Getting a bit older and getting along with Underworld and Iggy Pop
July 27, 2018 8:49 AM   Subscribe

While overseeing the soundtrack for T2 Trainspotting, Underworld’s Rick Smith arranged a meeting with Iggy Pop in a room at The Savoy Hotel on London’s Strand to discuss working on collaborative music for the film. Their respective tracks "Lust for Life" and "Born Slippy (Nuxx)" had perfectly bookended the first Trainspotting film two decades previously. On arrival, Iggy found a fully working studio set up and eagerness to get cracking. The results are all out now: Teatime Dub Encounters EP ("Bells & Circles" | "Trapped" | "I'll See Big" | "Get Your Shirt")
posted by filthy light thief (19 comments total) 20 users marked this as a favorite
 
I fell in love
In love I fell
She stole my shirt
I fell, I fell, I fell in love, I fell
I got, I got ripped off
I lost my shirt


Well, it took fifty years, but I guess we solved the mystery, boys. Case closed.
posted by rokusan at 8:54 AM on July 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


I like them both independently, but... this is not my cup of tea - even if it is teatime dub...
posted by Nanukthedog at 9:16 AM on July 27, 2018


well this seems like a good time to share a thing i learned about earlier this week, which is that iggy pop has an instagram for his bird and he sang "surfin bird" to it
posted by dismas at 9:18 AM on July 27, 2018 [5 favorites]


Teatime Dub Encounters EP ("Bells & Circles yt "

so far so good -- "if I had wings, I'd have fun" -- it would not go well.
posted by philip-random at 9:26 AM on July 27, 2018


"only a vengeful god does not allow smoking on airplanes"
posted by philip-random at 9:27 AM on July 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


A little mixed, but Trapped is real good. I love most of Underworld's stuff, though I started to despair around the Barking period. Their last album was a return to form.

Of course Iggy Pop is a force of good in the world, but I have heard too many of his spoken word tracks.
posted by Kafkaesque at 9:40 AM on July 27, 2018


The italicized text is from Underworld Live, Underworld's official website. I note this because I think comparing Teatime Dub Encounters to Lust for Life and Born Slippy (Nuxx) is dangerous, because both were and are amazing tracks. This? My first impression was that we're hearing an old man complain about things changing, reminiscing about how great it was to be a guy back in the day.

There are some good parts to this EP, but it also feels like a novelty built on their joint name recognition. Hey, it worked to catch me. Also, other people seem to really like it, so I'll give it another listen or two, and find something new. Or just listen to older Underworld and Iggy Pop, and be sad that there isn't more of that vitality here. /music grumping about grumpy spoken word
posted by filthy light thief at 10:07 AM on July 27, 2018


If we're going for elder punk/electro statesmen crossovers, I'm gonna stick with Mouse On Mars + Mark E Smith, but I appreciate that this exists anyway, because why not?

Iggy's cadence on "Bells & Circles" sounds like a satire of 1971-era Jonathan Richman, tho.
posted by mykescipark at 10:27 AM on July 27, 2018 [4 favorites]


Here is the first Iggy Pop spoken thing I heard, which is still good.

Death in Vegas - Aisha
posted by Kafkaesque at 11:15 AM on July 27, 2018 [3 favorites]


Oh, good call on DiV's track. And it's from a good album, The Contino Sessions
posted by filthy light thief at 12:40 PM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


Wait that's Iggy on "Aisha"? I always thought it was a weird outtake from "No Country For Old Men".
posted by asterix at 3:16 PM on July 27, 2018


shout out to that whole Death in Vegas album.
posted by philip-random at 5:31 PM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


which on preview I just realized Filthy Light Thief already did. So here's another track from their previous album.
posted by philip-random at 5:34 PM on July 27, 2018


Count me in on this Death In Vegas hijack! Saw them live on that tour in a suitably skanky small venue, went solo 'cos no-one I knew liked them but I was lured in by the longform version of Dirge on an NME CD. Props to you Kafkaesque for linking to the full audio freakout album version of Aisha.

I'll definitely give this a listen, imagine nothing will be as good as Pearl's Girl yet hopefully nothing will be as pointless as Black Sunshine.
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 8:07 PM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


Bells & Circles is actually pretty good, it started off with me thinking "They really need Burroughs to deliver this piece", won me over across the middle and it's minor repetitions, but then kinda runs out of steam lyrics-wise, even as the music stands up.

I was a bit underwhelmed with Trapped although I like that its in a different style even if that seemed a bit "Pendulum-lite" to me. One of the YouTube comments mentions Sigue Sigue Sputnik though and now I can't hear anything else.
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 8:24 PM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


I'll See Big sounds like an electronic Arab Strap, which I really like. Done well, sounds good, but does lack lyrical bite.

Get Your Shirt is a straight pumping guitar free Leftfield/Lydon "Open Up" but sung by The Dude from The Big Lebowski had it been his clothes and not his rug that was disgraced. I think I like it, even though it's not the best use of Iggy.

Bells & Circles is definitely the one to pick if (like me!) you want the most literal resolution of "Underworld PLUS Iggy". In any case, I paid nowt to hear these, appreciate you linking them filthy light thief and will def relisten as well as forward on to potentially interested friends!
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 8:39 PM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


When I first heard Spoken Word Iggy, with New Order, I thought it was really cool, our new Burroughs. Then the tracks kept coming and I thought it was played out, but now I realize it's a new genre and here to stay. Check out Iggy covering Leonard Cohen.
posted by Bron at 9:14 AM on July 28, 2018 [2 favorites]


I fell in love
In love I fell
She stole my shirt
I fell, I fell, I fell in love, I fell
I got, I got ripped off
I lost my shirt

Well, it took fifty years, but I guess we solved the mystery, boys. Case closed.


I hear she also stole his underpants and left him with just a pair of transparent trousers.
posted by KateViolet at 1:21 PM on July 29, 2018 [1 favorite]


Bron, I'm loving that New Order collaboration "Stray Dog". Interesting contrast with the new Underworld ones in that his voice is pitched so much lower. Hadn't heard Sharkey's Night before although that's pushing all the right buttons. I have no idea how to sneak that one into a dance mix for my mates though.
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 7:59 PM on July 29, 2018


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