prince

this new song sounds like hes just recording for recordings sake even more than usual, but i kinda like it just to see how bad hes really gotten. i wish he would stop doing these 'message' type songs where he thinks hes making some really important point. the structure is sort of like two 3 chains of golds packed into one.

oh god. I'm really doing myself a favor by avoiding this, aren't I?

I will even tell you a couple of things on "Planet Earth" are worth your time

this seems to be the pattern more often than not with his post-90s material - there will be one or two tracks that are clever/engaging/remind you why he was so great, and then the rest is just crap. the weirdest thing to me is that his ear for production and composition just seems to have gotten steadily shittier and shittier. like he doesn't actually know what a good guitar or drum sound is anymore, he just has too many hi-tech toys that he's busy fooling around with. dude's aesthetic standards are shot.

I think this minimal=good, maximal=bad division is bogus. Prince has done a lot of great maximal songs, like "Mountains", "Alphabet St.", "Sexy MF", "Gett Off", "Joint 2 Joint", "Gold", the 12 inch mix of "I Wish U Heaven", "Pink Cashmere", "Paisley Park", etc. And some of his minimal stuff is pretty boring, like half of Batman and Come. This new song is bad, but that's just because he wrote a bad song, not because every maximal thing he does is awful and every minimal thing good.

you have a strange definition of "maximal"

not that that's in any way surprising

I mean, Alphabet St...? WTF that song has one drum loop, some chicken scratch guitar, slap bass, a guitar solo, a bunch of vocals and a few synth horn stabs. and structurally it has one verse that repeats throughout the entire song.

this song is like an ipod shuffle type song

but its entertainingly bad/funny in a oh god can he really have gotten this bad sort of way

almost endearingly bad

"he doesn't actually know what a good guitar or drum sound is anymore, he just has too many hi-tech toys that he's busy fooling around with. dude's aesthetic standards are shot."

otm

oddly this level of crap almost makes me love prince even more

never going to see him live anymore though

I mean, Alphabet St...? WTF that song has one drum loop, some chicken scratch guitar, slap bass, a guitar solo, a bunch of vocals and a few synth horn stabs. and structurally it has one verse that repeats throughout the entire song.

― mark roflr (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, February 26, 2010 2:29 PM Bookmark

I was thinking just a moment ago that "Alphabet St." is maximalist in the way that Basement Jaxx are. There are tons of weird details tucked away into corners that don't hugely announce themselves and aren't necessarily going on all at the same time, but add up to dozens of different elements appearing over the course of the song.

WTF is Prince using MS Songsmith now?

lolllllllllllllllll

This song isn't bad imo but it is extremely silly.

if it is maximalist, his old stuff is not maximalist in the "sounds like 12 jacked up high school bands' top song on myspace thrown in a blender"

It's kind of like he finally got around to reading all those reviews of Midnite Vultures 10 years ago that said it was aping Prince & he decided to ape Midnite Vultures in turn.

but every track of midnite vultures, for 15 seconds at a time.

I was thinking just a moment ago that "Alphabet St." is maximalist in the way that Basement Jaxx are. There are tons of weird details tucked away into corners that don't hugely announce themselves and aren't necessarily going on all at the same time, but add up to dozens of different elements appearing over the course of the song.

Yes, this is exactly why I called is maximalist. The whole Lovesexy is like this, the songs have the basic grooves, but they take weird detours and add and decrease all sorts of elements all the time. When I'm talking about maximalism I meant maximalism within Prince's oeuvre. It's not like Lovesexy is the world's most bombastic album, but I think it was a pretty big change of direction after Sign 'O' the Times (and Prince followed that direction all through the nineties). I know a lot people don't much care for Lovesexy, but I think it proved he could do a more maximal sound in a cool and interesting way. Too bad it looks like he can't do that anymore.

Didn't know where to put this, but I wanted to share, and this is as good a place as any:

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l0gyj9jdmD1qbp7xlo1_r1_500.jpg

XD

batgirl is hot imo

this thread has taken a good turn

batman's posture imo

I can't tell if he's angry or about to start the Batusi.

In the case you didn't know, a recent storyline in Batman and Robin featured a villain who was inspired by Prince, and specifically by his look in Purple Rain - check the homage to the Purple Rain cover in this issue cover:

http://www.ifanboy.com/images/ifanboy/Batman%20and%20Robin%206.jpg

"I only want to see you laughing/At Mr. Bruce Wayne"

http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2010/07/05/prince-world-exclusive-interview-peter-willis-goes-inside-the-star-s-secret-world-115875-22382552/

"The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."

