Tag: purple rain

Review: Ultimate Rave

Review: Ultimate Rave

(Featured Image: 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 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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Review: Musicology/3121/Planet Earth

Review: Musicology/3121/Planet Earth

(Featured Image: Prince presides over his domain on the cover of Planet Earth, 2007; © NPG Records.)

It’s been a little bit of a crazy week, so I’m afraid we’re going to have to wait a while longer for my next real post on “All the Critics Love U in New York”; but I haven’t been completely lax in my Prince-writing duties. Over at Spectrum Culture, where I occasionally lend my pen, I reviewed the new batch of vinyl reissues from Prince’s mid-2000s “comeback” era:

Review: Musicology/3121/Planet Earth

These weren’t my favorite albums when they came out, and to be frank they still aren’t (though 3121 aged pretty damn well); but they cover a period of great historical interest, and I’m glad they’re being made available for a new audience. If you haven’t picked up your own copies yet and you want to support d / m / s / r, you are welcome to do so through these Amazon affiliate link: Musicology, 3121, Planet Earth.

On a somewhat Prince-related tip, I also wrote a piece for Spectrum this week about Beck’s Midnite Vultures, which is turning 20 this year in what I can only interpret as an act of personal aggression against me. You can read it here and find out why I think it actually owes less to Prince than to David Bowie, specifically 1975’s Young Americans:

Holy Hell: Midnite Vultures Turns 20

Next week, I’ll finally have a little more time to do some writing for himself (a.k.a., this blog). I’m also recording another batch of Prince: Track by Track episodes tomorrow, the first of which you should be hearing very soon. Perhaps, at some point, I will also get some sleep.

Prince Track by Track Presents Midnite Vultures Track by Track: “Nicotine & Gravy”

Prince Track by Track Presents Midnite Vultures Track by Track: “Nicotine & Gravy”

(Featured Image: CD single cover for “Nicotine & Gravy,” © Geffen Records.)

I was originally on the fence about whether I would share this podcast appearance here; while it’s an extension of Darren Husted’s Prince: Track by Track podcast–and Darren decided to do Beck’s 1999 album Midnite Vultures because of its well-publicized Prince influence–I thought at first that the track I’d chosen to guest on wasn’t very Prince-related. Well, turns out I was in denial, because we actually ended up talking about Prince quite a bit:

Midnite Vultures Track by Track: “Nicotine & Gravy”

So anyway, there’s me talking about a non-Prince artist. I’ll be back by the end of the week to talk some more about Prince–or at least the Time. And hey, if you want to hear/read more of my words about artists that aren’t necessarily Prince, check out my music writing portfolio and my (currently-dormant-but-not-dead) side project zine/podcast Dystopian Dance Party!

Prince Track by Track: “My Medallion”

Prince Track by Track: “My Medallion”

(Featured Image: Mark Dacascos and Scott Wolf show off their jointly-owned medallion in the Double Dragon movie, 1994; © Gramercy Pictures.)

I’m still hoping to finish my next proper post by the end of the week–though I have to say that today I’m laid out in bed with what feels depressingly like the flu, which is not the most conducive state for quality or coherent writing. I can, however, crank out a quick post to publicize my latest guest appearance on Darren Husted’s Prince: Track by Track podcast:

Prince Track by Track: “My Medallion”

I believe we have two more of these scheduled before the end of the month, so I’ll be posting them as they become available. Unless, of course, I’m actually dying, in which case, goodbye cruel world!

Prince Track by Track: “Pearls B4 the Swine”

Prince Track by Track: “Pearls B4 the Swine”

(Featured Image: 15th century woodcarving depicting the “pearls before swine” quotation from Matthew 7:6.)

Amidst all of the excitement of actual d / m / s / r content last week, I also quietly made another guest appearance on Darren Husted’s Prince: Track by Track podcast (“quietly” in the sense that I didn’t promote it on the blog, not in the sense that I didn’t talk–we definitely talked for over 20 minutes). If you got through my three-hour podcast on Prince’s second album and somehow still aren’t sick of the sound of my voice, you can subject yourself to it here:

Prince Track by Track: “Pearls B4 the Swine”

I’ll be back later this week with another, mercifully audio-free post. See you soon!