Some major musical players have banded together to pay homage to American poet Walt Whitman with a new EP. Titled Leaves of Grass, after the controversial (for its time) Whitman poem of the same name, Tarwater, Alva Noto and Iggy Pop have compiled a seven-song offering that will arrive next week.
Due out on February 5 through Morr Music, the limited-edition, vinyl-only release features fancy embossed album artwork. You can see a simpler rendering of it pictured above.
The collection features Whitman poems scored by Noto (who recently contributed to The Revenant's acclaimed soundtrack) and Tarwater, with Iggy Pop delivering spoken word atop the music.
Iggy Pop has released a statement about his connection to Whitman's work. It reads:
You know, I think he had something like Elvis. Like Elvis ahead of his time, one of the first manic American populists. You know you're looking at pictures of him, and he was obviously someone who was very much involved with his own physical appearance. His poetry is always about motion and rushing ahead, and crazy love and blood pushing through the body. He would have been the perfect gangster rapper. Whitman says, even the most beautiful face is not as beautiful as the body. And to say that in the middle of the 19th century is outrageous. It's a slap in the face. Look at the popular, well-educated poets of the time, those sensitive noblemen. But Whitman writes: "Fuck ass."
The full tracklisting for Leaves of Grass is listed below. You can head over here to pre-order a copy and hear brief samples of the new compositions.
Iggy Pop will be heading out on tour with his upcoming Post Pop Depression album later this year. See the full list of shows here.
Leaves of Grass:
1. As Adam Early In The Morning / I Am he That Aches With Love
2. Ages And Ages Returning At Intervals
3. From Pent-Up Aching Rivers
4. A Woman Waits For Me
5. Out Of The Rolling Ocean The Crowd
6. To The Garden The World
7. Leaves Of Grass
Due out on February 5 through Morr Music, the limited-edition, vinyl-only release features fancy embossed album artwork. You can see a simpler rendering of it pictured above.
The collection features Whitman poems scored by Noto (who recently contributed to The Revenant's acclaimed soundtrack) and Tarwater, with Iggy Pop delivering spoken word atop the music.
Iggy Pop has released a statement about his connection to Whitman's work. It reads:
You know, I think he had something like Elvis. Like Elvis ahead of his time, one of the first manic American populists. You know you're looking at pictures of him, and he was obviously someone who was very much involved with his own physical appearance. His poetry is always about motion and rushing ahead, and crazy love and blood pushing through the body. He would have been the perfect gangster rapper. Whitman says, even the most beautiful face is not as beautiful as the body. And to say that in the middle of the 19th century is outrageous. It's a slap in the face. Look at the popular, well-educated poets of the time, those sensitive noblemen. But Whitman writes: "Fuck ass."
The full tracklisting for Leaves of Grass is listed below. You can head over here to pre-order a copy and hear brief samples of the new compositions.
Iggy Pop will be heading out on tour with his upcoming Post Pop Depression album later this year. See the full list of shows here.
Leaves of Grass:
1. As Adam Early In The Morning / I Am he That Aches With Love
2. Ages And Ages Returning At Intervals
3. From Pent-Up Aching Rivers
4. A Woman Waits For Me
5. Out Of The Rolling Ocean The Crowd
6. To The Garden The World
7. Leaves Of Grass
