Five things I learned from visiting with Prince: From album plans to thoughts on Prop. 8

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.

Needless to say, it was an amazing experience. After the jump, a few tidbits, including Prince's promise of three albums in 2009 and his thoughts on Proposition 8.

And that's a wrap: Lil Wayne crowned 2008's top seller, but he's no Josh Groban

In some of the most anti-climatic music news of the final week of the year, Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" was named the top-selling album of 2008. There was no doubt Lil Wayne would finish at the top. The only question was how much it would sell, and his Grammy-nominated release sold 2.88 million copies, according to Billboard's year-end chart-wrap.

That's a significant lead over Coldplay's "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends," which was a distant second with 2.11 million. Taylor Swift is right behind the British pop stars with "Fearless." The country upstart's recently released set has sold 2.11 million copies since its November release.

Billboard's story has this interesting little tidbit: Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" marks the first time since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991 that the top-selling album of the year sold fewer than 3 million copies. For a little perspective, the top-selling album of 2007 was Josh Groban 's "Noel," which sold a mighty 3.7-million copies.

Wayne's "Tha Carter III" sold just over a million copies in its debut week back in June. In the five months since it was released, the album has sold about 1.88 million copies.

Billboard has the full run-down of the 10 top-selling albums of the year but worth noting is that CD sales accounted for 84% of overall album sales, down from 90% last year. Making up the difference were digital-album sales, up from 10% to about 15% of the market.

This also marked the first year that more than 1 billion digital tracks were sold, led by Leona Lewis with "Bleeding Love." The digital cut tallied 3.37 million sold.

Worth watching will be how the declining price in MP3 albums affects album sales and digital market share in 2009. Amazon.com is leading the charge and is selling 2008's top-selling MP3 albums for $5. Amid the crop are releases from Zooey Deschanel-led She & Him, the aforementioned Lil Wayne, Ne-Yo, Sugarland, Cut Copy and on and on. Although it's not exactly good news for the music biz as the value of the CD treads closer and closer to zero.

-- Todd Martens

Photo: Lil Wayne. Credit: Ringo H.W. Chiu / For The Times

2008 gets mashed up, and it sounds a whole lot like Coldplay

For the second year running, San Francisco's DJ Earworm took on the top-25 songs on the year-end Billboard charts, mashing them together in one 4 1/2-minute mix. So how does one tie a mess of Rihanna, Chris Brown, Sarah Bareilles, Pink and Lil Wayne together? The serene strings of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" do the trick.

Compared to Earworm's mix of 2007, the sound of 2008 is more wistful than clubby. Earworm (real name: Jordan Roseman) writes on his site, "This year in the charts, we’ve gone all soft. The songs are sexy and defiant, less macho than in previous years."

Indeed, Earworm's mix seems more fit for a year-end news montage than something you'd hear at a three-figure party this evening. Here is where Pop & Hiss was going to insert the obligatory sentence about not feeling like partying in a depressed economy, but maybe everyone just sounds kinda sad with a little Coldplay behind them. Take a listen below.

Here's the list of songs in the above clip:

Abell's piano store to the stars is closing

Dennis Hagerty, president of Keyboard Concepts, which runs David L. Abell Fine Pianos on Beverly Boulevard, foresaw the recession about two years ago. "We always feel it first in our business," he said, adding that he's had to let go of or not replace about six employees in a company of roughly 35, and sales in each of his five stores have dipped by 20% to 40%.

But the recession, swinging into full effect this last year, really slammed the final nail into the coffin, or piano top as it were, for Hagerty's most legendary store. The ivy-covered Abell shop, which has sold pianos for nearly 54 years to just about everyone, including Frank Sinatra, Quincy Jones, Tony Bennett, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Jackson Browne, André Previn and Ronald Reagan, is closing. All of Abell's upscale, exclusive stock -- Yamaha grands, Bösendorfers and vintage Steinways -- is on deep discount. Which is good news for anyone who's ever fantasized about shoving a baby grand into his or her apartment foyer, but bad news for those who want to uphold the romantic, old guard of piano stores.

It's possible that the Abell space might re-open as another Keyboard Concepts, which has outposts in Van Nuys, Agoura Hills, Santa Monica and Tustin, but Abell's, as we know it, will be gone once the last piano is sold. "It's sad," Hagerty said, "but making the format of the old store work has gotten tougher and tougher." This is the place where composer John Williams once treated customers to an improv performance of Prokofiev's "Third Sonata." Hagerty bought the store from his friendly competitor David L. Abell when the jazz connoisseur retired in 1999. Abell died in 2006, but during his lifetime, he helped rebuild the music department at Washington Preparatory High School and donated large sums to the UCLA jazz studies program.

Many of Abell's fine pianos are one-of-a-kind. Hagerty is reluctant to divulge exact price tags or discounts, but recent sales have included a Yamaha baby grand, usually around $33,000, marked down to about $16,000. In the last week, Hagerty unloaded two Bösendorfers, which he calls the Rolls-Royce of pianos, for more than $100,000 each. But, those profits were too little, too late. "The numbers seems big, but our margin has been murder."

