Live Review: Prince's Welcome 2 America Tour, Izod Center and Madison Square Garden, 12/17/10 and 12/18/10

As many of us can attest, getting older sucks. When one's heroes start to show their age, well, that just fucking sucks twice as hard. i've been going to Prince shows for more than 25 years now, starting back with the Purple Rain tour last friggin' century, so i know from good Prince shows. Unfortunately, i'm oh so sad to report that from the two nights i've caught of the Welcome 2 America tour, this ain't his finest work. His Royal Badness can't quite hit the high notes as often or sustain them for quite so long. i'm guessing it's the hip replacement, but the 52-year-old can't quite shake it like he used to, either. Most heart wrenching of all, however, he just didn't seem to have the same "oomph" that he used to. When even my mother said, "he just can't muster up the sexy like he used to," i figure that about summed things up.

Fortunately, even the worst Prince shows are better than 90 percent of anything else you could ever hope to see, so let's focus on the positives, shall we? The bulk of both nights was older stuff, predominantly from Purple Rain ("Let's Go Crazy," "The Beautiful Ones," "Take Me With U," "Purple Rain"). He played one track i didn't know at all, i'm guessing off of 20Ten, and "Guitar" from Planet Earth; that was about it for the new stuff. He did up a number of classics over the two nights, including "Kiss," "Cream" and an almost ballad-like "Little Red Corvette." With the exception of the order and a few tracks, however, both sets were near identical in content.

Of the two nights, the first at the Izod Center clearly was the better of the two. i'll be honest, the first two-thirds of the show were lackluster by Prince standards, but then he brought out Sheila E. for the first encore, and it was the 1999 all over again. Prince's musical highlight of the night came then, right after a blistering solo perfomance by Sheila of "Glamorous Life, when he ripped up a bass jam he did for "Love Bizarre." For those of you unaware of the master musician that the Purple One is, this tour certainly does play more on his musical capabilities than most. Unfortunately for this show, until the very end, a groove was never struck. Whereas Prince typically is a very gracious performer, sharing the spotlight with his band, with the exception of a nod to his back-up singers, there was no recognition whatsoever. He closed this night with a second encore, three ballad set of "Insatiable," "Scandalous" and "Adore" (admittedly one of the best live versions of "Adore" i've ever seen him do). i kept thinking, "who ends on a string of ballads?" Answer: Prince does. And he does it WELL.

MSG had more energy upfront, but the tempo was all wrong. He brought out Sheila E. much earlier in the performance, saving the encore to bring a bunch of jamooks on-stage (Spike Lee? Jamie "The Least Talented Poser Alive" Foxx? Gimme a fucking break) that did nothing but stand there and clap. At least, Sheila tore the bastard apart when it was her turn. i'd like to say there was a standout moment at MSG; perhaps the cocktails had something to do with my fuzzy memory, but none stand out.

Again, don't get me wrong, if you have a chance to catch either of the two remaining dates, GO. Prince does not put on a "bad" show. But for those of us who have been around since the beginning, it appears as if the halcyon purple days are dwindling. i guess this is what is sounds like when doves cry.

mp3: I Would Die For You (Remix) (Daedelus from Pop Massacre)

Free Music Fri, er, Tuesday: The Covered, Heartsy, Jewelly, Remixed, Spacey, Acoustic-y, Beaty, REALLY Late Version

Holy Toledo, what a past few days. The Missus and i closed on our new house, which was a nightmare i'm not even going to bore you with right now. We won't have Interwebs (or cable, for that matter) 'til a week from tomorrow, hence the lack of posts recently. Of course, that doesn't mean i can't waste time at the office, now does it? Later this week, i have every intention of catching up on some band submissions (i have some great CDs still left to discuss, plus numerous offerings from Germany and up-and-coming female starlets to share), as well as the Greatest Mango Mix You Will Ever Hear, so you've got that going for you. In the interim, however, let's get past the yapping and onto the world of free mp3s for your listening pleasure.

First up, a Britney Spears cover by Or, The Whale. Why? Because Brit Brit covers amuse me, and that is enough.

mp3: Toxic (Britney Spears cover by Or, The Whale from Cokemachineglow's Fantasy Podcast)

Next up is a now late Valentine's tune from Paul and the Patients. According to Paul himself, it was inspired by a dream he had with every person he's ever loved in it. He's got it up at BandCamp.com as part of their Song of the Week Project (this marking the 18th week), but as of this writing Band Camp is down, so i can't say much more about it other than i'm sure Michelle Flaherty must be distraught. Oh, and i really dug the song artwork, so much so that it's today's post picture. The juxtaposition of a blindfolded, topless chick holding a heart and what appears to be a zipper scar in the middle of her chest? i dunno, i just dig it. i'm assuming it's not an ex-gf of his, but it's the thought that counts. Remember, kids, Uncle Terrible can and will be bribed with depravity, done artfully or otherwise.

mp3: Embrace (Paul and the Patients from the Song of the Week Project)

One Little Indian, home of Icelandic pixie Bjork, has the latest from Dan Sartain up for the price of your email addy, apparently the cost of doing such business these days. The fuzzy guitar line is instantly addictive, so let them know how to send you similarly themed junk mail and get your groove on.

mp3: Ruby Carol (Dan Sartain from Dan Sartain Lives) (available soon)

