Last week we learned that Prince announced his plan to release three new albums of music this year, two from him and one from his newest protégé Bria Valentine, as soon as he secured a distribution deal to sell physical copies of his albums. Prince launched MPLSound.com to preview select tracks (Crimson and Clover, 4ever, Colonized Mind, Wall of Berlin, (There’ll Never Be) Another Like Me and Here Eye Come) that are said to be forthcoming on these new albums but has since taken down that site and lieu of a new site at LOTUSFLOW3R.com:

This new site promises that fans will be able to LISTEN to new tracks by Prince and special guests, WATCH videos and exclusive content and BUY music, concert tickets and more. Right now, there are only 3 songs streaming on the site (Crimson and Clover, (There’ll Never Be) Another Like Me, and Here Eye Come) and no other options … no watching, no buying — yet. The site also reads January 2009 An entirely new galaxy awaits … so I suspect that there’ll be some big changes in the coming weeks. This is very exciting news for Prince fans. This new online experience may be a great way for Prince to release as much music as he likes, whenever he likes … and I can’t wait. I’ve been able to preview all of the music he’s teased us with thus far and I want to hear more. Stay tuned … it shouldn’t be long now.

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Prince, who recently previewed a few new tracks on LA radio Indie 103.1 and who launched a new website at mplsound.com, announced to the LA Times that he is planning to release 3 new albums in the coming year as soon as he secures a distribution deal to sell physical copies of the albums. Two of the discs are solo Prince albums (tentatively titled MPLSOUND and LOTUSFLOW3R) and a disc for his latest musical protégé Bria Valente (her disc is tentatively titled Elixir) who he was seen with recently at an LA Lakers basketball game:

If you head over to mlpsound.com right now you can hear a new song titled Here Eye Come that features Bria on vocals (tho it’s unclear if the song is hers or one of the tracks on Prince‘s upcoming solo discs) and features photos of her in the video that is streaming on the site:

Prince was eager to show off his new stuff to the LA Times … he also seemed eager to clear up that report from The New Yorker that painted him in a very anti-gay light:

Tuesday morning, I received the Golden Ticket of journalistic invitations: a summons to Prince’s mansion, high atop Mulholland Drive, to hear the new music he’ll be releasing sometime after the holidays. At 8 p.m. that evening, I drove my dirty Mazda past the fountain in his courtyard, parked by the limo in the back, and entered his manse. The man himself greeted me in a candelit study, where he was laboring over a laptop with his Web designers, Anthony Malzone and Scott Addison Clay. The next five hours took me from that room to a car Prince referred to as “Miles Davis,” where we listened to one set of songs; into a back room furnished with a round bed, faux-fur carpeting and a plexiglass Rhodes piano, where he played cuts by his new protege, the comely Bria Valente; and into that white limo, where the entirety of “Lotus Flower,” the album previewed earlier this month on Indie 103.1, boomed through the speakers as we drove through Hollywood.

Prince will release not one, but three albums in the new year. He’s in final negotiations with “a major retailer” to distribute the music in physical form, and a highly interactive website will also provide an opportunity to buy. He’s not working with a record label. “The gatekeepers have to change,” he said several times throughout the evening.

He’s found his way back to the sound of “When Doves Cry.” The first disc, tentatively titled “MPLSOUND,” is an electro-flavored solo effort recorded at Paisley Park Studios. Prince experimented with Pro Tools and “new ways of recording” on these trippy, experimental pop songs. One features a Q-Tip rap; another calls a “Funky Congregation” to worship and may become a live set piece.

He’s ready to revive the Quiet Storm. “We got sick of waiting for Sade to make a new album,” he said, introducing Valente’s new album, “Elixir.” The tracks are chill, with Valente’s buttery voice melding with beats by Morris Hayes and Prince’s guitar lines. Some are explicitly sexual. “This music is nasty, but it’s not dirty,” Prince said, explaining how sensual music fits in with his much-discussed faith — he’s a Jehovah’s Witness. “There’s no profanity. It isn’t promoting promiscuity. She’s singing about her lover, who could be her partner for life.”

