'Aerial' Soars, Ever So Gently

Advantages: More settled, mature but still with the interesting quirks in music and words.
Disadvantages: 'Mrs Bartolozzi'; 'Nocturn'. Nothing like 'Hounds' or 'Dreaming'; light jazz elements, for some.

...So, was it worth the wait? With 'Aerial', the hotly anticipated new double-CD album of the British maverick and publicity-shy musician, Kate Bush once again surprises her listeners, for ill or good. A dozen years sans any new Bush album since 'The Red Shoes' would be the longest dry spell for fans, and the occasion of 'Aerial''s release has been warmly celebrated, especially on the other side of the Atlantic. I shan't dwell on Ms Bush's personal events between 1993's 'The Red Shoes' and 'Aerial', which finally went on sale on 7 November 2005. Suffice it to say that Ms Bush's son, Bertie, was born in the interim, a fact you can't miss since he's featured prominently on her latest CD production through his drawings, photographs and a song. 'Aerial' consists of 16 tracks on two CDs that sonically share a close kinship with 'The...

zerbine28 25.11.2005 · Read review
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Review of Aerial [Digipak] - Kate Bush

Kate Bush's new Album 'Aerial'

Advantages: Deeply poetic, rich musical excellence. It's Kate Bush.
Disadvantages: Not instant music for parties. It wouldn't work. Don't do it.

...Let me begin with a highly relevant link because if you go to it you get the first track and a video to watch as well: http://www.katebush.com/video/kingofthemountain/ So, I'm in France with a gorgeous girlfriend with Kate warbling, 'Ai ai! Babooshka, Babooshka, yi, yi!' on the jukebox and I'm just having a great 1982. Something of Kate Bush is imprinted and stays with me, and though singles like, 'Cloudbusting,' and albums like 'Red Shoes,' pass me by un-noticed as the years fly by, the mad-eyed girl who sang of 'Wuthering, Wuthering, Wuthering Heights!' never entirely goes away. She seems to though. For twelve years she's gone. On http://www.white-man-killer.com/kate/ the Webmistress, Sylvia, can be seen opining that Kate Bush is unlikely to tour or make an album again. She's back now with a new album called, 'Aerial...

FlameDruid 20.01.2006 · Read review
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Review of Aerial [Digipak] - Kate Bush

Aerial - Kate restored to glory.

Advantages: Recaptures some of the magic of earlier albums
Disadvantages: Perhaps a little quiet for some, after the extremity of earlier work

...mixed feelings when I sat down to listen to Aerial... First comes the gently hypnotic strains of King of the Mountain - mmm...interesting and (almost) danceable. Yet it's infused with passion and an effective eeriness. The beat almost has a reggae vibe, reminiscent slightly of Kate's version of "Rocket Man" in 1991 - though darker and more powerful. One of the Kate Bush traits, on so many of her records, is to start simply, then build and develop powerfully. King of the Mountain rises to something stronger than I'd first realised, especially with volume. Then, Pi, with its theme of numbers - proof if any be needed that Ms Bush could infuse even the driest subject with passion if need be. A low pulsing beat is joined enigmatically by intermittent synths, winding together in a curious spiral. Kate's voice is high and unearthly. "Sweet...

PDS1 14.12.2005 (17.12.2006) · Read review
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Review of Aerial [Digipak] - Kate Bush

John Lewis JLPA02 - With any indoor aerial reception is an issue.

Advantages: Small, easy to move around the room.
Disadvantages: High price for low build quality.

...My history with indoor based television aerials is not good. Images of trying to hold the aerial perfectly still with one hand, the remote in the other and tuning the freeview receiver all at the same time inevitably spring to mind. Living roughly twenty miles away from the transmitter, the unamplified aerial resurrected from the back of a cupboard gave me extremely grainy picture on terrestrial and only 1 multiplex of channels on digital. For those of you who don?t know, digital TV is broadcast in blocks of channels, called multiplexes. You either get all of the channels in a particular block, or none at all. It was therefore with some trepidation that I went to John Lewis and was once again bombarded with a selection of indoor aerials, all promising to give me the strongest, cleanest digital TV signal I?d ever seen. I made my choice...

je12g08 06.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of John Lewis JLPA02 Amplified Indoor Aerial

Kate Bush returns with the magical Aerial.

Advantages: Pure Kate Bush- worth the money.
Disadvantages: Some will find it too quirky.

