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Prince - LotusFlow3r
| Nytimes |
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Prince has called his own shots for much of the last two decades, making plenty of odd, stubborn choices along the way. Here comes his latest: a three-disc album, self-released, with one disc devoted to a protégé, Bria Valente. Part nostalgia trip, part futurist manifesto, it’s available either at Target (for under $12) or through a subscription to lotusflow3r.com (for $77). The choice between thrift and indulgence reflects a familiar paradox for Prince, who presents himself on the album(s) as both a sensualist and a scold. It’s no mystery which side wins out in the end. There may be some satisfaction in hearing Prince rail against the Wall Street bailout in “Ol’ Skool Company” or attack empty fame (along with “all the haters on the Internet”) in “No More Candy 4 U.” But neither of those tunes — from “MPLSound,” the funkiest of the three discs — transcends its own hectoring. The put-downs aren’t half as good as the come-ons. One bit of good news about the album, then, is how many come-ons Prince delivers, in his voice and through Ms. Valente’s. (Her disc, “Elixer,” which he produced, presents a palatable but undistinguished batch of slow- to medium-tempo R&B fare.) On “Chocolate Box,” which sounds deliriously like a club track from the 1980s, Prince declares his own delectability. On “U’re Gonna C Me” he luxuriates in a simple vow; on “Dance 4 Me” he does the same with a simple request. And in “Love Like Jazz” he woos his quarry with a perfectly audacious line: “I want a lover who can improvise.”...full text |
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| Latimes |
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y now, most music fans are well aware that Prince will self-release three albums that will sell in one $11.98 bundle at Target and on the artist's website starting Sunday. Which one you fancy the most depends on what flavor of Prince "u" prefer -- the nasty antiquity of "MPLSound," the guitar-hero antics of "LotusFlow3r" or the VIP-lounge purrs of his protégée Bria Valente on "Elixer." "MPLSound" is a valentine to Revolution-era traditionalists. The nine-song collection pays homage to Prince's beloved Minneapolis and trades in nostalgia, lifting the syncopated drum machine beats from "When Doves Cry" and name-checking Rick James. But it's not all naughty retro: "MPLSound" also incorporates Prince's faith as a Jehovah's Witness, like when he shouts "thank you, almighty" and "hallelujah" to a lover in "Dance 4 Me." All three albums have a touch of the spirit, an abiding cleanliness that elevates sex to heavenly communion, but "MPLSound" might be the most pristine for what it ultimately lacks: the sense of real, lusty sin. Ballads "Better With Time" and "U're Gonna C Me" leak syrup all over the soundboard, but "Chocolate Box," a strutting bit of funk braggadocio set in the club with a guest spot from Q-Tip, is electrifying. In "Valentina," Prince addresses Salma Hayek's daughter: "Tell your mama she should give me a call." Hayek might be one of the world's most voluptuous movie stars, but new mothers and their "nightly feedings" are not the typical pop subjects....full text |
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| Courant |
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Prince has filled more than 30 years with grand musical statements, among them a pair of three-CD sets he has released since he freed himself from big-label "slavery" in 1996. Now 50, the Minneapolis native's latest triple set -- two CDs under his own name, a third to introduce a female protégé for whom he provides music -- shares with its predecessors the self-confidence to throw together everything he can muster, but also leans on the watered-down personality that has made much of his recent work generally forgettable. The set's signature disc "Lotusflow3r,"cqis its most consistently enjoyable, a far-flung cornucopia of electric guitar licks from one of the instrument's sharpest practitioners. He lights up the spacey "Wall of Berlin" with sizzling bombast, and creates a dramatic backdrop on "Colonized Mind" even as its social message is muddied by vocal alterations that ill-serve a singer whose natural pipes can still grind and fly with astonishing style....full text |
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