Who here has really listened to N.E.W.S.; particulary North? Some great stuff, man! About the 12th minute the songs suddenly changes and I immediately felt like I was in some cold, freaky place with wind howling and some sort of animal crying or making some really tripped out noises. It continues to play for close to 2 minutes before it ends. I tell ya, if Prince classified N.E.W.S. as dinner music, then this stuff might freak my guest out. Genius? Yes, but definitly trippy. His music is better appreciated when listened to with headphones. Thoughts?

[Edited 4/23/15 15:29pm]

[Edited 4/25/15 7:32am]

i haven't listened to it in ages, but i know exactly which part you're talking about,
i listened to that a lot. it's synth and some weird guitar (very soft feedback?) or
something. it sounds great. gonna go listen to it right now

God, I know NEWS pretty much by heart. I absolutely love this record and wish he'd make more like it.

I loved it when this came out after The Rainbow Children and the One Nite Alone... studio/live sets...

He was once again unpredictable to me, creating new music on his terms... and it seemed the freedom he had wanted was finally paying dividends... though not cash dividends obviously, because he quickly side-stepped into Musicology (which was just okay) and then a series of his least interesting, least inspired records ever. Ah well....

NEWS is a great record. Never understood what people don't like about it. But then I'm a big jazz fan. NEWS sure ain't jazz, but it's jazz-Y in its scope, and some people can't get past that, I guess.

Awesome ending. Well executed. So meditatively cool = North.

Love the near silence.

Killer album that came out of nowhere. Love this album, wish he did more like them, as I am a huge jazz fan as well.

Yes, this is a full instrumental album, absolutely ZERO vocals!

Listening to this bad noy now, thanks for getting me to revisit this gem

That entire album...

IstenSzek said:

Yes it's defo an exercise in less is more. you can almost see 80s/90s Prince layering this one to death with all sorts of stuff including drum machies/vocals/Frank Zappa fairlight samples etc. but i'm glad he left it open and spacious.

Sounds like P is a genius. I still don't own this; you all make me want to track this down somewhere.

Yep, dug it out the other day. I have so much time for this album. Some many interesting music passages. I find it compelling to listen to, and so rich in textures. If I have it on in the car and I reach my destination, I find it difficult to turn off and get ut of the car.

breakdown2k14 said:

I've never heard it ,are they all instrumental tracks ? no lyrics at all ?

You can listen to it on many elevators around the country.

Pentacle said:

breakdown2k14 said:

I've never heard it ,are they all instrumental tracks ? no lyrics at all ?

You can listen to it on many elevators around the country.

Lol.......ahhhh, brilliant repartee. The elevator pun.

Here's another for you comic canon......SNEWS!!!!!

I don't care what anyone says. I love the whole "N.E.W.S" CD. One of his finest recordings..I've preached the gospel about it on here for many years. I wish he would do another one.

..and yes, it is better listened to with headphones.

Nikeze said:

Pentacle said:

You can listen to it on many elevators around the country.

Lol.......ahhhh, brilliant repartee. The elevator pun.

Here's another for you comic canon......SNEWS!!!!!

All true. Here's another:

It's the background music for the 7 Day Forecast on the Weather Channel circa the early 90s.

klick2me said:

Who here has really listened to N.E.W.S.; particulary North? Some great stuff, man! About the 12th minute the songs suddenly changes and I immediately felt like I was in some cold, freaky place with wind howling and some sort of animal crying or making some really tripped out noises. It continues to play for close to 2 minutes before it ends. I tell ya, if Prince classified N.E.W.S. as dinner music, then this stuff might freak my guest out. Genius? Yes, but definitly trippy. His music is better appreciated when listened to with headphones. Thoughts?

[Edited 4/23/15 15:29pm]

[Edited 4/25/15 7:32am]

The whole album is extremely visual and evocative, I couldn't find the link like that but I once wrote a piece here explaining all the "stories" I read between the lines of this album, and how they relate to the track's titles. Like Rimshottbob I guess I practically know the whole album by heart, it's one of P's greatest post-classic years achievements IMHO, but too complex for many to appreciate. I've read people writing here that "nothing happens" in North. Obviously they can't HEAR what happens because they don't have the musical education to do so, because so much DOES happen during those 14 minutes. My absolute fave is East if only for its intro. These few minutes of intro are Prince totally out of his comfort zone, doing something unlike anything he'd ever done before.

I sincerely hoped at the time there would be more albums like that but unfortunately the "new directions in music" series was very short lived It's a pity because althoçugh P needed stuff like Musicology to cash on, he could easily have released instrumental albums on his website for the fans only, in digital. I had some hope when those 3EG instrus were released online in June 2013 but finally nothing more happened

steakfinger said:

klick2me said:

steakfinger said:

All true. Here's another:

It's the background music for the 7 Day Forecast on the Weather Channel circa the early 90s.

All I ask is that you listen to it a few more times, in it's entirety. I assure you, you will be hooked.

Forget it steakfinger......some people just don't have it.

From the film White Men Can't Jump......"Look man, you can listen to Jimi but you can't hear him. There's a difference man. Just because you're listening to him doesn't mean you're hearing him."

