Incredibile Iggy!

Iggy Pop loves controversial French writerMichel 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 forLast Words, a documentary about Houellebecq’s attempts to turn his book La Possibilité d’une île (The Possibility of an Island) into a film. In a few months, Pop will release those songs as Preliminaires, an album inspired by the book itself. In this video trailer for the album, Pop, sitting poolside and looking uncannily like Mickey Rourke inThe Wrestler, claims that he made the album especially for France and that he sings one song, “Les Feuilles Mortes”, in French. (Via Ears of Panda.)

A bulletin sent out via the Stooges’ MySpace page says that Preliminaires is “NOT a rock album, more jazzy stuff.” In the trailer, Pop himself says “it’s a quieter album with some jazz overtones.”

Allow him to explain: “At one point, I just got sick of listening to idiot thugs with guitars banging out crappy music, and I was starting to listen to a lot of New Orleans-era Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton type of jazz. And I’ve always loved quieter ballads as well.” He also enthuses at length about the book c and shows his tiny white dog off to the camera.

The video ends with a song called “King of the Dogs”, which really is Iggy Pop singing about his “smelly rear” over a New Orleans jazz funeral march. Judging by that, this could easily be the best jazz album that a punk legend has ever made about a French novel.

The Stooges’ MySpace page claims the album will be out in May. In that video, Iggy himself says late April, though the video also mentions a May 18 release date.

The album also has a website. Right now, though, it just asks for your email address if you want newsletter updates about the album. Which, clearly, you do.

This might be the album cover:

In other overseas Iggy Pop news, the Igster is currently mired in a minor controversy in Britain over his appearance in advertisements for the insurance company Swiftcover.com As Billboard reports, British musicians have been complaining about the fact that Swiftcover.com doesn’t actually insure musicians. They’re too risky.

Billboard quotes a Swiftcover.com rep as saying, “Swiftcover.com chose Iggy Pop as the face of its advertising because he loves life, not because he is a musician. He is an actor demonstrating the benefits of Swiftcover.com.”

Wow, some people are really dumb, huh?