ARTIST: Prince
TITLE: “Crimson & Clover / Wild Thing” / “Colonized Mind” / “Wall Of Berlin” / “4ever”
WEB DEBUT: Dec. 18, 2008
ONE-LISTEN VERDICT: The ever-reclusive Prince invited a few people from Los Angeles radio station Indie 103.1 to talk about his new material, which he’s looking to release sans major-label involvement, and that chat resulted in four songs debuting this afternoon on the Steve Jones-hosted show Jonesy’s Jukebox. I thought the “Crimson & Clover” cover had some great guitars, and I liked the stuttery beat and innuendo (“You wanna four-leaf clover in the round?”—!!) all over “Wall Of Berlin,” but I figured I’d ask on-staff Prince expert Michaelangelo Matos to react via IM:
mynameismatos: he’s made these kinds of records (guitar, rocky, etc.) over the years and no one paid attention. Chaos & Disorder is a good example—not a classic, but a decent album with some good guitar playing and some decent songs.
mynameismatos: now that he’s sort of set the table w/”Creep” and “Best of You” covers, he’s laying it out w/”Crimson & Clover”
mynameismatos: which is fine
mynameismatos: if the second song is any indication he’s doing the same I’m-a-prophet shtick he’s been flogging since “Partyup.”
mynameismatos: except it’s nastier in tone now because since Musicology he decided he has no truck trying to rope in hip-hop fans or other young people and will stick to being an old man
mynameismatos: which is good for him in some ways, though I always kind of hoped he’d pull a Miles Davis and come around to being hip again without changing a thing
mynameismatos: and in a sense he has
mynameismatos: but he’s kind of a sour old man
mynameismatos: otherwise: pretty blues guitarist
mynameismatos: the idea, btw, that Jonesy would be playing this at all if it weren’t serviced to him personally and directly is highly suspect by me
WHERE TO FIND THEM: Surely someone will rip them to YouTube, and have that rip taken down, by the time I’m done posting this. And then the cycle will repeat itself again, and again, and again, until Prince figures out just how he’s going to release this record to an increasingly purchasing-averse public. (Maybe he can hook up with the Daily Mail again?)
OUTTAKES
mynameismatos: guitar sound on “Clover”: “I was listening to a lot of Lush”
mynameismatos: He sounds like he’s auditioning for Creation.
mynameismatos: You know, I was saying [Prince] ought to chase the alt-dollar back in ’94.
mynameismaura: “joint record deal is another way to steal” ?
mynameismatos: “Tell us all about the elders of Zion, Prince!”
mynameismatos: Damn it, he’s playing guitar instead.
mynameismaura: the renegades of clear channel
mynameismatos: the McCain-Pailn regime rises up in the strangest places
mynameismatos: He’s just now getting to the Berlin Wall? That one must be for Jonesy.
the idea, btw, that Jonesy would be playing this at all if it weren’t serviced to him personally and directly is highly suspect by me
Actually, I would disagree. One of the great things about Jonesy’s show (besides free flowing interviews with Oasis, Simon Lebon, etc.) is that he plays everything and anything. Sometimes it’ll be an old 50′s tune, then maybe a Faces song (he loves the Faces) and then a new tune, like maybe by Coconut Records. Heck, I even heard him play some songs from the 20s or 30s once. That’s what I love about this station, is that they give the DJs freedom to play whatever.
Or at least what I loved until a month ago when they cut a whole bunch of shows and shortened some others. I loved listing to Americana on Watoosi (sp?) Radio and all kinds of imports on Passport Approved. If it slowly becoming KROQ-lite, I’m gonna be very disappointed.
@How do I say this … THROWDINI!: I wasn’t aware of the free-format aspect of the show, so I guess I’ll withdraw that. I was referring really to the idea that alt-rock radio was interested in Prince beyond him throwing them a line.
“He’s just now getting to the Berlin Wall?”
Hey, he just noticed in 1987 that we had sent people to the moon (as you well know).
@Michaelangelo Matos: Yeah, that’s probably correct. While Jonesy would (and probably has) cued up some Prince, I’m sure Indie 103.1 would not be clamoring up to promote new Prince material without his royal participation.
@How do I say this … THROWDINI!: To paraphrase Winston Zedmore, “If someone asks you if you want to play the new Prince, you say YES!”
@Lucas Jensen: True dat.
When Prince talks, people listen.
And “Wall of Berlin” is freaking awesome. The guitar solo is amazing.
And ‘Jonesy’s Jukebox’ is a pretty sweet show–kudos to Prince (and his people) for making such an inspired choice to debut the tunes. Jones is at his best when he has on old-school hero like himself on–interviews with people like Mick Jones, Dave Stewart, Malcolm McClaren, etc are always hilarious and super-informative to super-fans…