Yeah, I love North too - one of my most played songs of the 00s !

The whole NEWS-album is an inspired piece of art, shows that Prince is more than "just" a highly gifted entertainer !!

Genesia said:

That entire album...

Am I in bizarro world right now?

Feeling touched by N.E.W.S.?!? It's single-handedly the most boring Prince album ever released.

Geez, what's next? Am I gonna see people talking about how great the XFL is, or how impressive it was that Godfather III topped the first two films?

databank said:

klick2me said:

Who here has really listened to N.E.W.S.; particulary North? Some great stuff, man! About the 12th minute the songs suddenly changes and I immediately felt like I was in some cold, freaky place with wind howling and some sort of animal crying or making some really tripped out noises. It continues to play for close to 2 minutes before it ends. I tell ya, if Prince classified N.E.W.S. as dinner music, then this stuff might freak my guest out. Genius? Yes, but definitly trippy. His music is better appreciated when listened to with headphones. Thoughts?

[Edited 4/23/15 15:29pm]

[Edited 4/25/15 7:32am]

The whole album is extremely visual and evocative, I couldn't find the link like that but I once wrote a piece here explaining all the "stories" I read between the lines of this album, and how they relate to the track's titles. Like Rimshottbob I guess I practically know the whole album by heart, it's one of P's greatest post-classic years achievements IMHO, but too complex for many to appreciate. I've read people writing here that "nothing happens" in North. Obviously they can't HEAR what happens because they don't have the musical education to do so, because so much DOES happen during those 14 minutes. My absolute fave is East if only for its intro. These few minutes of intro are Prince totally out of his comfort zone, doing something unlike anything he'd ever done before.

I sincerely hoped at the time there would be more albums like that but unfortunately the "new directions in music" series was very short lived It's a pity because althoçugh P needed stuff like Musicology to cash on, he could easily have released instrumental albums on his website for the fans only, in digital. I had some hope when those 3EG instrus were released online in June 2013 but finally nothing more happened

And those 3EG Instrumentals wasn't that bad, it was better than anything on PlecElec (Except AnotherLove). I was sceptic about another Instrumental album but I changed my mind, anything would have been better than the crap he put on PlecElec. As for N.E.W.S it's a nice album, not great but at least it was different and experimental so I wouldn't mind if he released something similar agan

i've listened to N.E.W.S loads, I think it's great

a very musical and, as you say, trippy album!

I have the CD and the packaging is nice,

but I alway though this album would sound great on wax..one track per side..

oh and East is my fave track off this album !

I seriously must be stoned right now! Bless you all for enjoying it, really, but since when did this album start getting so much love!? I don't get it! I think it is the most boring thing since boredom itself was first discovered.

PurpleKnight said:

I seriously must be stoned right now! Bless you all for enjoying it, really, but since when did this album start getting so much love!? I don't get it! I think it is the most boring thing since boredom itself was first discovered.

Is it boring or are you boring? Music doesn't exist in a vaccum. Without ears we would not even percieve it exists. Its a good thing we don't all have your ears.

tricky99 said:

PurpleKnight said:

I seriously must be stoned right now! Bless you all for enjoying it, really, but since when did this album start getting so much love!? I don't get it! I think it is the most boring thing since boredom itself was first discovered.

Is it boring or are you boring? Music doesn't exist in a vaccum. Without ears we would not even percieve it exists. Its a good thing we don't all have your ears.

Fairplay Tricky99, needed to be said. So friggin dull isn't it? And this guy's supposed to be into philosophy, and probably fancies him/herself as a great thinker.

Load o' bolox mate!

PurpleKnight said:

I seriously must be stoned right now! Bless you all for enjoying it, really, but since when did this album start getting so much love!? I don't get it! I think it is the most boring thing since boredom itself was first discovered.

.

Yeah that's cool, didn't really need a condescending blessing for my subjective music taste

But thats's cool

Nikeze said:

tricky99 said:

Is it boring or are you boring? Music doesn't exist in a vaccum. Without ears we would not even percieve it exists. Its a good thing we don't all have your ears.

Fairplay Tricky99, needed to be said. So friggin dull isn't it? And this guy's supposed to be into philosophy, and probably fancies him/herself as a great thinker.

Load o' bolox mate!

Premise 1 - Person thinks an album is boring

Conclusion - Person is boring

That literally makes zero sense.

No, I don't fancy myself a great thinker. I don't know where that came from.

klick2me said:

Who here has really listened to N.E.W.S.; particulary North? Some great stuff, man! About the 12th minute the songs suddenly changes and I immediately felt like I was in some cold, freaky place with wind howling and some sort of animal crying or making some really tripped out noises. It continues to play for close to 2 minutes before it ends. I tell ya, if Prince classified N.E.W.S. as dinner music, then this stuff might freak my guest out. Genius? Yes, but definitly trippy. His music is better appreciated when listened to with headphones. Thoughts?

[Edited 4/23/15 15:29pm]

[Edited 4/25/15 7:32am]

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Yes, indeed! There's some fantastic sound-scaping going on there during those final moments that always gives me chills. Brilliant album!

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