative Mix) Experiment IV (Extended Mix)
The Other Side 1
Walk Straight Down The Middle You Want Alchemy Be Kind To My Mistakes Lyra Under The Ivy Experiment IV Ne T’Enfuis Pas Un Baiser D’Enfant Burning Bridge Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) 2012 Remix
The Other Side 2
Home For Christmas One Last Look Around The House Before We Go I’m Still Waiting Warm And Soothing Show A Little Devotion Passing Through Air Humming Ran Tan Waltz December Will Be Magic Again Wuthering Heights (Remix / New Vocal from The Whole Story)
In Others’ Words
Rocket Man Sexual Healing Mná na hÉireann My Lagan Love The Man I Love Brazil (Sam Lowry’s First Dream) The Handsome Cabin Boy Lord Of The Reedy River Candle In The Wind
Cousteau were a London-based band who released three albums between 1999 and 2005. Their most well-known song was The Last Good Day of the Year from their debut album. After success in the UK, Italy and the US, the band went their separate ways in 2006. Singer Liam McKahey reunited with song-writer Davey Ray Moor in 2015 as CousteauX, and they released their first album in over 10 years in September 2017.
CousteauX opens with Memory is a Weapon, and instantly the years roll away. This is the music of the debut album with added pathos and a much richer, fuller production. I loved Liam’s two solo album’s, but team him up with Davey Ray Moor and something magical happens. The yearning backing vocals and simple piano motif over the insistent bass-line delivers a powerful and direct opening.
This Might Be Love rides on a bluesey acoustic guitar riff and a meandering synth line. One of the darker songs on the album, it has a real Americana feel to it, and breaks new ground for the band.
Track 3 is my favourite song on the album. Burma features an emotional acoustic bass and piano line, and for the first time I can really see the Bowie comparison with Liam’s vocals. Think Wild is The Wind and Bowie’s rich baritone from the Station To Station era. Burma is a song with wonderfully evocative lyrics, and one of Liam’s finest vocals.
“Go my love steady, just be upstairs ready, my angel”
I’m sure this will soon become a fan favourite. The arrangement evolves in an unforced and natural way as the song progresses.
After the beauty of Burma comes the darkness of The Innermost Light. A sleazy, razor-sharp performance that features Carl Barat (The Libertines / Dirty Pretty
Things), The Innermost Light is a future spaghetti western theme tune in the waiting. It makes you want to kick open the bar door and spit in the sawdust. Or maybe that’s just me.
Maybe You is a less tense affair. Arriving at the mid-point of the album, Maybe You is the sort of stripped back ballad that the band deliver so well. The upright bass is phenomenal, and reminds me of the playing of Danny Thompson and his work with John Martyn.
Portobello Serenade has the feel of a 1950s / 60s Soho, with its hazy jazz percussion and trumpet. Thin Red Lines switches the tempo up a gear and shifts forward a few decades, with an almost glam-rock / T-Rex feel to the jagged guitars and soulful backing vocals.
“Only the mystery remains”
Shelter is an oddity on the album but oh what a lovely oddity! It’s almost the bands take on modern r ‘n’ b production. A minimal programmed drum pattern on top of Art of Noise (Moments In Love) like backing vocals and a lovely Rhodes piano melody explores new territory for the band. I look forward to more experimentation like this on future CousteauX albums.
The penultimate track, Seasons Of You is the nearest we get to the classic Cousteau sound of old. Its a joyful, breezy track that lifts the mood before the album’s closing song, the mean and goddamn moody as hell F***ing In Joy and Sorrow.
“I’m in love but I’m grieving”
The hi-hat and toms percussion that underpin a stark organ / guitar backdrop propels the brutally honest and direct lyric of lust, hurt and regret.
This is music made for the night. Switch off the lights, pour yourself some whisky on the rocks and let the music take over.
As a long-time fan of the band, who I have only seen live once (a memorable, packed and sweaty early 90s gig in Blackheath) – I was intrigued as to what a modern day Cousteau would bring us. I’m overjoyed to report that the core of what made this band so special is still intact. *That* voice and the quality song-writing and performances, combined with a brave stretching of the bands template, mean that the 2017 version known as CousteauX has delivered an emotionally satisfying and stylistically varied album that stands up to repeated listening. At times, its far from easy listening, but stick with it and you will find so much to savour in these deep, rich and often dark songs.
Welcome back Cousteaux. You have been missed, stay around a little longer this time….
Kate Bush has released the second set of remastered versions of her albums – as a box-set and as individual albums, on CD and vinyl. 
Kate Bush has released remastered versions of her first seven studio albums – as a 
Lionheart, compared to the original CD issue (listening, not comparing waveforms!) is a more sympathetic remaster. The original sounds slightly muddy in comparison, whilst the new master feels cleaner and lets you push the volume up. This is especially noticeable on Symphony In Blue (the drums sound much better) and on Wow (the strings sound gorgeous).
The piano and keyboards on the intro to Babooshka from Never For Ever (1980) sound much less harsh than the original master, they sparkle more. One of my favourite songs on the album, Delius also benefits and feels more natural.
The Dreaming is my favourite overall Kate Bush album, and I love the way the vocals sound on this remaster. At normal volume, the changes are noticeable, but when played at volume, the strengths of The Dreaming really hit home. Those drums on Sat In Your Lap!
The Sensual World (1989) has more punch, especially in the chorus of the title track and on the percussion on Reaching Out, one of my favourites from the album.
The Red Shoes (1993) has some key improvements in sound quality – such as on the chorus of Rubberband Girl, with a stronger bass and guitar sound. The deep strings in Moments Of Pleasure are more vibrant and richer and Top Of The City sounds more widescreen and cinematic.
Cousteau were a London-based band who released three albums between 1999 and 2005. Their most well-known song was The Last Good Day of the Year from their debut album. After success in the UK, Italy and the US, the band went their separate ways in 2006. Singer Liam McKahey reunited with song-writer Davey Ray Moor in 2015 as CousteauX, and they released their first album in over 10 years in September 2017.
Mr Kinski's Music Shack 