Iggy’s got a
few complaints: The world’s changing, nothing’s fun anymore, he hardly
has any friends and the ones he does have are a pain, the music industry
is a drag, his reputation isn’t what it used to be. Oh, and you can’t
smoke on flights. On an EP filled with these kinds of lamentations, one
couplet neatly epitomizes his gripe: “It’s getting harder to be
free/It’s getting so much harder to be me.” The first line might be on
the money, but the second reduces his message to one of solipsistic
whining.
As a solo artist, he narrated the tumultuous dreamlife of a junkie street urchin who was also a star. Now, teamed up with UK electronic duo Underworld on Teatime Dub Encounters, he sounds like something else entirely: a resentful baby boomer grumbling about the state of the world.
The pairing itself is a canny one. Iggy’s always had a pop edge that balanced out his feral persona, and Underworld frequently added doses of weirdness to their crossover electronica. In the Venn diagram of the two groups, there’s an overlap that’s worth exploring and might even bear fruit. So it’s unfortunate that Iggy, now 71, is in such a half-baked and aggravating form. His voice has the leathery gravitas to pull off more reflective moods while still being elastic enough to go for a full frontal attack.
Die-hard followers of both artists may find something to love here.*
Tracklist:
01 – Bells & Circles
02 – Trapped
03 – I’ll See Big
04 – Get Your Shirt
* Some words taken from Pitchfork's review
As a solo artist, he narrated the tumultuous dreamlife of a junkie street urchin who was also a star. Now, teamed up with UK electronic duo Underworld on Teatime Dub Encounters, he sounds like something else entirely: a resentful baby boomer grumbling about the state of the world.
The pairing itself is a canny one. Iggy’s always had a pop edge that balanced out his feral persona, and Underworld frequently added doses of weirdness to their crossover electronica. In the Venn diagram of the two groups, there’s an overlap that’s worth exploring and might even bear fruit. So it’s unfortunate that Iggy, now 71, is in such a half-baked and aggravating form. His voice has the leathery gravitas to pull off more reflective moods while still being elastic enough to go for a full frontal attack.
Die-hard followers of both artists may find something to love here.*
Tracklist:
01 – Bells & Circles
02 – Trapped
03 – I’ll See Big
04 – Get Your Shirt
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