Here’s to a great 2009! Sorry I haven’t been very active recently, I’ve been taking it easy and trying to recover from a nasty illness that seems to be going around.

I’m really looking forward to leaving 2008 in the dust and having an amazing 2009, that should see the release of the new Swami album and my own solo project, as well as a few other exciting things

Hope you all have a great night tonight and ring in the new year with style.

Peace.

S Dash

(Update: 21st December)  – Links are down for the time being and may or may not come back. They got spread around just a little bit too much. For the record, I did not receive any request from Prince or anyone representing him to remove them, it’s entirely my own decision, and I’m happy that a few people got to hear them who may not have had access to the radio station they premiered on. But, if Prince or his web team would like to get in touch with a real fan who has some great ideas on how he can create a revolutionary new internet presence and set a new precedent……then get at me dawg )

My mind is officially blown. FIVE new Prince songs premiered yesterday. 4 of them on Steve Jones (ex Sex Pistols) radio show in Los Angeles, and the 5th on a mysterious new website. Check em all out below, they are all awesome, some of the best stuff he has done in a long while.  I’m going to write a little bit about each one, not much though as I still need to digest all of this awesomeness properly.

Crimson & Clover

a purple take on the 60′s classic. it’s got a very ‘Purple Rain’ vibe to it. Amazing.  When Prince does a cover, it can be pretty hit or miss (for example, hit = his cover of Betcha By Golly Wow, miss= his cover of Every Day is A Winding Road)……this one is HIT HIT HIT HIT. Easily my favorite version of the song now.

[Links are down for the time being]

Colonized Mind

I’m finding it difficult to find another Prince song to compare this to. Musically, it’s almost Hendrix-esque. Very deep lyrics on this one.  I think this one will need the most listens to really understand. But it sounds incredible.

[Links are down for the time being]

Wall of Berlin

Some might remember Prince’s words from the end of the title track to his 2006 album "3121" – "It’s going down y’all……like the Wall of Berlin". So clearly this concept has been in his mind for a while.

Just like the last two tracks, this is a very organic rocker, but with a more pop feel. Catchy and memorable.

[Links are down for the time being]

4ever

This one was mentioned a few weeks back in an interview Prince did. A classic Prince ballad.  "Eternity is just one kiss away".

[Links are down for the time being]

There’ll Never B (Another Like Me)

This one wasn’t premiered on the radio show. A few days ago, a short instrumental clip of this track appeared on a mysterious new site (mplsound.com) – immediately setting the Prince fan community ablaze on whether it was real or not. It’s cut from a different cloth than the other new songs – this one is a serious funk jam with plenty of Prince’s trademark 80′s sounds like the LinnDrum.

[Links are down for the time being]

There’ll Never B (Another Like Me) (Instrumental Clip)

[Links are down for the time being]

Peace out neofunkers! Enjoy!!!

Prince was mentioned twice on this week’s episode of the hit comedy show ‘How I Met Your Mother’.

If you don’t watch it, you really should. It’s one of the best shows out right now.

At the beginning of the show, which is set in New York, it is said to be cold. Marshall (who comes from Minnesota) says,

"This is like a regular spring day in Minnesota, if it weren’t for the taxi’s, skyscrapers and non-white people".

The protagonist Ted then remarks – "There aren’t any black people in Minnesota?", to which Marshall then replies "Not if Prince is on tour."

Later on in the show, Robin has been hanging out with Marshall in a Minnesota themed bar, and pretending to be from Minnesota, since that’s the only way she can stay in the bar. When it’s revealed that she’s actually Canadian, she makes a scene of being proud to be Canadian, and says "We may not have a fancy NFL team, or Prince, but we invented Trivial Pursuit! You’re welcome, Earth!"

This was one of my favorite episodes in a while. Not to mention, there was a Nine Inch Nails reference somewhere in the show too. Always good.

Somebody asked me recently, that age -old question that artists get all the time….."If you could have written any song in history, what would it be?". God damn, what a ridiculous question. Thousands of song titles and grooves float into my head…but I feel confident that most of the time, I’d give the same answer…………and it would be…

777-9311 by The Time. The full 8 minute, ridiculously funky version of course. Written and produced by Prince. How can one person be so god damn funky?

One of my favorite things about the current generation of technology we’re in is the easy access it provides from wherever you may be. I love that I can snap a photo on my phone and have it instantly appear on my website and whichever social networks I may use in no more than a couple of clicks, or instantly make a Twitter update the moment of something happening. (Plus my Twitter and Facebook status are synced).

So since I recently started this blog, I’m excited for the possibilities this too provides. Right now I’m in a cab on my way home after a long day out, writing this post on my blog’s backend server itself – I could also update it via email or using specific applications created for the purpose, but it’s not even necessary to do that. I can access all the same features from my phone’s browser as if I were at home sitting in front of my computer. So this is an introduction, or the first in a series of moblogs – updates I make from the road. Cause sometimes, a hazy recollection just ain’t gonna cut it. Reading about something while the moment is still happening is far more interesting, and I’m sure I’m not the only one that thinks that.

So for you valued fans and readers, you can start to expect some seriously random moblogs from now on. I might be sitting backstage before a show and feel like I have something worth sharing with you guys. We might be on a tour bus in any city you can name. We might be attempting to get into a big festival where we’re scheduled to play, only to get diverted into a muddy field because of the bad weather, and end up parked next to and having random conversations with Elvis Costello, porkpie hat and all. (Now that was a surreal moment…)

Point is, history isn’t remembered, twisted around to suit, information changed and THEN written down for future generations any more. That day is fucking done, and good riddance. It’s all about now. You can be a part of it just by sitting back and watching as the events unfold….right in front of your eyes. Peace out my neofunk souljas. S

Me and Sups in grungier days, chillin before tearing up the stage at RISE Festival in London, back in 2006.

Last week, myself, Liana and Bobby P hit up Aura in Mayfair, London for the media launch for the 2009 UK AMA’s which are to be held in March. Check out some cool shots below.

Of course, I had other motives to be in London too….. Keep your eyes peeled for some exclusive news of what we’ve really been up to……coming soon.