Tag: amiir nelson

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Reviews

A Purple Day in December: The Truth Review

© NPG Records/Sony Legacy

As most of you are no doubt aware, Erica Thompson has been a great friend and supporter of the blog since we met for a podcast to discuss her presentation at the University of Salford Purple Reign conference back in 2017. We’ve been talking for a while about my writing a guest post for her own blog, where she shares updates and research from her own work writing a book about Prince’s spiritual journey. Tomorrow’s special Record Store Day release of the 1998 album The Truth finally gave us the excuse we’d been looking for. So, here’s my review:

A Purple Day in December: “‘What if Half the Things Ever Said Turned Out 2 Be a Lie?’ – One of Prince’s Richest, Weirdest and Most Intimate Albums Gets a Limited Reissue”

While you’re there, you should check out the rest of Erica’s blog, and follow along with what is shaping up to be one of the most compelling projects in the burgeoning world of “Prince studies.” And yes, I’m still writing on here, as well: “Darling Nikki” will be available for patrons by the end of next week. Have a great weekend, and good luck snagging a copy of The Truth tomorrow!

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Reviews

Review: Ultimate Rave

Cover art for Ultimate Rave; photo by Steve Parke, © NPG Records/Sony Legacy.

Hi again! As promised, I’m back with my review of the new Ultimate Rave collection, which went up today on Spectrum Culture:

Review: Ultimate Rave

I wish I could say that the critics had been wrong all along and this is a buried, misunderstood gem, but quite frankly, it isn’t; even 20 years later, this is still one of (the Artist Formerly Known as) Prince’s most deeply mediocre records. But I find that the additional hindsight, as well as Sony Legacy’s excellent presentation, has made me a lot more affectionate than I may have been otherwise. I look forward to this deluxe treatment being given to more of the albums that deserve it!

In the meantime, if you’re interested in supporting this release but have found the price tag too steep, at time of posting it’s a little less than $16 on Amazon; that’s about $10 less than I paid for it, even lower compared to list price. And if you use my affiliate link, you can support me, too!

Okay, that’s enough shilling for one day. See you tomorrow!

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Uncategorized

Prince Track by Track: “Deconstruction”

No, not that deconstruction; photo stolen from the Society for U.S. Intellectual History.

Allow me to begin this post with the opposite of my usual spiel: I’m actually almost finished with the next song and will post it tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s my latest appearance on Darren Husted’s Prince: Track by Track podcast, on the most obscure track I’ve had the pleasure to discuss:

Prince Track by Track: “Deconstruction”

I have a relatively ambitious plan to wrap up with Controversy in the next week or so… wish me luck, and see you tomorrow!

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Uncategorized

Prince Track by Track: “Sex in the Summer”

From the Emancipation CD booklet, 1996; © NPG Records/EMI.

It’s been a minute since my last appearance on Prince: Track by Track, but I’m back again to chat with host Darren Husted about one of my guilty pleasures from Emancipation:

Prince Track by Track:
“Sex in the Summer”

Also in semi-related news, my other project Dystopian Dance Party has launched our fifth annual celebration of wet, silky ’80s R&B, Jheri Curl June. If you’re a fan of Prince’s ’80s work, you’ll find a lot to like about the stuff we cover. Check out the podcast kicking of the festivities here:

Dystopian Dance Party Podcast:
Jheri Curl June 2K18

You should also check in on the blog, as we’ll be posting a vintage Jheri Curl track every weekday this month. Some of them, I’m sure, will be Prince-related. Meanwhile, over here I’ll have an end-of-year-two wrap-up post this week, and then it’s on to our next Prince track, “She’s Just a Baby.”

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Podcast

Podcast: Yes – A Conversation with Chambers Stevens

Prince at the El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles, 2004; Chambers is behind him on the left. Photo by M. Caulfield.

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It’s been over half a year since the University of Salford’s interdisciplinary Prince conference, but I keep connecting with people who presented there and whose topics of research are too interesting not to discuss. This time, I’m talking to actor and playwright Chambers Stevens, who has a fascinating theory about the influence of improv training on Prince’s approach to life and performance. But we aren’t just retreading Chambers’ presentation from the Salford conference; he also has some hilarious stories to share about his own run-ins with Prince (and Chaka Khan), as well as some thoughts about the peculiar nature of Prince fandom. We had a lot of fun recording this–hopefully you’ll have fun listening as well!

And speaking of fun, there’s still a little more time to participate in my giveaway for a free copy of Duane Tudahl’s new book Prince and the Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions: 1983 and 1984. The rules are simple: just subscribe to d / m / s / r on your podcast app of choice (logging into iTunes or Stitcher and searching “dance music sex romance” should do the trick), and leave a review. It doesn’t have to be a positive review; feel free to rake me over the coals if you want, just make it well-written. On Tuesday, December 12, I’ll look at all the reviews that have been submitted, pick my favorite–again, not necessarily the most positive!–and announce the winner on the next episode of the podcast. Oh, and speaking of that next episode, this is one you’re not going to want to miss: I was fortunate enough to speak to the one and only Marylou Badeaux, former V.P. of Special Projects at Warner Bros. Records and author of the upcoming memoir Moments: Remembering Prince. Come back and listen to it next week!

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