http://lotusflow3r.webs.com/apps/blog/

Prince/LotusFlow3r
Posted by lotusflow3r at 02:04 PM on January 14, 2009 Comments comments (2)

Last weekend something special happened to me...As some of you may know,i have been an A&R rep. for several major record companies since 1983.I have mingled with alot of major players in the music industry and have compiled a pretty decent track record for spotting new talent and helping to bring their dreams to fruition by placing them on a record label.Usually A&R reps have a pretty thankless job so when something like this happens it kind of makes the job a little more fun and exciting!Here is what happened...All of my friends know that I have championed Prince since the very begining of his career and have had numerous encounters with him over the years.Most of our encounters have been record company meetings and such,Prince and I have never been too personal with each other except for the casual "whats up?" or sideways glance in the hallways of WB records.The closest Prince ever got to being really human towards me was once back in the early 90's when he stopped me in the hall leading to my office(I used to be a rep. for a good friend of Prince's,Mo Ostin)and told me how pretty my long red hair was!I have since cut my hair to shoulder length but the memory of being flirted with by Prince still tickles me to this day!Fast- foward to last weekend.The phone rings in my office late in the afternoon,a woman's voice asks for me by name and is inquiring whether or not I am the person they are trying to contact.After I confirm that I am not being "punked" by this lady I consent and give her the information needed to verify that I am who this person is looking for.After all the high security type questions are answered I am informed that Prince would be calling me back in 10 minutes and that only I am to answer the phone when he calls,she said Prince would hang up immediately if it wasn't my voice,she said he "knew" my voice.To elaborate on what may seem like a strange comment from Prince regarding "knowing" voice,I have a VERY high voice,sounding at times like betty boop and Prince used to make fun of it whenever we would meet.Glad he remembered that!I sat by that phone for what seemed like an hour and then the call came,it was Prince.I won't divulge our personal phone chat here but I am at liberty to describe the outcome of it!The point of the phone call was to have me go to Prince's house and listen to some new albums that he wanted to release without the input of a record company.At first I thought that to be a strange request being that I work for a record company!my guess is that Prince wanted to show us "gatekeepers" that we are not really that vital anymore and that a person with some great music and a crazy work ethic could easily do our job and put out his own music.Cut to the chase....After a nice welcoming to his home in LA and some casual conversation Prince led me downstairs to a basement studio where he then proceeded to play me three new albums!The first cd he put on was by a new artist named Bria,her album is called "Elixer" and was produced by Prince and M.Hayes."Elixer" has a very relaxed atmosphere and is better than what you would expect from a Prince protege



LotusFlow3r continued...
Posted by lotusflow3r at 02:44 PM on January 14, 2009 Comments comments (6)

After listening to the Bria album we left Prince's house and moved into his car which he named MilesDavis.This is where he played me his 2 new albums "LotusFlow3r" and its counterpart "MPLSOUND".LotusFlow3r is a mind- blower.It sounds as if Prince has been reborn with this album.It is heavy,dramatic and mysterious in a way only Prince records can be."LotusFlow3r" begins with a 4 minute piece of guitar madness the likes of which would make any guitar slinger proud.This leads right into the Tommy James authored "Crimson & Clover"!The track "Boom" was next and it instantly kicks into overdrive with screaming guitars and a call and response type lyric"we got the popcorn 2 rock 'dem sox so good,we r a supernatural species we don't play by the rules of the hood".Prince concludes the track by saying "eye told u eye was bad".I love it!The track "Dreamer" is haunting and dark,sounding like something from side 3 of ElectricLadyland.Other tracks played from "LotusFlow3r" were "4Ever","77 Beverly Place" and the quirky "Wall Of Berlin".My favorite track was "Divine",a song so moving and perfectly constructed that it will be a concert staple for years(think Purple Rain).Prince may have just created the album of the year and i suspect he knows this.As the tracks play he gauges me for reaction as if he knew i would love this album,he was right.I have not heard an album this good all the way through since the days of The Beatles or Rolling Stones!After the "LotusFlow3r" album we head back into the basement studio for the unveiling of the "MPLSOUND" album.At first I thought this album would be lacking in comparison to "LotusFlow3r" but I was in for a surprise.Let me just say that I am not a person who wants artists to keep making the same record over and over,in the case of Prince though i will admit that i dreamed of the day when he would regroup and give us something like "1999" again,he hasn't,until now.This album("MPLSOUND") sounds as if Prince was frozen in a chunk of ice in 1982 and thawed out this year to make this album.It is funky as all get out,electronic,psychedelic and hypnotic music to say the least.Understand that i am not easily impressed musically nor do i give kudos on work that i don't feel is deserving,part of my job as an A&R person is to be as blunt as possible with an artist.I was not fooled by Prince's claims of going back to the minneapolis sound on previous records,one listen to "Chocolate Invasion","Rave 2 The Joy Fantastic" or any other post 80's album will reveal a man at war with his former records and fanbase,as if he were saying "i'm still funky,in a keeping up with the jones' way"...that is not the case with "MPLSOUND".It is 100% old school Prince so much so that i wondered if half these songs had been laying in that vault of his since 1982 or so,he assured me all the songs were recorded in a few weeks by himself at Paisley Park this past fall.It isn't just the instrumentation used on "MPLSOUND" that makes it "old-school Prince",it is the attitude,the swagger,the naughtiness and the voice!Thank goodness he has found his voice again,the r&b crooning on past records sounded forced or calculated to me,not this time,On "MPLSOUND" Prince sounds like he did on his early recordings,full of bravado and experimentation.Tracks included here are "$","Dance 4 Me" and "Better With Time".The tracks on "MPLSOUND" flow together perfectly and it is a cohesive album in the mold of some of his best dancefloor nuggets.



Fake or real?

Lock it. It's a fake mate.

There has been another thread about it already.

^^^ ^^^

http://prince.org/msg/7/294749

sarkozyiszeman said:

Oh sorry, I didn't find it!

this blog is a fake.