For those who want ivories to tickle at home, ballpark figures for upright pianos start at $1,800 and baby grands go from $7,500 to $20,000. Hagerty has also agreed to let us share a coupon that originally went out in a small e-mail blast a couple days ago. It's for $500 off any new grand or baby grand piano, which will get you well on your way to becoming your family's own private Burt Bacharach.

-- Margaret Wappler

David L. Abell Fine Pianos, 8162 Beverly Blvd., L.A. (323)651-3060.

Photo of Abell store courtesy of Dennis Hagerty

2009 artist to watch: Randy Weeks

Pop & Hiss offers a look at some of the artists we expect to make noise in 2009.

Artist: Randy Weeks

Why him: Formerly with L.A.-based Americana group Lonesome Strangers, Randy Weeks has to be doing something right -- Lucinda Williams not only covered his song “Can’t Let Go” on her breakthrough album “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road,” but it’s also become a cornerstone of her live shows. On his solo collection “Going My Way,” coming Feb. 24, Weeks puts together a batch of consistently evocative, witty lyrics that he sings in a distinctively wry Lou Reed-meets-Willie Nelson voice. His country roots are strong enough that he’s cranked out the instant honky-tonk classic “The One Who Wore My Ring,” yet, like Peter Case, he also obviously knows his Lennon-McCartney songbook well enough to come up with the pure-pop bounce of “That’s What I’d Do.”

His recent move from L.A. to Austin led to “Going My Way” being produced by Texas Americana ace Will Sexton, and probably at least partially explains the juicy New Orleans funk they’ve brought to “I Think You Think.” That song and “I Couldn’t Make It” showcase Weeks’ love for language and his engaging wordplay.

What's next: In support of "Going My Way," Weeks will play a handful of dates around Texas and Tennessee before his SXSW showcase date in March.

-- Randy Lewis

Photo of Weeks courtesy Conqueroo

We help spread the wildfire: Ben Gibbard is moving into Zooey Deschanel's place

So, on the blogosphere today, the ridiculously adorable news spread that Ben Gibbard, the lead depressive for Death Cab for Cutie, and Zooey Deschanel, the vintage-wearing chanteuse of She & Him, are engaged! We also have it on good authority that Gibbard is moving into her chic digs in Hancock Park. So that means that Pop & Hiss will see them shopping at the Trader Joe's on La Brea and Third any minute now!

--Margaret Wappler

Photo of Deschanel by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images; Gibbard by Nancy Pastor/For The Times

R.I.P.: Freddie Hubbard, 70

Freddie Hubbard died today at Sherman Oaks Hospital as a result of a heart attack suffered in late November. His name might not blow up the same marquee lights as that of the late Eartha Kitt, whom we lost on Christmas Day, but anyone who cultivates even a passing interest in jazz certainly knows Hubbard's swift, mercury-smooth trumpet sound, whether they realize it or not.

A sideman for Sonny Rollins and Art Blakey, Hubbard did some of his most masterful work with the '60s avant-garde crowd, including Eric Dolphy's "Out to Lunch," John Coltrane's "Ascension" and Ornette Coleman's masterful group improvisation "Free Jazz." Perhaps as a result of such a track record, Hubbard's recordings as a band leader may have been a bit overshadowed, but his soul-jazz leaning '70s work on "Red Clay" and "Straight Life" are well worth investigating. In an interview with the Associated Press earlier this year, Wynton Marsalis described Hubbard's bright tone on trumpet and flugelhorn as "exuberant," and the track "Mr. Clean" from "Straight Life" is a captivating example.

Straight Life

Note: By popular demand, here's another excellent example of Hubbard's work, a fairly bonkers, 18-minute live version of "Red Clay," a bonus track from the 1970 album of the same name. At about the 13 minute mark you get a good idea of what we're missing having lost Freddie Hubbard. >> Listen here

-- Chris Barton

Photo of Freddie Hubbard in 1995 by Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

Navigating the recession with E-40

What do Bill Gates and the Bay Area’s reigning king of Hyphy, E-40, have in common? Both lost money on Microsoft stock. “I first started messing with [stocks] in ’95 or ’96,” said E-40, known to his mother as Earl Stevens, via phone last week.

“I was sitting there waiting for something, but it just didn’t unfold for me,” said the rapper, who spent the weekend dodging bullets at a Denver engagement. (To be fair, the shots were fired after the show and had nothing to do with E-40.)

“Apple, now that’s what I should have got.”

Good thing Stevens has had better luck with his recently released album, "The Ball Street Journal," featuring several radio-worthy singles including "Pain No More," a West Coast anthem of sorts featuring Snoop Dogg and the Game. Now in its fourth week, the Sick Wid It/Warner Music release has so far sold more than 50,000 copies with limited radio support and no real tour dates -- yet.

