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This incarnation of Iggy and the Stooges has nothing to lose. The proto-punk gawds have a new album they are touring, Ready To Die, and a lineup that is mashup of the Fun House one and the Raw Power platoon. Missing the late great Ron Asheton, the Stooges are now playing in tribute of their fallen guitarist.

Saturday’s set saw the first Houston appearance of Pop in decades, and the lusty crowd welcomed him with open sweat-laced arms. Pop, wearing skinny black jeans when men his age should be in sensible slacks and loafers, was vicious and playful. The band was in the pocket.

Read the complete review and a new interview with James Williamson at The Houston Chronicle.

Iggy Pop spoke to The Associated Press about getting better with age and the possibility of more Stooges in the 21st century:

AP: Do you think there will be more Stooges music down the road?

Pop: You know that’s a good question. By the time I got done with this one, I been in the mood like, ‘Oh, f—, am I glad that’s over with. Let’s get this thing out.’ But that’s also the tension of a modern marketing plan. They start rattling my cage and hassling me like two months before the thing comes out. … So right now I think there’s a very good chance we could.

AP: You had a reputation for high-energy shows during the first go-round with the Stooges. Is it more difficult to perform to that standard now?

Pop: My personal ability to project physical energy probably didn’t peak until only about six years ago, seven years ago. It was in my mid- to late 50s and that’s because when I was younger I didn’t work at it at all. Also the big difference was I was a little ahead of my time, seems to be the general rap on me, and so I didn’t get the audience feedback then. It’s really hard. You can come out and bust ass and keep that up for about three songs, but if a bunch of people are just giving you the cold stare, it gets hard to sort of not to wither. So it was kind of like fighting skirmishes. I would skirmish and regroup, skirmish and regroup. But later as people started to accept it more … I would go to bed early, take my nap, sleep all day, rehearse really hard, and really, really get ready for that moment on stage. And then I bust a move and go home that night, and go ouch!!

Read more at The Washington Post.

Iggy and the Stooges released their new album Ready to Die this week, and Iggy Pop recently spoke with NPR about living life over the edge, why so many fans come around to The Stooges late, and what happens when people disappear.

At this point, is it a point of pride that The Stooges won’t make money from the record?

“No, baby, here’s the way it works: We make an album; everybody complains for the first five years. And after about 10 years, people start saying, ‘Hey, you know, that’s pretty good.’ The money kicks in about 20 years later.

“In the mid-’90s, The Stooges and Fun House turned over into the black, and all the band members who survived started getting checks. And then a little later, the same happened to Raw Power. Little by little, that old band has defeated a lot of our shag-haired, frilly-vest-wearing crapola, corporate rock gods and goddesses of the ’60s and ’70s. The problem now, of course, is do I have 30 years to wait for royalties for this record? [Laughs.] See, because I’m 66. I think people need to hurry up and buy a record.”

Listen to the Iggy Pop interview at NPR.

Ready To Die available now: Amazon | iTunes | Fat Possum Records

Get ready, Texas! Iggy and the Stooges will play the Free Press Summer Festival in Houston on June 1st, confirming the date of their performance at Eleanor Tinsley Park. Passes are on sale now at FPSF.com.

James Williamson talked to HitFix about producing Iggy and the Stooges’ new album, Ready To Die, and what it’s like to work with Iggy Pop and the band. Here’s part of the interview.

What’s the key to producing Iggy Pop?

(laughs) That’s a trade secret. No, you just gotta be patient and Iggy is actually a pro, in a way. I mean, he’s made a lot of albums, he knows what works for him and what doesn’t work for him and I guess I learned in “Soldier” to try to be a little more flexible with him and to basically let him be the boss of his vocals. I’m very respectful of his ideas about his vocals. That said, I also want to make sure we got the best sound we could out of him so I put what I consider to be the best vocal mic around; it’s a Brauner VM1, So I made sure we used that on almost everything and the rest was up to him. He stepped up and did his vocals.

You joined the band again in 2009. What is it like for you to be on stage with Iggy again?

Ah, it’s fun. It’s always been unpredictable. This is not an act. We’re kind of improvising on the run. We have a set that we do, of course, and the musicians are playing the numbers, but he’ll basically do anything to get over with the audience. I think there’s probably no other man or human alive that can even imagine doing some of the things that he’ll do. Being up there with him is really cool, but you gotta pay attention because first of all everything’s going fast and furious. If you lose concentration you’re screwed. Secondly he throws those mike stands all over the place and so occasionally, you might need to get out of the way pretty quick. I’ve actually been hit by one once, but luckily it was deflected off my guitar.

