Iggy Pop - Préliminaires

In what must be the year’s strangest, most out-of-character recording, the godfather of punk abandons his usual primal rock in favor of jazz with hints of ambient synth-pop. Even more surprising, Iggy performs at least some of the material in French. While his growling bass is hardly a croon, his moody delivery of songs like “Les feuilles mortes” and “Je sais que tu said” is certainly a revelation. More Iggy-like is the humorous swing of “King of the Dogs” and the nihilistic “Nice to Be Dead.” Call it middle age madness.

June 2009