MTV isn't the only thing that was once hip and is now outdated...

last week in Paris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUKA7usm4C0

this prince character might be on to something:

http://www.newsweek.com/1995/02/26/the-internet-bah.html

http://www.swift.fm/bizmarkee/song/63161/

if that's really prince on everything, as a teenager, wow. he's a better drummer than i thought.

That's it, I quit music, I'm retiring... Oh wait I just went and listened to that Vikings track - I un-retire.

http://i56.tinypic.com/34zmtjd.gif

if that's really prince on everything, as a teenager, wow. he's a better drummer than i thought.

― the parking garage has more facebook followers than my band (Jordan), Thursday, September 9, 2010 2:21 PM (2 months ago) Bookmark

where'd you ever get the impression Prince isn't a dope drummer!?

yeah at least two of the times i've seen him he's taken a turn on the drums and rocked the hell out.

"Tambourine"!

and without looking it up, i think there are a bunch of songs on 1999 and purple rain that are basically him on everything.

He played everything except for the occasional Matt Fink keyboard run up through 1999.

was listening to Prince this morning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMJlYsfDTEE

Tis the season:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETbXkTqUzpg

um, hi. where can i find a bunch of print b00ts? like live stuff and studio stuff.

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2011/02/prince_played_m_2.html

Prince at Madison Square Garden

Start Time
8:35 PM
Laydown
1999
Corvette
Beautiful ones
Controversy
Purple Rain
Raspberry beret
Cream
Cool (the Time cover)
Let's work
U got the look
Nothing compares to u (dedicated to Bobby Z.)

1st Encore
Crazy (Gnarls Barkley)
Let's go crazy
Delirious
Dreamer
When doves cry (intro)
Kiss

2nd Encore
Medley
Nasty girl
Forever in my life
Sign
Alphabet
Love bizarre (Sheila E cover)
Hot thing
Pop life / I would die / Single ladies / If I was your girlfriend
Insatiable
Scandalous
Adore

3rd Encore
Mountains
Shake your body (the Jacksons cover)
Everyday people / Higher (Sly & The Family Stone cover)

End time
10:55 PM

Guests
Questlove
Chris Rock
Kim Kardashian

i'm fascinated by this comment in the brooklynvegan post about prince's opening act: Cee Lo should have been allowed to say Fuck You, but Crazy almost made up for that. I would also like to add that all of Prince's monitors had constant reminders during Cee Lo's set that said "NO F WORD" Pretty hilarious, love my little Prince.

whatup with that?

he's cleaned up his act since getting all j-w. i remember some story about him admonishing q-tip for cursing when sitting in.

imagine if prince didn't 'get all j-w' on us - more albums like the black album.

He played everything except for the occasional Matt Fink keyboard run up through 1999.

Ha, I just misread this as the year 1999, not the album, and was all, um, no.

Oh, and those instrumental tracks are actually the trio of Andre Cymone, Bobby Z Rivkin and Prince, not Prince on drums. I mean, Prince can play, but he's no Stevie Wonder or Justin Bieber.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z8cX9cgrRU

absolutely amazing

lol @ prince kicking kim kardashian off of the stage

that may be like my third favorite Prince guitar solo at 3:07. Truly breathtaking.

Oh, and those instrumental tracks are actually the trio of Andre Cymone, Bobby Z Rivkin and Prince, not Prince on drums.

which tracks? prince is a great drummer, and it's him on dirty mind, controversy, and 1999 afaik.

The tracks referenced somewhere above. It's him playing drums through "1999," sure, but while I won't fault his playing, and it's perfect for what he's doing, it's really mostly serviceable beat-keeping (esp. compared to his abilities on everything else).

While I agree his drumming pales beside his keyboard and guitar skills, listen to him on "Tambourine" and the better tracks on Musicology.

?uestlove on prince's drumming:

prince on the other hand

his fluctuating rhythm gives you the sense that an actual band is playing his stuff.

best demonstrated by his "careful or you'll drop it" drunken pace on Dirty Mind's title track. his overexcited virgin getting some muppet animal style of "irresistible bitch" the maniac drumline snare solo of "lady cab driver" and the inventiveness of Parades first four song suite.

when i jam with him (actually with them--once at P's crib) i dont channel the WW?D page. i channel the WWsw and WWpD page.

last month when he grabbed the bass i knew exactly where to go: ive learned when you jam w/ prince you get better results playing the drums as he woulda played it. which in my case worked like gangbusters (our "cloreen" was about 25 mins and marked the first time that 2 hour night he sang on the mic)

was gonna cite "Lady Cab Driver."