and so now he gives to us




In come wistful saxophones, old New Orleans jazz and music made to waft through a fog of Gitanes smoke in some forgotten European bar. Préliminaires is inspired by French writer Michel Houellebecq's book The Possibility of an Island, which enables Iggy to sing in French, tell stories and expand on the theme of escape - especially escape from himself. On this new album he is beautifully fatigued and insightful. On lines such as "You can convince the world that you're some kind of superstar, when an asshole is all you are, but that's all right," he sounds simultaneously invulnerable and immortal. This may be his best album since 1977's Lust for Life.

Iggy Pop takes on the language of romance and puts a decidedly French twist on his new album, Préliminaires. Produced by longtime collaborator Hal Cragin (They Might Be Giants, Sarah McLachlan, Rufus Wainwright), Préliminaires, which translates to "foreplay", highlights another facet of the Iggy Pop persona, focusing more on jazz arrangements and the distinctive, rich baritone heard on classics like "Nightclubbing" and his duet with French legend Françoise Hardy on the song "I'll Be Seeing You".
On the record, Iggy even sings one song in French, a cover of jazz standard "Les Feuilles Mortes (Autumn Leaves)", a song widely associated with French legends Yves Montand and Edith Piaf. Other titles include New Orleans influenced "King Of The Dogs", a story about a dog named Fox who explains "how cool it is to be a dog, and how much it beats human life", and "How Insensitive", a jazzy bossanova standard composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim. There are also more raucous moments like the swamp-rock stylings of "Nice To Be Dead".

The visuals for the album were created by French/Iranian graphic novelist and animated film director Marjane Satrapi. Marjane and Iggy met when she asked him to voice one of the characters in the English language version of her Academy-award nominated movie `Persepolis' in 2007.

Release Date: June 2, 2009 on Astralwerks






01. Les feuilles mortes
02. I Want to Go to the Beach
03. King of the Dogs
04. Je sais que tu sais
05. Spanish Coast
06. Nice to Be Dead
07. How Insensitive
08. Party Time
09. He's Dead / She's Alive
10. A Machine for Loving
11. She's a Business
12. Les feuilles mortes (Marc's Theme)

I really REALLY hate Autumn Leaves. It might be a dealbreaker for even checking out what is probably a snoozefest anyways.

This sounds like it could be frighteningly horrible.

I think I'll buy it on general principle.

Iggy, come on man.

You just.

I mean.

I even loved that Candy song.

But come on.

Is this like Buster Poindexter?

In other bad news...

http://metrotimes.com/blog/musicblahg.asp?perm=737

James Williamson is Vice President of the Technology Standards Office of Sony Electronics, Inc. In this position, he is responsible for all standards activities and related technology and policy efforts for the U.S. Electronics Business. He is also responsible for Sony’s participation and oversight of U.S. participation in International Organizations including ISO and IEC (which includes the TC-100 chair position currently staffed from the Sony Standards Office). In this capacity, he is currently serving on ANSI’s U.S. National Committee for IEC (2006-2008).

Preparing for his 27 years of experience, Williamson received his BSEE degree from California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, California. He has served on various committees within the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) including the Technology Standards Council, and the International Advisory Group. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of ATIS, and is serving on the Standards Policy Committee of ITI.

"I got a smelly rear, I got a dirty nose..."

Yup.

This is from The Onion, right?

Y'all have seen this, right?

I just started playing this, but so far I'm strangely drawn in to it.