But still, as any casualty of the record biz will tell you, album sales don't pay all the bills. Stevens, known to his fans simply as 40 or Charlie Hustle, has had a difficult time navigating the recession this year. The Ambassador of the "Yay" and slang generator for countless rappers is making some changes to his portfolio, which once included partial ownership of a Fatburger franchise. He recently closed his Pleasant Hill, Calif., franchise near his home in Vallejo, hoping to instead focus on his just-released record and his line of flavor-enhanced water, 40 Water.

“I’m moving on from Fatburger because it didn’t really take off like it did in Southern California,” he said. “I’m moving on to Wing Stop ... that’s where it’s at."

Stevens said he and an unnamed business partner have been developing their corner of the wings-slinging franchise for a year and that he will start work on his Wing Stop in Vallejo-adjacent Benecia “in a month or so." We're guessing Stevens knows something we don't about Wing Stop, because a cursory search reveals there is no shortage of outlets in the immediate area.

2009 artist to watch: Marco Benevento

Pop & Hiss offers a look at some of the artists we expect to make noise in 2009.

Artist: Marco Benevento

Why him? Long a cult favorite on the East Coast jam-band/avant-jazz circuit, this 31-year-old keyboardist/"sound sculptor" has been building a nationwide following for some jaw-dropping improvisational skills, a no-genres-barred approach and a globe-trotting touring schedule. His first studio release, the spacey yet approachable "Invisible Baby," landed Benevento’s trio at the 2008 JVC Jazz Festival, and there’s no limit to where his next album will take him. Built around Benevento’s shape-shifting acoustic piano and backed by an adventurous rhythm section of Matt Chamberlain and Reed Mathis, the record offers deconstructed reinterpretations of indie favorites such as My Morning Jacket, Beck and Deerhoof while flirting with straight-ahead jazz on his own compositions, like the lovely "Mephisto." Seemingly incapable of resisting an unexplored musical direction, Benevento can, essentially, do just about anything, which makes him exactly the kind of force that deserves notice in today’s contemporary jazz world.

What's next: His new album, "Me Not Me," is due Feb. 3, followed by an appearance at Largo on Feb. 11 backed by a two-pronged percussion attack of Medeski Martin and Wood's Billy Martin and former Lounge Lizard G. Calvin Weston.

--Chris Barton

Photo by Michael Benevento

Pop & Hiss guide to New Year's Eve shows

Christmas has come and gone, but now there is New Year's to plan, which, as everyone knows, is a big stinking albatross of social stress. Where will you go? Who will you kiss? Will that champagne cork take out an eye? Can you really go to three parties in opposite corners of L.A. without ever taking the 10? Should you just stay home and watch "200 Cigarettes" instead? We do not know the answers to these big questions, but we do know of a few shows around town, some of which are not precisely on New Year's Eve but will get you in the spirit. And now, let our list complicate your decision even further:

Robin Thicke: The suave singer has put blue-eyed soul firmly back on the pop map with the kind of natty, vintage-leaning but wholly contemporary crooning that no one but Ne-Yo seems to be interested in anymore. Club Nokia, 800 West Olympic Blvd. Suite A335, Los Angeles. 7 p.m. Dec. 29. $41.50-$71.50. (213) 765-7000.

Gipsy Kings: The veteran band plays its particular blend of pop-inflected rumba catalana and danceable Romani folk at this rowdy New Years' Eve (and warm-up) show. Conga Room, 800 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles. 11 p.m. Dec. 30; 11 p.m. Dec. 31. $150-$225. (213)749-0445

The Wailers: The stalwart reggae band can't bring back Bob, but even with only a few of the original members left, it will nonetheless rock steady with a performance of "Exodus" in its entirety. If you plan on driving home that night, bring a face mask to keep the crowd's smoke out. The Roxy, 9009 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. 8 p.m. Dec. 31. $76.50. (310) 278-9457.

Stone Temple Pilots: The '90s grunge stars, led by mercurial frontman Scott Weiland, run through the classics for New Year's. Club Nokia, 800 West Olympic Blvd. Suite A335, Los Angeles. 8:30 p.m. Dec. 31. $75-$125. (213) 480-3232.

Snoop Dogg: The Doggfather, in the final installment of a surely raucous spate of year-end shows, will regale the crowd with gin and juice-soaked oldies, plus newer, more silky cuts that find the reality TV star in a Roger Troutman-inspired loverman mood, defined by an unprecedented concern for his lady's pleasure. House of Blues, 8430 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. 9 p.m. Dec. 31. $115. (323) 848-5100.

New Year's Eve with Pink Martini:  Ring in 2009 with the witty, global-lounge stylings from this Portland-based (upscale) party machine. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. 10:30 p.m. Dec. 31. $65-$195. (323) 850-2000.

And for more club-based events, check out The Guide's list of New Year's Eve parties.

--August Brown and Margaret Wappler

Photo: Snoop Dogg playing in Australia earlier this year. Credit: Lisa Maree Williams / Getty Images