He did not vote for Proposition 8. In fact, he didn’t vote at all. “I didn’t vote for Obama either,” he explained. “Jehovah’s Witnesses haven’t voted for their whole inception.” The controversy over a recent New Yorker “Talk of the Town” item, which Prince feels implied he supported the gay-marriage ban, has upset him. It’s the first thing he wanted to discuss when the Web geeks had gone and we were alone. “I have friends that are gay and we study the Bible together,” he said. He added that two sides fighting “only benefit the third person” who instigated the fight.

Click HERE to read the rest of Ann Powers‘s article and learn about Prince‘s love for his guitar. Firstly, let me say how happy I am to hear Prince deny the anti-gay stance that was attributed to him by The New Yorker last month. Honestly, I hold The New Yorker with the utmost regard and respect and do not believe the mag would make up stuff as damaging as what they wrote about Prince‘s alleged comments on homosexuality. That said, I’m willing to take his new comments at face value and move on. The man is an amazing artist, I’ve been a fan for decades … I am very excited to learn that new music is on the way. I had a feeling that he and Bria were closer than some assumed … Prince just doesn’t take any ol’ person with him to see the Lakers. Of this new material, I’ve only been able to hear Here Eye Come … and I like it. I’m sure the rest of the music will be just as good, if not better. I hope the discs will be released sooner than later … I could really go for a nice big new dose of Prince right about now.

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Prince, who recently debuted a few new songs on LA’s Indie 103.1 radio station (and teased that a new album of material is on the way, showed up at the Staples Center to cheer on the LA Lakers against the Boston Celtics in downtown LA last night (the Lakers ended up beating the Celtics by a score of 92-83). Prince showed up at the game with a mysterious new woman who may be a new romantic interest of his … especially considering that she looks a lot like his most recent previous romantic interests:

Damn, Prince never stays single for long …does he? He divorced his wife last year and then found new companionship with his backup dancers The Twinz and, apparently, has found this latest new friend to keep him company. I’ve yet to hear these new songs that were premiered and then disappeared … but I’m sure it won’t be long before the tunes make their way to the masses.

[Photo credit: Splash News]

Prince made a surprising visit to The Viper Room on Sunset Blvd. in LA on Friday night, with sparkly cane in hand, to check out a performance by the Pussycat Dolls … but only managed to stick around for about 10 mins. before she decided to bounce. While this in and of itself isn’t all that shocking, I found it very interesting that Prince actually drove away in his own car as he made his escape:

While it would make more sense to be concerned that the Purple One was driving around the nighttime streets of LA with his sunglasses on, I just can’t get over the image of Prince driving a car at all. He always struck me as the kind of guy who would need to be attended to at all times … I just never saw him as the kind of guy who likes (or even knows how) to drive. In any event, it appears that PCD was unable to hang on to Prince‘s attentions because, as I said, he didn’t stick around to watch much of their showcase performance at the Viper. I wonder if Prince‘s new disinterest in watching scantily clad women gyrate on stage has anything to do with his new found Jehovah’s Witnessness?

[Photo credit: INFdaily]

Prince was on hand at the Gansvoort Hotel in the Meat Packing District of NYC last night to play a celebratory concert for the release of his new coffee table book of photography/poetry/music/lyrics titled 21 Nights. 21 Nights features photography work by Randee St. Nicholas of Prince from his twenty one night residency at the O2 Arena in London, England last year. The book was released in bookstores last Tuesday (I already have my copy) and comes with an audio CD titled Indigo Nights/Live Sessions. Here are a few pics from Prince‘s performance last night:

Prince is always lookin’ for a reason to get his jam on and last night was no exception. I’ve been very fortunate to see the man in action at one of these scaled down, more intimate gigs and let me tell you, he turns the mother out. Now, about this book … I must confess that I am a bit disappointed with the photographic theme of the book. Some of the photos are amazing … but there are far too few of them. Some of the pics are of hotel hallways and empty Metro stations. I get that St. Nicholas is trying to tell a story with these photos (isolation, loneliness, etc.) but I was really hopin’ there’d be nothing but Prince within in the pages of this book. The CD is hot. It’s almost worth the price of the book itself. Die hard Prince fans (and completists) will not want to miss picking up this book. I don’t think, tho, that casual fans will be happy with it. I suggest you head on down to your local Barnes and Noble to look at the book before you buy it. I’m happy with my copy and am anxious to see the man live, in concert again.

[Photo credit: Wireimage]