After the dreamy, psychedelic Seventh Tree, Goldfrapp boomerangs back to its club roots with its fifth album, Head First. As previously done on "Slide" and "Strict Machine," the electronic twosome still winks with innuendos on the title track, which has traces of Queen's "I Want to Break Free."
Eighties synthesizers also play a pivotal role on "I Wanna Life" and the mesmerizing "Voicething." When I first heard the lead single "Rocket," I was underwhelmed slightly. Thanks to dynamic remixes by Grum, Richard X. and Tiesto, "Rocket" actually takes off to its full glory. On top of having a hand in Christina Aguilera's new album, Goldfrapp also is scoring the film Nowhere Boy. Head First is out now on Mute.
On Black Light, Groove Armada departs from its party-rocking beats as heard on previous smashes "I See You Baby" and "Superstylin'." A darker electro sound is favored on "Shameless" featuring Bryan Ferry and "Paper Romance" with Fenech-Soler and Saintsaviour.
For Black Light's strongest moment, Groove Armada recruits openly gay British crooner Will Young on "History." Groove Armada, consisting of Tom Findlay and Andy Cato, offers an electrifying rhythm to coincide with Young's falsetto. Young fantastically recalls Jimmy Somerville on this number and you will be humming the melody for days to come. The electro-meets-alternative effort is ideal for the catwalk and spring cleaning alike.
Last year, Little Boots performed at Empty Bottle to a sold-out audience. This pleasantly surprised the British artist also known as Victoria Hesketh. Even though the debut, Hands, was not yet released stateside, American fans were able to access the impressive upbeat outing via import shops or the infallible Internet. Hands is finally available domestically via Elektra.
Little Boots makes quite an entrance with the spunky "New in Town," while the breakout single "Remedy" is relief to the side effects caused by mindless products of industry puppets like Britney Spears and Pussycat Dolls. Even the album track "Earthquake" is a goodie worthy of an established artist like Kylie Minogue. Also on Hands are the infectious "Stuck on Repeat" and the perfect pop confection "Meddle," which was played on Dancing with the Stars last year. Unfortunately, Little Boots cancelled the upcoming concert on Saturday, May 1, at The Metro, 3730 N. Clark.
Centaur's latest installment in the POPular series delivers dance floor-ready versions of radio hits in a continuous mix by Atlanta's Chris Griswold. Dame Dance has the honor of tackling Lady Gaga's unavoidable "Bad Romance" and "Telephone." Unfortunately, the dumbed-down music by the Black Eyed Peas finds no redemption, even when done by Humps, as heard on "Meet Me Half Way" here. Highlighting the collection are a throbbing take on Janet Jackson's "Feedback" and an uptempo rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Didn't Know My Own Strength." POPular Volume 5 is out now.
It is hard to believe that Truth Is... is Jeanie Sliva's first album. The Texan comes across as a veteran here, citing many great female singer-songwriters like kd lang and Lucinda Williams as influences.
On "Take You There," Sliva's voice evokes Emily Saliers' hopefulness. "I Can't Let It Go" is a great spin on country-flavored-pop, whereas "Stolen Moment," "Beautiful Girl" and the Patsy Cline-like title track wisely use the pedal steel guitar for a wonderful touch. The solid Truth Is... ends on a high note with the country-gone-gospel number "Heaven Bound." Sliva's self-released debut is out now.
This year Good Friday is going to be a great Friday with The Flesh Hungry Dog Show's Five Year Anniversary Show "The Return to Glamour" at Jackhammer, 6406 N. Clark. Performing Friday, April 2, are three of Chicago's very own: The Joans, Bobby Conn + Burglars and Brilliant Pebbles. The show starts at 9 p.m. and tickets are available at www.fleshhungrydog.com .
Find out about Wayne G. and Million Dollar Quartet online at www.WindyCityMediaGroup.com .