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Music

Even Iggy Pop Is an Arca Fan Now

The Stooges' icon spun a track by the boundary-pushing producer on his BBC Radio show.
Arca photo by Arca/Iggy Pop photo by Nick Helderman/Wikimedia Commons

Like many a music-world lifer, Stooges frontman and all around rock'n'roll icon Iggy Pop has been enlisted for a radio residency over the last several months on BBC Radio 6 Music. This wouldn't generally be all that notable. Even wildly successful DJ celebrities have turned in forgettable guest slots on radio shows over the years, but in addition to being a compelling presence behind the microphone, Pop's proved himself to have an ear toward his underground roots, playing exciting tracks by noise punk bands, free-jazz freaks, and as of last night, buzzy abstract electronic producers.

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As it turns out, even a Motor City punk can find something to love in the frigid landscapes of Arca's 2015 album Mutant. After a set that included some stuff you'd expect Pop to have a taste for—like the glammy melodiesof garage pop destroyer Ty Segall's most recent record—he dropped a strained track by legendary jazz saxophonist Pharaoh Sanders before segueing into the Venezuela-born producer's "Soichiro" (an inspired and appropriately grating mix, if we do say so).

By way of explanation afterward, Pop described Arca as an "adventurous producer with all technology at his fingertips, and a budget too," and suggested that he should team up with both Segall and Sanders for some psychedelic magic. Hard to say whether that's a great idea, but if Iggy Pop's putting forth the idea, who are we to say no?

You can listen to Pop's radio show here, and check out Arca's stunned reaction below, but he shouldn't be all that surprised. Isn't everyone an Arca fan these days?

iggy pop jus played soichiro on his radio show — Arca (@arca1000000)March 29, 2016