By Rev. Forestter, Lumpen, October 1998

This is the season of little witches and goblins, running from house to house, killing the inhabitants within...Thinking of digging out your old Kate Bush records for the (Halloween) season? Why listen to Kate's creepy songs about Wilhelm Reich or Houdini or dying children when you can listen to local bands' covers of her songs? I WANNA BE KATE: The Songs of Kate Bush (Brown Star) is a record I had been eagerly anticipating since I heard about it last winter. It includes such artists as The Aluminum Group covering "L'Amour Looks Something Like You," to Nora O'Connor covering "The Saxophone Song," to a cover of "The Sensual World" by Susan Voelz. While not every cover could possibly live up to the remarkable genius that is Kate Bush, there are a few that come quite close. Catherine Smitko's cover of "Jig of Life" is an amazing yet similar rendition to Kate's original, not to mention Syd Straw's stirring rendition of "The Man With The Child In His Eyes." My Scarlet Life pull off a lumbering gothic version of "Suspended In Gaffa," and the Baltimores do an off-handed ska-type thing with "Running Up That Hill." Of course, the soft sensual version of "L'Amour Looks Something Like You" by The Aluminum Group is worthy of anyone's listen, but as with most compilations, its always hit or miss. The more cynical I become, the more I question the bother of listening to any other artist's cover of a good song to begin with. However, I still enjoy this quite a bit.

- by Rev. Forestter

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