Have you had a good couple of weeks? I bloody hope so. I’ve been really busy at work (so there’s no Notes this week, as I didn’t have chance to finish them), but I’ve got a treat for you this week. Now for most letters the mixtape is based on stuff that I’ve found (new and old) over the past two weeks, but this week’s is kind of different. This week is a tribute, and I’ve only done one tribute before (Quincy, here), so it’s pretty special. In case you haven’t guessed, it’s the purple one. The artist formally known as. Joey Coco. Christopher Tracey. IT’S PRINCE!
Now, I’ve got a confession. I liked Prince. I knew a few songs, I had some favourites. But I didn’t really know Prince. So I decided to read the Matt Thorne biography. I’m only half way through, and so far it is excellent. Like can’t-put-it-down excellent. So I decided to put together a mixtape of Prince and Prince-related songs. Lots of originals, artists who’ve been in the band, or he’s famously toured with, some covers, lots of obvious samples, some hidden ones, and also a band who were frequently mistaken as Prince (shout to Ready For The World).
Two things have made me a little nervous about this week’s mixtape; 1) there is such much music to choose from, I’ve definitely missed some pearls, and 2) there are some mad Prince fans who might take displeasure in some of the tracks I have included. So be kind, I’m trying 😂.
As I said, no Notes this week, but next letter they’ll be back and extensive (you’ve been warned). The TL:DR section has some brilliant stuff in, so dig in.
BandCamp has published a piece on Ronin Arkestra’s latest album – one of my favourite albums I’ve bought recently, and from one of my favourite labels, Albert’s Favourites