Not content with getting (Tiger) Suited up for a North American tour, TMS’ favourite St Andrean songsmith is getting ready to share the love with everyone who can’t make it along to her current set of dates. Later this month KT will be performing at London’s HMV Forum, and the performance on the 8th March will be recorded and made available for sale via Sandbag. CD and Digital pre-orders for the gig are being taken, and they’ll also be available for purchase on the night.
You have to hand it to Miss Tunstall, who’s shown a pretty savvy approach to maximising the revenue from her recorded work. As well as the three studio records (four if you count both versions of Eye to the Telescope with their differing performances of “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree”), there’s been 2006’s KT Tunstall’s Acoustic Extravaganza and 2007’s Have Yourself a Very KT Christmas/The KT Tunstall Holiday Collection (with its unforgettable version of “Mele Kalikimaka (Christmas in Hawaii)” and its forgettable version of “Fairytale of New York”). That’s in addition to the various flavours of live EPs which have made their way into the world via iTunes. Say what you like about KT, but the lady knows how to get her work out there.
You might ask if this strategy is manifestly different to the La Roux Gold Edition, about which I had a bit of a complain re: the proliferation of b-sides and bonuses LPs? I’m going to say yes it is different, and here’s why.
The thing that kind of got me with The Gold Edition was the fact that this was appearing as album 1.5. I’m sure La Roux has buckets of unused material, and most of the stuff on La Roux 1.5 is golden and gets past the quality control filters at La Roux towers, blah blah blah. But part of me can’t help but feel that an album of b-sides and remixes and whatnot is a bit cheeky when you only have one LP out.
I’m not saying that there isn’t also a certain amount of front involved in Tunstall’s steady drip-drip of live and special releases, as well as the mandatory DVD based super-dooper editions; but these things have so far tended to be total value-adders to the KT canon. What’s more, live performance is a great document of an artist. So where Tunstall isn’t doing something that adds to the repertoire such as the Christmas record (chintzy as it may be), we’re getting a persistent and developing collection of live materials to complement the recorded output, as well as the shonky AUD-recorded live performances that turn up on the internets. Plus, KT is great live.
This is not a rant against Gold Editions generally. I just think artists and their management should think very carefully about what they’re actually giving to fans when they develop some of this stuff. I have treasured “extras” and B-sides records from the late 90s when they seemed to be much rarer (yes, yes, perceptions are deceptive and all that bollocks): The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s Acme+, the companion to Acme being a prime example. I even have space in my heart to love Blur’s Special Collector’s Edition (there is no need to make space for the fabulous Bustin’+Dronin’; and back in 1997 I was way more likely to listen to B-Sides, Seasides and Freerides than I was to Moseley Shoals. Hell, I’m still more likely to listen to The Masterplan than I am to listen to anything from Oasis post-1998). And you know it’s entirely possible that at some point KT’s ever expanding set of releases will get overbearing and tired: but for now, I’m pretty happy that this is material that contributes a net positive. Plus, we get to hope with this outpouring of stuff we might get official releases for early output like Tracks in July. Here’s hoping we’ll be able to say the same for La Roux in time to come.
MP3: KT Tunstall – Miniature Disasters (Live at the Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh, 4th March 2005)
Some UK festivals where KT will be in attendance:
Sunday 10th July – T in the Park
Saturday 20th August – V Festival, Chelmsford
Sunday 21st August – V Festival, Stafford
Sunday 11th September – Alex James Presents Harvest