Read the complete James Williamson interview at HitFix.

Iggy and the Stooges played an exclusive concert at Le Poisson Rouge in New York on April 28th, performing songs from their new album Ready To Die plus classics like “Raw Power” and “Gimme Danger.” The show was broadcast live, and you can now watch the full concert video at NPR.org. Also check out these concert reviews from Loudwire and Flavorwire, which wrote:

It’s a reminder of how real art transcends time and fashion, and it feels like a celebration of a career that’s pretty much defined everything that’s great about rock ‘n’ roll. Long may they prosper.

Iggy and the Stooges’ new album Ready To Die is in stores now and it’s getting great reviews. And just for good measure, those of us who talk the talk and walk the walk read Pitchfork for a laugh so here it is too.

Initial standouts on Ready to Die include “Sex & Money,” led by a wall of Williamson’s guitars and Mackay’s greasy, funky horn riffs; and the raucous “Job,” replete with its kiss-off lyric, “I don’t wanna talk to my coworkers/I think they’re a bunch of dumb c***-jerkers.” Iggy (James Osterberg) Pop may have just turned 66, but he remains as impulsive and outspoken as ever, bless his soul. – AnnArbor.com

It’s the Stooges sound that carries the album: Mr. Williamson’s riffs, guitars and old-school production. The beat has the muscle and fluctuations of a live rhythm section. The rhythm and lead guitars keep a distorted edge and they grapple and claw their way through the songs, affirming that the Stooges were as much post-Rolling Stones as pre-punk. … Iggy and the Stooges know they aren’t wild kids anymore, but they’re not going away quietly. – The New York Times

It’s classic “Raw Power”-era Stooges from the get-go on “Burn,” a heavy-duty groove that kicks off the collection. And there’s no letup for the next several tunes, including “Gun,” which skewers a violent culture that just might lead its lone-wolf protagonist astray. … Even after more than four decades, Iggy doesn’t go down easy — in all senses of the phrase. But the man and his band have some things worth saying before the cosmic end of the tour. – The Washington Post

Iggy’s delivery is too wry to exude rage, the songs rarely rise above a mid-tempo chug, and Mackay’s jovial sax blurts are way more roadhouse than Funhouse. But, unlike The Weirdness, the palpable lack of menace feels intentional, and more true to a band that, in the wake of Asheton’s death and their own advancing ages, has good reason to question its own mortality.
– Pitchfork

Ready To Die available now: Amazon | iTunes | Fat Possum Records

Did you catch Iggy and the Stooges on last night’s The Colbert Report? The full episode is now available at ColbertNation.com. Watch Iggy’s interview with Stephen Colbert plus the band’s full performances of “Job” and the web exclusive “Burn” from 13:25 to 25:40 in the video.

Listen to Iggy and the Stooges’ new album, Ready To Die, exclusively at NPR. The album hits stores April 30th.

Iggy and the Stooges have added another date to their tour — the Lokerse Festival on August 3rd in Lokeren, Belgium! You can find more information at Lokersefeesten.be, and purchase tickets at Tickoweb.be.

Iggy Pop knows that the new Stooges album, Ready to Die, is unlikely to compete with Justin Timberlake and Taylor Swift at the handful of record stores that still exist. “I didn’t do this expecting to make money out of it,” he tells Rolling Stone. “It’s a lot of work, but I felt it was something that had to be done. This is my teenage dream, having a band that makes records and plays gigs. That’s still the glory of it, and I wanted to honor the institution and honor the group.”

Read more at Rolling Stone.

Iggy and the Stooges are expanding their tour into two more cities. On June 20th, the band will play the Meltdown Festival at Southbank Centre in London, which is being curated this year by Yoko Ono. Tickets will go on sale for Southbank Centre members at 10 a.m. local time on April 9th, while the general on sale will begin at 10 a.m. local time on April 11th. More information is available at SouthbankCentre.co.uk.

On June 22, Iggy and the Stooges will perform at Areál TJ Slezan in Frýdek-Místek, Czech Republic. Tickets can be purchased at Eventim.cz.