Préliminaires (6/3 on Astralwerks) is inspired by Michel Houellebecq's 2005 novel The Possibility Of An Island and includes jazz standards "Insensatez" and "Les Feuilles Mortes" along with Cajun flavored originals like "King Of The Dogs." A press conference about it streams on iggypoppreliminaires.com tomorrow. 6 AM EST, because Iggy's in Paris.

U2's Bono has slammed illegal music downloading but has admitted that he is "overpaid". The singer claimed that he was taking a stance against file sharing to stand up for musicians less well-off than himself, rather than trying to protect his own considerable wealth. "People think people like me are overpaid and overnourished, and they're not...

Iggy Pop loves controversial French writer Michel Houellebecq. I mean, who doesn't? Right? Transgressive, satirical novels that may or may not be totally racist depending on who you ask? That's just about everybody's favorite thing, right? Last year, Iggy recorded seven songs for Last Words, a documentary about Houellebecq's attempts to turn h...

The next Grammy Awards ceremony won't be for another year, but we already know who's going home with a bunch of trophies, and we know it without actually hearing a note of the album. Ambitious years-in-the-making follow-up to ambitious years-in-the-making album? Check. Veteran act who did their best work about fifteen years ago but who still ine...

MMJ's Dark Was The Night contribution is a light, airy, horn-lined dose of easy listening complete with a schmaltzy backup chorus and playful lyrics ("El Caporal, you're money is no good here") filled with dogs, dumpsters, kisses on el captain's sweet, confused face, and sways in dances/games in pantses. Jim James also asks the important questio...