I don't know about you," Prince exclaimed to the adoring masses at his March 28 Nokia Theater performance in L.A., "but I'm about to tear this place apart."
The Purple One applies the same principle to his business affairs: He has consistently torn down the established labels' sales model and built it back up in his own image.
While free file-sharing has eroded royalty accounting and emptied the wallets of many a pop icon, Prince has always been one step ahead of the game, dating back to 1997, when he became the first artist to sell an album ("Crystal Ball") directly to his fans over the Internet, for $50.
In the past few months, Prince has been at it again, revamping his business model by deciding to release the three-album set -- "LotusFlow3r," "MPLSound" and his protege Bria Valente's debut, "Elixer" -- on his own NPG Records and giving a facelift to his exclusive fan website, unplugged since 2006.
"The gatekeepers must change," Prince told the Los Angeles Times in January about his latest endeavor to work outside the record labels and other go-betweens.
Pulling off such a feat required the art of seduction that characterizes much of Prince's music. He began spending more time in L.A. than at his Minneapolis homestead, not only to sync up with the West Coast music scene but to court the media with private performances at his Beverly Park mansion. As the launch date for "LotusFlow3r" drew near, Prince played three back-to-back dates on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno"; headlined the most coveted, and funkiest, post-Oscar party, at the Avalon in Hollywood; and topped it all off with a record one-night, three-concert event at L.A. Live's Nokia Theater on March 28 that sold out in a record 7.7 seconds.
Nonetheless, his "gatekeeper" philosophy isn't a newfound one. The pop artist's angst with the labels dates back to 1996, when he ended his 20-year contract with Warner Bros. Records; one of the sticking points was that the company failed to release some of his material. Since then, Prince has partnered with labels on a project-by-project basis. His 2007 album "Planet Earth" was released through Columbia Records and sold close to 300,000 units -- a figure considerably below his previous partnership with the label on "Musicology," which went multiplatinum with the help of free giveaways at his concerts.
Prince's revamped Web domain, appropriately Lotusflow3r.com, gives his loyal followers exclusive access to an array of film footage and music from the Purple One's "Vault" -- a library that contains an immense amount of unreleased material. At a lofty annual subscription price of $77, fans also will be treated to such perks as live-cam concerts from the mansion and first dibs at tickets for last-minute, unannounced gigs, which have become a Prince trademark.
While some of the privileges are on par with Prince's previous html address, his Web designer, Scott Addison Clay, who has been behind such high-gloss movie sites as "The DarkKnight" and "Twilight," says Prince "felt his earlier fan site turned into MySpace. There were forums where fans could talk and see each other on the Internet." Lotusflow3r.com touts the highest-quality MP3s around at 320 kilobytes per second -- iTunes' typical average kbps is 192. There's also talk of a potential hookup with Microsoft's Xbox.
"Prince wanted (the) LotusFlow3r (website) to function like a videogame in its interactivity," says Clay, before adding, "but not in the way that you control Prince with jujitsu moves -- that wouldn't be appropriate."
Assuming that 1 million fans sign up worldwide, that's $77 million directly in the hands of the Prince empire -- untouched by a label's bookkeeper. The site's launch, coupled with his three-
concert L.A. event and the release of his three-disc album set exclusively through Target the morning after (at a price of $11.98) underscores Prince's MO to be a brand-name corporation unto himself, with money streams from publishing, touring, merchandising, advertising, ringtones, fashion and satellite radio gigs.
While the price that Target shelled out to Prince to sell his latest CD set is undisclosed, analysts put the amount at mid-six figures.
Sure, his recent album sales might be far from the 13 million "Purple Rain" benchmark, but it's not about being multiplatinum for Prince, rather multiplatform.
"When I'm taking all the proceeds, I don't worry about how well it does on the charts and I don't need a No. 1," Prince asserted at a 1997 Manhattan news conference pegged to his cyberspace foray. "I'm No. 1 at the bank.
"
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118002627.html?categoryid=16&cs=1
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Mickey's Chocolate Model
Pretty entertaining mash-up: download it here.
Prince - Chocolate Box
Kraftwerk - The Model
Toni Basil - Mickey
Prince - Chocolate Box
Kraftwerk - The Model
Toni Basil - Mickey
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Fulltank Sweetens Chocolate Box Music Video for Prince
Santa Monica, CA (April 13, 2009) -- Creative production studio Fulltank announced today that it provided visual effects, including on-set supervision, for a CGI-intensive promo for "Chocolate Box," the new single from Prince's "MPLSoUND" album released on March 29th. The video, helmed by music video director P.R. Brown, features an all-digital fantasy world inspired by the dark urban aesthetic of SIN CITY. To view the music video, visit: http://www.fulltank.tv/pri/.
"When I started the process of bringing Prince's vision for the video to life, I was fortunate to have found the guys at Fulltank," said Director P.R. Brown of Bau-Da Design. "Throughout the project, their passion for the video was clear and they went well beyond what I thought could be produced given the time we had. It was a pleasure working with them, and they really helped bring to life the hyper stylized vision I had for the piece."
In the promo for "Chocolate Box," Prince is an all-seeing Orwellian figure, whose gaze looms over a shadowy cityscape as projected onto the sides of skyscrapers and a psychedelic airship. Rapper Q-Tip - who collaborated with Prince on the track - stars as a man in pursuit of a beautiful and mysterious woman. Their athletic hunter-hunted game of parcour takes them across rooftops and buildings. When they finally meet, the video goes from a black and white palette accented by occasional flashes of color, and crescendos into a technicolor explosion of surreal graphical elements. Neon jellyfish bob in mid-air, a giant fuchsia sphere pulsates with otherworldly energy (and Prince's omnipotent visage), and lightning zigzags across the sky. The video closes with "To be continued."
In addition to providing on-set visual effects supervision for the one-day shoot at the SOURCE film studio's greenscreen stage in Hollywood, Fulltank Creative Director Chris Do and Executive Producer Ben Morris and a team of nine artists oversaw 190 visual effects shots over the course of five very short weeks, using live-action material captured with the RED camera at 4K.
Because of this truncated timetable, Fulltank developed a workflow based more on a feature film, rather than commercial production pipeline. Instead of working shot by shot, Fulltank set very particular daily milestones, sending files through to the render farm every evening for testing in the morning. Said Chris Do, Creative Director, Fulltank, "This video pushed us to develop a custom production pipeline that we're using on future Fulltank projects. That's an opportunity rarely awarded to smaller creative shops, which aren't often able to allocate the time and resources for in-house R&D."
Despite the obvious challenge of this tight deadline, Fulltank was given almost 100 percent creative control over the VFX - an amazing opportunity to develop the look and feel of the video with director P.R. Brown. Added Do, "We were so fortunate to work with such an intuitive and organic director, who also has an extensive visual effects background. This enabled us collaborate very closely because he understood the process, and the vibe that Prince wanted to achieve."
Fulltank relied on a software toolkit comprising primarily of Adobe After Effects and Apple Shake for compositing, with Autodesk Maya and MAXON Cinema 4D for modeling, all running on Macintosh and Windows platforms on a 15 quad core render farm.
About Fulltank
Fulltank was conceived by Executive Producer Ben Morris with the core idea of building a creative production studio that captures emotion through engaging visuals and narratives. Fulltank's creative team uses its diverse background in print, illustration, typography, photography, cell-animation, design, concepting, directing and storytelling to produce imagery and ideas that deliver strong creative messages. www.fulltank.tv.
Production Credits:
DIRECTOR/EDITORIAL: P.R. Brown
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Chris Do
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Ben Morris
PRODUCER: Sean Deveaux
ART DIRECTORS: Jonathan Kim, Matt Collarafice, Takashi Takeoka.
DESIGN: Jonathan Kim, Jon Gutman, Matt Collarafice, Takashi Takeoka
COMPOSITORS: Matt Collarafice, Takashi Takeoka, David Do, Martin Jung
MATTE PAINTINGS: Thomas Yamaoka
LEAD 3D DIRECTION: Jon Gutman
3D/ANIMATION: Omar Gatica, Ian Rufuss, Alex Ceglia, Billy Maloney, Martin
Jung
http://www.vfxworld.com/?sa=adv&code=3631a5a1&atype=news&id=27197
"When I started the process of bringing Prince's vision for the video to life, I was fortunate to have found the guys at Fulltank," said Director P.R. Brown of Bau-Da Design. "Throughout the project, their passion for the video was clear and they went well beyond what I thought could be produced given the time we had. It was a pleasure working with them, and they really helped bring to life the hyper stylized vision I had for the piece."
In the promo for "Chocolate Box," Prince is an all-seeing Orwellian figure, whose gaze looms over a shadowy cityscape as projected onto the sides of skyscrapers and a psychedelic airship. Rapper Q-Tip - who collaborated with Prince on the track - stars as a man in pursuit of a beautiful and mysterious woman. Their athletic hunter-hunted game of parcour takes them across rooftops and buildings. When they finally meet, the video goes from a black and white palette accented by occasional flashes of color, and crescendos into a technicolor explosion of surreal graphical elements. Neon jellyfish bob in mid-air, a giant fuchsia sphere pulsates with otherworldly energy (and Prince's omnipotent visage), and lightning zigzags across the sky. The video closes with "To be continued."
In addition to providing on-set visual effects supervision for the one-day shoot at the SOURCE film studio's greenscreen stage in Hollywood, Fulltank Creative Director Chris Do and Executive Producer Ben Morris and a team of nine artists oversaw 190 visual effects shots over the course of five very short weeks, using live-action material captured with the RED camera at 4K.
Because of this truncated timetable, Fulltank developed a workflow based more on a feature film, rather than commercial production pipeline. Instead of working shot by shot, Fulltank set very particular daily milestones, sending files through to the render farm every evening for testing in the morning. Said Chris Do, Creative Director, Fulltank, "This video pushed us to develop a custom production pipeline that we're using on future Fulltank projects. That's an opportunity rarely awarded to smaller creative shops, which aren't often able to allocate the time and resources for in-house R&D."
Despite the obvious challenge of this tight deadline, Fulltank was given almost 100 percent creative control over the VFX - an amazing opportunity to develop the look and feel of the video with director P.R. Brown. Added Do, "We were so fortunate to work with such an intuitive and organic director, who also has an extensive visual effects background. This enabled us collaborate very closely because he understood the process, and the vibe that Prince wanted to achieve."
Fulltank relied on a software toolkit comprising primarily of Adobe After Effects and Apple Shake for compositing, with Autodesk Maya and MAXON Cinema 4D for modeling, all running on Macintosh and Windows platforms on a 15 quad core render farm.
About Fulltank
Fulltank was conceived by Executive Producer Ben Morris with the core idea of building a creative production studio that captures emotion through engaging visuals and narratives. Fulltank's creative team uses its diverse background in print, illustration, typography, photography, cell-animation, design, concepting, directing and storytelling to produce imagery and ideas that deliver strong creative messages. www.fulltank.tv.
Production Credits:
DIRECTOR/EDITORIAL: P.R. Brown
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Chris Do
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Ben Morris
PRODUCER: Sean Deveaux
ART DIRECTORS: Jonathan Kim, Matt Collarafice, Takashi Takeoka.
DESIGN: Jonathan Kim, Jon Gutman, Matt Collarafice, Takashi Takeoka
COMPOSITORS: Matt Collarafice, Takashi Takeoka, David Do, Martin Jung
MATTE PAINTINGS: Thomas Yamaoka
LEAD 3D DIRECTION: Jon Gutman
3D/ANIMATION: Omar Gatica, Ian Rufuss, Alex Ceglia, Billy Maloney, Martin
Jung
http://www.vfxworld.com/?sa=adv&code=3631a5a1&atype=news&id=27197
Monday, April 13, 2009
30 Years of Hip Hop in 60 Minutes
Not Prince related, but this should appeal to most music fans, the BBC has put together an astonishing megamix of 538 songs covering 30 years of Hip Hop.
Its an amazing mix, i suggest you download it.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Prince Opus
Want a Prince-themed ipod?
Want to pay $2000+ for it?
