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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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Prince Track by Track: “LIKE A MACK”

Poster for The Mack, Michael Campus, 1973; © New Line Home Entertainment.

Still working on that next Vanity 6 post, but in the meantime I have a few other things to share today. First up is my penultimate appearance on Darren Husted’s Prince: Track by Track podcast, discussing one of Prince’s most embarrassing songs:

Prince Track by Track: “LIKE A MACK”

I’ll be back later this afternoon to share my review of Ultimate Rave–which, for Amazon users, appears to be on pretty deep discount today! If you’ve been waiting to buy it, now seems like a good time.

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Prince Track by Track: “Pretty Man”

"Beautiful," played by Donnell Rawlings, arrives at the Playa Haters' Ball on Chappelle's Show, 2003; © Comedy Central.

I know, I know, I’m running behind again. But part three of “Controversy” will be out soon–no promises, but I’m aiming for this week–and once that monolith is out of the way I expect things to pick up accordingly. In the meantime, here’s my latest appearance on Darren Husted’s Prince: Track by Track podcast, talking about the hidden track that may technically be my favorite song on Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic:

Prince Track by Track: “Pretty Man”

Thanks to those of you who have been waiting patiently for the next d / m / s / r post, as well as the likely much larger number of you who don’t give a shit!

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Dystopian Dance Party: The Prince Issue Podcast with Guest Erika Peterson

Callie's cover art for Dystopian Dance Party 1.

As you may or may not know, Dystopian Dance Party is the other, more irreverent project I do with my sister Callie. We recently launched a physical magazine, the first issue of which is dedicated to art and writing inspired by the music of Prince. On this episode of the DDP podcast, Callie and I are joined by our friend Erika Peterson to talk about her work for the magazine–an exhaustive guide to the 3 Chains O’ Gold film–the most absurd/surreal moments of Celebration 2018, and our ongoing (one-sided) beef with Questlove. It’s definitely a bit looser and sillier than the average d / m / s / r podcast, but if you enjoy my other stuff, you’ll probably enjoy this, too:

Dystopian Dance Party: The Prince Issue Podcast with Guest Erika Peterson

And if you can’t get enough of Erika, remember that she also recently appeared on our friend KaNisa’s excellent Muse 2 the Pharaoh podcast. Take a listen if you haven’t already:

Muse 2 the Pharaoh #1

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Prince (Protégé) Summer: Támar, Bria Valente, Andy Allo, and Judith Hill

Locked out of Paisley Park by Judith Hill; © NPG Records/Tremolo Productions.

For my last installment of Prince (Protégé) Summer on Andresmusictalk, I focused on a handful of young women with whom Prince was associated during the last decade or so of his life: Támar Davis, Bria Valente, Andy Allo, and Judith Hill. As I note in the post, I don’t especially love his collaborations with any of these latter-day protégées (especially Bria Valente, blah). But I think it’s interesting that toward the end of his life, Prince seemed to become more generous and less overtly controlling with his collaborators; it makes for a bittersweet end to the series, and it’s something I look forward to exploring in more detail on this blog. Anyway, here’s the link:

Prince (Protégé) Summer:
Támar, Bria Valente,
Andy Allo, and Judith Hill

Again, we’ve got one more take on For You next week, then I’m officially (finally!) moving on. Later!