Kate Bush "Cloudbusting" vs "Suspended in Gaffa"

suspended in gaffa

love the dreaming the best

Cloudbusting has lost something over time for me (too many plays), whereas Suspended In Gaffa is still great fun. I'd say that about a lot of the tracks on The Dreaming, though. She totally draws you into her own theatrical world on that record. Every song is like a play, with a bunch of different roles and twists and turns.

Do a Sky of Honey vs The Ninth Wave poll.

Suspended in Gaffa. It's a bit more esoteric (and that's saying something for Kate Bush). I love the construction of the song and the backing vocals. I know this will kill me on this board but the shrieking pre-lingual harmonies and tribal drumming are reminiscent of animal collective to me.

(voted for "gaffa" on general allegiance to the dreaming and because its weirdness seems more particular and harder to pin down. "cloudbusting" is music-hall sci-fi, more of a genre exercise. and the video in retrospect is alarmingly proto-steampunk. still a great song tho.)

although "cloudbusting" arguably gets bonus points for

Suspended in Gaffa!

Cloudbusting for me. That was the one that made me sit up and think, my god, this woman's a genius, and rush out to buy HoL.

tipsy otm

Did youse see that Kate Bush Christmas special, repeated on BBC4 recently?

Is it still iPlayable?

I know Cloudbusting will forever be associated with 18-year old homos crying in goth clubs---for me, anyway,---but it's got Wilhelm Reich, the best string synth sound in history, bloody amazing Fairlight drums, the "waaaay-hay-yo-hey-yo-hos", and Kate Bush as a boy.

That isn't what I associate Kate with at all! Until recent threads I was completely unaware of her evident status as gay icon.

Suspended in Gaffa is really good (as is all of The Dreaming), but Cloudbusting walks this.

I saw that Xmas special. I don't know how much artistic control she had but some of the coreography was a little kitsch. Dancing cellos and the like. It was best when she just sat down at the piano and sang.

What does 'Suspended in Gaffa' mean? Wikipedia tells me that 'gaffa' is a reference to gaffer tape, but frankly that doesn't help at all.

Xpost:

Kitchy choreography? Dancing cellos? Sounds like she had 100% artistic control, those are her signatures!

these are both pretty unfuckwithable as far as it goes, but cloudbusting wins because of "best string synth sound in history"

According to an FAQ for the usenet group rec.music.gaffa (for Kate fans):

The name "Gaffa" comes from "Suspended in Gaffa", a song on
the album "The Dreaming", and refers to gaffer's tape (that's what Kate
says). Gaffer's tape (similar to duct tape, but not as sticky) is used
to stop people from stumbling over cabling.

the subtlety of production on Gaffa is wonderful

also the mood is sooo ominous, at the same time that it's kind of goofy

"Cloudbusting"

....if only for that "yay-eeeyayeeeyayeooooo' refrain towards the end of the track.

yeah, that part gets me all worked up, it's like a flood

gaffa.

Kate produces her own stuff, does she not? It's always very impressive. Has she ever produced anyone else?

i like the banjo or koto or whatever the f that pops up at the beginning of 'cloudbusting.' it's gets to me more than all the rest that goes on in the song, somehow

According to an FAQ for the usenet group rec.music.gaffa (for Kate fans):

The name "Gaffa" comes from "Suspended in Gaffa", a song on
the album "The Dreaming", and refers to gaffer's tape (that's what Kate
says). Gaffer's tape (similar to duct tape, but not as sticky) is used
to stop people from stumbling over cabling.

― Earl of Gothington Manor (Bimble), Wednesday, April 29, 2009 5:35 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

so awesome that it actually refers to that

I love that 'Suspended in Gaffa' is a waltz.

yes! and the thing is, it masquerades its waltz-ness very well

This question is like 'do you like giddy or sublime?'

if the answer is yes, then you like kate bush

The karaoke bar became like mass or something when I sang 'Cloudbusting' at karaoke. Question is WHY is not 'Pull Out the Pin' at your avg karaoke bar?

omg my hero

Going for "Suspended In Gaffa". "Cloudbusting" becomes a bit too dominated by that monotonous drum machine - the second part of "Hounds Of Love" is much better than the hit part.

But somebody needs to send me that machine from the "Cloudbusting" video this summer. I (we) need it. :)

Thank you! After five years, of frustration, I've finally realized what Joanna Newsom's "Inflamatory Writ" reminds me of.

I've just realised that those are marionettes in that 'Suspended in Gaffa' clip. I was thinking she'd engaged a huge crowd of extras and made them stand hundreds of yards away

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

uh huh