Purple Snow - Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound

On 4 LPs or 2 CDs, 'Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound' - the Numero Group's breathlessly anticipated 50th mainline release- chronicles the scene's first steps, false starts, and follow-throughs, sourcing the life's work of known quantities and shadowy figures alike. In the beginning, there was Purple Haze, whose billing as Haze on two obscure albums left the colour purple to their city's incipient sound. Pepe Willie's 94 East project gave local prodigy Prince Rogers Nelson an early chance to row along with the crew. From there, the story courses past Jimmy Jam Harris' extroverted Philly throwback Mind and Matter collective, to Terry Lewis and Flyte Tyme, flamboyant precursor to Morris Day's The Time. Unearthing basement demos by Prince's childhood sidekick / departed bassist Andre Cymone, plus deep cuts from legend-about-town Alexander O'Neal, Numero 050 gathers relentlessly as the sprawling, nonfiction prequel to Purple Rain's cultural takeover.Surpassing 30,000 words, the hardbound, full-colour book companion to 'Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound' is a gorgeous, exhaustively detailed, and insight-rich guided tour across two hours of music and a decade of North Star history. Inside, dozens of supporting characters and combos seed clouds for the meteoric rise of a genre formerly known mostly as Prince's - not to mention unheard product from his top collaborators and fiercest competitors. In game-changing sound and image-rich splendor, 'Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound' clears a crowded stage, ushering in unsung Twin Cities future-funk talent, to bask for a spotlit moment, out of that persistent violet shadow, and to shine.