Head on over to Prince's Opus page and check it out...
Monday, April 6, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Prince's 'Lotusflow3r' Off To Strong Sales Start
 |
 |
April 01, 2009 05:52 PM ET
Yet, the album may not finish the week at No. 1.
Why? The Building Chart reflected unweighted sales through the close of business on Tuesday, March 31. Which means that new releases -- which almost always bow on Tuesday -- usually only have one day's worth of sales included on the Building Chart that is released on Wednesday of each week. However, Prince's album dropped on Sunday, so the Building Chart actually reflects the set's first three days worth of sales.
We'll have a better gauge on how next week's official Billboard 200 chart will shake out on Friday, April 3, when SoundScan releases its next Building Chart. As it stands now, Prince's album is ahead of the No. 2 set, Keith Urban's new "Defying Gravity" (Capitol Nashville), by a very wide margin.
Billboard estimates the seven merchants who report to Nielsen SoundScan's Building chart -- Trans World Entertainment, Best Buy, iTunes, Starbucks, Borders, Target and Anderson Merchandisers -- comprise about 60% of all U.S. album sales.
Other albums looking good for a top 10 debut on next week's Billboard 200 chart include UGK's "UGK For Life" (UGK/Jive/JLG), Diana Krall's "Quiet Nights" (Verve) and Flo Rida's "R.O.O.T.S." (Poe Boy/Atlantic).
Nielsen SoundScan's sales tracking week, as reflected in the official Billboard 200 chart, runs from Monday through Sunday of each week. The newest Billboard 200 chart, released today (April 1) -- where the "Now 30" compilation debuted at No. 1 with 146,000 -- reflected the week that ended on Sunday, March 29.
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/prince-s-lotusflow3r-off-to-strong-sales-1003958005.story
Monday, March 30, 2009
Prince performs three L.A. shows in one night
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Funk rocker Prince blasted a concert promotion giant for its poor sound equipment as he struggled to perform three concerts in one night at separate venues in Los Angeles.
The man who once sang about traveling "Around the World in a Day," shuttled among three venues on Saturday at a new downtown entertainment complex operated by AEG Live.
But his ambitious promotion for an upcoming album hit a snag soon after he hit the stage at the 7,100-capacity Nokia Theater. He had problems with the monitors, and constant pleas to the venue's crew to fix them never had much impact.
"This is my celebration. I don't care what goes wrong," he said midway through the 90-minute set, before scrunching up his nose in disgust.
The second show, at the 1,100-capacity Conga Room, began with a five-minute soundcheck and lasted about an hour. Each of the shows was promoted as being "full-length."
The third show, scheduled to begin at midnight, kicked off an hour late as Prince and his crew grappled with sound issues, forcing fans to wait in a long line outside the 2,300-capacity Club Nokia. He began the show before many entered the venue.
Toward the end of the show, he mentioned a few AEG executives by name, and told fans to complain to them about the buzzing speakers.
"I came to see Alicia Keys here, and it was the worst sound I've ever heard," Prince said, noting that the AEG had spent plenty of money on seating and lighting.
"If you fix the sound, I'll be here every night, and I'll do it for free."
Prince played most of his hits, like "1999," "Kiss" and "Let's Go Crazy," at the first show, which was attended by celebrities like basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood. The set lists and the bands were different for each show.
Prince's new album, the three-disc set "Lotusflow3r," will be released on Sunday exclusively at big-box retailer Target Corp and on his Web site.
Officials at AEG did not reply to a late-night email seeking reaction to Prince's criticisms. The firm is owned by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE52S0QZ20090329
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
AUSTRALIA: Get yo Prince on April 7th
Thanks to a tipster in the shoutbox, i can confirm that the lotusflow3r delux 3disc set will be available from April 7th domestically. You can pre-order here.
Melbournites, "Music Machine" in Chapel Street is said to be receiving copies of the CDs within the week!
RRP is $59.95 for Australians.
Thanks for the tips guys!
Melbournites, "Music Machine" in Chapel Street is said to be receiving copies of the CDs within the week!
RRP is $59.95 for Australians.
Thanks for the tips guys!
And so it begins...
So lotusflow3r is open...ive been browsing it now for a while, ive found the MLPSound album but cant find the lotusflow3r download yet. Im not interested in Elixer, I'll grab it later...much later on.
None of the videos in the "orb" seem to run properly, and i have a pretty fancy computer and great connection, so it seems the site is already frought with tech issues that i just paid AUD$110 to witness...
Another Prince website, another debacle...sigh...
None of the videos in the "orb" seem to run properly, and i have a pretty fancy computer and great connection, so it seems the site is already frought with tech issues that i just paid AUD$110 to witness...
Another Prince website, another debacle...sigh...
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Reminder: Prince on The Tonight Show THIS THURSDAY NIGHT!
Aussies with Foxtel can tune in from Thursday to witness Prince as the musical guest. It begins at 10.30pm on "The Comedy Channel".
https://www.foxtel.com.au/EPG/EPG.aspx
https://www.foxtel.com.au/EPG/EPG.aspx
Official countdown is up and running
With still no word on an Aussie release date/distributor, the lotusflow3r website ticker clicks along for the Americans...
LA Times Review -"LotusFlow3r"
02:30 PM PT, Mar 23 2009
By now, most music fans are well aware that Prince will self-release three albums that will sell in one $11.98 bundle at Target and on the artist's website starting Sunday. Which one you fancy the most depends on what flavor of Prince "u" prefer -- the nasty antiquity of "MPLSound," the guitar-hero antics of "LotusFlow3r" or the VIP-lounge purrs of his protégée Bria Valente on "Elixer."
"MPLSound" is a valentine to Revolution-era traditionalists. The nine-song collection pays homage to Prince's beloved Minneapolis and trades in nostalgia, lifting the syncopated drum machine beats from "When Doves Cry" and name-checking Rick James. But it's not all naughty retro: "MPLSound" also incorporates Prince's faith as a Jehovah's Witness, like when he shouts "thank you, almighty" and "hallelujah" to a lover in "Dance 4 Me."
All three albums have a touch of the spirit, an abiding cleanliness that elevates sex to heavenly communion, but "MPLSound" might be the most pristine for what it ultimately lacks: the sense of real, lusty sin.
Ballads "Better With Time" and "U're Gonna C Me" leak syrup all over the soundboard, but "Chocolate Box," a strutting bit of funk braggadocio set in the club with a guest spot from Q-Tip, is electrifying. In "Valentina," Prince addresses Salma Hayek's daughter: "Tell your mama she should give me a call." Hayek might be one of the world's most voluptuous movie stars, but new mothers and their "nightly feedings" are not the typical pop subjects.
Possibly the album's most notable track -- for reasons fine and regrettable -- is the spirited romp "Ol' Skool Company." Here Prince, his voice doctored to sound like he's taking hits of helium, lets his curmudgeon rip for more than seven minutes, longing for an "old-school melody when God, his son and the love of family ruled in the community."
Valente, Prince's latest in a storied line of beautiful muses, has a lovely voice that matches his current tastes for the clean line. Her soundscapes, produced and arranged with Prince, are lighter than her mentor's, traipsing from velvet-chaise funk to street tales of girly crushes to dance-floor siren calls.
The problem is that not enough of "Elixer" sounds strong or fresh. Her single "Another Boy" is sweetly reminiscent of '80s freestyle icons Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam, but it doesn't have that group's rhythmically inventive backbone. In "2Nite," Valente whispers "disco," a genre that needs at least one modifier to not sound mummified in polyester -- and then reports that there are "no drugs or guns up in this place," just "old-school jazz put a smile on your face."
It's one of the many times when Valente feels uncomfortably like the mouthpiece for Prince and his oldster agenda.
The biggest challenge of Prince's triptych is "LotusFlow3r," a guitar-steeped odyssey that bounces from Steely Dan jazz chords to James Brown-esque mandates for funk to the tattered-flag psychedelia of Jimi Hendrix. Though Prince has covered Radiohead's "Creep" on several occasions, he's not interested in mimicking Jonny Greenwood's articulated melancholy. Instead, Prince's guitar is a warm explosion, sometimes self-indulgent but always rendered with starry-eyed fascination for the instrument, endearing from a masterful musician who plays so many.
In an effort to align himself as a true rocker, Prince includes a reverb-soaked cover of Tommy James and the Shondells' "Crimson and Clover," but it doesn't improve on Joan Jett's definitive rendition. His own compositions are much more twisty and tasty. "Feel Good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful" is a jaunty slice of party funk with Prince's most charismatic vocals this side of "Kiss" -- screechy, swaggering and caterwauling. "Love Like Jazz" swings the other way, a bewitching gem that wouldn't sound out of place as the intro to a '60s sitcom.
Prince geeks out on the whammy bar, drawing long, noodly jams on "Boom" and the songs that bookend the album. But it's more rewarding when he introduces control and structure, delivered by a crew of stars including Maceo Parker and keyboardist Morris Hayes. "MPLSound" might be comfortingly familiar, but "LotusFlow3r" is the work of a musician who's still curious after all these years.
-Margaret Wappler
Prince
"LotusFlow3r"
Three stars
Prince
"MPLSound"
Two and a half stars
Bria Valente
"Elixer"
Two stars
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/03/album-reviews-p.html
Monday, March 23, 2009
Review: Prince's 3-CD set is wildly uneven
Review: Prince's 3-CD set is wildly uneven
By JOSH L. DICKEY, AP Entertainment Writer Josh L. Dickey, Ap Entertainment Writer
Prince, "LOtUSFLOW3R"
Of the 31 tracks on Prince's new three-CD fire sale, only a handful will glint in the eyes of loyal fans who still sift his newer material for rare gems. To those awaiting a free sample on the radio, sorry you aren't going to get one this time around, either.
It's been 15 years since a Prince single cracked the Top 10 ("The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" charted No. 3 in 1994), and nothing from these three discs sounds in danger of breaking that streak.
The rare die-hard who understood "The Rainbow Children," Prince's wildly conceptual Jehova's Witnesses manifesto from 2001, may be able to translate the shifting language of "LOtUSFLOW3R," the central record in this effort. It's heavy and esoteric at times, jaunty and jammy at times, and highly indulgent all the time.
Thing is, if you're going to listen to someone indulge themselves in genre-bending psychedelia, it may as well be this guy.
The best track is "Boom," with its melody that descends like a dazzling meteor shower, ponderous slabs of wet bass crashing all around and light saber-buzz guitar to slice through it all. The song embodies the dark yet delicate surrealism of the new fan site that Prince helped design, lotusflow3r.com, from which "members" can download all three albums as part of a $77 annual subscription fee beginning Tuesday.
The deal includes a T-shirt, dibs on concert tickets, access to a vast archive of concert video footage and other digital geek-out goodies. (The three-CD set is being sold in its physical form exclusively at Target for a much more earthly $11.98.)
On another guitar-heavy highlight, "Dreamer," Prince unabashedly echoes Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child" in fact, the better part of "LOtUSFLOW3R" careens around the edges of the bluesy, spacey trail that Jimi blazed. But its unevenness is its undoing; weird mumbling, random atmospherics, dissonant touches and an unnecessary cover of "Crimson and Clover" punch gaping holes in the cosmic seriousness with which the record takes itself.
Thank goodness, then, for "MPLSoUND," much of which may be the artist's greatest gift to fans in many years.
The disc starts out as an old-school romp that sounds as if Prince rolled up the rusted door of a warehouse behind Paisley Park, surveyed the dusty, vintage synth gear, and said to the posse behind him: "Fellas, let's make a funky record today."
The first few tracks could almost be mistaken for "Controversy" outtakes: You'll recognize the dry, flat pop of primitive electronic drums, campy whirl of analog keyboards and wild-eyed vocal stylings that ground an edge on Prince's early stuff. But sure enough, even "MPLSoUND" gets bogged down in throwaway slow-jams and shuffles that suck nearly all the fun energy from a promisingly rowdy start.