...This is my first ever review, so I chose a subject close to my heart - Kate Bush's music. Having spent my melancholy teen years accompanied by a Kate Bush soundtrack, I had been disappointed with "The Red Shoes", and longed for the glory days of "Never Forever", "Lionheart" and "The Kick Inside" - those are listed in my order of preference ! From the haunting first track on "Aerial", the upbeat "King of the Mountain", the "King" being Elvis, the album takes on a more mature tone than her earlier works, and my favourite track on CD1, "Mrs. Bartolozzi", is the quirky Kate which people find amazingly innovative or totally bonkers! It is a song seemingly about housework, yet magically soulful when you hear the lilting voice, the music and the underlying sadness in relationships. Her multi-octave range is evident throughout...

casterbridge 22.02.2006 · Read review
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Review of Aerial [Digipak] - Kate Bush

External HDD a lifesaver

Advantages: Very portable, Easy to Use
Disadvantages: Extra plug socket needed

...Having two seperate office locations, my company got fed up of having to burn CD's to transfer large amounts of data from one place to another. This worked out OK for a while, but with a CD only being able to store up to 700MB, we were spending quite a lot of time burning the disks, so an external HDD was in order. We had used external SCSI disks in the past, but there were a few disadvantages involved, namely having to physically shut the computer down to remove the device and then having to shut down the second machine to attach the disk at the second place. The price for SCSI disks are still a bit expensive as well. We got hold of this external drive, and our work methods were transformed overnight. No more restarting machines or burning cd's, just plug it in and copy as if it was an internal disk. Installation was very...

BorisHotch 03.04.2004 · Read review
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Review of Iomega HDD External Desktop Hard Drive 120 GB

Best value for an external sound card.

Advantages: Durable, Light, Cheap, Good Sound Quality
Disadvantages: Software could be simpler

...I've had this unit for over a year now. I got it to use with my laptop for my 5.1 Logitech X530 speakers and just to improve the sound quality when on the go. First off I'd like to say if you have a low budget and you need an external sound card then this is the best buy! Although I dont see the point of having one for a PC since internal ones are better and dont use your CPU power, its a great little gadget for all the laptop owners like me. The remote that comes with it is a great little addition for watching movies (so that you dont have to get up :p) and also for just listening to music, works from quite a distance. Another benefit of this Sound Blaster is that its looks high tech! fits in well on my desk with my laptop and external LaCie HD. Another great thing about it is all the features that you get as with all other...

LordGryn 19.02.2006 · Read review
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Review of Creative Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit External

Excellent 56K External Modem

Advantages: Fast, cheap and well built
Disadvantages: Poor technical support on Creative's webpage.

...Having stuck with my 33.6K modem for far too long, I decided it was time to take the plunge and buy me a decent external 56k one. After browsing through a number of e-tailers stocks of modems, I cam accross the Creative Modem Blaster 56K which was extremely well priced. For around £50, you get a well built, quick 56k modem that does everything the box says it should. Installation was a breeze, connect to your serial port, insert CD-ROM, done. Since then, I can honestly say I've not had one problem with it, connections are fast and reliable and that's as much as anyone can ask from a modem. The unit is also flash upgradeable, so once the new V.92 standard is agreed, upgrading and getting a further speed boost should be no problem. If I had to point out a failing, it would be Creative's support with regard to this product...

FastShow 30.09.2000 · Read review
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Review of Creative Blaster Flash 56II External

Seagate Pushbutton Backup External 300GB Harddrive

Advantages: Quick Tranfer Rate, High Capacity, Low Price
Disadvantages: Reasonably Big, Not USB Powered

...I bought this external hard drive a week ago from Maplin for £90. I bought this because of its 300GB size, and because it was an extremely good price for the size. Seagate have a very good reputation for a good quality product for a reasonably good price. It came very quickly, and I saw that it came with BounceBack for backing up files. I installed it and connected the hard drive to my PC. The Seagate was found straight away, and it opened up in My Computer. I closed the window, and I opened up the BounceBack. The first time you run it, it asks you to select if you want to backup 'My Documents' and your program files, or just 'My Documents'. After this is done, it does a pre-backup to find out how big the backup will be. Once this is done, it starts backing up what you selected. You can make the window smaller and use you...

bindie 24.07.2006 · Read review
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Review of Seagate Pushbutton Backup External Hard Drive 300 GB

Stylish reception

Advantages: Quality materials, good reception, anti-theft, stylish
Disadvantages: None

...Why ****** My new second hand MX-5 used to have a long aerial which did not push down, so if you wanted to put it away for safe keeping you needed to unscrew it and put it in the boot. Not ideal with my memory, as every time I set off on a journey turn my radio on loads of static, aerial is still in the boot so frustrating. Then one day while browsing around Halfords I discovered the Richbrook Anti-Theft Aerial. Product ********* The aerial can be used in any cars that have a screw in fitting and can be purchased in 4 colours black, blue, red and silver, because my car has some chrome fittings the silver looked like the best option. Contents *********** The package contains all the tools required to fit the aerial, which is basically 3 allen keys. 2 rods, 1 is 29cms long and the other is 16cms, 1 aerial tip, 5 grub screws...

oldwasp 14.03.2008 · Read review
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Review of Richbrook Anti-Theft Aerial