Tag: 20Ten

20ten (2010)
Aeons ago, a diminutive humanoid calling himself The Purple Yoda performed We Will Rock You at the Intergalactic Super Bowl. Against a night-coloured backdrop sequinned with galaxies, the silver-clad singer fired off flaming arcs of future funk which lit up the surrounding star systems and caused new religions to be founded. One of these astral volleys eventually reached Earth in the year 2010AD; the music dimmed like distant starlight, a faint echo of its fiery past. The inhabitants were unsure what to do with this strange specimen and to prevent a mass panic decided to bury it as a secret track on a largely ignored album. And there it still lies, occasionally greeting travellers exploring the outer reaches of Prince’s discography and rewarding them with a gift of a conch shell which will instantly transport the listener back to Cassiopeia and the greatest half-time show in the universe’s history.

20ten (2010)
From the crowded composition of Eye No we now turn to the opposite end of the scale. Sticky Like Glue is a slinky funk mover, low on ornamentation and high on economy. Like a cartoonist, Prince sketches with the minimum amount of strokes. The Linn drum pops like space dust while strands of guitar are teased in with surgical precision. The vocals – especially the rap – are befitting of a late-career freebie given away with a tabloid paper, but the lithe funk underneath could hold court on any of his early-80s classic albums. There’s a platinum instrumental inside Sticky Like Glue that is crying out to be let free.

20ten (2010)
At first acquaintance you can imagine this song in a travel segment on a morning show, soundtracking a montage of Swiss mountains and vineyards. An easily digestible ode to escapism. On closer inspection you hear suggestive hints at what Prince is escaping from and the inconvenient truth that “the cost of freedom is anything but free”. If you like your Prince served with hearty side dishes of social commentary and religiosity there’s plenty to unpack in the lyrics. Personally however, the meaning of the words washes over me as I savour the shimmying synth riff which owes more than a passing debt to The Pointer Sisters’ Automatic. A feel-good life raft in an album of few delights. In fact Lavoux is the last good song on 20ten until the hidden track at the end. If you’re really quiet you can hear it pine for the peaks of Parade.