A third CD, entirely sung by new protege Bria Valente, is so lifeless and irrelevant as to hardly merit mention here. "Elixer" is a wholly forgettable trudge through generic R&B plodders that would drag down the most dynamic of singers; and Valente is not one. Her breathy whispers and naughty good looks, for that matter are more reminiscent of Ashley Alexandra Dupre than Apollonia.
The good news is that at $11.98 for all three, you can afford to rip the good tracks from "LOtUSFLOW3R" and "MPLSoUND" to your iPod, then use "Elixer" as a mirror to work on your air-guitar face. Because you're going to need it.
By JOSH L. DICKEY, AP Entertainment Writer Josh L. Dickey, Ap Entertainment Writer
Prince, "LOtUSFLOW3R"
Of the 31 tracks on Prince's new three-CD fire sale, only a handful will glint in the eyes of loyal fans who still sift his newer material for rare gems. To those awaiting a free sample on the radio, sorry you aren't going to get one this time around, either.
It's been 15 years since a Prince single cracked the Top 10 ("The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" charted No. 3 in 1994), and nothing from these three discs sounds in danger of breaking that streak.
The rare die-hard who understood "The Rainbow Children," Prince's wildly conceptual Jehova's Witnesses manifesto from 2001, may be able to translate the shifting language of "LOtUSFLOW3R," the central record in this effort. It's heavy and esoteric at times, jaunty and jammy at times, and highly indulgent all the time.
Thing is, if you're going to listen to someone indulge themselves in genre-bending psychedelia, it may as well be this guy.
The best track is "Boom," with its melody that descends like a dazzling meteor shower, ponderous slabs of wet bass crashing all around and light saber-buzz guitar to slice through it all. The song embodies the dark yet delicate surrealism of the new fan site that Prince helped design, lotusflow3r.com, from which "members" can download all three albums as part of a $77 annual subscription fee beginning Tuesday.
The deal includes a T-shirt, dibs on concert tickets, access to a vast archive of concert video footage and other digital geek-out goodies. (The three-CD set is being sold in its physical form exclusively at Target for a much more earthly $11.98.)
On another guitar-heavy highlight, "Dreamer," Prince unabashedly echoes Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child" in fact, the better part of "LOtUSFLOW3R" careens around the edges of the bluesy, spacey trail that Jimi blazed. But its unevenness is its undoing; weird mumbling, random atmospherics, dissonant touches and an unnecessary cover of "Crimson and Clover" punch gaping holes in the cosmic seriousness with which the record takes itself.
Thank goodness, then, for "MPLSoUND," much of which may be the artist's greatest gift to fans in many years.
The disc starts out as an old-school romp that sounds as if Prince rolled up the rusted door of a warehouse behind Paisley Park, surveyed the dusty, vintage synth gear, and said to the posse behind him: "Fellas, let's make a funky record today."
The first few tracks could almost be mistaken for "Controversy" outtakes: You'll recognize the dry, flat pop of primitive electronic drums, campy whirl of analog keyboards and wild-eyed vocal stylings that ground an edge on Prince's early stuff. But sure enough, even "MPLSoUND" gets bogged down in throwaway slow-jams and shuffles that suck nearly all the fun energy from a promisingly rowdy start.
A third CD, entirely sung by new protege Bria Valente, is so lifeless and irrelevant as to hardly merit mention here. "Elixer" is a wholly forgettable trudge through generic R&B plodders that would drag down the most dynamic of singers; and Valente is not one. Her breathy whispers and naughty good looks, for that matter are more reminiscent of Ashley Alexandra Dupre than Apollonia.
The good news is that at $11.98 for all three, you can afford to rip the good tracks from "LOtUSFLOW3R" and "MPLSoUND" to your iPod, then use "Elixer" as a mirror to work on your air-guitar face. Because you're going to need it.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
New Details on Prince's Online Venture, Live Dates, Photos, and More!
EXCLUSIVE: New Details on Prince's Online Venture, Live Dates, Photos, and More!
Seth Colter Walls
Prince's new online venture, LOtUSFLOW3R.com, will debut on March 24. The site will offer digital downloads of the three new albums previously announced with a March 29 street date, in CD format, at Target stores. Two sources in Prince's camp also have confirmed that the rumored price of $77 for one year's subscription to the site has been formally settled upon. The picture above is an exclusive screengrab provided to us by Prince's web developer, Scott Addison Clay, who recently gave me an advance tour of the Web site. That main image, derived from the cover to the album of the same name, will be the user's portal into the online "world" of that album, complete with lyrics, artwork and new photos, in addition to the tunes. Two other "worlds," one for each of the other two Princely releases, also exist on an animated 3-D plane, in an arrangement that Clay compares to the popular game Myst. The album "MPLSoUND," as previously reported, is Prince's electronic counterpart to the guitar-heavy "LOtUSFLOW3R," while "Elixer" is the debut offering from Prince's latest protege, Bria Valente. Check out the covers for "MPLSoUND" and "Elixer" below, first on PopVox:
On the technical tip, Clay's creation is clearly a step up from some of Prince's past online homes, some of which were subject to unfortunate outages at peak times of Prince interest. And, by the way, the new music sounds pretty exciting, too. "Boom," the proper kickoff to LOtUSFLOW3R following a 30-second instrumental interlude, mixes psychedelia with funk rhythms and orgiastic guitar wailing. The song "Chocolate Box," on the electro-influenced album titled "MPLSoUND," features one of the all-time great Prince boudoir boasts: "I got a box a chocolates / that'll rock the socks of / any girl that wanna come my way." It also features one of Prince's best collaborations with a rapper to date, in the person of Q-Tip. During the 90's, Prince's revolving door MC's-for-hire were generally far less distinct than his music. And even when Prince used name-brand rhymers like Chuck D, their styles did not always mesh. Q-Tip's jazzy delivery, however, is the perfect fit for Prince's endearingly askew electronic sound-world. Here's to more of that kind of collaboration. (You can read my January profile of Q-Tip here.)
There are other new details, as well. Prince will perform "multiple times," in different locations around Los Angeles, on March 24, though those performances will not be streamed or recorded for the site. As Billboard previously reported, Prince will then be a guest on the Jay Leno show from March 25-27 (and again during Leno's last week in May). A representative for the Purple One says, however, that ticketing information for the three non-Leno events on March 24th will be posted on the beta version of LOtUSFLOW3R.com in the coming days. "The site is going to be your key to figure out how to get access," Prince's representative told NEWSWEEK.
Three new videos, one for each single off the new albums, are also in the can. "Crimson and Clover," Prince's cover of the Tommy James and the Shondells classic (with a little bit of Hendrix's "Wild Thing" thrown in for good measure) is the first single from "LOtUSFLOW3R." The aforementioned "Chocolate Box" is the nominee from "MPLSoUND," while the Bria Valente song "Everytime" will be the first multimedia from that disc. All three videos will debut on the site upon its March 24 launch.
And for the curious, here's another, exclusive new shot of Bria, taken by Prince himself:
During the tour, LOtUSFLOW3R.com appeared to be a multimedia powerhouse capable of playing videos and live clips (including Prince's cover of Radiohead's "Creep" from last year's Coachella) while also handling advanced 3-D modeling and Flash-based photo galleries. Clay gave us some more details about future plans for the site. Check out next week's print edition of NEWSWEEK for more details.
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/popvox/archive/2009/03/13/exclusive-new-details-on-prince-s-online-venture-live-dates-photos-and-more.aspx
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Dr.Funkenberry: Prince to play tonight show
3 nights in a row!
The one and only PRINCE will be on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno for 3 STRAIGHT nights.
It will be March 25th, 26th, and 27th.
We also received this note from a no-name reporter:
NEWSFLASH –
Purpleheadz, r u listening?
Prince will b per4ming an unprecedented 3 nites in a row on The Tonight Show March 25, 26 and 27. B part of audience history when Leno’s studio gets a purplemusic makeover! R u ready?
I had a feeling this might be part of the fun stuff starting March 24th and put in a call to the Tonight Show. Hopefully, we can have some tickets to give away. Will let you know.-Dr.FB
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Americans: Pre-order lotusflow3r now
While we wait to hear on where it will be available in Australia, follow this link to pre-order in the USA.
I'll post updates once ive found pre-orders available in Australia.
I'll post updates once ive found pre-orders available in Australia.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Tracklistings leak...
Keen eye'd Prince fans on .org spotted this on Amazon.com before the purple police took it down...:
Disc 1—Lotus Flow3r: From the Lotus. . . Boom; Crimson and Clover; 4EVER; Colonized Mind; Feel Good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful; Love Like Jazz; 77 Beverly Park; Wall of Berlin; $ Dreamer; . . . Back to the Lotus
Disc 2—MPLSound: (There’ll Never B) Another Like Me; Chocolate Box; Dance 4 Me; U’re Gonna C Me; Valentina; Better with Time; Ol’ Skool Company; No More Candy 4 U;
Disc 3—Elixir: Here Eye Come; All This Love; Home; Something U Already Know; Everytime; 2Nite; Another Boy; Kept Woman; Immersion; Elixir
Disc 1—Lotus Flow3r: From the Lotus. . . Boom; Crimson and Clover; 4EVER; Colonized Mind; Feel Good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful; Love Like Jazz; 77 Beverly Park; Wall of Berlin; $ Dreamer; . . . Back to the Lotus
Disc 2—MPLSound: (There’ll Never B) Another Like Me; Chocolate Box; Dance 4 Me; U’re Gonna C Me; Valentina; Better with Time; Ol’ Skool Company; No More Candy 4 U;
Disc 3—Elixir: Here Eye Come; All This Love; Home; Something U Already Know; Everytime; 2Nite; Another Boy; Kept Woman; Immersion; Elixir
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Prince commercial for Target :/
Prince Films Commerical For Target; Will Release 3 CD Set With Retailer
Prince shot a commercial for Target on Friday in Los Angeles. Prince is due to release 3 CD’s thru Target and his web site , Lotusflow3r.com on March 29th, 2009.
The 3 cd’s will be two by Prince entitled Lotusflow3r, and the other familiar to Drfunkenberry.com members, MPLSOUND. The 3rd will be by Bria Valente entitled “Elixer” which is produced by a certain someone to have that Minneapolis Groove.
The Cd’s look like they will be sold as a pack, the artwork and lyrics available online. I did not have a chance to ask one of the web designers if it will down-loadable. A doctor likes to print out his lyrics man.
As for the video shoot, it went well and was shot at Universal Studios and it was a closed set. How did we hear about it then? We have our ways.
The commercial features Prince and Bria Valente and should be airing within the next couple of weeks. We hear they may have some footage of it up sooner or his own web site.
Also, for that thing we thought was a cell phone at the Avalon show, is actually a Lotus Flow3r branded flip video camcorder and can be checked out HERE http://darkhavenstudios.c...tusflow3r/
To answer a ? that is on that link, I want a poster. wink
March should be a fun month for fans of the purple one.-Dr.FB
Prince shot a commercial for Target on Friday in Los Angeles. Prince is due to release 3 CD’s thru Target and his web site , Lotusflow3r.com on March 29th, 2009.
The 3 cd’s will be two by Prince entitled Lotusflow3r, and the other familiar to Drfunkenberry.com members, MPLSOUND. The 3rd will be by Bria Valente entitled “Elixer” which is produced by a certain someone to have that Minneapolis Groove.
The Cd’s look like they will be sold as a pack, the artwork and lyrics available online. I did not have a chance to ask one of the web designers if it will down-loadable. A doctor likes to print out his lyrics man.
As for the video shoot, it went well and was shot at Universal Studios and it was a closed set. How did we hear about it then? We have our ways.
The commercial features Prince and Bria Valente and should be airing within the next couple of weeks. We hear they may have some footage of it up sooner or his own web site.
