Great piece all around.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 13 June 2019 12:00 (four years ago) link
Yeah great piece. And chilling stuff about Amiir.
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Thursday, 13 June 2019 12:18 (four years ago) link
that's the best thing I've read since he passedin his death, people have really clung to the myths that articulates a lot of the things that bother me about his post 80s workI brought up Prince in the metoo thread no one seemed to want to talk about it
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 13 June 2019 12:54 (four years ago) link
paywalled
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 13 June 2019 12:57 (four years ago) link
It's not paywalled, just make sure all your ad-blockers etc are switched off.
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Thursday, 13 June 2019 12:58 (four years ago) link
Prince/Bowie derangement syndrome kind of underrated among internet-amplified phenomena that permanently broke brains in 16
― shhh / let peaceful like things (wins), Thursday, 13 June 2019 13:01 (four years ago) link
Piece is great, penman over the last few years has had an astonishing streak of non-hagiographic profiles which (leaving aside ur quibbles about his judgement of individual records, or an occasional lapse into “there I said it”-ism) serve the artists in their full complexity much better than the fawning revisionism
― shhh / let peaceful like things (wins), Thursday, 13 June 2019 13:05 (four years ago) link
I don't know if - being honest with oneself - you could come up with a 2CD comp oh genuinely great songs out of everything he did post Lovesexy and I'd bet half of those were stuff written in his peak
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 13 June 2019 13:08 (four years ago) link
fucking amazing piece
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Thursday, 13 June 2019 13:22 (four years ago) link
wins otm
― One Eye Open, Thursday, 13 June 2019 13:25 (four years ago) link
xxpostsI don't know enough his post 80s work but a 1CD comp, easily (and I suppose those who know more about that part of his catalogue could make a 2CD comp).Most of all, I'm not sure he was the kind of artists interested in their old stuff instead of the latest material. Especially since he seemed to be perpetually creating.
― AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 13 June 2019 13:26 (four years ago) link
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown)
I am genuinely enjoying Anthology: 1995-2010, which is three hours has some stuff from his peak but nowhere near half.
I don't know, 2016 definitely broke my brain and the Prince/Bowie thing was part of that, but it seemed more like a stand-in for all the shit I wasn't ready to talk about or deal with back then.
― Flood-Resistant Mirror-Drilling Machine (rushomancy), Thursday, 13 June 2019 13:40 (four years ago) link
I have just read that very interesting article.I didn't know his seemingly endless creativity (whatever the quality produced) had vanished at some point.
― AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 13 June 2019 14:59 (four years ago) link
come on my man
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:03 (four years ago) link
Didn’t dig the piece too much, but my wife’s parents were at one of those Rolling Stones shows discussed at the top (...of the main article, not the Walter Benjamin quote).
― Theodor Adorno, perhaps the greatest philosopher alive today (morrisp), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:04 (four years ago) link
love symbol, come, gold experience, all great records with v few misses on them, i get so exhausted of this “let’s just all admit that post-‘80s prince wasn’t very good” narrative
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:04 (four years ago) link
i spent a lot of time convincing myself i liked so much prince stuff! i paid money for all those CDS
it's not a narrative, the music keeps me at some distance
i'm probably exaggerating but for myself it felt good to admit i was just talking myself into liking so much of that stuff at the time
i just find something sort of exhausting about them
new jack swing and rap are great but had a bad effect on Prince imo, it thickened up his sound in bad ways those piston pneumatic drums
"black sweat" was a real revelation for me had that weird, thin skeletal thing that i love about him
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:07 (four years ago) link
Originals is really fun, "Glamorous Life" is great
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:08 (four years ago) link
Electric ChairNew Power GenerationThieves in the TempleThe Question of UDiamonds and PearlsGett OffSexy MFThe Morning Papers7ComePheremonePapaLetitgoP. ControlShhhThe Most Beautiful Girl in the WorldShyEye Hate UDig U Better DeadJam of the YearSoul SanctuaryThe Holy RiverThe Human BodyFace DownSleep AroundMusicologyCinnamon GirlBlack SweatBreakfast Can Wait
― brigadier pudding (DJP), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:14 (four years ago) link
(also The Future and Lemon Crush)
― brigadier pudding (DJP), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:15 (four years ago) link
Also I agree with Brad, those three albums are very, very strong, particularly Come which is IMO the most underrated album in his catalog
― brigadier pudding (DJP), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:16 (four years ago) link
Fantastic piece by Penman. Presumably, his recent (ridiculously) strong run of short biographies will be collected at some point? I count James Brown, Frank Sinatra, Patti Smith, Elvis, Kate Bush, Charlie Parker but I'm sure there have been others - not to mention his amazing essay in the Zer0 book on Michael Jackson. All brilliant. (Here's the link for the James Brown essay: https://www.city-journal.org/html/did-he-feel-good-9717.html)
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:25 (four years ago) link
i find this ian penman piece extremely frustrating
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:26 (four years ago) link
like it's fine but did i really need to read a paragraph about how "darling nikki" isn't that good, he sure is wrong about that
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:27 (four years ago) link
Penman can be as 'wrong' as the rest of us but I'd read him being wrong all day over most critics.
