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 Caught in the Carousel - Music Reviews and More
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Controversy
Various
Rapster/!K7
From The Bangles ("Manic Monday") to Sinead O'Connor ("Nothing Compares 2 U") to Joan Osborne ("One Of Us") musicians have had great success when covering songs by Prince. In fact, when Tom Jones joined The Art of Noise to take a crack at "Kiss" the result outsold its author's original. Prince's songwriting is so sophisticated and musically ambitious, his canon is always ripe for interpretation. A low-key collection that finds non-household names like Blue States, Hefner, LB and Stina Nordenstam covering a wide range of Prince's material, Controversy is an intriguing, but rewarding listen. Blue States' take on "Alphabet Street" is slinky and divine; Osunlade's jazzy and percussive reading of "Crazy You" sounds like the man himself and The Dynamics transform "Girls & Boys" into a gentle reggae workout. A few marquee names show up: D'Angelo's "She's Always In My Hair" is a sexy blast of heaving R&B; Soulwax offer a thoughtful "Starfish & Coffee" and Rob Mello's "Critical" is a libidinous dose of technofunk. Elsewhere, Susanna & The Magical Orchestra check in with a ruminative solo piano take on "Condition of the Heart" that is utterly devastating and Kode 9 & Space Ape's "Sine of the Dub" transforms "Sign O' The Times" into a five-minute trip of oddly appealing utter lunar weirdness. That this collection is so varied, yet remains cohesive and engaging is a testament to the Purple One's true genius. It also proves that you can bend the songs any way you like—dub them up or throw them under the wheels of runaway frenetic beats—they're so durable and well-crafted, they may invite sonic interpretation, but they're impervious to vandalism.
-- Alex Green
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