Also, for that thing we thought was a cell phone at the Avalon show, is actually a Lotus Flow3r branded flip video camcorder and can be checked out HERE http://darkhavenstudios.c...tusflow3r/
To answer a ? that is on that link, I want a poster. wink
March should be a fun month for fans of the purple one.-Dr.FB
More on Target, as well as some info on lotusflow3r site
Prince's Big-Box Deal: Minneapolis Represent
'Prince has signed an exclusive deal with Target to release a three-CD set at the end of this month; the package will contain two new albums by The Purple One called LotusFlow3r and MPLSound, as well as a disc by his protege Bria Valente. The Minneapolis-based chain (!) will sell the package for $11.98. But that's not all—his career-spanning multimedia site lotusflow3r, which launched in beta earlier this year, is apparently getting ready to go live. When I visit it, all I get is some burbling music and a black screen, but lucky for all of us, someone at AOL's Spinner got to check out the goodies within. And by "goodies," I mean "an extensive live archive of Prince concerts." I bet at least a few of you out there are drooling!
But the real treasure for Prince devotees is in the archive. According to Clay, Prince has filmed almost every one of his concerts since the 'Purple Rain' days, and to prove it, he had Spinner click on a video link inside Prince's virtual head, where we discovered a performance of 'Break It Down' from last year's Coachella show.
LotusFlow3r, which will launch sometime this month, will be a paid subscription site (Clay is speculating that the initial cost for a year will be $77), and to give fans their money's worth, Prince will continue to roll out content on a regular basis, including live video clips and possible full-length concerts, as well as unreleased music. According to Clay, Prince has copious amounts of never-issued material, which Clay and his team are in the process now of cataloging.
But do subscribers get discounted admission to his parties? Because that is a value-add.'
http://idolator.com/5163091/princes-big+box-deal-minneapolis-represent
'Prince has signed an exclusive deal with Target to release a three-CD set at the end of this month; the package will contain two new albums by The Purple One called LotusFlow3r and MPLSound, as well as a disc by his protege Bria Valente. The Minneapolis-based chain (!) will sell the package for $11.98. But that's not all—his career-spanning multimedia site lotusflow3r, which launched in beta earlier this year, is apparently getting ready to go live. When I visit it, all I get is some burbling music and a black screen, but lucky for all of us, someone at AOL's Spinner got to check out the goodies within. And by "goodies," I mean "an extensive live archive of Prince concerts." I bet at least a few of you out there are drooling!
But the real treasure for Prince devotees is in the archive. According to Clay, Prince has filmed almost every one of his concerts since the 'Purple Rain' days, and to prove it, he had Spinner click on a video link inside Prince's virtual head, where we discovered a performance of 'Break It Down' from last year's Coachella show.
LotusFlow3r, which will launch sometime this month, will be a paid subscription site (Clay is speculating that the initial cost for a year will be $77), and to give fans their money's worth, Prince will continue to roll out content on a regular basis, including live video clips and possible full-length concerts, as well as unreleased music. According to Clay, Prince has copious amounts of never-issued material, which Clay and his team are in the process now of cataloging.
But do subscribers get discounted admission to his parties? Because that is a value-add.'
http://idolator.com/5163091/princes-big+box-deal-minneapolis-represent
Prince to release new CD set through Target
NEW YORK – Prince is coming to a Target near you.
The superstar is releasing a three-disc CD set through the retailer at the end of this month. The set will include two new albums — "LOtUSFLOW3R" and "MPLSoUND" — as well as a third by his new artist, Bria Valente, for the price of $11.98.
Prince is just the latest music legend to release new music exclusively through a major retailer. AC/DC and the Eagles were among the acts who sold millions of CDs through their partnership with Wal-Mart.
Prince has released his recent CDs through major labels, but they were one-album deals that gave him the flexibility to go elsewhere when the project was done. Last fall, he released a coffee table book of photos titled "21 Nights" documenting his record-breaking, 21-night run at London's 02 Arena in 2007. The book also included a CD of live performances.
"Prince has long been renowned as one of the world's most original and iconic musical artists," said Mark Schindele, Target's senior vice president of merchandising. "We are thrilled to have the opportunity to share his most recent work with our Target guests."
The CD set will be on sale at Target and its Web site on March 29.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090302/ap_en_ce/music_prince;_ylt=At0r09PdxBpdWafVeLlcF3FxFb8C
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Prince Breaks Out Beatles, Rolling Stones at Oscar Party
2/23/09, 12:34 pm EST
Unlike Prince’s past awards show after-parties, typically held at his Hollywood Hills home and thrown under a strict by-invitation-only policy, this one was open to the plebes among us. At $100 per person — first come, first serve — the show doubled as a launch-pad for his soon-to-debut website LOTUSFLOW3R.com. A few hundred hopefuls had lined up on Hollywood and Vine hours in advance, knowing full well that it would be a very long wait. After all, the Purple One was still sound-checking at 11:30 p.m. and doors had yet to open. Shortly after midnight (and while Prince and select guests were being entertained by an all-girl jazz band upstairs at the Avalon’s exclusive lounge Bardot), an orderly crowd made its way inside filling only half of the venue’s main floor — not that the post-Oscar folks (some still wearing gowns and tuxedos) were complaining after a full day of elbow rubbing.
Starting close 1:45, the nearly two-hour set kicked off with a tease — the opening progression to “Purple Rain,” which brought out the diminutive Prince, strolling onto the stage carrying a blinged-out baton. He soon traded it in for a guitar and, backed by a three-piece band, two backup singers and one killer harmonica player, Prince launched into a string of covers, beginning with The Cars’ “Let’s Go” and segueing into “Crimson and Clover” mashed with “Wild Thing.” “I’m the DJ tonight,” he boasted from the stage shortly after dedicating the night to Oscar winner Penélope Cruz and giving a nod to celebrities viewing from the VIP area. Among them: Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah, Angie Harmon, Tyler Perry, Maroon 5’s Adam Levine and Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson.
And while the bars had closed twenty minutes into the performance, Prince’s banter kept spirits high. Introducing a bellowing rendition of the Beatles’ “Come Together,” he asked his subjects: “I’m here and you’re here, that’s all we need to start a party, right?” Indeed, as Prince launched into the Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Woman” and then surprised all with a true-to-the-original take on Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle,” the dance floor had filled considerably. By the time “Jungle Love” and “Play That Funky Music” came around, the place, as they say, was jumping. Prince closed out the set by asking for volunteers to join him on “The Glamorous Life,” the song he wrote for Sheila E., then proceeded to invite audience members to the stage for free-for-all, to which a couple dozen brazen fans eagerly obliged.
“Turn those Blackberries off and dance,” Prince chided just after three in the morning, his guitar hero energy not waning in the slightest. The crowd’s energy, however, was another story. Still, diehards hoping to hear more from the Prince hit list stuck around until the bitter end, and weren’t disappointed to get “I Feel For You” as an encore (at 3:22 in the morning). But he never did come back to “Purple Rain,” and with awards season over, it may be a while before we get another chance.
Funkin' 'til dawn
Prince's Oscar night house party: Funkin' 'til dawn
Feb 23, 2009, 11:16 AM | by Whitney Pastorek
There are very few artists for whom your Aunt Whittlz will wait in a chilly parking lot for two hours, PopWatchers, but Prince is one of them. To borrow a phrase from the Airborne Toxic Event -- one of the few acts the Purple One didn't cover during tonight's public house party -- it was sometime around midnight when those of us assembled outside Hollywood club Avalon were let in from the cold, and my feet, tortured by high heels since sometime around noon, had lost their will to live. Though I'd later be given a handwritten list that included names like Eliza Dushku, Taye Diggs, Alicia Keys, and Queen Latifah, the only celeb in sight at this lonesome hour was Baron Davis, who plays basketball. And yet I waited, patiently, to be summoned inside. For he is Prince. And he operates on his own time, a time that my colleagues estimated at approximately two hours later than hip-hop time, which means approximately four hours later than the time you and I are expected to maintain. Which is fine. Because he is Prince, and I think he actually might be able to buy the Greenwich Mean if he wants.Follow me after the jump for the rundown on the funkiest Oscar party of the night, sponsored by LotusFlow3r.com, a new website named for one of the three albums Prince is expected to release this year. Along with his own time zone, Prince is also operating in his own music industry these days, and LotusFlow3r -- note also the paisley-riffic spelling-- will be your home for all things purple in the days to come.
It was 1:39 a.m. when the band at last took the stage, and teased with the opening chords of "Purple Rain" before transforming them into a funky jam anchored -- as was much of the night -- by the extraordinarily hardcore blues-harp blow of Frenchman Frederic Yonnet. At 1:44, the tiny guitar god emerged, clad in what looked to be fancy black pajamas with mirrored embellishments at the neckline and cuffs, twirling a bedazzled cane with panache before picking up his axe for a groove that wandered through Allen Toussaint's "Yes We Can Can" and some very "Also Sprach Zarathustra" aaaahs before bizarrely landing in a square-on cover of "Let's Go." Which is a Cars song. Which was pretty much how the whole evening went.
"Turn the lights down, please," Prince asked, after sending a shout-out to Penelope Cruz, Taraji Henson, and Esmeralda Spalding, all of whom were apparently watching from a balcony where your intrepid reporter was not allowed to go. Down on the ground, the vibe was less fancy Oscar soiree, more junior prom. "I'm just gonna let this breathe," he continued. "Y'all all right? This is what we do at house parties. I'm the DJ tonight." And DJ he did -- except, you know, with his guitar -- right into a mashup of "Crimson and Clover" and "Wild Thing," which led to "7," the opening voiceover of which sent scads of party-goers onto the half-full dance floor to tear things up. The bar had closed, but its tenders remained, silhouetted against the mirrors, nodding their heads coolly to the music. "I'm here, and you're here," Prince said. "That's all we need to have a party, right?"
Indeed, that and a crackling cover of the Beatles' "Come Together" will get a jam going for sure, especially when your simple six-piece band -- bass, keys, drums, harmonica, and two backup singers -- can create a super-sized wall of whatever sound you want, accompanied by the festive circus light show of Cora Dunham's kit. Yet the noise being generated by those musicians was no match for the man of the hour, who wields his instrument with ultimate precision even when breaking down "Let's Go Crazy"-style. Unlike some of our more prominent public noodlers (with their funny man-faces and their histrionic jerking about), it is a joy to watch Prince ply his craft.
He did "Cream," which I wasn't sure he was still allowed to play; he did "Honky Tonk Women"; he did Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle," which was hands down the highlight of the night, especially his take on that rollicking solo in its midst. I thought for a second he was gonna do Poison's "Fallen Angel," but then he stopped, breathed, kicked into "The Bird" and "Jungle Love," and by 3 a.m. he had the most amazing cross-section of the crowd dancing on stage -- a flock of people that, in all sincerity, looked like the outdoor audition scene in Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. There was the '80s video dancer, gyrating sweatily in a business suit. There was the tomboy in her white t-shirt and jeans. There were two women in cocktail dresses vibing on each other. There was a dude on crutches. One man was squatting behind Prince, inexplicably beating the floor with a scarf. Sadly, none of them stepped to the mic when their host said, "Okay! Karaoke, y'all! Who knows 'Glamorous Life'?" and so the backup singers were left to carry that weight all alone, but a portly gentleman in a porkpie hat was more than happy to take the verse on "Play That Funky Music." This was when the junior prom became something more like an 8th grade dance. Next to me in the crowd, a woman in a white sweatband was actually vogue-ing.
But all good things must come to an end, or at least a pause, and so Prince left his house party for a bit -- tossing his guitar into the crowd on the way, where it was instantaneously retrieved by a very large roadie -- and the silence of the encore break set in. So, too, did the realization that it was nearing dawn and your Aunt Whittlz had been up n' at 'em Oscar style for nearly 21 hours. I tried to call upon the eye contact I'd made with Brad Pitt on the red carpet to fuel me, but it was no use -- the tank was empty, and everything I was experiencing was colored with that "this would be really cool if it was like 7:30 p.m. right now and I'd actually eaten lunch or dinner" stain, and I just wanted to go home. I waited for Prince to return, to see what he'd kick into for his second set, and when it turned out to be "I Feel 4 You" (which I'd totally danced to when the actual DJ played it like three hours before), I headed weakly for the door. I am a total wuss, PopWatchers.
