Iggy Pop goes jazz. Well almost. He was deeply impressed by French author Michel Houellebecq's 2005 novel The Possibility of an Island which is about death, sex and the end of the human race. When he was contacted to supply songs for a documentary about the writer he set himself to work, listening to a lot of old time New Orleans-era, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton type of jazz.
The result is an album entitled Préliminaires and it's a far cry from the Stooges' mayhem and the majority of his better known solo work. With his deep voice Iggy can handle the slow stuff quite well. His take of the classic Les Feuilles Mortes is actually quite good, with 21st Century keyboard parts messing seamlessly with a lonely saxophone.
King Of The Dogs comes marching in with NOLA trumpets and assorted brass. The only true rocker Nice To Be Dead has his trademark swagger and half-smile lycrics. Borderline dance music rules for Party Time and country guitar rides on top of the upfront rhythm section that takes center stage for She's A Business.
Préliminaires is a side street in Iggy's catalog, but it stills fits within his musical road map. Dig out your copy Fun House and you can hear that he was into jazz a lot longer than you would expect.
Préliminaires is released on EMI Records. Release date: May 25th (June 2nd in the USA).
Tracks:- Les Feuilles Mortes
- I Want To Go To The Beach
- King Of The Dogs
- Je Sais Que Tu Sais
- Spanish Coast
- Nice To Be Dead
- How Insensitive
- Party Time
- He's Dead/She's Alive
- A Machine For Loving
- She's A Business
- Les Feuilles Mortes (Marc's Theme)
Iggy's blog has a widget with four tracks of the album.
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