LET favorite Alan Wilkis has remixed Yeasayer's Ambling Alp. You may recall we gave AW's Babies Dream Big Top Ten CDs of the Year honors (#5, to be exact) a couple of years back. He continues on the good foot with this one.

mp3: Ambling Alp (Alan Wilkis Remix) (Yeasayer from Odd Blood [Remixed])

Not quite sure what to say about the next one by Malachai. It sounds like a bit of crate digging done right. The resulting sound is both timely and distant, but grabs you by the boo boo regardless. Domino imprint Double Six are to release the ‘Ugly Side of Love’ album this April 19th, but you can have a taste today. Initially released on Portishead’s Geoff Barrow’s Invada label (under the band’s old name Malakai) last year, the 13 track album will be preceded by the band’s debut radio single for Double Six ‘Snowflake’, which is set for release a week earlier on April 12th.

mp3: Fading World (Malachai from Ugly Side of Love)

Since you've grown accustomed to me overstuffing you, let's keep this train wreck a rollin'. To get your juices pumped for their upcoming tour with The Clientele this March, The Wooden Birds have put together a rather kick-ass, acoustic EP for free! It's pretty damn fantastic, if you're into that laid back, indie folk kinda sound. And right now, i am.

mp3: Believe in Love (The Wooden Birds from Motague St. EP)

And to close things out, plenty of DJ love from all over the place.

Master of the Mash-Up and Remix, DJ Z-Trip, just re-did the Dead Weather's "Treat Me Like Your Mother" with a little help from Slug of Atmosphere fame. Better than the original? You make the call. Hell, it's free, so why not?

In anticipation of his upcoming project on the Brainfeeder label, Daedalus has released his own trippy freebie, "Order of the Golden Dawn." Grab it ASAP, though, as they've only got the link up for a week.

Finally, the phat cats over at Low End Theory finally got around to posting this month's podcast, this time featuring D-Styles and Shlohmo. Shlohmo samples the hell out of "Half Baked" for his half, which is always a good thing.

mp3: Treat Me Like Your Mother (Z-Trip Remix ft. Slug from Z-Trip's website)

mp3: Order of the Golden Dawn (Daedalus from Righteous Fists of Harmony)

mp3: Episode 12 ft. D-Styles and Shlohmo (Low End Theory Podcast)

And i'm out.

For the Record (Label): Brainfeeder

i guess someone must have told Flying Lotus it's my birthday this week, 'cuz those crazy cats at his Brainfeeder label have been giving away presents at a ferocious rate lately. Today alone, they've put out three dope slices of hip-hop madness that i felt compelled to share with all y'all.

First up could be the craziest thing i've heard since i first laid ears on MF Doom back in the day. Him Jenson is Durlin Lurt's obvious attempt to reconnect Gen Xers with their childhood roots, assuming your babysitter did nothing but smoke bubblegum and blueberry weed all day long while you learned how to count to 12 with the Pointer Sisters. To call it bizarre is an understatement, but, hey, Pepe the King Prawn shined his flashlight on George Clinton, so who am i to judge? If you think you've heard it all when it comes to hip-hop, check out this ish and get back to me. And like the beloved Sesame Street, he serves up 26 lettered tracks to teach us our ABCs. Put me in some brown and orange Garanimals and call it '78, baby.

mp3: Magic (Durlin Lurt from Him Jenson)

mp3: Wet (Durlin Lurt from Him Jenson)

As if that weren't enough, they've also thrown up an EP by their latest signee, Jeremiah Jae, aka Jae R. For anyone familiar with Brainfeeder, it will come as no surprise that the kid dabbles heavily in otherworldly dubstep. Unfortunately, the download offered is kind of a pain in the ass. i had to attempt two downloads before it worked, and even when it did, the files were misnumbered and in numerous formats. MP3s, WAVs and AIFs? For that matter, what the fuck is an AIF file anyway? i assume it is something like a frush. They will all eventually download, but you will have to spend a couple of minutes relabeling things for your iPod. That bitching out of the way, the mix is hot. Jae R. clearly has the skills necessary to fit into the heavyweight line-up already established at Brainfeeder. i imagine he also shares similar interests in blunts and outer space travel, but i'm clearly conjecting now.

mp3: Spaceman (Jeremiah Jae from DXNCE)

mp3: The Mystery (Jeremiah Jae from DXNCE)

And finally, because we all need that wafer thin mint at the end of every gorging, they served a brand spanking new, half hour DJ set by Ras G on a silver platter with birthday candles and all that jazz. Artists highlighted include Flying Lotus , Quasimoto and OJ Simpson (this one; not this guy). The set was done for BTS Radio, where you can find all sorts of additional free DJ set goodies.

mp3: BTS DJ Set (Ras G & The Afrikan Space Program from BTS Radio.com)

But wait! There's more! If you can keep your earholes unplugged for just a tad longer, you should know about the upcoming Magical Properties Tour. Featuring Daedelus, Nosaj Thing and Jogger, the tour blows through our part of the world in late February.

Feb 23 – Bourbon Street – Baltimore, Maryland

Feb 24 – Xscape Lounge – Richmond, Virginia

WARNING: LET is not responsible if all this grimey goodness causes a short circuiting of the frontal lobe. Your brain has not been this well fed in some time, i know, but you still need to pace yourself.