Maps of Music

Préliminaires (2009)

Where the lyrics of Préliminaires take you, and where it was really made.

Iggy Pop's fifteenth studio album grew out of a Michel Houellebecq novel and turned toward quiet New Orleans jazz instead of rock.

Key places

Recording at Massasoit Sound, Woodstock (2009)

Recording site Hi Lo Ha — Massasoit Sound is listed as a recording location for the album. The pin sits at the city centre of Woodstock, so the exact studio building is not confirmed. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at Crescent Moon Studios, Miami (2009)

Recording site The Hit Factory Criteria — Crescent Moon Studios in Miami is listed as a recording location for the album. The pin sits at the city centre of Miami, so the exact building is not confirmed. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording at The Groove Room, San Rafael (2009)

Recording site Tarpan Studios — The Groove Room in San Rafael is listed as a recording location for the album. The pin sits at the city centre of San Rafael, so the exact building is not confirmed. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Préliminaires is the fifteenth studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop
• Released in Europe on 25 May 2009 by Astralwerks, and in the US on 2 June
• Twelve tracks, including a cover of the 1940s French jazz standard "Les feuilles mortes" sung in French
• Cover painting by French-Iranian graphic novelist and animated film director Marjane Satrapi

Background

• Inspired by Iggy Pop's reading of Michel Houellebecq's novel La Possibilité d'une île (The Possibility of an Island)
• Pop said the album is less rock-oriented than his previous works and is a quieter album with some jazz overtones
• The sound was influenced by New Orleans jazz artists such as Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton
• Pop also admitted the album is his response to being sick of loud guitar-driven music
• "Les feuilles mortes" is most associated with Yves Montand and Édith Piaf
• "How Insensitive" is a jazzy bossa nova standard composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim
• "Nice to Be Dead" is more of a swamp rock song
• Pop and Satrapi met in 2007, when she asked him to voice one of the characters in the English-language version of her Academy Award nominated film Persepolis

Recording

• Hal Cragin is credited as producer, recording engineer and mixer
• Cragin also plays bass, guitar, percussion, keyboards and drum programming
• Kevin Hupp plays drums and congas
• Additional engineering by Alfred Figueroa, Iggy Pop and Kevin Hupp
• Recording locations listed: Massasoit Sound in Woodstock, New York; Crescent Moon Studios in Miami, Florida; The Groove Room in San Rafael, California

Cover

• Visuals created by Marjane Satrapi
• Satrapi painted the cover artwork

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• James Newell Osterberg Jr., born April 21, 1947 in Muskegon, Michigan, known as Iggy Pop.
• Began as drummer in Ann Arbor high school bands, including the Iguanas and the Prime Movers, where he got the nickname "Iggy".
• Formed the Psychedelic Stooges with Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton and Dave Alexander; he became the lead vocalist, nicknamed "Pop".
• Signed with Elektra Records in 1968, following the Doors.

Members

• Original Stooges lineup: Iggy Pop (vocals), Ron Asheton (guitar), Scott Asheton (drums), Dave Alexander (bass).
• Later lineup included James Williamson (guitar) and Scott Thurston; the band reunited with Mike Watt and Steve Mackay in 2003-2005.

Career

• The Stooges' albums sold poorly, but they became known for confrontational live performances, including self-mutilation and stage-diving.
• Raw Power (1973) became influential on the Sex Pistols, the Smiths and Nirvana.
• Solo debut with David Bowie: The Idiot and Lust for Life (1977), with Bowie producing; "China Girl" was later a hit for Bowie in 1983.
• Only Top 40 US hit "Candy" (1990), a duet with Kate Pierson of the B-52's.
• "Lust for Life" was featured in the film Trainspotting (1996).
• The Stooges were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010; Pop received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.
• Also an actor and voice performer in films and television, and hosts the radio show Iggy Confidential on BBC Radio 6 Music.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic score of 66 based on 27 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews
• Rolling Stone called it definitely the weirdest record of the punk godfather's career
• The Spanish-language Wikipedia article repeats the Rolling Stone remark and calls it one of the strangest records in the career of the punk godfather
• Pop described the album as a quieter record with jazz overtones and as a reaction against loud guitar bands
• Released in Europe on 25 May 2009 and in the US a week later on 2 June

Records

• Debuted at No. 187 on the Billboard 200
• Sold around 3,000 copies in its first week of release
• Had sold 10,000 copies in the United States as of February 2016

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• "King of the Dogs" contains elements of "King of the Zulus", a song written by Lillian Hardin Armstrong
• Pop and Satrapi became friends after she asked him to voice a character in the English version of Persepolis in 2007
• "How Insensitive" is an English version of the song "Insensatez" by Tom Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes
• "Les feuilles mortes" appears twice on the album, once in a second version titled "Marc's Theme"
• "A Machine for Loving" has an English translation by Gavin Bowd credited on the track listing

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

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