I'm supposed to maybe get a full set list later, which I will post here if you're interested. Meanwhile, do know that I had a pretty good time during Prince's Coachella show last summer, and tonight's festivities completely and utterly blew that bit out of the water. I cannot recommend strongly enough that the Academy consider this man for next year's Academy Awards show: He obviously loves him some Oscars, loves him some movie stars, and will cover any song that moves. Imagine him taking on whatever ballad closes out the next Pixar hit! Ah, the glory. Plus, he'd be there, and we'd be there... and that's all you need to have a party, right?
Friday, February 20, 2009
Prince to allow crew to film his Oscar party
Prince
Purple One will release footage on his new website
Prince is throwing a massive Oscar party on Sunday night (February 22), and he is allowing a camera crew to film the festivities for his website.The notoriously reclusive Purple One reportedly decided to throw the bash after French actress Marion Cotillard called to RSVP to a party he was supposedly throwing.
Apparently when Prince heard he was rumoured to be hosting the party, he decided to make if official and planned a bash.
According to usmagazine, Prince will release the footage from the party on his website LotusFlow3r.com .
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Prince Upset As New Song “$” Leaks Online
Prince is upset with Dania Ramirez. Either Dania or director Sanaa Hamri leaked Prince’s new tune titled: “$”
The 3 of them were in the process of creating a video for the song when someone (No one has come forward as of yet) leaked the song online.
In these days when piracy is rampant, the thought of one of the main dance trax from the new cd titled “Lotusflow3r” leaking ahead of schedule makes the heart stop!
We are being asked if you come across the song online, please pretend you never read this post and delete the song immediately without listening. Please wait for the offical CD release…which will be any day now.
If you can…
(This tip was sent in by a no-name reporter and…I really really don’t think I can. Will you all have more self control than me if found?-Dr.FB)
http://www.drfunkenberry.com/2009/02/16/prince-upset-as-new-song-leaks-online/
The 3 of them were in the process of creating a video for the song when someone (No one has come forward as of yet) leaked the song online.
In these days when piracy is rampant, the thought of one of the main dance trax from the new cd titled “Lotusflow3r” leaking ahead of schedule makes the heart stop!
We are being asked if you come across the song online, please pretend you never read this post and delete the song immediately without listening. Please wait for the offical CD release…which will be any day now.
If you can…
(This tip was sent in by a no-name reporter and…I really really don’t think I can. Will you all have more self control than me if found?-Dr.FB)
http://www.drfunkenberry.com/2009/02/16/prince-upset-as-new-song-leaks-online/
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Prince Ready to Rock on Oscar Night
Today 2:30 PM PST by Marc Malkin Last year's session, which included jams with Stevie Wonder and John Legend in the middle of his living room, didn't get started until 1:30 a.m. Guests at the soiree included freshly minted Oscar winners Marion Cotillard, Tilda Swinton and Javier Bardem, who danced with his still-undercover girlfriend, Penélope Cruz. Sean Penn, Kate Beckinsale, Eva Longoria Parker, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Rosario Dawson and Brett Ratner were also there.
About 300 folks were let in, but "it's going to be more exclusive this year," a source familiar with the party planning tells me. As I reported yesterday, Madonna and Demi Moore will once again be hosting a private afterparty with Guy Oseary at Oseary's home.
Vanity Fair returns after a one-year hiatus with a smaller-than-usual fete at the Sunset Tower Hotel. Sir Elton John's annual gala takes place again at the Pacific Design Center and will include a live auction that benefits the music legend's AIDS foundation (as do ticket sales to the party).
Mercedes-Benz is moving its annual viewing and afterparty from the Four Seasons Hotel to the Montage Beverly Hills. Lindsay Lohan's DJ girlfriend, Samantha Ronson, will provide music for expected guests like Amy Adams, Marisa Tomei, Patrick Dempsey and Ben Stiller, among others.
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/marc_malkin/b99604_Prince_Ready_to_Rock_on_Oscar_Night.html
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
New pics up on lotusflow3r
Two new pics up on Lotusflow3r...one doesn't count and this is the other.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
SPECIAL: Red Cross Bush Fire's Appeal
Below you will find a direct link to the Red Cross donations website, if you can please help out fellow Aussies in their time of need, thanks FDU.  | |||
The 2009 Victorian bushfire Fund to assist individuals and communities affected by devastating bushfires in Victoria has been launched by the Premier John Brumby in partnership with Red Cross and the Federal Government.
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Prince attends Clive Davis gala dinner
Prince was in attendance at the Clive Davis gala in LA honoring Clive's life work in the industry. Also in attendance; some woman sitting next to Prince. Maybe his flavor of the month :P
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Another impression from the Purple Party, this time from blogger Kat Corbett.
So, there I was, trapped in Prince’s bathroom while the sound of his band kicking into “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5 pumped through the space between the door and the floor. I frantically twisted the lock and turned the knob trying to get out in time to witness the magic but the door wouldn’t budge. I checked my cell phone—no service—no chance for a 911 rescue call. What would I say anyway? “Um, yeah hi, I’m trapped in Prince’s bathroom on the bottom floor of his house and I’m going to miss him sing one of my favorite Jackson 5 songs, so could you bring a crowbar to Beverly Park?” Another minute of twisting the door handle only lead to red fingers and I pictured myself stuck in his bathroom for days surviving on gobs of cherry lip-gloss and two sticks of Juicy Fruit. I pounded my fists on the door and shouted for help but the music was too loud and I realized that no one could hear my screams. This was not a dream, this was really happening. Last Saturday night at 1am I was being held captive by Prince’s bathroom.
Let me start at the beginning and please forgive me if this entry sounds like a twelve-year writing in her diary but what do you expect after spending a night at Prince’s house?
It all started with a cryptic email inviting me to Prince’s pad to witness the launch of his new website www.lotusflow3r.com with a live performance to follow. I had heard whispers of these Prince gatherings before, but I was suspicious of the email as it wasn’t from prince.com. I replied saying, “Is this legit? If so, I’m in.” I was instructed to wait for further instructions—very hush hush. At that point, I assumed I was actually going to Prince’s house or being shipped off to Russia and sold into the sex trade—either way it was important to shave my legs.
At 9:45 pm I stood at Prince’s front door, an hour and a half late and couldn’t find the doorbell. I thought of knocking but with a house of that size, who would hear my puny knuckles hitting the glass? I took a deep breath, opened the door and walked inside. I expected everything to be purple but there wasn’t even a hint of plum in the grand space that seemed to go on for miles. I entered a spacious kitchen busy with a small group eating hors d’oeuvres and enjoying cocktails. One of the first people I met was Steve Appleford, a writer for Rolling Stone—confirmation that I was in fact in Prince’s house and not headed to the Ukraine. I ordered a whiskey and immediately locked eyes on Prince’s black Schimmel piano just steps away from the kitchen island. This gorgeous instrument was just sitting there in the middle of the room. It should have been behind a velvet rope on a revolving stage under a spotlight but there it was by the bathroom and I touched it. My hands were on the black lacquer before I could stop myself and I ran my fingers over the keys where he probably works out new songs during breakfast. The top of the grand piano was flipped open with a gold Prince symbol hood ornament. It looked like a spaceship and I didn’t know whether to play it or drive it. As the others snacked, I fantasized about eating Cheerios in the morning by the kitchen island while Prince played “When You Were Mine” and “I Want to Be Your Lover.”
A little after ten we were instructed to go to the screening room. I was the first to leave the room and landed in the vast hallway clueless as to where to go next when out of nowhere HE appeared.
“Hi,” he said. “Are you looking for the screening room?”
“Hi,” I said. “Yes.”
Pointing, “Just go down those stairs and go left. I’ll see you in a bit,” Prince said.
“Thanks,” I said as if an usher at the Arclight had just shown me to my seat.
“Holy moly!” I said to Steve. “Prince just gave us directions!”
Prince is launching a new website in March called www.lotusflow3r.com where he will share everything including the release of three new records this year—two by Prince and one by his latest protégé, Bria Valente. This website is his new venture to deliver music, downloads, concert tickets etc. to his fans. After the website demonstration we spilled out into the hall toward a modest size rec room. Area rugs absorbed sound on the floor, a drumkit sat under the mantel where a fireplace should have been, two couches and yes, there were a few purple chairs. Female vocalists, Liv Warfield, Marva King and Shelby J stood behind their microphones ready to go, a bass player, two keyboard players, Cora Dunham on drums and no more than twenty-five people in the room (I counted) and me. I often find myself in situations and ask, “How did I get in here?” This was definitely one of those times. Prince grabbed his guitar and they kicked into “Let’s Go” by The Cars. “Crimson and Clover” followed, then Prince shouted for Frederic Yonnet to bust out his harmonica and they ripped into The Stones’ “Miss You,” and I lost my mind! Prince was ten feet away playing Rolling Stones songs. “This is really happening,” I said to myself. “This is really happening.”
Every time a new song began, a woman magically appeared with laminated lyric sheets that looked like IHOP menus and placed them on Prince’s music stand. When the band kicked into “Everyday People” we all let loose and began dancing—the small house party was in full effect. Prince put down the guitar and walked through the tiny dance floor. I felt totally high without any drugs, spinning on Prince’s carpet, under a cheapo disco ball (the kind you buy at Spencer’s) as Prince covered Sly and the Family Stone.
Then…
Out of the speakers I heard the sound of rain. “No, it can’t be,” I said, to the guy next to me.
Then…
The most identifiable first few notes of “Purple Rain” trickled out. Ah!
Then…
The room got quiet, Prince laughed, skipped past the song and went into a random jam. Ack! I was bummed for a second but then he launched into “I Feel For You,” made famous by Chaka Khan but written by Prince. How could I be mad? He was singing “I Feel For You” while we did the hustle. “Y’all done tore up my carpet!” Prince joked as we shook it. He threw out “Irresistible Bitch” and “Hot Thing” and when I thought I couldn’t handle anymore, he launched into “Controversy.” OH-MY-GOD. I was in Prince’s basement dancing to “Controversy” live. I was having my very own Co-AH-chella moment. At that point in the night I realized what a total music geek I truly am. It is a presumption to think that all of the women in the room either wanted to bag the purple one or become his new protégé but I think it’s a safe bet. Certainly, all of the men were hoping to catch a smidge of his mojo. I, however, stared at that man, watching his fingers glide effortlessly over the strings as if was an extension of his body and all I wanted was for Prince to give me a guitar lesson. Dork.
During the next jam I moved my coat from the couch so a woman could sit down. This woman turned out to be Anita Baker. I knew exactly who she was but couldn’t name one song she sang and it killed me the whole night. All I could envision was her face on a smooth jazz radio station billboard.
Sidebar: The next day I would find out from a very good source that Miss Anita was at Trashy Lingerie just hours before the Prince get together. Saucy.
The Doobie Brothers were next to get the Prince treatment and I couldn’t believe I knew most of the words to “Long Train Runnin.” Another jam session followed which was a perfect time to hit the ladies room. En route I caught sight of a motorcycle encased in glass. I was told it was THE motorcycle from Purple Rain and I giggled like a wee school girl as I sang “Take Me With U” all the way down the hall and that’s when I got trapped in Prince’s bathroom.
So, there I was, the lock was stuck, The Jackson 5 was pounding on the other side of the door and I was panicking that Prince would find me five days later in the fetal position wedged against the toilet clutching a bottle of Method hand soap. I took a moment and surveyed the room as if it was an elevator and seriously looked for an escape hatch. How does one get stuck in Prince’s bathroom? Am I the only one to get stuck in Prince’s bathroom? Why does this stuff always happen to me? I focused all of my energy on one last desperate twist and the door finally opened. After seven tense minutes, I was free and booked it past the dj booth, past the purple pool table with the gold prince symbol into the small room and caught Prince performing the last minute of the Jackson Five. Little did I know we were only halfway through the night.
