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Theo Bleckmann
Hello Earth! The
Music Of
Kate Bush
Winter & Winter 9101832
HHH1/2
Kate Bush
50 Words For Snow
Anti- 87186
HHH
On Hello Earth! The Music Of Kate Bush,
vocalist Theo Bleckmann reinterprets the
British singer’s work through his own lens. It’s
a gutsy move. Bush’s idiosyncratic musicality
makes her difficult to cover, and tougher to reimagine.
What’s surprising about Hello Earth!
is how seamlessly Bleckmann pulls it off.
Along with tackling obvious choices from
her catalog, some beautifully (“Running Up
That Hill” and “Army Dreamers”), he dabbles
with more ambitious material from Bush’s
song cycles. “And Dream Of Sheep,” “Under
Ice” and the title track—all taken from the
suite on the second half of Hounds Of Love—
act as Hello Earth!’s emotional centerpiece.
On many of these songs, Bush had originally
deployed an arsenal of vintage synth sounds
and effects, some of which could sound dated
to modern ears. Bleckmann, instead, relies
on the muscle of a spartan quartet—featuring
drummer John Hollenbeck—that leapfrogs
styles from straightforward vocal jazz to ambience
to thrash metal (“Violin”).
Like Bush, Bleckmann has a flair for oddball
harmonies and vocalese. His voice is
also supple enough to charge the most oftencovered
Bush numbers, particularly “This
Woman’s Work,” with deep empathy. It makes
for a generous collection, limited only by the
near-impossibility of its vision.
50 Words For Snow would’ve given
Bleckmann more material. Bush’s latest
release, and the closest thing she’ll ever have
to a holiday album, is a low-key fantasia centered
around her jazz-tinged piano and wintery
themes. In her hands, this means inhabiting
such characters as a snowflake falling to
earth, an explorer trying to save the Yeti from
certain doom and a woman who
turns building a snowman into an
erotic act.
Songs don’t rise and fall in the
conventional sense as much as
they muse on their given ideas. For
support, she’s brought in a more
workmanlike musical team than
Bleckmann’s, one that includes
drumming god Steve Gadd and, on
one track, bassist Danny Thompson.
The album has its bold moments,
especially “Snowed In At Wheeler Street,” a
fine duet with Elton John where he and Bush
play war-torn lovers. But 50 Words For Snow
is a largely hushed affair. It’s the album’s greatest
weakness as well as the reason for its quiet
grandeur.
—Zach Phillips
Hello Earth! The Music Of Kate Bush: Running Up That Hill;
Suspended In Gaffa; And Dream Of Sheep; Under Ice; Violin; Hello
Earth; Cloudbusting; All The Love; Saxophone Song; Army Dreamers;
The Man With The Child In His Eyes; Watching You Without
Me; Love And Anger; This Woman’s Work. (60:28)
Personnel: Theo Bleckmann, vocals, electronics; Henry Hey,
piano, harpsichord, Fender Rhodes; Caleb Burhans, violin, guitar;
Skuli Sverrisson, bass; John Hollenbeck, drums, percussion,
crotales.
Ordering info: winterandwinter.com
50 Words For Snow: Snowflake; Lake Tahoe; Misty; Wild Man;
Snowed In At Wheeler Street; 50 Words For Snow; Among Angels.
(65:09)
Personnel: Kate Bush, vocals, piano, keyboard, bass; Steve
Gadd, drums; Del Palmer, bass, bells (1, 4); Dan McIntosh, guitar;
Danny Thompson, bass (3); Albert McIntosh, vocals (1); Elton John,
vocals (5); Andy Fairweather Low, vocals (4); Stefan Roberts, vocals
(2); Michael Wood, vocals (2); John Giblin, bass (4, 5, 6); Stephen
Fry, vocals (6).
Ordering info: anti.com
MARCH 2012 DOWNBEAT 61