Goldfrapp: Rocket

"Rocket" is the first single from Goldfrapp's new album "Head First" and, unsurprisingly, they've reinvented themselves again! Now Alison and Will sound like semi-cheesy Europopsters, and while that should sound absolutely awful it's actually not. "Rocket" is actually a real grower - not as immediate as anything on "Black Cherry" (arguably their best album) but a nice return to the glam pop that we're all used to the band making. Kudos in order for making a terrible concept so wonderful and summery - and with the rubbish weather I've been having a good dollop of summer is welcome!

Reasons Why Little Boots Will Never Be As Good As Goldfrapp

Bless Victoria Hesketh - she's a midget pop star with little vocal range and little lyrical inspiration. Actually, don't bless her - she's ripping off Black Cherry-era Goldfrapp and anyone who doesn't have a ten-second memory knows it.

It's a bit of a sad state of affairs really: things were looking promising when Little Boots started off just using a Tenori-On and a piano doing versions of pop songs (look them up on YouTube if you're interested) and then suddenly.... the hype machine descended.... Yes, that thing.

Suddenly she was grabbed and her hair was done up into loose blonde curls with dark metallic make-up and shiny sequin-decorated clothes and high-heels to match and oh dear! It happened! She morphed into the new version of Ally so quickly that it gave me a headache. Well, a migraine really.

But here's the thing: Vicky just doesn't have the charm or the warmth to be as alluring and listenable as Goldfrapp. Her voice goes from icy squeal to, er, icy squeal and her songs have only one theme which is quite boring after a while. Add to this the fact that all of her backing tracks have a coarse and edgy feel that grates horribly like scraping nails down a chalkboard and suddenly you wonder where the promise of the initial few months went.

Have your imitations if you want, I think I'll stick with the classic model.

Just to prove a point, I think I'll place them side by side in a little video-off for you to decide for yourselves:

Goldfrapp Review

Alison Goldfrapp and her band have a chameleonic nature; one minute they’re being minimal and almost ambient, the next they’re belting out attention-grabbing glam rock and now they’re capturing hearts with bittersweet, modern folk. Alison has even tried her hand at trip-hop, as a guest on Bristol artist Tricky’s first album, Maxinquaye. This unpredictable nature was well and truly shown at the Sage last night.

The stage was adorned with stuffed animals and antlers while fairy lights and flags draped from the ceiling. The band was all dressed in white but Alison Goldfrapp walked on in a shocking pink, short smock that made her stand out from her backing group.

The set borrowed heavily from their latest album, Seventh Tree, but they still found time to fit in songs from all of their previous three albums, starting with the minimal “Paper Bag” from Felt Mountain. It took a while for the group to break out into the glam songs that made them famous but the crowd went wild for “Number 1” and “Ooh La La”, both from the storming, chic Supernature. During “Little Bird”, psychedelic 60s animations and images were projected onto the wicker background.

It wasn’t until she breaks out tracks from Black Cherry, though, that the crowd really get into their stride and start to become more animated. “Train” turns out to be ten times more powerful live than it is on record, with the drums pounding through the hall and bouncing off the walls, and the bass sends reverberations flying through people.
Despite “Train” looking to be the song of the night, it was undoubtedly “Strict Machine” that stole the show. With hyperactive, flashing lights blinding the audience, Alison Goldfrapp belts out her signature tune wonderfully and despite generally not being a very animated character, she danced her way through with flair.

Last night, Goldfrapp went through their various guises with elegance and chic style, proving that sometimes being shape shifters can be a incredibly good thing.

Glastonbury: Who Should've Been There

This is not a wishlist for who I'd like to see at Glastonbury next year but more of a small list of people who could've replaced, say, Jay-Z (you can tell I'm pretty steamed up about that!). So, you could have had:

• Coldplay
• Radiohead
• REM
• The Police

etc? Surely these could have been better headliners. Maybe they're on the list for next year. However, if you believe Michael Eavis then five acts have already been lined up. Apparently one of them came off the back of Jay-Z's performance, so can we expect 50 Cent next year? I sincerely hope not! Other people I would've liked to caught this year include:

• Santogold
• M.I.A (although I'm not sure if she actually turned up or not)
• We Are Scientists (I'm interested now - what I saw of them was pretty good really)
• Neon Neon
• Hercules and Love Affair
• The Gossip
• Goldfrapp
• Ida Maria

Curse my lack of red button action! Although I just caught some more Kings of Leon while eating my dinner...