While the band took a break, we retreated to the kitchen for desert. Pita chips, guacamole and raspberry torts, which I kept calling “Raspberry Beret” torts, lined the granite island in the kitchen. Prince did a wardrobe change and reappeared. His platform sneakers had blinking lights on the heels like runners use at night to avoid getting creamed by passing cars. Even with Prince buzzing around the room, the vibe of the kitchen was super friendly and mellow. There was no one telling me things like, “Don’t look him in the eye,” or “Stay five paces behind him at all times.” It was as normal as that situation gets. AGAIN, WHAT WAS I DOING THERE?
“Have you seen the pool yet?” Prince’s web guy, Scott, asked me. Before he hit “yet” I had pushed him out the backdoor and demanded a tour. A hot tub is the first thing you see in the grand backyard then a long pool that looks like something out of a Chanel N° 5 ad. It was clear that Prince was renting this house but he had personalized it in his own way. In the distance, at the very end of the pool stood a giant metal cut out of Prince’s symbol. “I must touch it,” I squealed and made a bee-line for it with tourguide in tow. A forest of trees lined the backyard, a volleyball court was just a few yards away and then Prince’s studio. We couldn’t go in but we could see inside through the giant windows. It’s not as elaborate as I imagined. A couple of computers, a flat screen and a keyboard were the only things in the room. I’m sure Paisley Park studios are a bit more elaborate.
Back inside, I cruised past shelves of his personal pictures—shots of Dave Chappelle and Salma Hayek. Pictures of Apollonia and Mariah. Then back to the kitchen when we heard Prince say something like, “Let’s hit it again. Come on!” Back in the music room the band kicked into “Love Bizarre” and I channeled Sheila E as I sang along under the soft lights.
Then…
Prince launched into “Erotic City.” NO, NO, NO, THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING. He never does that song anymore—too many dirty words. There were only fifteen people in the room at this point.
Then…
He stopped the song just before the vocal would normally come in. My plea for him to “Do it” got a laugh but that’s all and he launched into another random jam. What a tease.
Two women emerged from behind and dramatically tossed two one-dollar bills at his feet. Prince slid off his guitar and in James Brown style got down on one knee, then another, collected the money, stood back up and said, “I haven’t seen George Washington in a long time.” Prince was totally messing around having a good time and I kept thinking, “He’s so normal right now…but he’s Prince? And he’s goofing around like a normal guy right now.”
“Anita, get up here,” Prince demanded and Anita Baker shimmied over in her very high heels and belted out an awesome jam. Prince jumped back in with a bite of “Love Rollercoaster” into The Commodores “Brick House,” into Rick James and I was “Super Freaking” out.
As we danced, Prince occasionally popped inside the group and all I kept thinking about was the security backstage at Co-AH-chella. It was Secret Service type of stuff but Saturday night he was standing in the mix with no security hovering. I’m sure his boys were there but I didn’t see or feel anyone and I am so thankful for that moment.
Prince’s web guy, Scott, was called forth and Prince pointed to the microphone. The girl came out with the lyric pages and the band busted into “Play That Funky Music” and that white boy went for it. I could tell web dude was like, “Holy shit, I am singing on Prince’s microphone and Prince is playing guitar behind me.” Holy shit, indeed.
Sometime after 3 am Prince finally called it quits and did a blow out jam. I floated out of his house and through the windy turns of Mulholland. I definitely did some damage to my hearing but I don’t care. I was at Princes’ house watching Prince play just a few feet away from me and I don’t know if anything else matters.
So, there I was, trapped in Prince’s bathroom while the sound of his band kicking into “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5 pumped through the space between the door and the floor. I frantically twisted the lock and turned the knob trying to get out in time to witness the magic but the door wouldn’t budge. I checked my cell phone—no service—no chance for a 911 rescue call. What would I say anyway? “Um, yeah hi, I’m trapped in Prince’s bathroom on the bottom floor of his house and I’m going to miss him sing one of my favorite Jackson 5 songs, so could you bring a crowbar to Beverly Park?” Another minute of twisting the door handle only lead to red fingers and I pictured myself stuck in his bathroom for days surviving on gobs of cherry lip-gloss and two sticks of Juicy Fruit. I pounded my fists on the door and shouted for help but the music was too loud and I realized that no one could hear my screams. This was not a dream, this was really happening. Last Saturday night at 1am I was being held captive by Prince’s bathroom.
Let me start at the beginning and please forgive me if this entry sounds like a twelve-year writing in her diary but what do you expect after spending a night at Prince’s house?
It all started with a cryptic email inviting me to Prince’s pad to witness the launch of his new website www.lotusflow3r.com with a live performance to follow. I had heard whispers of these Prince gatherings before, but I was suspicious of the email as it wasn’t from prince.com. I replied saying, “Is this legit? If so, I’m in.” I was instructed to wait for further instructions—very hush hush. At that point, I assumed I was actually going to Prince’s house or being shipped off to Russia and sold into the sex trade—either way it was important to shave my legs.
At 9:45 pm I stood at Prince’s front door, an hour and a half late and couldn’t find the doorbell. I thought of knocking but with a house of that size, who would hear my puny knuckles hitting the glass? I took a deep breath, opened the door and walked inside. I expected everything to be purple but there wasn’t even a hint of plum in the grand space that seemed to go on for miles. I entered a spacious kitchen busy with a small group eating hors d’oeuvres and enjoying cocktails. One of the first people I met was Steve Appleford, a writer for Rolling Stone—confirmation that I was in fact in Prince’s house and not headed to the Ukraine. I ordered a whiskey and immediately locked eyes on Prince’s black Schimmel piano just steps away from the kitchen island. This gorgeous instrument was just sitting there in the middle of the room. It should have been behind a velvet rope on a revolving stage under a spotlight but there it was by the bathroom and I touched it. My hands were on the black lacquer before I could stop myself and I ran my fingers over the keys where he probably works out new songs during breakfast. The top of the grand piano was flipped open with a gold Prince symbol hood ornament. It looked like a spaceship and I didn’t know whether to play it or drive it. As the others snacked, I fantasized about eating Cheerios in the morning by the kitchen island while Prince played “When You Were Mine” and “I Want to Be Your Lover.”
A little after ten we were instructed to go to the screening room. I was the first to leave the room and landed in the vast hallway clueless as to where to go next when out of nowhere HE appeared.
“Hi,” he said. “Are you looking for the screening room?”
“Hi,” I said. “Yes.”
Pointing, “Just go down those stairs and go left. I’ll see you in a bit,” Prince said.
“Thanks,” I said as if an usher at the Arclight had just shown me to my seat.
“Holy moly!” I said to Steve. “Prince just gave us directions!”
Prince is launching a new website in March called www.lotusflow3r.com where he will share everything including the release of three new records this year—two by Prince and one by his latest protégé, Bria Valente. This website is his new venture to deliver music, downloads, concert tickets etc. to his fans. After the website demonstration we spilled out into the hall toward a modest size rec room. Area rugs absorbed sound on the floor, a drumkit sat under the mantel where a fireplace should have been, two couches and yes, there were a few purple chairs. Female vocalists, Liv Warfield, Marva King and Shelby J stood behind their microphones ready to go, a bass player, two keyboard players, Cora Dunham on drums and no more than twenty-five people in the room (I counted) and me. I often find myself in situations and ask, “How did I get in here?” This was definitely one of those times. Prince grabbed his guitar and they kicked into “Let’s Go” by The Cars. “Crimson and Clover” followed, then Prince shouted for Frederic Yonnet to bust out his harmonica and they ripped into The Stones’ “Miss You,” and I lost my mind! Prince was ten feet away playing Rolling Stones songs. “This is really happening,” I said to myself. “This is really happening.”
Every time a new song began, a woman magically appeared with laminated lyric sheets that looked like IHOP menus and placed them on Prince’s music stand. When the band kicked into “Everyday People” we all let loose and began dancing—the small house party was in full effect. Prince put down the guitar and walked through the tiny dance floor. I felt totally high without any drugs, spinning on Prince’s carpet, under a cheapo disco ball (the kind you buy at Spencer’s) as Prince covered Sly and the Family Stone.
Then…
Out of the speakers I heard the sound of rain. “No, it can’t be,” I said, to the guy next to me.
Then…
The most identifiable first few notes of “Purple Rain” trickled out. Ah!
Then…
The room got quiet, Prince laughed, skipped past the song and went into a random jam. Ack! I was bummed for a second but then he launched into “I Feel For You,” made famous by Chaka Khan but written by Prince. How could I be mad? He was singing “I Feel For You” while we did the hustle. “Y’all done tore up my carpet!” Prince joked as we shook it. He threw out “Irresistible Bitch” and “Hot Thing” and when I thought I couldn’t handle anymore, he launched into “Controversy.” OH-MY-GOD. I was in Prince’s basement dancing to “Controversy” live. I was having my very own Co-AH-chella moment. At that point in the night I realized what a total music geek I truly am. It is a presumption to think that all of the women in the room either wanted to bag the purple one or become his new protégé but I think it’s a safe bet. Certainly, all of the men were hoping to catch a smidge of his mojo. I, however, stared at that man, watching his fingers glide effortlessly over the strings as if was an extension of his body and all I wanted was for Prince to give me a guitar lesson. Dork.
During the next jam I moved my coat from the couch so a woman could sit down. This woman turned out to be Anita Baker. I knew exactly who she was but couldn’t name one song she sang and it killed me the whole night. All I could envision was her face on a smooth jazz radio station billboard.
Sidebar: The next day I would find out from a very good source that Miss Anita was at Trashy Lingerie just hours before the Prince get together. Saucy.
The Doobie Brothers were next to get the Prince treatment and I couldn’t believe I knew most of the words to “Long Train Runnin.” Another jam session followed which was a perfect time to hit the ladies room. En route I caught sight of a motorcycle encased in glass. I was told it was THE motorcycle from Purple Rain and I giggled like a wee school girl as I sang “Take Me With U” all the way down the hall and that’s when I got trapped in Prince’s bathroom.
So, there I was, the lock was stuck, The Jackson 5 was pounding on the other side of the door and I was panicking that Prince would find me five days later in the fetal position wedged against the toilet clutching a bottle of Method hand soap. I took a moment and surveyed the room as if it was an elevator and seriously looked for an escape hatch. How does one get stuck in Prince’s bathroom? Am I the only one to get stuck in Prince’s bathroom? Why does this stuff always happen to me? I focused all of my energy on one last desperate twist and the door finally opened. After seven tense minutes, I was free and booked it past the dj booth, past the purple pool table with the gold prince symbol into the small room and caught Prince performing the last minute of the Jackson Five. Little did I know we were only halfway through the night.
While the band took a break, we retreated to the kitchen for desert. Pita chips, guacamole and raspberry torts, which I kept calling “Raspberry Beret” torts, lined the granite island in the kitchen. Prince did a wardrobe change and reappeared. His platform sneakers had blinking lights on the heels like runners use at night to avoid getting creamed by passing cars. Even with Prince buzzing around the room, the vibe of the kitchen was super friendly and mellow. There was no one telling me things like, “Don’t look him in the eye,” or “Stay five paces behind him at all times.” It was as normal as that situation gets. AGAIN, WHAT WAS I DOING THERE?
“Have you seen the pool yet?” Prince’s web guy, Scott, asked me. Before he hit “yet” I had pushed him out the backdoor and demanded a tour. A hot tub is the first thing you see in the grand backyard then a long pool that looks like something out of a Chanel N° 5 ad. It was clear that Prince was renting this house but he had personalized it in his own way. In the distance, at the very end of the pool stood a giant metal cut out of Prince’s symbol. “I must touch it,” I squealed and made a bee-line for it with tourguide in tow. A forest of trees lined the backyard, a volleyball court was just a few yards away and then Prince’s studio. We couldn’t go in but we could see inside through the giant windows. It’s not as elaborate as I imagined. A couple of computers, a flat screen and a keyboard were the only things in the room. I’m sure Paisley Park studios are a bit more elaborate.
Back inside, I cruised past shelves of his personal pictures—shots of Dave Chappelle and Salma Hayek. Pictures of Apollonia and Mariah. Then back to the kitchen when we heard Prince say something like, “Let’s hit it again. Come on!” Back in the music room the band kicked into “Love Bizarre” and I channeled Sheila E as I sang along under the soft lights.