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:28 (four years ago) link
xps they’re being published in a collection by fitzcarraldo editions shortly!
― shhh / let peaceful like things (wins), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:28 (four years ago) link
Prince trying to act ‘gangsta’ felt not merely silly and self-defeating, but almost a form of betrayal. Who ever said we looked to him for something ‘real’ or ‘authentic’, anyway? (Plus: two dozen prison-tat-sporting young rappers could do that stuff better in their sleep.)
i feel v weird about this sequence of sentences also
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:32 (four years ago) link
Eye Hate UThe Question of UJoy in Repetition Sleep AroundThese are all as good as anything he’s ever done
― zama roma ding dong (Eric H.), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:32 (four years ago) link
Yeah the "Darling Nikki" comments are... surprising !And I'm also uncomfortable with his idea that Prince's music from the 90s on doesn't have soul, creativity, etc. I'm totally fine with people not liking that period (I'm not a big fan myself) but to say that it's because it's "bad" music as opposed to the "good" music of the previous decade is... I don't know, a bit annoying.
― AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:33 (four years ago) link
Happy days!
― Good cop, Babcock (Chinaski), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:33 (four years ago) link
I mean we should all be protected from people thinking songs we like are not good but for a disappointment-inflected piece this articulates the appeal of Prince better than most, and grapples with elements of his life that others are determined not to address (with credit to the books he’s reviewing of course!)
― shhh / let peaceful like things (wins), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:42 (four years ago) link
unfortunately the moments where he's full of shit are getting in the way of my appreciation of those qualities
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:43 (four years ago) link
Like I don’t agree with IP’s assessment of Kate Bush’s career AT ALL but it’s a really good piece
― shhh / let peaceful like things (wins), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:43 (four years ago) link
(Do not read the bush essay brad lol)
don't worry i won't!
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:51 (four years ago) link
The upcoming Sign O The Times fancy reissue seems a bit rubbish, no extra footage or live stuff at all just some new docu. Thought we'd get a 'proper' reissue of the album with all of the stuff that was meant to be on Dream Factory but maybe that's coming, as the film was nowt to do with the Prince estate?
― piscesx, Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:53 (four years ago) link
A song like ‘My Name Is Prince’, from 1992, is the sort of ego-bomb manifesto most artists drop early on, when they are still young enough that the arrogance can seem winning. A middle-aged man screaming that he’s the one and only doesn’t sound so sweet. On the contrary, such macho theatrics have a Trumpish effect
i'm out, tab closed forever
"my name is prince" is a very funny song imo
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:58 (four years ago) link
Eye Hate UThe Question of UJoy in Repetition Sleep Around
These are all as good as anything he’s ever done
― zama roma ding dong (Eric H.), Thursday, June 13, 2019 10:32 AM (twenty minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
question of u and joy in repetition date back to the mid 80s, joy was listed in some version of dream factory which got retooled to be sign o the times
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 13 June 2019 15:58 (four years ago) link
Oddly, just at the time when he claimed to be returning to realer than real blackness, you’d swear he got two or three shades lighter for his publicity shots.
ok, last thing, but what the fuck is this
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:20 (four years ago) link
34 is "middle-aged" now?
― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:28 (four years ago) link
A middle-aged man screaming that he’s the one and only doesn’t sound so sweet.
I can't read this line without it immediately and involuntarily being followed in my head by "Ice Cube and the Lench Mob/are jacking for beats"
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:29 (four years ago) link
xxp: I am now torn between reading this to see if there's any possible context that wouldn't make this racist bullshit and saying "fuck this dude and fuck everyone who read this and didn't have a problem with it"
― brigadier pudding (DJP), Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:30 (four years ago) link
"what an amazing piece of writing, the racism is just *kisses fingers*"
― brigadier pudding (DJP), Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:31 (four years ago) link
i'm... pretty sure this piece is racist
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:31 (four years ago) link
yeah i'm just gonna reread hilton als's prince piece instead
― lowercase (eric), Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:34 (four years ago) link
In those glory years Prince was, alongside Madonna, the most fascinating pop star alive. A black R’n’B artist who juggled shiny white pop signifiers
I mean what the fuck is this
― brigadier pudding (DJP), Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:42 (four years ago) link
I'm late to this party, but I discovered Prince in the Graffiti Bridge era, so I love "Joy in Repetition" and most of Emancipation.
Carry on.
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:47 (four years ago) link
"The Morning Papers" is one of his masterpieces.
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:48 (four years ago) link
On the Purple Rain soundtrack, ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ is, like the film itself, a spunky celebration of familiar tropes: ‘Kids! Don’t listen to those ugly straights! They’re just jealous of us cool kids!’
I'm just going to assume this dude doesn't actually know what the lyrics to "Let's Go Crazy" are?
― brigadier pudding (DJP), Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:55 (four years ago) link
you can stop reading tbh
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 13 June 2019 16:58 (four years ago) link