Then…
Prince launched into “Erotic City.” NO, NO, NO, THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING. He never does that song anymore—too many dirty words. There were only fifteen people in the room at this point.
Then…
He stopped the song just before the vocal would normally come in. My plea for him to “Do it” got a laugh but that’s all and he launched into another random jam. What a tease.
Two women emerged from behind and dramatically tossed two one-dollar bills at his feet. Prince slid off his guitar and in James Brown style got down on one knee, then another, collected the money, stood back up and said, “I haven’t seen George Washington in a long time.” Prince was totally messing around having a good time and I kept thinking, “He’s so normal right now…but he’s Prince? And he’s goofing around like a normal guy right now.”
“Anita, get up here,” Prince demanded and Anita Baker shimmied over in her very high heels and belted out an awesome jam. Prince jumped back in with a bite of “Love Rollercoaster” into The Commodores “Brick House,” into Rick James and I was “Super Freaking” out.
As we danced, Prince occasionally popped inside the group and all I kept thinking about was the security backstage at Co-AH-chella. It was Secret Service type of stuff but Saturday night he was standing in the mix with no security hovering. I’m sure his boys were there but I didn’t see or feel anyone and I am so thankful for that moment.
Prince’s web guy, Scott, was called forth and Prince pointed to the microphone. The girl came out with the lyric pages and the band busted into “Play That Funky Music” and that white boy went for it. I could tell web dude was like, “Holy shit, I am singing on Prince’s microphone and Prince is playing guitar behind me.” Holy shit, indeed.
Sometime after 3 am Prince finally called it quits and did a blow out jam. I floated out of his house and through the windy turns of Mulholland. I definitely did some damage to my hearing but I don’t care. I was at Princes’ house watching Prince play just a few feet away from me and I don’t know if anything else matters.
USA Today: New Prince Albums in due March 09
Prince and friends party like it's 2009
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By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY
BEVERLY HILLS — To celebrate his cyberspace return and three upcoming albums, Prince threw a house party Saturday night for 30 guests who got a large-screen tour of his elaborate website lotusflow3r.com followed by a rowdy two-hour concert.
The Purple One, who vanished from the Web after shutting down his groundbreaking NPG Music Club in 2006, is ramping up the new membership site in time to deliver MPLSound, Lotusflow3r and Elixir, the debut by protégée Bria Valente. He's planning a simultaneous late-March release. Site designers unveiled a dizzying interactive universe, including a sphere of photos and performance clips.
Guests, including Anita Baker, assembled downstairs for a raucous dance bash, featuring Prince and a rocking soul band serving up mostly heated covers, including The Cars' Let's Go, The Rolling Stones' Miss You, the Jackson 5's I Want You Back, and Sly & the Family Stone's Stand and I Want to Take You Higher. After a long jam inspired a full-house Electric Slide, Prince quipped: "Y'all done tore up my carpet. I'm never inviting y'all back."
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Rolling Stone Attends Purple Party
2/2/09, 1:12 pm EST
The e-mail invitation was vague but intriguing: spend Saturday night at Prince’s mansion in Beverly Hills for “a journey through the galaxy” and a live performance by the man himself.
As the first to arrive, I’m greeted by Scott Addison Clay, the bearded young developer behind Prince’s new Website, lotusflow3r.com. He wears a tweed jacket and sits behind a widescreen computer monitor to show off a bit of the new site, launched just minutes earlier. Leaning against a nearby couch is a sparkling metal cane, with Prince’s “love symbol” etched into the handle.
Clay notes that 10 years before, Prince helped revolutionize the relationship between music and the Internet by being the first major artist to debut music exclusively on the Web. And lotusflow3r.com is where Prince will release three new albums in 2009, including MPLSound, Lotus Flow3r and the unveiling of his newest female protégé Bria Valente.
Then there is a voice behind us: “Can I use my computer?” It’s Prince, smiling in a blue shirt decorated with a stylized drawing of his own image, and shoes with heels that blink colored lights. “It’s OK, I just want to check my e-mail.”
This is his home office, just one corner on a large estate in the exclusive gated community of Beverly Park, in the hills above Los Angeles. In another room is a space-age grand piano with liquid curves and framed snapshots of Chris Rock, Spike Lee, Quincy Jones and other friends. Outside on a pedestal amid the reflecting pools, recording studio and a beach volleyball court is a metal sculpture of his symbol. This is could only be one man’s house.
Downstairs in the home theater, Clay gives a deeper glimpse of what’s coming on the site, set to slowly unfold in coming months. For now, it is limited to a home page with a barren cliff beneath a night sky and three new songs: “Another Boy,” “Colonized Mind” and “Discojellyfish,” which flow from a boombox that glows purple. Fans will eventually be asked to pay a subscription fee to open up other areas of the site, with music, lyrics, animation, photographs and video (including Prince’s cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” at Coachella last year).
Guests are led down the hall, past the pool table and a pair of motorcycles that look like they just rolled off the cover of Purple Rain, toward the sound of a band tuning up in a small room. It’s a crowd of barely 30 people: three invited fans, a few journalists, soul singer Anita Baker, DJ Kat Corbett from KROQ-FM and Miss Valente, tall and elegant in a low-cut dress.
Prince is in the corner with a guitar and the first song is a shimmering cover of the Cars’ “Let’s Go,” followed by “Crimson & Clover” (by Tommy James and the Shondells), before erupting into the Troggs’ “Wild Thing” as Prince raises his guitar, singing like Hendrix himself: “Baby, I think I love you . . . sock it to me!”
He calls harmonica player Frédéric Yonnet up to blow through the Rolling Stones’ “Miss You,” following a tough, sexy groove as Prince announces: “Come on out on the dance floor, come on!” It’s just the first of two sets he’ll lead tonight, and it’s a purely musical performance, without the big production of a tour date, playing vivid originals going all the way back to 1979’s “I Feel for You” and surprising cover tunes, including several Sly Stone hits (”Everyday People,” “Stand,” etc.).
You could see when Prince was especially moved by an emotional vocal from Baker or one of his three backup singers (Marva King, Shelby Johnson and Olivia Warfield), whose solos are epic performances unto themselves. Baker joins him for several duets, including “Guitar.”
“Real music by real musicians,” Prince announces, slipping into another funky psychedelic groove, leaving room for big solos from the band and his own guitar.
Near the end of the second set, it’s nearly 3 a.m. as Prince and bassist Josh Dunham jump into a sticky groove that’s instantly recognizable as a 1976 riff from Wild Cherry. Prince points directly at Clay, his Internet guru, by now pealed out of his tweed at the edge of the dance floor. He calls him over to the microphone, and Clay immediately begins singing, reading from an ovesized lyric sheet: “Play that funky music, white boy! Play that funky music right!”
Prince leans back against drummer Cora Dunham, still slashing at his guitar, eyebrows rising, as if he can’t believe what he is witnessing. But it’s a kind of unbelievable, brilliant moment, one of many during more than three hours of live music. Clay is still dancing behind the microphone, his dress shirt soaked, and for one moment the baddest white dude on the West Coast. “That’s pretty funky, right?” he asks. With Prince and the band behind him, it could hardly be anything else.
Monday, February 2, 2009
LA Times pt.3: Everyting but the pancakes
"It was two years ago to the Sunday when Prince, under a torrent of rain in the middle of Miami’s Dolphin Stadium at Super Bowl XLI, dazzled the world with a panoramic 12 minutes of his biggest hits next to pumped-up covers of “Proud Mary” and the Foo Fighters’ “Best of You.”
But in the wee hours of Feb. 1 in the opulent basement of his Beverly Hills mansion -- a rec room that boasts a Prince-emblazoned pool table and and an encased "Purple Rain" motorcycle -- Prince played an equally wide-ranging and mind-boggling set for a far more intimate gathering of fewer than 50 people, all of it designed to celebrate the launch of his Website lotusflow3r.com.
After a presentation of the new site, which looks to be an all-encompassing portal to Prince's history as well as a direct line to the three albums he has slated for 2009 (the first being "Lotus Flow3r", the electro-charged '80s flashback "MLPSound" and the debut of his latest protégé Bria Valente), Prince emerged for post-press conference concert with a blistering rendition of the Cars’ 1979 new wave hit “Let’s Go.”
Prince led his lethal band, including the amazingly hard-hitting female drummer Cora Dunham, through a nearly two-hour set. It was a rollicking, celebratory affair, and it included takes on the Rolling Stones (“Miss You”), the Doobie Brothers (“Long Train Running”), Mary J. Blige (“Be Happy”) and a Sly & the Family Stone medley.
Among the small but enthusiastic crowd were "Fame's" Debbie Allen and singer Anita Baker, the latter of whom eventually joined the band to trade vocals with Prince and his stellar trio of female vocalists, Liv Warfield, Shelby J and Marva King. When he launched into his own well of hits to churn out his 1981 single “Controversy” and “Feel For You,” the song made famous by Chaka Khan, a small dance floor erupted into what could have been a scene for a surreal music video commemorating the “Electric Slide."
“Y’all done tore up my carpet!” Prince chuckled afterward.
Never one to shy away from music technology, Prince let the band take a breather to perform a solo set on a keyboard sequencer. Vamping along alternately on guitar and drums, he spun out versions of fan favorites like 1982 B-side “Irresistible Bitch” and "Sign o’ the Times"-era nuggets “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker” and “Hot Thing.”
When Prince finally ended the show, he played an amiable host in the massive kitchen, flitting around the room in shoes that lighted up with red lights with each step as two cooks prepared an array of food for his guests (yes, the shoes lighted up with each step). Downstairs, DJ Rashida, in front of the original motorcycle from the film "Purple Rain," spun dance hits until a fuse blew.
Chatting up one of Prince's backup singers, Liv Warfield, she suggested I stick around. “There was talk of another set,” she dished. “You always have to be ready at a moment’s notice.”
Not 20 minutes later, Prince strode by purposely. “Come y’all, let’s hit it one more time, real quick,” he said to his band, and soon everyone was back in the basement for Round 2.
The now post-2 a.m. set was a gospel-tinged stroll through classic soul and R&B classics, showcasing his female singers on songs like “When Will We Be Paid” and the Friends of Distinction classic “Going in Circles.”
Ending with a spirited rendition of “Love Bizarre," which segued into a live mash-up of the lyrics to Rick James’ “Give It to Me Baby” matched with Prince's own “Let’s Work,” the singer, who by the way does a hilarious Kat Williams impression, seemed impressed with the endurance of the dozen or so die-hards that stayed until the end, which was sometime past 3 a.m.
Sending guests on their way with a click of his illuminated heels, Prince once again proved his status as one of America’s premier musical icons. The only thing missing was pancakes. "
-Scott Sterling
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/02/live-at-princes.html
But in the wee hours of Feb. 1 in the opulent basement of his Beverly Hills mansion -- a rec room that boasts a Prince-emblazoned pool table and and an encased "Purple Rain" motorcycle -- Prince played an equally wide-ranging and mind-boggling set for a far more intimate gathering of fewer than 50 people, all of it designed to celebrate the launch of his Website lotusflow3r.com.
After a presentation of the new site, which looks to be an all-encompassing portal to Prince's history as well as a direct line to the three albums he has slated for 2009 (the first being "Lotus Flow3r", the electro-charged '80s flashback "MLPSound" and the debut of his latest protégé Bria Valente), Prince emerged for post-press conference concert with a blistering rendition of the Cars’ 1979 new wave hit “Let’s Go.”
Prince led his lethal band, including the amazingly hard-hitting female drummer Cora Dunham, through a nearly two-hour set. It was a rollicking, celebratory affair, and it included takes on the Rolling Stones (“Miss You”), the Doobie Brothers (“Long Train Running”), Mary J. Blige (“Be Happy”) and a Sly & the Family Stone medley.
Among the small but enthusiastic crowd were "Fame's" Debbie Allen and singer Anita Baker, the latter of whom eventually joined the band to trade vocals with Prince and his stellar trio of female vocalists, Liv Warfield, Shelby J and Marva King. When he launched into his own well of hits to churn out his 1981 single “Controversy” and “Feel For You,” the song made famous by Chaka Khan, a small dance floor erupted into what could have been a scene for a surreal music video commemorating the “Electric Slide."
“Y’all done tore up my carpet!” Prince chuckled afterward.
Never one to shy away from music technology, Prince let the band take a breather to perform a solo set on a keyboard sequencer. Vamping along alternately on guitar and drums, he spun out versions of fan favorites like 1982 B-side “Irresistible Bitch” and "Sign o’ the Times"-era nuggets “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker” and “Hot Thing.”
When Prince finally ended the show, he played an amiable host in the massive kitchen, flitting around the room in shoes that lighted up with red lights with each step as two cooks prepared an array of food for his guests (yes, the shoes lighted up with each step). Downstairs, DJ Rashida, in front of the original motorcycle from the film "Purple Rain," spun dance hits until a fuse blew.
Chatting up one of Prince's backup singers, Liv Warfield, she suggested I stick around. “There was talk of another set,” she dished. “You always have to be ready at a moment’s notice.”
Not 20 minutes later, Prince strode by purposely. “Come y’all, let’s hit it one more time, real quick,” he said to his band, and soon everyone was back in the basement for Round 2.
The now post-2 a.m. set was a gospel-tinged stroll through classic soul and R&B classics, showcasing his female singers on songs like “When Will We Be Paid” and the Friends of Distinction classic “Going in Circles.”
Ending with a spirited rendition of “Love Bizarre," which segued into a live mash-up of the lyrics to Rick James’ “Give It to Me Baby” matched with Prince's own “Let’s Work,” the singer, who by the way does a hilarious Kat Williams impression, seemed impressed with the endurance of the dozen or so die-hards that stayed until the end, which was sometime past 3 a.m.
Sending guests on their way with a click of his illuminated heels, Prince once again proved his status as one of America’s premier musical icons. The only thing missing was pancakes. "
-Scott Sterling
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/02/live-at-princes.html
Purple Ticket Winner write-up
From a purple ticket winner's post on .org:
"our "ULTIMATE PRINCE EXPERIENCE" happened last night I've been contemplating if I should write about this since 3AM in the morning last night and now is the time. I have a lot to say so bear with me. As was reported there were 3 purple ticket winners that had the chance to go to Prince's Beverly Hills mansion last night and preview upcoming things on his new lotusflow3r.com website and have Prince play for them. I am one of those 3 and oh boy last night was like an unimaginable surreal dream come true. The other two people who attended were amorbella and to my surprise an old friend RDhull.
The night started off kind of hectic because all of us scrambled trying to find the location of the house. We were all on our own missions looking for the place (mapquest sucks) on our own and amorbella was lucky enough to use her GPS system. With the help of a good semeritan who pulled over and asked me if I was lost I soon after found my way to the gates I was looking for. I told the gate guard my name and when the gates began to open I knew it was on like donkey kong. After many twists and turns through the windy roads I finally arrived. I was greeted at the door by Prince's security man then by Scott Clay(the guy who is in charge of the new website) and a writer for Rollingstone Magazine. The two of them walked me into the kitchen where hor de veurs (I know I spelled that wrong were being served. (RD was all over the stuffed mushrooms and i enjoyed the deviled eggs, yes deviled eggs at Prince's house.
Next to the kitchen was a sitting area with plush couches a television and coffee table which connects to a big circular room with that amazing piano in it. Outside of the windows you could see a gigantic courtyard with a huge
symbol sticking up out of what may have been a fountain. We mingled and were served drinks in the kitchen with other guests and writers for magazines (Huffington Post, USA Today, etc) as well as the designers of the website Scott Clay and Anthony Malzone, Prince hairdressers, Anita Baker, Marva King, CC and Josh Dunham, Renato Neto, Rhonda (P's old bass player), Morris Hayes, Bria V., and other random guests who I have no idea who they were.
At this point me and RD were in total disbelief of how we ended up in this awesome situation. (BTW he wanted me to let you all here at the org know how much he loves and misses you and this time he mos def got that name check!)
After an hour or so of mingling I just knew we would be seeing Prince soon. The designers announced that we would all be heading downstairs to preview the website which had gone on live at 8pm. As I was walking to the staircase I spotted ole boy in the hall way dressed to the nines and talking to a lady from a magazine. amorbella and RD's wife had just been greeted by Prince in the hallway before that moment. When i saw him I had my Jamie Foxx moment of the evening and did everything in my power not to look him directly in his eyes but I failed.
At this point we entered the theatre room. This room had a huge picture screen, awesome sound system, comfortable couches, and thick soft carpeting. We all sat down and the lights went dark for the presentation. Scott Clay lead the presentation and showed us things to come on the site that I refuse to talk about here because by no means do I want to spoil what's in store for all of us in the future. All I can say is you will all(even the naysayers) be blown away by the graphics and 3D effects plus the many surprises which are in store.
After the spectacular preview of the site Scott told us that now was the time for us to head down the hall where Prince would be performing for us. At that split second we heard his guitar being played by him loud from a room where he was with the band and the music began. We all got up and shuffled our way through the pool room where we saw the pool table with a symbol layed across the top. We the passed by the dopest DJ booth with Rashida(I think it was her at least don't quote me on that one) doing her thing and into the music room we entered. Prince was in his little area to the left of the room with all his guitars keyboards and sampling equipment, CC on the drums in the center Josh on Bass to the right and the three back up singers in front of Josh. Over on the far left center side of the room was Mr. Hayes on keys. I'm no good with setlists so I'll write what I remember him playin and maybe perhaps when I get RD's report i will post the songs a little better.
From what I remember in the first part of the show he played everything from the Rollingstones (you know RD was lovin that) to many many other covers like Free, Ohio Players, Lets Go, I Feel 4 U, Stand Sly and the family stone every day people "Take you Higher" and a couple others that some people complain and says "he always plays those". Regardless I have no problem with what he plays. CC rocked on the drums and halfway into the show John Blackwell stepped in. They played Sexy Dancer and Controversy mixed with other songs I couldn't identify. (I told you I suck at set lists and I had no time to try and jot things down). Throughout the show Renato came in to play on the keys where Mr. Hayes sat. Prince also called in a guy named Fred( I think to play harmonica) many songs later the band went out through a back door and Prince took off his guitar. He went over to his sampler and started spittin out the sickest old school Prince beats which he tweeked and screwed around with such as the beats from Dorothy Parker (mind you he sang a few lines of that song) to Erotic City, Hot Thing, Forever in My Life, Partyman, and the ever so awesom beat of Irrisistable Bitch. When he played that beat he made his way over to the drum set and played along to the beat as RD and I stood right in front of the set and and sang the lyrics out loud saying UHHH instead of bitch out of respect for ole boy. At that point Prince walked out of the room and I guess he went up to the kitchen to eat.
A little while after we danced a bit more then we were escorted back into the theatre room by prince's assistant for our statements on the evening. We did that then we were told we could go drink and party some more. We hung out for a while and then we called it a night. i know I'm all over the place with this report but I did the best I could."
Link
"our "ULTIMATE PRINCE EXPERIENCE" happened last night I've been contemplating if I should write about this since 3AM in the morning last night and now is the time. I have a lot to say so bear with me. As was reported there were 3 purple ticket winners that had the chance to go to Prince's Beverly Hills mansion last night and preview upcoming things on his new lotusflow3r.com website and have Prince play for them. I am one of those 3 and oh boy last night was like an unimaginable surreal dream come true. The other two people who attended were amorbella and to my surprise an old friend RDhull.
The night started off kind of hectic because all of us scrambled trying to find the location of the house. We were all on our own missions looking for the place (mapquest sucks) on our own and amorbella was lucky enough to use her GPS system. With the help of a good semeritan who pulled over and asked me if I was lost I soon after found my way to the gates I was looking for. I told the gate guard my name and when the gates began to open I knew it was on like donkey kong. After many twists and turns through the windy roads I finally arrived. I was greeted at the door by Prince's security man then by Scott Clay(the guy who is in charge of the new website) and a writer for Rollingstone Magazine. The two of them walked me into the kitchen where hor de veurs (I know I spelled that wrong were being served. (RD was all over the stuffed mushrooms and i enjoyed the deviled eggs, yes deviled eggs at Prince's house.
Next to the kitchen was a sitting area with plush couches a television and coffee table which connects to a big circular room with that amazing piano in it. Outside of the windows you could see a gigantic courtyard with a huge
symbol sticking up out of what may have been a fountain. We mingled and were served drinks in the kitchen with other guests and writers for magazines (Huffington Post, USA Today, etc) as well as the designers of the website Scott Clay and Anthony Malzone, Prince hairdressers, Anita Baker, Marva King, CC and Josh Dunham, Renato Neto, Rhonda (P's old bass player), Morris Hayes, Bria V., and other random guests who I have no idea who they were.At this point me and RD were in total disbelief of how we ended up in this awesome situation. (BTW he wanted me to let you all here at the org know how much he loves and misses you and this time he mos def got that name check!)
After an hour or so of mingling I just knew we would be seeing Prince soon. The designers announced that we would all be heading downstairs to preview the website which had gone on live at 8pm. As I was walking to the staircase I spotted ole boy in the hall way dressed to the nines and talking to a lady from a magazine. amorbella and RD's wife had just been greeted by Prince in the hallway before that moment. When i saw him I had my Jamie Foxx moment of the evening and did everything in my power not to look him directly in his eyes but I failed.
At this point we entered the theatre room. This room had a huge picture screen, awesome sound system, comfortable couches, and thick soft carpeting. We all sat down and the lights went dark for the presentation. Scott Clay lead the presentation and showed us things to come on the site that I refuse to talk about here because by no means do I want to spoil what's in store for all of us in the future. All I can say is you will all(even the naysayers) be blown away by the graphics and 3D effects plus the many surprises which are in store.
After the spectacular preview of the site Scott told us that now was the time for us to head down the hall where Prince would be performing for us. At that split second we heard his guitar being played by him loud from a room where he was with the band and the music began. We all got up and shuffled our way through the pool room where we saw the pool table with a
symbol layed across the top. We the passed by the dopest DJ booth with Rashida(I think it was her at least don't quote me on that one) doing her thing and into the music room we entered. Prince was in his little area to the left of the room with all his guitars keyboards and sampling equipment, CC on the drums in the center Josh on Bass to the right and the three back up singers in front of Josh. Over on the far left center side of the room was Mr. Hayes on keys. I'm no good with setlists so I'll write what I remember him playin and maybe perhaps when I get RD's report i will post the songs a little better.From what I remember in the first part of the show he played everything from the Rollingstones (you know RD was lovin that) to many many other covers like Free, Ohio Players, Lets Go, I Feel 4 U, Stand Sly and the family stone every day people "Take you Higher" and a couple others that some people complain and says "he always plays those". Regardless I have no problem with what he plays. CC rocked on the drums and halfway into the show John Blackwell stepped in. They played Sexy Dancer and Controversy mixed with other songs I couldn't identify. (I told you I suck at set lists and I had no time to try and jot things down). Throughout the show Renato came in to play on the keys where Mr. Hayes sat. Prince also called in a guy named Fred( I think to play harmonica) many songs later the band went out through a back door and Prince took off his guitar. He went over to his sampler and started spittin out the sickest old school Prince beats which he tweeked and screwed around with such as the beats from Dorothy Parker (mind you he sang a few lines of that song) to Erotic City, Hot Thing, Forever in My Life, Partyman, and the ever so awesom beat of Irrisistable Bitch. When he played that beat he made his way over to the drum set and played along to the beat as RD and I stood right in front of the set and and sang the lyrics out loud saying UHHH instead of bitch out of respect for ole boy. At that point Prince walked out of the room and I guess he went up to the kitchen to eat.
A little while after we danced a bit more then we were escorted back into the theatre room by prince's assistant for our statements on the evening. We did that then we were told we could go drink and party some more. We hung out for a while and then we called it a night. i know I'm all over the place with this report but I did the best I could."
Link
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